Apple Graphics -- Little Fish, Big Pond
Polley mobilized and called three fellow CGX printers to see if they could accommodate the workload. He then went back to the customer with prices for web and sheetfed work, which was the genesis of a four-week program. "Not many companies have that kind of horsepower behind them," Polley notes.
When another printer told a client that a certain job could not be accomplished logistically, the customer turned to Polley and Apple Graphics. The objective: produce 600,000 four-over-four bill inserts to be shipped to facilities in California, Wisconsin and Virginia. The request was made on a Tuesday for a Friday delivery. Between Apple Graphics and sister plant McKay Press in Michigan, the printing and delivering was completed on time. In the process, Apple Graphics was able to save the client a considerable amount of money on shipping.
"This type of service comes from company president to company president efforts, not some big corporate infrastructure instructing managers how to utilize their plants," Rampe remarks. "Companies can increase their capacity while not having to buy a press in order to service our customers on a more timely basis. We're seeing more work being moved around within the Consolidated Graphics family."
With 65 companies in 25 states, CGX fills out the national customers' footprint, "by default," according to Colville, because of its acquisition program. "We focused on buying one company at a time, based on that company's strengths, not what we thought we needed from a geographic or capability standpoint to service national accounts."
CGX installed a Wide-Area Network (WAN) to facilitate the expedited transfer of files from client to company and from company to company. Through CGX presidents' meetings, member companies become educated on CGX's national capabilities, and success stories like Polley's aid the cause.
"We don't mandate inter-company sales," Colville notes. "We tell them to do what's necessary to service their customers, and make sure that they have these (options) in their toolbox. It's going to be more and more successful for us."
