Brodock Press--Hidden Treasure
In the pressroom, a pair of eight-color Heidelberg Speedmaster CD sheetfed presses, equipped with in-line coaters and extended dryers, were installed. Both are capable of producing conventional, as well as waterless offset, printing.
The bindery was augmented with a third Wexler belly banding machine, new counting and shrink wrap machines, and a Muller Martini saddle stitcher. The crown jewel of the new bindery equipment, however, is a pair of MBO Perfection buckle folders, one equipped with MBO's new, computer-enhanced Rapidset makeready system.
While the privately owned Brodock Press does not disclose annual sales figures, company execs reveal that Brodock has been growing 10 percent annually and is looking to generate an additional $5 million to $8 million in revenues by hiring several more sales reps in the New York City region.
Along with investing in people, Craig Brodock understands the importance of spending money on value-added services. Even after the $10 million, three-year equipment initiative was complete, Brodock spent $2 million on Brodock Executive Air, then decided it was time to let the investments begin earning their pay. Well, that was the plan, anyway.
. . . Keeps on Investing
"Early in 1999, I remember Craig saying, 'We've made all these great purchases, so we're not going to be buying any more equipment this year,' " recalls Bob Hausle, executive vice president. By the end of the year, however, Brodock Press had invested another million dollars' worth of upgrades. "Basically, we launched several smaller initiatives to improve the competitiveness of our company," reveals Hausle.
The prepress area saw some of the greatest enhancements, according to Hausle, with the installation of CTP capabilities. The plant's Macs were upgraded and the company began to investigate methods of having clients submit more complete files electronically; meanwhile, bandwidth was augmented for internal communications. An electronic job ticketing system is currently being tested to allow project managers to access multiple jobs from a number of locations in the plant.
