Who are the leading packaging premedia providers?

Lisa Cross, Senior Editor, Graphic Arts Monthly -- Converting Magazine, 9/1/2007

Having outgrown the restrictions of “prepress” services alone, today’s premedia industry has transformed itself. Still formally known by the US Dept. of Commerce as “Prepress Services, North American Industrial Classification 323122,” players in this expanding market are branching into all things that precede print and printed packaging or any visual medium.

Half of the firms responding to a survey conducted by our sister publication, Graphic Arts Monthly, and trade association IPA of North American premedia operations, were primarily engaged in the printing business but also ran premedia operations. For these companies, premedia accounted for less than 50 percent of annual revenues. The rest of the respondents sell principally premedia work and have been reinventing offerings and operations to capture a share of an estimated $8-billion market. Shown below are the top 10 firms, based on survey respondents only, in the packaging market.

Accumulating print assets and increasingly complex workflows force clients to seek expertise of premedia providers in asset management. A few printers probably underestimated head count for premedia staff, if activities (workflow and data) also are managed for print. Adobe Solutions Network Print Service Provider Program sponsored the survey.

Top North American Packaging Premedia Vendors

Rank	Company Name, Location, CEO	Latest Annual Sales ($000)	% of Total Sales	Premedia Locations	Premedia Employees	Sales Per Employee $
1	Schawk, Inc., Des Plaines, IL, David Schawk	550,000	>50%	160	3,600	152,778
2	SGS International, Louisville, KY, Henry Baughman	290,100	>50%	35	1,273	214,297
3	Matthews Intl. Brand Solutions, Pittsburgh, PA, David Kelly	148,886	20-50%	14	N/A	N/A
4	Stevenson, The Color Co., Cincinnati, Jeff Stevenson	21,500	>50%	1	120	179,167
5	Phototype, Cincinnati, David Olberding	21,000	50%	3	150	140,000
6	Bert-Co. Industries, Cerritos, CA, Charles Stay	10,000	14%	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	Digital Color Image, Pennsauken, NJ, Rich McGee	5,625	26-50%	1	13	432,692*
8	Cincinnati Precision Plate**, Fairfield, OH, William Painer	3,795	>50%	2	30	126,500
9	Hughes Integrated, Inc., Plainwell, MI, Robert Hughes	3,000	>50%	1	15	200,000
10	Impressions, Inc.***, St. Paul, MN, Mark Jorgensen	2,117	6%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Information provided by companies via online and mailed surveys. Estimated headcount may skew figures. Estimate based on PIA/GATF averages of $126,500 per premedia employee. **Figure calculated from sales % based on premedia.