SG360°'s Mary Lee Schneider on Latest Acquisition and What's Ahead

Mary Lee Schneider

Last week, SG360°, a print and direct marketing solutions provider headquartered in Wheeling, Ill., announced the acquisition of Data Service Solutions (DSS), an integrated print finishing company located in Bolingbrook, Ill. The deal reportedly makes this the second largest acquisition in the company’s history (the first was Lehigh Direct in 2014), and adds a fifth additional facility in the Chicago area. Printing Impressions caught up with Mary Lee Schneider, president and CEO of SG360°, to learn more about the acquisition, what it means for SG360° and the company’s plans for the future.

“This is our first acquisition since we became part of a private equity team, ICV Partners, in December. SG360° is all about growth and we're excited to take our capabilities to the next level and really help our customers manage their complex communication needs,” says Schneider.

Schneider, a former RR Donnelley veteran who has been president of SG360° for almost two years, says that the capabilities of DSS will strengthen SG360°’s positioning as a leading integrated direct marketing services firm, enhances the growth of SG360°'s fulfillment business, supports the firm's distribution strategy, and will be key to driving long-term, sustainable growth.

DSS, which specializes in the print finishing and card personalization industry, produces personalized and embossed cards, drop-on-demand card personalization and product samples, and has finishing, inserting, packaging and fulfillment, product sampling, digital printing and lettershop capabilities.

“We produce many direct mail packages that include cards, and we produce a lot of them in-line. They then go right into the envelope as part of the print process,” explains Schneider. “This acquisition allows us to take that to an entirely different level with the new capabilities that DSS brings to SG360°."

Currently, there are about 70 employees at DSS’s Bolingbrook facility. Schneider says SG360° plans to invest in new equipment there, will re-layout the facility to make it more efficient from a workflow standpoint, as well as relocate some of the equipment there from its Wheeling plant.

Looking ahead, Schneider says that SG360° will continue to look to make acquisitions where they make sense and will add capacity on the print side. Just last year, the company invested in an HP Indigo 10000 digital press and an HP Indigo 12000 digital press. In addition, through a partnership with Kitewheel, a provider of the Customer Journey Hub, SG360° will be able to help its clients create multi- and omni-channel marketing campaigns using both print and online channels. In addition, Schneider relays, the company is also looking to strengthen its data service and data programming capabilities for variable date digital printing.

“We really want to focus on differentiating ourselves on both the front- and the back-end of the process,” concludes Schneider. “DSS is a great example of how we've dug down and not only added capacity, but added new capabilities for complex fulfillment and finishing.”

Ranked Number 17 on the most recent Printing Impressions 400 list of the largest printers in the U.S. and Canada based on annual sales volume, SG360° reported $303 million in revenues for its most recently completed fiscal year. View the complete PI 400 rankings here.