Keeping it simple

Ultra-Tech Printing: A small but quickly growing full-service maintains a motto of simplicity with superior service-and the business keeps rollin' in.

By Associate Editor Holly Ann Suzik -- Converting Magazine, 11/1/2000

When they founded their printing company just six years ago, business partners Mike Evans and Tom Gunn wanted to escape the complexities of corporate bureaucracy and offer their customers a streamlined business with low overhead, low cost, high quality and fast response.

With one press, four employees and a bank loan, the duo launched Ultra-Tech Printing Co., now based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Today, Evans and Gunn maintain that motto of simplicity and superior service in an owned facility with 40 employees and six printing presses. Production for the folding carton, specialty film, blister card and label converter is so hot these days that it has turned away business.

Converting's editors recently visited Ultra-Tech and interviewed co-owners Evans and Gunn. During the two-hour conversation, followed by a plant tour, we explored the company's unique way of doing business and learned how this small but quickly growing converter consistently keeps customers happy.

Technology investments

Although he regularly investigates alternative press brands and types of inks, Evans decided to purchase all six of his company's presses from Propheteer Intl., Inc., Palatine, Ill. Each of these machines has UV units, one with an additional water-based unit. Evans explains there are several reasons for choosing Propheteer presses and UV inks, including that having the same type of equipment sustains simplicity and consistency.

"The standardization of the inks and presses allows us to have only three types of anilox rolls to do all of our printing on all of the substrates. It's not uncommon for other printers to have 20 or more types of anilox rolls based on different ink systems and presses," Evans says.

Ultra-Tech's sixth press, installed in June, is their second 10-in.-wide, seven-color machine. Capable of running any type of board, the press complements an 18-in., six-color unit and three 10-in.-wide, six-color units. Two of the presses are fitted with Enercon Industries corona treaters and all have video inspection units by BST Pro Mark and waste choppers designed by Ultra-Tech.

"The presses are very simple," Evans says. "There aren't a lot of controls like some of the more expensive presses. After the operator understands web dynamics with a particular substrate, he or she is able to achieve registration.

"One of the advantages to having similar equipment is that you can take an operator and move him from press to press, so that training is easier. This just helps our labor flexibility-after an operator is trained on one press, he or she is really trained on all the presses."

Although water-based ink has come a long way, says Gunn, he uses UV ink by Akzo Nobel for color consistency, high viscosity, brilliance, depth, colorfastness, environmental friendliness and durability. Customers with abrasive products, such as chemicals, rave about the UV ink for its scuff resistance and wearability, Gunn says. He adds that training is easier and inventories are lower because only one type of ink is used.

The soft side

Having the right equipment is crucial to success-and so is building rapport with customers, suppliers and employees. Evans and Gunn concentrate heavily on the soft side of their business by constantly nurturing these relationships. For instance, when a customer called them at 10 a.m., mistakenly thinking he had faxed an order to be completed that day, Evans and Gunn told him to rest assured-then got the job done in three hours. Typical lead times are five days.

Ultra-Tech has no sales force. It just keeps customers happy, and the business continues rolling in, mostly by word of mouth. If the financial capacity existed, Gunn says he could fill six more presses.

During the coming year, Ultra-Tech plans to add one or two significant accounts. Gunn comments that taking on new accounts is never done hastily, but is analyzed for capacity, so that existing customers continue receiving the same quality service. "We want to ensure that we don't eliminate our ability to provide the low price, high quality and service to our current accounts by adding more accounts just to grow faster," Gunn says.

With the arrival of the sixth printing press, Ultra-Tech has increased production of blister cards, using an 18-pt board with low internal delamination ability. Ultra-Tech prints the board and applies waterborne adhesive by Northwest Coatings to the face. The customer then places their product into a clear shell that bonds to the board's face. Calling the blister card business a healthy niche, Gunn says that although it represents only 5 percent of sales, he expects this number to grow.

Although they'll print labels for existing customers, Gunn and Evans say they've actually turned down label business-because it's a niche they want to minimize. Instead, they concentrate on growing their specialty film and blister card businesses, areas that require more sophisticated printing processes and are less competitive, they say.

"Anyone with a flexo press can print labels. But there are few flexo operators who can run unsupported films that require high-quality printing," Evans says. "We focus on the consumer product category as an end-use, and on the more complicated packaging that requires hole-punching, a folding carton or other finishing operations."

Ultra-Tech performs a variety of converting processes, including diecutting, hole-punching, perforating, embossing, folding/gluing and slitting/rewinding. Interestingly, the company's folder/gluer, which performs after products run on the press, was bought second-hand, yet works like a charm. Evans insists it works better than some new machines.

According to Gunn, Ultra-Tech offers faster responsiveness and better quality control due to its electronic prepress and on-site graphic arts capability. Customers don't have to deal with other businesses for art, film, proofs and plates-Ultra-Tech does all of this for them. "When we're working with a customer, we handle requirements from concept to finished product, all internally," Gunn says.

A good working relationship with Propheteer is another dynamic that helps Ultra-Tech run smoothly. If Evans or Gunn have suggestions for improvement, Propheteer listens-it has made the press toolless, more heavy-duty and has added shut-off switches and other conveniences that guarantee greater press-operator efficiency for Ultra-Tech. Propheteer also helped Ultra-Tech design a waste chopper, which accompanies every press.

"We provide Propheteer with feedback on their equipment under operating conditions and they've made modifications-that's a big benefit to working with them," Evans says. "You can tell a lot of press manufacturers that you would like to see something different, and you don't always get it."

As every converter knows, finding and retaining good employees is challenging. Ultra-Tech's approach to attracting workers is unusual, as it places newspaper ads seeking people without printing experience. From the company's onset, Evans and Gunn have taken this approach because, this way, employees have no pre-existing misconceptions on press operations. "We train employees to perform the printing process the way we want it to be. So we don't have to work with preexisting misconceptions on print quality and how the equipment is treated," says Evans, who has hired only a few workers with prior experience. However, he comments, "We've been more successful hiring non-printers than people from the printing industry."

After it attracts and trains the right people, Ultra-Tech retains employees by rewarding them. One way is with cash bonuses based on individual performance in five areas: quality, productivity, scrap rates, team player and safety. "Mike and I can't run the company by ourselves," says Gunn. "We have a good labor force that we're very proud of."

With a business nine times larger than its initial year and a current 25 percent annual growth rate, Evans and Gunn have high aspirations for the future. After joking about a possible acquisition of IBM, Gunn comments on continuing to lead their business into the 21st century: "We're keeping a close eye on the printing industry and especially on technological changes that allow higher productivity and quality. We don't want to be one of the printers who wake up one morning and find out we're running on obsolete platforms."

More information from:

Propheteer International, Inc., 800/635-4922, fax: 847/359-6098, www.propheteerintl.com Circle 265

AGFA Corp., 201/440-0111, fax: 201/440-8187. Circle 266

BST Pro Mark, 630/833-9900, fax: 630/833-9909, www.bst-pro-mark.com Circle 267

Convertech, Inc., 973/328-1850, fax: 973/328-7256, www.convertechinc.com Circle 268

Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc., 800/234-3131, fax: 704/921-5444. Circle 269

International Paper Co., 800/223-1268, fax: 914/397-1650, www.internationalpaper.com Circle 270

Green Bay Packaging, 920/337-1800, fax: 920/337-1797. Circle 271

Midway Engravers, 800/643-9293, fax: 800/662-4439, www.midwayengravers.com Circle 272

Akzo Nobel Inks, 800/989-4657, fax: 215/750-0733. Circle 273

Rotoflex International, Inc., 800/387-3825, fax: 905/670-3402. Circle 274

Northwest Coatings Corp., 414/762-3330, fax: 414/762-9132, www.northwestcoatings.com Circle 275

Enercon Industries Corp., 414/255-6070, fax: 414/255-7784, www.enerconind.com Circle 276

Deublin Co., 847/689-8600, fax: 847/689-8690. Circle 277.

If you found this article helpful, Circle 278 or Inquire Online.