Manufacturer of Book Bindery Machinery

Background
The firm was founded in Manhattan, New York in the mid-’60s, where this three-person shop began its post-press equipment operation by catering to graphic arts firms in the greater New York metropolitan area. During the 1970s, the company expanded beyond the local New York market by supplying equipment customers throughout North America. The firm's facilities have grown to encompass over 500 pieces of equipment on two floors, a complete machine shop, three large stockrooms, a parts department, and a shipping area.

Throughout its history, sales grew steadily, peaking at $4.0 million in 1998, until buffeted by a number of factors including the firm’s inability to effectively export and the crushing impact of imports. At certification the firm had 17 employees and sales had declined to $2.6 million.

Assistance Provided
The NYS TAAC performed a diagnostic of the firm’s operations, which concluded the firm must develop ways to improve externally in order to compete more effectively.

The recovery strategy focused on the firm's ability to market and sell its products in different parts of the World closed to it because of the lack of CE designation for its products. Specifically, the strategy called for the firm’s products to be labeled with the CE Mark. The CE marking designation tells millions of European consumers the manufacturer, no matter the location, has subjected the product to a variety of tests, and the product meets stringent health, safety, and environmental regulations.

Project Results
The firm has gained a number of things from this successfully completed project. First and foremost, the European markets once closed, are now open to the firm. The firm has begun attending a number of key European trade shows to aggressively start the selling process. The outcome from these shows has been tremendous, sales leads have almost tripled

An added benefit from this project is that now, anywhere in the world the firm is selling it units, the customer will have the assurance that it has been thoroughly assembled and tested, meeting the CE requirement signified by the attached CE mark.

This is only the beginning of significant in-roads to overseas markets for the firm. If the interest generated by the trade shows is any indication, the firm will experience an increase in sales and employment. Management is pleased with the results thus far and encouraged to see what the near future will bring.