Sept. 5, 2005—What do you get when you mix creativity and innovation with determination and hard work? The answer: a very successful commerical print shop.

Graphic Printing Services Inc. was founded in 1985 as Carolina Duplicating. Founders Bryan and Tom Hall began the company from their basement, and quickly outgrew that space. By 1988, they had renamed the company to reflect their growing reputation for quality print services, and in 1991 they were able to relocate to a new facility in Greensboro, N.C., and went from three employees to 25.

Today, the company has a 75-person staff and does almost $11 million in sales annually, from a mere $75,000 in 1988. “We are looking for customers [who are] looking for high-end packaging,” said Jack Brown, vice president of information services. “We don’t pretend to be the lowest price...out there, but we offer such a high level of quality and service that we are looking for the upper-end packaging customer. We decided we didn’t want to get into the nickel-and-dime business, we wanted to pick the cream-of-the-crop of customers and work with them.”

Making It Work
Mr. Brown attributes the rapid growth and quality work the company does to his employees, calling them the most important part of the business. He notes that they regulary invest in employee training and benefits, and states that because of this emphasis, they have the “best [employees] in the industry.”

In addition to creating a strong workforce, Mr. Brown knows the value of good customer relationships. He cites trust as one of the key factors in the company’s success. “There is a great deal of trust on both sides with us and our clients, and we have found that to be a key to our success,” said Mr. Brown. “[To build that trust], delivery is one thing—we are rarely late on deliveries. Technically, we let our customers know about any problems we forsee down the road, either due to the structure of the design or the digital files themselves. We just try to plan as much as possible... Like any good printer we try to take our collective experience of the past and relay it to our customers, and they have always appreciated that.”

Technology Counts
Beyond the people, having good equipment ranks high on Mr. Brown’s list of important aspects of the business.The company has an impressive list of equipment to meet a variety of packaging, flexo, and high-end offset needs. This includes: Komori Lithrone 28" and 40" offset presses, Shinohara two-color and five-color offset presses, a Hamada two-color offest press, and a Ryobie one-color offset press used for duplicating and envelope printing.

In addition to their offset capabilities, the company owns lithographic equipment as well: a five-, seven-, and nine-color Webtron Flexo press; and two Rotoflex rewinder and inspection units. Add to that various ink-mixing equipment and a range of finishing options, and the company has a solid product line.

“We evaluate purchases extensively to make sure that we get the best in each department—the best quality in the equipment that we possibly can. At all the shows we’ll contact vendors and customers and make that decision.”

Mr. Brown notes that packaging work makes up the bulk of their business. Beyond that, they do some textile work, such as sock labels and packaging, as well as commercial print work such as folders and brochures.

Looking Ahead
Mr. Brown notes that there are a few things someone new to the industry, or someone looking to see the same growth Graphic Printing has seen, can do.

“Really, there are probably three things: make sure you know what your customer wants; trust your people; and always take the high road.”