We are a few weeks away from the Build Up Showcase event! Here are a few reminders for the event:
Event Details:
Date: Monday, November 20, 2023
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Urban Hub, Urban Hub, 340 N Broadway #200, Green Bay
There are five individuals who participated in the Build Up Tech Accelerator Program as part of the Fall 2023 Cohort! Each participant will have the opportunity to present their startups to a panel of judges and a live audience!
The Commercial Printing Market size is expected to grow from $454.01 Billion in 2023 to $494.01 Billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 1.74% during the forecast period of 2023 – 2028. We are witnessing a shift to packaging, promotional products, marketing services, design services, digital printing, direct mail marketing, signage, wide format printing and web-to-print systems. We have seen a number of Wisconsin Printers move into folding cartons, flexible packaging, label printing and the converting industry. We expect analog printing to grow at 0.8% by 2027 and the digital market to grow by 5.7%. We expect the analog packaging industry to grow at 2.5 to 3.5% CAGR by 2027. However, digital is still a small portion of the commercial printing market! We have seen a consolidation in the market and the trend will continue through 2027.
As an Industry expert in the printing industry, I would recommend printers to still focus on your specific products and develop new products, additional enhanced services, and a broader target customer base for those products.
We will be sharing some notable examples of successful Wisconsin Companies with more to come in the upcoming issues of the GBIG NEWS.
Virdiam is the result of the marriage of two storied Wisconsin print specialty companies – H.C. Miller and Van Lanen Printing – with two hundred combined years of print expertise. Virdiam products include Organizational Products, Commercial Printing, Packaging, Large Format and Environmental Graphics. In the past year Virdiam has added $6 million dollars with a focus on the packaging industry.
Spectra Print is one of the largest commercial printers in Wisconsin founded in 1930 by Oscar Hofmeister. Spectra Print is led by siblings Eric Hofmeister, Hans Hofmeister and sister Heidi Okray! Spectra Print is a family-owned business. Today, Spectra Print is a TOTAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP offering Printing, Creative & Design, Marketing, Mailing with a large bindery. In the past year, Spectra has invested over $5 million in new state-of-the-art printing equipment and supporting bindery. Spectra has added a new Komori Lithrone GL 40 state of the art eight color advance perfector with LD-UV Support printing presses complemented with a 6-color large format press printing up to 40 pt. board for the packaging industry.
Graphic Composition opened for business in 1946 as a typesetting business and has transitioned into a modern printing and graphic arts firm. Graphic Composition is a technology-driven and marketing communications company with a broad range of services with offset printing, flexographic printing, label printing, large format printing, mailing services and a wide range of packaging products. Graphic Composition has positioned itself as a PREMIUM QUALITY supplier of printed products.
Kuehn Printing was founded in 1982 as a family business by Kevin Kuehne and Ryan Kuehn, his son has taken over the business. Kuehne is a full-service printer focused on providing marketing support material like envelopes, business cards, letterhead, folders, booklets, postcards, newsletters, manuals, posters, and brochures. Kuehne services a large customer base across the Midwest. Kuehn is a very cost-effective and on-demand printer with quick turnaround printing services.
JP Graphics, Inc. was founded in 1969 and recently been acquired by BR Printers of San Jose, CA on March 1 st , 2023. JP Graphics has continually invested in advanced equipment and technology. JP Graphics offers a wide array of services: Offset Printing, Digital Printing, Large Format and well as major investments in the packaging industry. JP, Inc.’s expertise in custom folding carton packaging and packaging accessories has made them a trusted partner for clients in the food, beverage, health, and consumer goods industries. JP Graphics, Inc was one of the first companies to invest in the new Digital HP Printing Press for Packaging.
Digi-Copy based out of Stevens Point has six locations in Wisconsin. Digi-Copy is a full service on demand printer and mailing company. Digi-Copy was founded in in July 2000 by Craig Schuler. Today, Digi-Copy has grown to over one hundred workers in twenty locations (12 of which are facilities management and virtual print shop locations) in six major Wisconsin Cities. The company’s reputation for fast, friendly service continues to spread throughout Wisconsin.
The Scan Group started in 1983 and began as a prepress and film house. The company expanded into offset printing, variable data printing, flexo pre-press, on demand printing, wide format printing, finishing, mailing and fulfillment. Today, The Scan Group is a dynamic, full-service marketing and print management group servicing customers nationwide.
Castle-Pierce was established in 1888 as a premier printer in the high-quality printing sector. Today, Castle-Piece has evolved into a premier commercial printer, flexible packaging, folding carton, and label printers. Castle-Pierce was one of the first to recognize the growing market for packaging with a full range of capabilities servicing a large nationwide base of customers.
Inland Printing Company started in 1907 as a commercial printer servicing the greater La Crosse area. In 1944, John Glendenning moved his family to the area to run what would eventually become Inland Packaging. His, son Jack Glendenning to over as President grew to be a premier label manufacturer for big beer brands. Jack’s son, Mark expanded Inland’s capabilities to become a premier global family- owned partner, becoming one of greatest success stories in the Printing Industry in Wisconsin!
Independent Printing opened its doors in 1935 in Green Bay, becoming a highly respected, aware winning print and communications company with over 250 employees. Independent offers conventional offset, digital, large format, foil stamping, die cutting, fulfillment and packaging products. Independent Printing has changed their name to: Independent Printing and Packaging to reflect their move into packaging.
DFI Solutions in Print specializes in label design, commercial print, and Print Management.
Wisconsin Printers
Virdiam – Green Bay:
Spectra Print – Stevens Point:
Graphic Composition – Greenville:
Kuehn Printing – Green Bay:
JP Graphics, Inc. – Appleton:
DigiCopy – Stevens Point:
The Scan Group – Milwaukee
Castle-Pierce – Oshkosh:
Inland Packaging – Lacrosse:
Independent Printing and Packaging – De Pere:
DFI Printing Solutions
Spectra Print
DigiCopy
Graphic Composition
JP Graphics
Kuehn Printing
We will be highlighting the Printing Industry across the state of Wisconsin in our upcoming issues of the GBIG NEWS. We welcome your stories supporting the Printing Industry of Wisconsin.
According to Smithers, a market research and consulting firm, the sheetfed offset litho print sector is expected to experience modest growth from $183.7 billion in 2014 to $192.6 billion in 2024. This suggests actual contraction of volume due to inflation primarily driving the growth in revenue across this period.
In contrast, the digital print sector is projected to grow strongly during the same period. It is estimated to expand from $103.1 billion in 014 to $180.9 billion in 2024. This indicates significant growth and a larger market size for digital printing technologies over the specified timeframe.
Analog printing, which encompasses various traditional printing methods, is expected to experience modest growth as well. The analog printing market is predicted to grow from $664.3 billion in 2014 to 681.7 billion in 2024. The growth in analog printing is mainly attributed to the increased demand for flexo and gravure printing in packaging applications.
Overall, while sheetfed offset litho print is likely to continue a decline in volume, the digital print sector is anticipated to exhibit strong growth, and analog printing, driven by flexo and gravure printing in packaging, will experience modest growth as well.
SPL Consulting, LLC. believes this creates a significant opportunity to rethink strategies for the offset industry to improve performance in their core processes and explore new markets. This requires thinking outside the traditional litho box. Reviewing the talent and experience you have and identifying gaps in skill that need to be addressed to create the future talent plan is necessary. Brainstorming and research on new target markets is also critical to lay the foundation and strategy for action.
During the process of Strategy Development, focus and not getting too broad in scope is key to success. SPL Consulting, LLC. worked with a client on Sales Strategy and together we completely changed their approach. Their approach was to target entering or quoting a new market each month. During our Strategic Planning session, we identified an extremely sizeable market that they had technical and production capability to participate in. We focused the sales team on that one market, learned the nuances of that market, and achieved their ten-year sales growth objective in four years. This was accomplished while jettisoning over $3,000,000 of business in a market segment that had extremely low commodity pricing, freeing up resources to bring on new higher margin business!
Combining Strategy with Lean Enterprise creates the “how” to execute and make dramatic improvements in both office and manufacturing processes. Reducing the time it takes to enter orders, process invoices, changeover presses and manage inventory creates capacity and improves profitability and cash flow. These methodologies also result in scalable processes that are standardized and predictable, making it easier to train new team members as you grow.
Marty and I encourage you to explore some of the concepts discussed above as a path towards future success in the ever-changing landscape of Litho.
Brian Van de Water CEO SPL Consulting, LLC. 414-588-3008 vandewaterb@outlook.com
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 11am – 1pm | St. Norbert College – Bemis Center
Speakers
John Koskinen, Wisconsin Department of Revenue
Marc Schaffer, PhD, SNC Center for Business & Economic Analysis
Sarah Scanlan, SNC CBEA Student Fellow
Evan Glaser, SNC CBEA Student Fellow
Craig Dickman, TitletownTech
Lisa Johnson, BioForward
Full Agenda
11:00 a.m. Start of Program – Networking
11:30 a.m. Plated Lunch Served
11:45 a.m. Welcome – Event Corporate Sponsor Erik Swan, Senior Vice President, Associated Bank
11:50 a.m. State and New North Region Economic Report John Koskinen, Chief Economist, WI Department of Revenue
12:05 p.m. New North Regional Innovation Perspective Marc Schaffer, PhD, Associate Professor, Executive Director SNC Center for Business & Economic Analysis (CBEA) Sarah Scanlan, SNC CBEA Student Fellow Evan Glaser, SNC CBEA Student Fellow
12:25 p.m. Local Innovation Perspective Craig Dickman, Managing Director, TitletownTech
12:40 p.m. Wisconsin Tech Hub Designation and Strategy Grant Lisa Johnson, CEO, BioForward
There is the tired and worn-out print industry narrative and then there is what is happening at Viridiam! Viridiam, LLC is a woman owned business located in the I-43 business district on the east side of Green Bay. A merger between HC Miller and Van Lanen took place in 2015 and the business has not slowed down since. With HC Miller dating back to 1887, you will be hard pressed to find a company with a longer history of successful print offerings from coast-to-coast. Viridiam describes itself as serving four major markets: commercial print, organizational products, packaging/folding cartons, and wide format/displays. The broad range of offerings keeps Viridiam as a leader in the industry to allow customers to keep their print budget organized all under one roof. With a solution-based business model, as well as speed-to-market scheduling and staffing philosophy, Viridiam looks forward to continued growth.
Viridiam is proud to announce a recent aggressive cap-ex campaign that will only further add to its already impressive fleet of equipment and capabilities. The most exciting addition is a 4-color web press. Viridiam is diving headfirst into the 4-color web environment and could not be more thrilled. Pairing this web press with the three sheetfed and two digital presses they currently operate will provide an amazing customer experience in terms of cost-saving engineering plans. Along with the web press, Viridiam is also bringing in another offline UV coater, a 4-color envelope printer, and additional collating equipment. “It is never dull working for a company that continues to upgrade their equipment and is always thinking about the best interests of their customers. It is going to be a fun challenge everyone here is looking forward to” says Scheduling Director Tim Kinjerski. Viridiam has also tripled their racking and warehouse capacity in the last 12 months. Not only have they invested in equipment for increased output, but they can safely store it in a temperature and camera-controlled space. They do not plan to stop there as additional cap-ex is planned for increased capabilities in their digital and high-speed printer areas. The future looks bright.
Viridiam has also made a large-time and resource investment into drastically reducing its overall pollution and contamination output. By upgrading to the latest plate making technology, their corrosive chemical output has been reduced by over 90%. “Using water-soluble chemistries and recyclable aluminum has really shined a bright light on a happier and healthier workspace. No more barrels and trucks to dispose of primitive chemicals,’’ says Quality Director George Harlley. Viridiam also created a robust recycling program for the various paper and corrugated waste they collect on their busy manufacturing floor. One hundred percent of the waste is organized, collected in the appropriate bins, and recycled.
With multiple full-time structural designers and graphic artists on staff. Viridiam is very well positioned to assist all new or existing customers with any concept-to-creation goals. Implementing a creative department weaponized with the latest Artios CAD and Adobe Suites softwares, there is no such thing as a bad idea at Viridiam. 3-D renderings, white samples, printed mock-up for that important meeting? No problem at Viridiam. In fact, they welcome the opportunity to provide the materials to you for that critical conversation. “Customers quite often feel comfortable sharing ideas that may not be fully formed, and we can either cross the T’s or begin building from the ground up and everything in between” says Creative Director Kelly Raber. “Bring us your great ideas or count on ours” she adds.
Simply put, Viridiam has been meeting high expectation customer requirements for over 136 years and they don’t plan on stopping any time soon. “There is just too much forward progress and excitement within these four walls to not enjoy the ride. Product development, professional customer service and sales personnel, efficient manufacturing and on-time delivery is very rewarding” says Tom Mussel, Estimating and Planning Manager. Viridiam welcomes all readers of GBIG’s fine publications to find out for themselves.
LITTLE CHUTE WI Oct. 27, 2023: A Fox Valley company will double its industrial space and revamp its offices, marking the company’s fourth expansion project in its 30-year history.
Representatives from ATCAM and Bayland Buildings celebrate the groundbreaking of ATCAM’s 30,000 sq. ft. expansion project in the Little Chute Industrial Park. ATCAM is expanding its facilities to accommodate offices, meeting rooms, and industrial operations. The family-owned and operated company provides fabricating, thermal spray coating, and machining services for a variety of state and national businesses.
ATCAM, located in the Little Chute Industrial Park, held a groundbreaking celebration on Oct. 26TH for its 30,000 sq. ft. expansion, slated to be completed in summer 2024. The family-owned and operated company supports the diverse needs of the paper industry, mechanical contractors, defense contractors, and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) throughout the U.S. The building addition will include cranes, a loading dock, office, and shop space.
President Nate Andres said the expansion will add essential office and meeting space and increase the company’s capacity for fabricating, thermal spray coating, and machining.
“We’re excited for this opportunity to expand our facilities and thank everyone who’s making this possible. With the additional space, we will be able to continue providing cost-effective solutions for our customers and a modern work environment for our employees,” he said.
At the mid-morning groundbreaking ceremony, family members, employees, and project partners took turns digging and tossing a ceremonial shovel full of dirt. Afterwards, guests at the groundbreaking enjoyed dirt cake – served with tiny shovels for spoons – and BBQ from a visiting food truck. An ATCAM employee brewed a batch of beer, labeled with the ATCAM logo, for the special occasion.
Founded in 1993 by brothers Peter and Steve Andres, ATCAM experienced rapid growth from the start. The original 5,000 sq. ft. facility has been expanded three times, in 1995, 1998, and 2011.
As the facility grew, so did ATCAM’s thermal coating line and machining capabilities. ATCAM added large and small CNC machining and large capability vertical turning lathes (VTL), as well as a robotic thermal coating cell and additional top coating services including Teflon, silicone release and powder coatings. The company utilizes state-of-the-art, twin wire arc and combustion flame spray systems.
ATCAM has 18 employees and is growing. By combining old-fashioned craftsmanship with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, ATCAM meets the diverse production needs of a variety of industries. Committed to finding the best manufacturing solutions for its customer base, ATCAM provides high quality, cost-effective, precision products and services. In 2024, ATCAM will have even more space at its modern facility to meet clients’ fabricating, thermal spray coating, and machining needs.
Green Bay Innovation Group
Bringing Green Bay Companies Together. Green Bay Innovation Group is committed to building an authentic networking experience where innovation can thrive.
