Wisconsin Printers — Serious ’Bout Their Printing
“We are a growth-oriented company with a strong commitment to invest in high-quality people, modern technology and to bring real value-added solutions to new and existing customers. Thankfully, we embraced the change to digital print and more value-added services many years ago, and it has really paid off for us.”
Deba Horn-Prochno, Ripon Printers: “We each have carved our own little ‘place in the ink.’ For us, we strive for exceptional customer service and one-stop shopping, serving the medium run-length market, from a real person answering the phone to the automated bills of lading, PDF invoices. We are not country bumpkins, traversing to work on unpaved roads, but highly skilled technicians doing groundbreaking things in the printing industry.”
Chris Carpenter, Royle Printing: “Like so many businesses and industries, print is a very, very competitive space. Successful printers focus on the markets and customers they serve—understanding their needs and developing communication and distribution solutions to help them achieve their goals. We don’t push print so much as we present tools and solutions. We’ve also tried to remain very nimble and flexible, while also staying current with equipment and technology. Printing can be a very capital-intensive business; it’s critical that companies make the right choices on equipment and technology. A mistake can be quite painful.
“With all that said, it still comes down to having a great team. If we didn’t have the right culture in place—promoting hard work, family values, safety and a quality experience for our customers—we wouldn’t have the team or company we have today.”
Kip Frautschi, Webcrafters: “Before Banta was assimilated into RR Donnelley, they were in the same niches we are. The competitive environment is national in scope for us; perhaps we’re successful for having survived in Wisconsin first. We’ve been able to add a lot of capacity, but we’ve stayed focused and served our niche. We have a culture where people work very hard and really go the extra mile during our busy periods.”
