'Super Center' Beyond Print

By summer, printing giant R.R. Donnelley plans to open a huge facility in York, Pa. to enable its Willowbrook, Ill.-based Donnelley Logistics unit to improve and expand its distribution of printed matter, mail items, and packages.

The "Super Center," notes the company, is in line with its strategy to expand its services beyond printing to logistics services for publishers, merchandisers, and companies in the telecommunications, financial, and healthcare fields.

Already, the unit handles more than 20 billion print and mail pieces each year, serving both aggregators (printers and lettershops) and mailers, offering them co-loading and co-palletization postal discounts.

Donnelley Logistics estimates that the new site will boost processing capacity to about 160 million packages per year, enabling it to better serve its business-to-consumer package shippers in the Northeast.

The facility is being completed in two phases, starting with combining the company's regional package operations, which should improve home delivery service in the region by up to two days, a full day elsewhere. In the second phase, Donnelley will add capabilities to handle the consolidation and distribution of catalogs, books, magazines, and direct mail from the York facility.

Donnelley offers premedia, digital photography, content management, printing, and Internet consulting services.