GAOnline 101 Top North American Printers
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It has been 25 years since Graphic Arts Monthly began publishing its annual GAM 101 listing of the top printers in North America--and RR Donnelley is still on top. At that time, the Chicago-based printing giant posted $1.4 billion in sales, compared to $9.3 billion today.
Indeed, the vast majority of company names on the list has changed since 1983, the result of consolidations and ceased operations. (Think you can guess which printers from the '83 list are still around? For the answers, visit our special Website: www.graphicartsmonthly.com/101_in_1983.)
The industry's footprint in terms of manufacturing sites has grown astronomically. The top four printers on this year's list (excluding FedEx Kinko's 1,600 in-store print operations) operate 392 manufacturing sites, as compared with 36 on the original list. A large portion of this growth was due to mergers and acquisitions. A number of firms in our 2007 compilation—Quebecor World, Cenveo and Consolidated Graphics (CGX)—have ascended to the top echelon of the list via acquisition.
Consolidation activity played a major role again in industry restructuring this year, as reflected in the current list. RR Donnelley purchased Banta, Perry Judd's and Von Hoffman (a unit of Visant). The Banta deal was an industry shocker, as Donnelley played "white knight" to Cenveo's hostile bid. Following its failed takeover attempt of Banta, Stamford, CT-based Cenveo went on to acquire Cadmus and Printegra. Houston-based Consolidated Graphics added The Hennegan Co., Florence, KY, to expand its arsenal of companies to 76.
Consolidation aside, the printing industry remains fragmented. The top 400 U.S. printers, points out Donnelley CEO Thomas Quinlan, "account for less than 30% of the market."
All in all, 2006 was a good year for GAM 101 firms, as 73% posted sales gains, 34% of which were double-digit increases.
VistaPrint had another standout performance, with 67% sales growth over last year (on top of 55% in 2005). What started as a company printing just business cards online now offers dozens of products. The printer expanded its production plant in Windsor, ON, and its staff to more than 800 employees worldwide.
To stay competitive, top printers continued to invest heavily in capital upgrades, spending $1.4 billion to improve and grow operations, compared to $1.3 billion the prior year. Investments centered on equipment, plant expansions and projects to boost efficiency.
Firms reported differentiating from the pack is becoming more challenging. Diversification, once hailed as the silver bullet of survival, is now commonplace. "What was a wild departure from traditional ink on paper five years ago (digital print, fulfillment, etc.) is now a given—by both the largest and smallest companies," says William Woods, Jr., CEO of commercial printer The EPI Companies, Marietta, GA, which ranks 88th on the list with 2006 sales of $53.5 million.
He says the challenge now for printing companies is to establish collaborative relationships with clients.
Companies on the list represent $45.4 billion in sales. Sales data, the criteria used to rank firms on the GAM 101, was provided by the companies on the list and represents each firm's fiscal year.
New names and/or firms returning to the list this year include: Bertelsmann arvato (21), Multi-Color Corp. (30), Vmark (35), Canadian BankNote (44), Segerdahl (46), MPA Label Systems (56), Tweddle Litho (59), Southwest Offset (70), Bert-Co (73), Graphic Press (77), John Roberts (78), Pratt Corp. (82), JohnsByrne (84), Penn Industries (90), Wright Business Graphics (91), Primary Color Systems (92), Flower City Printing (93), NPC (95), Sprint Press (98), Suttle-Straus (99), GLS Companies (100) and McArdle Printing (101).
Firms choosing not to participate this year include John H. Harland (15th last year), Paxar (18), American Color (24), Nationwide Graphics/Premier Print (40), Hess Management (46) and K/P Corporation (67).
Check printer Harland was acquired by Clarke American; label printer Paxar by Avery Dennison.
Champion Industries opted to be listed this year under Chapman Printing.
For a more extensive listing of information provided here, the Graphic Arts BlueBook (www.gabb.com) offers a CD-ROM database that contains information on key contacts, demographics and product mix at individual plants and satellite offices. More than 1,000 individual facilities are included. To reserve your copy, e-mail csartori@reedbusiness.com or call 646.746.7429.
To be included in the 2008 GAM 101, contact Lisa Cross at lisa.cross@reedbusiness.com.
The Top 101 Chart
(click the image below)
Alphabetical Listing
| American Greetings 6 American Spirit Graphics 76 Arandell 23 Bert-Co. 73 Bertelsman arvato 22 Bowne & Co. 16 Brown Printing 19 Candian BankNote 44 Cenveo Inc. 8 CGI North America 47 Chapman Printing 40 Chesapeake Corporation 13 ColorGraphics 36 Command Web 37 Consolidated Graphics 12 Continental Web 66 Courier 24 Creel Printing 51 Deluxe Corp. 7 doodad 79 E&D Web 81 EarthColor 28 Edwards Brothers 67 Ennis 18 EPI Companies 88 FedEx Kinko's 3 Flower City Printing 93 Fort Dearborn 34 Friesens Corp. 68 Gannett Offset 29 Geographics 96 GLS Companies 100 Graphic Press 77 Hammer Packaging 60 |
Henry Wurst 61 Hickory 97 Imagine! Print Solutions 52 Imprimerie Solisco 54 IntegraColor 53 Intelligencer 87 Ivy Hill 31 IWCO Direct 26 J.J. Keller & Associates 33 Japs-Olson 43 John Roberts 78 JohnsByrne Co. 84 Keller Crescent 58 L.P. Thebault 57 Lake County Press 89 Lane Press 85 Lithographix 45 Maple-Vail 64 Matlet Group 42 McArdle 101 Merrill 17 MPI Label Systems 56 Multi-Color 30 National Graphics 71 National Print Group 74 NPC 95 Outlook Group 55 PBM Graphics 49 Penn Industries 90 Pictorial Offset 62 PLM Group 50 Pratt Corporation 82 Primary Color Systems 92 Publishers Press 32 |
Quad/Graphics 5 Quebecor World 2 RR Donnelley 1 Sandy Alexander 41 Scientific Games 15 Segerdahl 46 Sheridan Group 20 Smyth Companies 63 Southwest Offset 70 Specialty Printing 80 Sprint Press 98 St. Ives Inc. US 48 St. Joseph 25 Standard Register 14 Suttle-Straus 99 Tanaseybert 69 Times Printing 75 Transcontinental 4 Trend Offset Printing 27 Tweddle Litho 59 Unigraphics USA 38 Universal 83 Valassis 11 Vertis 9 Visant 10 VistaPrint Limited 39 Vmark 35 Webcom 94 Webcrafters 72 Williamson Printing 65 Worzalla 86 Wright Business 91 WS Packaging 21 |
Printers report sales growth holds steady...
| Top Sales Growth Leaders | |
| VistaPrint | 67% |
| Ennis | 53% |
| JohnsByrne | 45% |
| Penn Industries | 39% |
| IWCO | 33% |
Printers' sales growth held steady, as top printers reported 8% average growth—the same as last year.
For the second year in a row, VistaPrint posted the highest growth in sales. The online juggernaut, jumping from #59 on the list to #38, added several products in the past year, including foil-accent business cards and holiday cards, personalized sticky notes and personal bank checks. Ennis, JohnsByrne, Penn and IWCO posted gains from acquisitions and/or sales growth.
...supporting the premise better conditions are here to stay.
The return to sales increases continues among 2007 GAM 101 printers.
| '02 | '03 | '04 | '05 | '06 | '07 | |
| Sales Increase | 34% | 41% | 56% | 72% | 70% | 73% |
| Sales Decrease | 55% | 47% | 4% | 16% | 15% | 18% |
Top printers invest in their firms...
On average, top printers invested 3% of sales back into their companies. Leading the pack:
| 1. | GLS Companies | 27% | 6. | VistaPrint | 16% | |
| 2. | Continental Webs | 25% | 7. | Sprint Press | 15% | |
| 3. | Intelligencer | 20% | 8. | Williamson Printing | 13% | |
| 4. | Specialty Printing | 17% | 9. | St. Joseph | 13% | |
| 5. | Hammer Packaging | 17% | 10. | Courier Corporation | 11% | |
Ones to Watch
| Name | Sales ($000) | Change |
| Garvey Group, Niles, IL | 44,000 | 2% |
| Lowe-Martin Group, Ottawa, ON | 43,778 | 7% |
| Bartash, Philadelphia, PA | 43,000 | 10% |
| Malloy Incorporated, Ann Arbor, MI | 42,800 | 1% |
| E.U. Services, Rockville, MD | 42,724 | 1% |
| Solar Communications, Naperville, IL | 42,500 | 13% |
| Impressions Inc., St. Paul, MN | 42,332 | 6% |
| Concord Litho, Concord, NH | 41,382 | 1% |
| Ripon Printers, Ripon, WI | 41,109 | -8% |
| Signature Offset, Boulder, CO | 41,100 | 9% |
| Diamond Packaging, Rochester, NY | 41,056 | 7% |
Print Management Firms
Corporations' efforts to centralize print buys has given rise to new buying organizations. Their clients seek uniform quality and branding consistency.
| Name | Sales ($000) | Change |
| InnerWorkings, Chicago, IL | 160,500 | 109% |
| Webb/Mason, Hunt Valley, MD | 71,500 | 10% |
| NLN Global, New York, NY | 51,000 | 46% |
It has been 25 years since Graphic Arts Monthly began publishing its annual GAM 101 listing of the top printers in North America—and RR Donnelley is still on top. At that time, the Chicago-based printing giant posted $1.4 billion in sales, compared to $9.3 billion today.