Print and Pack

Industry experts contend that for every $1 that American companies spend on print, they spend up to $6 more on related functions such as fulfillment, warehousing, administrative tasks and creative development. That statistic is not lost on Tom and Joe Metzger, co-owners of Metzgers Printing + Mailing, Toledo, OH. The sons of a typesetter, they know all about change and technology, having reinvented their business after the desktop publishing boom in the late 1980s.

Today, a pick-n-pack warehouse helps to drive print at their company's 35,000-sq.ft. facility. Involved in direct mail since 1998, the Metzgers got into fulfillment two years later and now offer services for literature and sales kits from a separate 10,000-sq.ft warehouse.

For president Joe Metzger and his COO/CEO big brother, Tom, the philosophy of capturing a bigger piece of the pie isn't necessarily visionary—it's just part of keeping the $7 million family business profitable, as evidenced by double-digit sales growth (by more than $1 million per year since 2003). In addition to adding value, they're big believers in driving down costs and growing customer market share. This, along with a desire to control production cycles, led to the installation of a used Heidelberg S (21×28´´) cylinder die press and a Kluge UniFold Automatic Folder/Gluer in late 2004. (Metzgers added its second Heidelberg diecutter about a year ago.)

“The UniFold fits nicely with our 20×28´´ presses, as well as our in-house mailing and marketing services,” says Joe Metzger, who uses the machine to produce pocket folders and short runs of boxes for direct marketing campaigns. The machine features a patented vertical buckle folder design that eliminates crows' feet and wrinkling on heavy stocks while maintaining high production speeds.

These equipment additions are just the latest for the brothers, whose father founded a typesetting business in 1976. After adapting as a service bureau for eight years, the Metzgers saw that their future was in printing. They bought their first 2-color press in 1994; within a year, they ushered in two more as their dad prepared for retirement. Over time, the demand for more four-color work increased. The company rang in the new millennium by moving up to a 5-color, half-size (28´´) Sakurai press with aqueous coater.

The company also added an in-house bindery with saddlestitcher in 2000. That same year, the Metzgers converted to CTP with a fully automated Screen USA PlateRite setter, which it runs with Kodak chemicals and plates (1,500 per month). Screen's TrueFlow prepress workflow was added in 2003.

“The PlateRite is a fantastic machine and great technology,” says Joe. “This is far and away the best business decision we have made. We put a stack-feeder on the front side, online processor and a stacker at the end, and just print to the platesetter, then go pull 16 plates each hour.”

Metzgers uses GMG Color on the front end of an Epson UltraChrome proofer. “We've had our problems in the past with matching color on press,” Joe admits, “but since installing GMG along with the UltraChrome proofer and CIP3 on our Sakurai presses, there have been no worries.” (The printer runs Kohl & Madden inks from Sun Chemical.)

They had traded in their 2-color Heidelberg MOZP for a used Sakurai 4-color press in 2002. By 2004, a third Sakurai was added to the line-up—this one a 6-color with coater. It was installed in the new facility, nearly double the space the company had in its former locations in nearby Holland, OH. But then, over-capacity reared its ugly head.

“After nine months of having three presses, we decided to sell the 4-color and move to three shifts on two presses [five days a week],” Joe explains. “It allowed us to fix costs and sell more hours per week.” The brothers took some of the money from that sale and invested in a Standard Horizon VAC100 20-bin collator with a slew of options, including a stacker, corner/side stapler, saddlestitcher, folder/trimmer and a small machine for nestled folding.

Metzgers added Xerox monochrome digital equipment in 2001 and, late last year, upgraded to a DocuTech Nuvera and a DocuColor 8000 with Creo Spire workflow. “The 8000 handles gloss and cover stocks much better,” he says.

Back in 1997, Metzgers began an online stationery store, which was a home-grown web ordering system set up for customers. The company formed CorporateOrders.com and presently has about a dozen companies online, using branded sites to order their marketing literature and customized printing for such industries as health care and building/construction.

About eight months ago, it added versioning via a Pageflex (Bitstream) Storefront digital “order desk.” The web-to-print application is making variable-data print possible for customers, who use the interactive Web portal to choose from a variety of designs and layouts, then create customized letterheads, business cards, note pads and envelopes. Users enter all relevant data into templates, tweak the text and layout as desired, then send their orders immediately into production. At its core is a patented composition technology that enables document templates to “flex” to accommodate variable content within designer-specified guidelines.

In addition to 55 full-time employees, Metzgers employs 20 on-call part-timers called “The MomSquad.” These stay-at-home mothers (and grandmothers) have been doing assembly and hand-fulfillment for more than eight years. “It started with our sister, Connie, back in 1998,” Joe says. Today, she manages the operation, juggling schedules and supervising the assembly, collating, inserting, Wire-O binding and fulfillment for CorporateOrders.com and other customers, including products for Tony Packo's Pickles & Peppers.

Into direct mail for the past eight years, mailing services have grown to include database, CASS certification and barcoding, inkjet addressing (Buskro), wafer-sealing/tabbing and inserting via a six-station envelope inserter. Last year, Metzgers added a MailWrapper 280 poly-bagging machine from Preferred Packaging.

To help manage all this growth, the Metzgers installed an Enterprise 32 interactive print-management MIS solution. “This system has been very critical to our success,” notes Joe. “Due to the intuitive interface, our employees are able to quickly accomplish simple tasks that took hours in the past—from finding a previous job number or invoice to viewing reports which track daily jobs and estimates.

“It's expensive to bring all these services in house,” he adds, “but well worth it.” The Metzger brothers' take on providing the total package is simple: If they don't do it, somebody else will.

www.buskro.com, epson.com, gmgcolor.com, kluge.biz, graphics.kodak.com, pageflex.com, sakurai.com, screenusa.com, sdmc.com, sunchemical.com/kandm, us.heidelberg.com and xerox.com