Monday, September 24, 2012

Making an Impact in Nothing Flat: The Kodak Prosper 5000XL

Contributor: Katie Kriemelmeyer, President, AGS

One of the investments Consolidated Graphics made this past year was the purchase of a Kodak Prosper 5000XL digital inkjet web press, which was installed at AGS’ print facility in Maryland.  Among many benefits, this cutting edge digital printing technology delivers high-quality color and runs at speeds in excess of 650 feet per minute.

Kodak Prosper 5000XL
What does this mean?

With the Prosper, we finally have a way to achieve 4 color digital printing more cost-effectively for runs of up to several thousand impressions (think 25,000 to 1,000,000,000). We have customers printing books in color that they used to do in black and white – only now, with the Prosper, we’re making a better product while keeping the unit rates affordable.

Why should you care?

This speed really matters if you are trying to get millions of pages produced in an extremely short time frame (less than a day).  The best part?  The Prosper 5000XL can even do this in variable color. To date we’ve had enormous success with taking data to pages on matte and dull coated stocks, and getting it out the door (gloss coming soon).

So, what’s the big deal?

The Prosper gives us the ability to do true 1:1 digital printing at near offset rates for products such as booklets and catalogs customized for the recipient. We are also doing this for healthcare benefit confirmation statements, coupon mailers, association member mailings and invoices. Most of the time, the pieces go out the door within 24 hours of receiving the data.

Watch a video of how it all works now!


Katie Kriemelmeyer
President, AGS
AGS is a Consolidated Graphics, Inc. company in White Plains, MD. For more about AGS, visit www.ags.com. Contact Katie Kriemelmeyer at katiek@ags.com.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Bright Lights Ahead: Consolidated Graphics Talks Strategy


Hundreds of board members, bankers, executives, lawyers, recruiters, and investors recently gathered in San Antonio to celebrate another year under the purposeful direction of Consolidated Graphics CEO and Chairman, Joe Davis. Davis, along with Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Accounting Officer and Secretary Jon Biro and Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing Aaron Grohs, shared the successes and obstacles of the previous 12 months, along with his direction and vision for the upcoming years. In typical CGX fashion, there is no shortage of innovation and development. Here is what got us most excited:

+ It’s getting harder to fill our shoes: It’s no secret that we have an industry-leading geographic footprint, but that isn’t stopping us from continuing to roll up distressed companies, look for industry gems that are ready for a buyout, or take on a larger international presence [click here to read our international expansion Q&A]. It’s a strategy that CGX has proven to be successful, and we continue to incorporate more economies of scale and lower the cost for our customers as a result.

+ Trust us with your most important asset: Data security is a hot topic these days, and we’re leading the pack in terms of regulatory compliance, process improvements, and protection of our clients’ information. We’ve gone through audits, testing, and rigorous studies executed by some of the brightest minds in data security, and so far, we’ve aced with flying colors.  We even invested over $8 million on a state-of-the-art data center. All of this means that you can rest assured that information is safe with us.

+ We’re committed to making information access easier: Our WorkSmart SuiteTM has been a widely adopted by organizations around the world, and we’re committed to make it even better. In the year since we launched our popular Streamline Web2Print application, we have increased the number of customer sites by 24%, to more than 500! Our focus is to continue bringing enhanced functionality and user benefits to Streamline and all of the applications that comprise WorkSmart Suite.

+ EmergeTM is going online: Our annual emerge conference has been referred to as the best in the industry by so many that we’re going to get it into the hands of everyone. This year, we’re working on an online portal that will provide year-round access to this thought leadership forum.

To download Consolidated Graphics’ annual report, please click here.