CDS Publications sets itself apart by being flexible, nimble, and offering custom-printed products.

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Although CDS Publications has the capability to manufacture a variety of products, the company considers itself a service organization. To ensure its customers benefit from CDS Publications’ services, the company relies on motivated employees, innovation, technology and high levels of quality and responsiveness.    

“We take a different approach to our business than our competitors do,” President Steve Brown says. “We focus on developing long-term programs for customers, not just provide them with products.”   

Based in Medford, Ore., CDS Publications provides its “Print-Centric solutions” to improve the effectiveness of customers’ printed products. The PrintCentric program includes digital print services, prepress, commercial printing and binding, as well as fulfillment services such as assembly, packaging, distribution and kitting.    

In working with its sister companies, Brown notes, CDS Publications can be flexible and provide large-scale quality solutions in a consistent manner. Throughout its parent organization’s network, CDS Publications has at its disposal 70 facilities, 5,000 employees, locations in 26 states, 59 web presses, 275 sheet-fed presses and 154 digital presses.   

Manufacturing Today recently spoke with Brown about the firm’s capabilities and how its dedication to service has enabled it to achieve substantial growth in the last few years.

Manufacturing Today: CDS Publications went from $20 million in annual sales to $50 million in sales in the last three years. How did the company accomplish this?
Steve Brown: This is primarily due to the fact that we have great customers and we saw a lot of customer growth. Everything we do is all about our customers. We are focused on customizing our solutions for them and have the ability to add equipment and technology to our operations to meet their needs.    

We help them with MRP, fulfillment services and front-end content management. We strive to provide customers with a more complete solution so we are driving greater value for them.

When we work with our customers, we consider a number of factors of their business. We want to help them lower the overall cost per sale, improve their response rates and make their message more impactful. Our goal is to ensure our customers’ cost per lead is much less. We couldn’t do that if we just supplied them with some product.

MT: How do you work with your people to ensure this level of service is maintained?
SB: We focus on filling our staff with great customer service people. We front-load our business with people that have a lot of experience. These are the people who can hold our customers’ hands through the entire process and ensure we provide them with the best solution.

MT: Have you added to your service offerings?
SB: Our parent is Consolidated Graphics – the sixth-largest commercial printer in the United States – so they definitely support the improvement of our operations. Right now we are investing a lot into expanding our digital capabilities; this is the largest investment of any company within our parent organization right now.             

We’ve recently added a sheet-fed press and greater UV capabilities and are investing heavily in high-end digital color presses and a bindery. All of this allows us to give more service to our customers.

MT: What trends have you been responding to?
SB: We have found that our customers want solutions that are digital, personalized and customized, so our investments are made in response to this. We strive to help our customers mine data better and have the capabilities to take full advantage of that data. This will allow them to bring the best value to their customers and also grow their revenue and margins.