Performance Enhancer

Can a strategy of postponing capital investment work effectively? The over-achieving story of Avante, Llc. is not so unusual, as U.S. printers go. It's about a company owner cultivating solid customer relationships and pushing, straining existing technology to the far limits of quality and production. It's about getting knocked down repeatedly on price and getting back up to quote another job. There's more than a bit of good luck involved, too. Mostly, it's about sheetfed offset survival in a saturated, margin-thin, major metro market.

Situated about 25 miles west of downtown Chicago, Avante is a small (annual sales under $5 million), custom shop with three Heidelberg presses, including a 40´´ 5-color double-perfector and a 19×25.5´´ 2-color model, both dating from the 1980s. Another straight 2-color has been on the floor almost as long as production VP Phil Toelcke, a 30-year company veteran. Like a reliable old car that's paid off, the tried-and-true maintenance philosophy seems to be: Change the oil and these babies will run a long, long time.

“This guy,” praises president/owner Jim Quigley, tapping lead 5-color pressman Rick Klein on the shoulder, “without his astute knowledge and dedication on this press, we couldn't accomplish the constant level of quality our clients have come to expect.” Klein always carries the keys to the shop—just in case of an on-press customer emergency. He and Toelcke are two of 25 full-time employees working in 12-hour shifts.

Experience, craftmanship and skills aside, a secret technological weapon is keeping these finely tuned printing machines running perhaps better than they should be, especially at their advanced ages. And this productivity supplement has allowed Quigley to hold off on buying an expensive automated press. Avante has instead nursed along its technology, with incremental improvements, for over a decade.

Avante went filmless five years ago, migrating to an Agfa-centric prepress environment (see below) from a Scitex Brisque system, with help and guidance from the local Pitman dealer. The plant uses one size Lithostar Ultra V plate, cutting down the 305/16×409/16´´ format for the smaller press, according to Quigley, who acquired the firm eight years ago with a partner.

For proofing, Avante's prepress department operates a :SherpaMatic 43 Contact Proof 8. “We've seen a substantial jump in quality,” adds Quigley, “because our Agfa technicians calibrate our proofs to the presses, and prepress is calibrated to the proofs. Our color match on press is complimenting our Sherpa proofs with precise accuracy.” A Konica Minolta color copier also is calibrated to press.

Customers seem to be satisfied. Running a Kodak Preps production-planning workflow, Avante prints for a range of applications, from corporate brochures, pocket folders, direct mail and variable data, to posters, banners, static clings, vinyl decals and display signage. It enjoys a long-term relationship with Océ North America, producing marketing collateral. Other clients include corporate accounts in the heathcare/pharmaceutical, bioscience research, transportation safety and hospitality industries. The firm reports it's on the verge of becoming the preferred print vendor for a leading healthcare/pharmaceutical company—the major account would enable a much needed equipment upgrade in the plant.

To stay profitable in the consolidating Chicagoland sheetfed market, Avante has done something else that a lot of other printers are doing: diversify. The ancillary service is fulfillment. The firm expanded its dedicated database management, fulfillment and distribution services in 1998. Its IT specialist designed a custom online ordering system built around client specifications. The home-grown program integrates with databases and offers flexibility in client inventory pulls (for product literature), variable fulfillment needs and distribution (tracking).

Established in 1955, Avante moved to a 22,000-sq.ft. facility in the Chicago suburb of Addison, IL, in 2006. The new space consolidated two buildings from the firm's former location nearby and added 5,000 sq.ft., including a dedicated fulfillment/warehousing area used for storage, inserting, hand- and machine-collating, packaging, personalization, mailing, shrink- and poly-wrapping. Still performing hand work is a differentiation for the printer.

“Packing boxes is the easy part,” says Quigley. “The key is database management.” Avante uses a Microsoft SQL server, Active Server Pages (ASP) Web engine and MS Office Access software.

Quigley and his crews know that, despite the color-calibrated enhancements in prepress, their vintage Heidelbergs won't print well forever. His next new press probably will be a 6-color 40´´—“I'm leaning toward a Heidelberg based on past experience,” he says, but a 7-unit with UV is enticing as well.

ONLINE: For printer and vendor Websites, access the Internet version of this story at graphicartsonline.com.