Summer 2005                    return to newsletter contents page

FPPA Members Growing Their Businesses

Chris Horton

FPPA President

Greetings FPPA members and supporters,

As our industry continues to change and opportunities to grow and develop our business become scarce, we must become creative in looking for and finding opportunities. It is incumbent upon each of us to look for ways to enhance and grow our business. One of the best places to look for growth opportunities is with businesses that are adjacent to our own. I want to take this opportunity to highlight several fellow FPPA

member companies and their efforts to grow their businesses by seizing unique opportunities that may also be of benefit to other FPPA members.

Robert Smithson, with Trinity Graphic USA, recently purchased a majority interest in the Flexo Trade School (FTS). A hands-on, educational and training program may seem like an unusual adjacent business for a tradeshop, but Robert has seen first hand the need from printers for better employee training. Robert plans to expand the FTS to offer flexo prepress training in addition to the current offerings. This may be a resource that other FPPA members choose to take advantage of to help close the gap many of us have with finding and training skilled employees.

First Mark-Trece and more recently VT Graphics have made significant investments in large format digital printing capability. Each of these companies has seen the rapid growth of digital printing and the need that their existing customers have for this capability. They have positioned their digital print offerings not as a competitive threat to their existing customers, but an extension of their customers’ capabilities and have also offered the capabilities to fellow FPPA members.

Bill Ruch with NPP has started a new business called Innovative Platemaking Solutions or IPS. IPS manufactures and sells CushionCore photopolymer material, a cushioned sheet polymer plate that has the Mylar removed between the polymer plate material and the cushion that vastly reduces dot gain and fluting while improving solid ink densities. IPS is selecting tradeshops throughout the United States to exclusively manufacture the CushionCore printing plate.

Each of these companies is taking risks with their investments in adjacent business opportunities, but each of these investments helps our industry as a whole continue to grow and prosper. I am proud to be affiliated with an organization that has leading edge companies like Trinity Graphics, Mark-Trece, VT Graphics and NPP among its members. Please join me in Washington in October to hear from some of these innovators and to help brainstorm.

Please contact me with any comments or suggestions you may have, 336-855-4862 or chris.horton@alcoa.com. Thank you for your support.

Chris Horton