Gintzler Graphics Inc. 100 Lawrence Bell Drive Buffalo NY 14221   1999 Sales: $13 million Personnel: Frankin Nice, president Robert Strach, production manager Employees: 65 Presses: 15 Gallus, Arsoma & Webtron presses

"Reliability is priceless.  Performance is key."  To a converter in the competitive narrow web label market, these two statements are words to live by.  For Gintzler Graphics Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., these words are in everyday practice.   "What sets us apart from the competition is our fast turnaround times and high quality at a competitive price," says Robert Strach, production manager.  The average turnaround time for a new line-work order is same day, if approved in the morning, and for labels already produced in the past, a matter of hours is all it takes.

Strach says the success of Gintzler Graphics’ fast turnaround is credited to minimizing the steps to get the order completed.  "It’s a complete dedication by everyone," he says.   And with a strong Total Quality Management Program and a Quality Assurance Team, this total dedication has reached new heights.

Working with the latest equipment, Gintzler’s production capabilities are a force in the industry, providing a significant amount of flexibility.  The company currently runs 11 flexo and four rotary letterpresses, from Arsoma, Gallus and Webtron, in widths ranging from 6 ½" to 16".  "All of our equipment is the best in its class," says Strach.  Markets include, but are not limited to, the toy, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries.

Strach says that Gintzler Graphics was established in the early 1900’s as a sheetfed letterpress printer.  The company later evolved into a flexo process label printing business about 35 years ago.   In 1970, it was purchased by company President Franklin Nice.  Initially a strictly flexo operation, it was about 15 years ago that rotary letterpress entered the scene.  "The customer was demanding higher quality, and at that time the quality was not available in flexo.  Today flexo has come a long way.  I don’t want to say that it will match the quality of rotary letterpress, but it has come very close," Strach says.

At Gintzler Graphics, the importance of reliable vendors is key to maintaining quick turnaround times.  "We try not to sacrifice.  We use the best material, dies, inks, plate material and plate mounting equipment," says Strach.  Paper is a widely-used substrate, with the use of film increasing for both supported and unsupported label applications.  Main suppliers include Avery Dennison and Raflatac.  Inks are supplied by Environmental Inks & Coatings and Azko Nobel (for letterpress), with dies provided by RotoMetrics.  Plates are made in-house with the latest Kelleigh equipment and photopolymer from DuPont Cyrel.  Gintzler Graphics also maintains its own electronic prepress department.

Proper training of employees is also taken seriously at Gintzler Graphics.   "We train our employees to produce the best product, and send them to the Rochester Institute of Technology for hands-on instruction," says Strach.  At Gintzler Graphics, quality shines through.  As current members of TLMI, FTA, and PIA, the company has received numerous national awards from all three associations.

The next step for Gintzler Graphics is a jump into the flexible packaging market.  "We are becoming more and more interested in expanding into the flexible packaging market.  An increasing number of labels are beginning to move in that direction, and our equipment is capable of doing this," says Strach.  With quick turnaround times and shorter runs leading the list of qualities for this market, Gintzler Graphics just may have found a niche to expand its capabilities even further.