The story behind Max Solutions’ acquisition of the Ellis Group P.8
new offerings from HP P.14
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FEATURES
8 Max Solutions enters Canada
The company recently acquired the Ellis Group
Spotlight
Jerry Theoret, president and CEO, Battlefield Press
DEPARTMENTS
NEWS
3 DCM acquires RRD’s Canadian operations, Robert Welford named new president of Xeikon, Imperial Dade scales up in Canada, All Printing Resources opens its first Canadian office in Ontario, Supremex acquires Impression Paragraph, DTM Flexo Services will represent GEW and more
The Jones Healthcare Group, Icon Digital, and Litho Quebec
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) enters into a share purchase agreement with Data Communications Management (DCM), a provider of marketing and business communication solutions. Under the terms of the purchase agreement DCM will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Moore Canada Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of RRD.
toner competence centres, and the print process and project management office. As the new president, he will further leverage these competencies and his solid background in the printing industry, as the company accelerates the industrialization of its broad product line and continued integration with the Flint Group.
the team as director of the Canadian division. APR provides the flexographic printing industry with a complete range of solution-oriented products and services. Dancer joins the APR team after a more than 30-year career in the North American flexographic market.
cash-free and debt-free basis.
Flint Group appoints Robert Welford as president of Xeikon, its digital division. Welford joined Xeikon in September 2018 as vice-president of research & development, with a broad remit overlooking the engineering operations, the ink and
Imperial Dade, a distributor of foodservice packaging, printing papers and janitorial supplies, acquires Servicorp Industrial Supplies in Montreal, Solutions Sherby with presence in the Quebec markets of Granby, Magog and TroisRivières, and Action Paper & Packaging in Toronto.
All Printing Resources (APR) opens its first Canadian office in Ontario. Jeff Dancer will lead
Supremex, a North American manufacturer and marketer of envelopes and a provider of paper-based packaging solutions, acquires Impression Paragraph, an integrated provider of paper-based packaging, print and point-of-sale products for a broad range of commercial markets. The transaction was concluded for a total consideration of approximately $26.6 million, on a
Founded more than 35 years ago, Paragraph operates two facilities in Ville-Saint-Laurent and Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. Its offering consists primarily of folding carton packaging and point-of-sale displays for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food, confectionery and retail sectors. It also provides an array of commercial, digital, and wide-format printing.
GEW will be represented for its label and narrow web retrofit business across Canada by DTM Flexo Services. Spare parts and services for Canada will continue to be supplied by GEW. Based in Ontario, DTM Flexo was founded in 2013 by David McBeth, who has worked within the global printing industry for over 35 years. It offers solutions for flexible packaging
CI presses, label, shrink sleeve and mid-web press markets across Canada. It also supports Canadian customers with waste management, plate sleeve mounting and de-mounting, visual inspection systems, etc.
Electronics For Imaging (EFI)
appoints Frank Pennisi, a veteran of the industrial and technology sectors, as CEO. In tandem, EFI’s Fiery business unit has been separated as an independent company that will remain wholly owned by Siris Capital Group. As separate companies, EFI and Fiery will have distinct areas of strategic focus that will enable them to serve their customers better and grow over the long-term, with EFI in industrial inkjet and Fiery as a digital front end (DFE) provider.
Robert Welford
Jeff Dancer
The Jones Healthcare Group installs a Bobst Novacut 106 ER flatbed diecutter. The new equipment increases the company’s production efficiency and capacity for complex folding cartons in support of regulated health and wellness clients.
Icon Digital, an omnichannel marketing agency in Toronto, installs a Durst P5 350 HS. The P5 350 HS is the fifth Durst press installed at Icon. Icon also operates on Lift Software, an ERP system offered by Durst.
At its facility in a suburb of Montreal, Litho Quebec installs the first new generation Koenig & Bauer Rapida 105 41-in. six colour press. The new press also has Koenig & Bauer’s QualiTronic PrintCheck system and QualiTronic inline ColorControl system.
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Dealing with inflation
Pricing and cost considerations for these uncertain times
By Bob Dale
While all costs must be recovered from customers, the timing and process is different for each. Direct cost increases like paper can be recovered per job, but indirect expenses like rent hikes may only be recovered in time. When I taught estimating at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU’s) Graphic Communications Management program, my students were constantly reminded, “All costs required to run the business must be
misc. items, etc. These are identified in accounting records, and usually recovered through using budgeted hourly rates (BHR). Future costs, recovered through the business.” I used the example of paying for a customer’s lunch.
Estimates are based on two types
of expenses. Historical costs refer to allocation of labour, overheads, utilities, equipment depreciation, maintenance, training, IT and software,
such as paper, ink, and distribution, are as calculated, and often purchased and calculated for the specific job. BHRs are adjusted on an annual basis, and not on a per-job basis.
In recent times, printers were able to justify and collect paper cost increases because with the supply shortage, the paper could be used for other customers who were willing to pay. Other costs were also increasing. However, it’s not practical to identify and recover the impact of a 25 per cent increase in rent from one job.
If the company temporarily absorbs the cost increases, then they should plan on future recovery or offset the increase by reducing other expenses, such as staff training. Typically, a department manager is
responsible for balancing the budget, as there are ongoing changes during a fiscal year. Failure to recover costs or offset with spend reduction will result in reduced margins or profits. Additionally, repeated failure will create a loss and jeopardize the company’s financial stability.
Budget review
It is wise to review the budgeted hourly rates and adjust as appropriate. However, this is not an opening to make adjustments without due considerations. You must plan to recover all costs related to the business. However, if the new rates are above market rates, you will risk
If your utilization has dropped to 70 per cent and is expected to stay at that level for the next year, then your budgeted hourly rate will be $143.
losing business to competitors over time. If this is the case, then review budgets to see what discretionary costs can be reduced.
Typically, the first set of costs to be reduced are training, marketing, and customer expenses. This would be a short-term corrective action because a healthy business needs to make these types of investments to be a successful operation.
Another method to reduce cost is to increase efficiency through improved workflow or automation.
If your MIS is integrated and operating effectively, you may be able to process more orders with fewer staff and without staff burnout.
Don’t forget utilization
In addition to cost, utilization impacts BHR. If your utilization has dropped from 80 to 70 per cent and is expected to stay at that level for the near future, then that will increase your BHR calculation. For example:
• $100/hour BHR cost/80 per cent = $125/hour sell rate;
• $100/hour BHR cost/70 per cent = $143/hour sell rate. The market will determine the price. Therefore, if your utilization dropped, the corrective action may not be to change the calculations, but to increase utilization through sales.
These are a few suggestions to help you plan. There are many other ways to address cost issues, so feel free to reach out to me.
All costs required to run the business must be recovered through the business.
Intentionally understaffing without providing your team the tools to be effective will only increase errors and turnover.
Bob Dale is co-founder of Connecting for Results, a strategic management consulting company focused on the graphics communications industry. He can be reached at b.dale@cfrincorporated.com.
Max Solutions enters Canadian market
The company has acquired the Ellis Group
By Nithya Caleb
In early fall 2022, Max Solutions, a differentiated specialty packaging company, acquired the Ellis Group, Canada’s largest family owned and operated folding carton company.
Founded more than 40 years ago, the Ellis Group has three manufacturing facilities in Ontario. The acquisition was a surprise as the Ellis Group was and is a thriving business with an active clientele. I interviewed Marc Shore and Dennis Kaltman, founders of Max Solutions, to unpack this major development in the Canadian packaging manufacturing sector. As it turns out, in January 2022, the Ellis
family initiated a process to explore the opportunity to find an acquirer that made sense for their business and to take the Ellis Group to the next level. A strong cultural fit was very important to Bill Ellis, then CEO of the Ellis Group, and his family. Max Solutions checked all the boxes.
“We knew how important it was to find a partner that shared our commitment to excellence, service, and to our valued employees. I am extremely proud of the company we built and have great appreciation for everyone who has contributed to its success. Max Solutions has the expertise and
experience to take the Ellis Group to the next level,” said Ellis in a media release at the time of the acquisition.
“The Ellis family has built a strong legacy of innovation, state-of-the art technology, and exceptional customer support over 40 years. Together, we will leverage our complementary capabilities, product portfolio and end-market expertise to provide unmatched service, speed-to-market,
zero-defect quality, and the highest levels of contingency planning to our customers,” said Shore, CEO, Max Solutions. “We’ve sought to serve our customers in a scaled, and global, way. Ellis allows us to better serve our customers in North America and expand into additional regions.”
Industry veterans
Shore started his print and packaging
Max Solutions acquired the Ellis Group in September 2022.
career at Shorewood Packaging where he worked for over 28 years. He was named president of Shorewood in 1991 and CEO in 1995.
During his tenure, Shorewood’s sales grew from US$60 million to US$700 million. Shorewood was sold to International Paper in 2000, where Shore continued to work as president of Shorewood and an officer of International Paper until 2004.
In 2005, he founded Multi-Packaging Solutions (MPS), another specialty packaging platform, with private equity backing.
He grew the company to over 70 factories in 14 countries and $2 billion
in revenue. MPS went public in 2015 and was eventually acquired in 2017 by WestRock (WRK). Shore stayed at WRK until August 2020.
In November 2021, Shore founded Max Solutions along with industry veteran Dennis Kaltman, who is now the president of Max Solutions.
Kaltman has more than 20 years of experience in the print and packaging industry. He started his career with Queens Group, where he was senior vice-president from 1990 to 1998.
When Queens Group was acquired by Shorewood Packaging in 1998, he was named senior vice-president.
Following the acquisition of Shore-
Ellis allows us to better serve our customers in North America and expand into additional regions. – Marc Shore
wood by International Paper, Kaltman served as senior vice-president of the home entertainment packaging division. Kaltman joined Shore at MPS in May 2005, a few months after it was founded. He first served as executive vice-president and chief operating officer. He was named president in August 2007 and given responsibility for the global branded consumer market in February 2014.
Needless to say, Shore and Kaltman have extensive experience in the global specialty packaging segment, especially in the consumer and health care segments.
At Max, they’ve made significant investments in next-generation technology. Their Bristol, P.A., facility opened in July 2022 and their Concord, N.C., facility started operating in December 2022.
Canadian connection
Both Shore and Kaltman have been working in Canada since 1982.
In November 2021, Marc Shore and Dennis Kaltman established Max Solutions.
Marc Shore.
Dennis Kaltman.
Max Solutions focuses on specialty packaging solutions for health care and consumer segments.
According to Shore, the Ellis Group will eventually become Max Solutions Canada.
“We recognize – and appreciate –the equity Ellis has with customers and within the industry. So we’ll work to make the transition as seamless and thoughtful as possible and limit confusion for the customer,” he said Shore.
For now though, all the three Ellis locations are operating normally as they were pre-acquisition. Shore and Dennis Kaltman, president of Max Solutions, have made some organizational changes, “which embrace a lot of the senior leadership within Ellis.”
In a press release, Kaltman said, “Both Marc and I have operated in Canada for many years with Multi Packaging Solutions and before that, Shorewood Packaging, dating back to 1984. We’re thrilled to be back. The Ellis family has made significant investments in technology and capabilities over the years. They’ve built a talented team with valuable skill sets and we look forward to working closely with them to continue their legacy of innovation and exceptional customer service.”
The Ellis Group operates three manufacturing facilities in Ontario.
“Max Solutions will continue to invest in the Toronto facilities to enhance manufacturing, planning, and scheduling capabilities to better serve and communicate with our customers. Additionally, we will leverage our supply chain relationships to ensure raw materials are always available,” added Shore. From a facility footprint and capability standpoint, the acquisition has expanded Max’s ability to serve the market and the breadth of its customer base. The company will also enjoy greater scale with respect to working with suppliers.
09/2022
Max Solutions acquired the Ellis Group in September 2022.
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Jerry Theoret / president and CEO/ Battlefield Press
Battlefield Press, Burlington, Ont., is a third-generation family owned and operated company that continues to evolve and diversify within the printing industry.
Since it was founded in 1964, being first has been its mantra. In the ‘60s, Battlefield was among the first in Ontario to offer four-colour printing. In the ‘90s, they led with digital printing and workflow technology. Battlefield was the only printer in Canada to offer 12-colour perfecting on a printing press in 2005.
In 2016, they were the first in North America to print on a custom Heidelberg seven-colour UV press that could handle 41.5-in. wide press sheets. That same year they were the first Canadian printer to win Sappi’s Printer of the Year Award.
The year 2018 saw the installation of another XL106-8P+L equipped with
LED-UV, another first for Canada. Recently, it acquired the assets of Clearpak, a leader in the clear plastic folding carton segment. We spoke to the company’s president, Jerry Theoret, about the future of the Canadian printing industry.
What is the state of the print industry today, in your opinion?
JT: It has been challenging to navigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing staffing difficulties and shortages is making it difficult to maintain, let alone grow a business. Many organizations have not survived the turmoil. Since some of them were significant market price influencers the closures have created a healthy competitive environment. Unavailability of substrates is affecting the industry now. If you can get past these challenges, then there are
exciting opportunities to explore and grow the business at a healthy profit margin. The takeaway for me is that the industry is not quiet, and opportunities are flowing.
One must work harder, focus on the details and be more creative in order to be successful.
What attracted you to the print industry?
JT: My father founded the company in 1964. From a young age, my brother and I helped as required. My heart was in sales.
The love of bringing in new business and growing the organization ultim-
ately made me stick to the industry.
How can the industry attract more young people?
JT: Since youngsters love technology, it would be helpful to highlight on social media and other venues frequented by young people the technologies used in the print industry. They must be made aware of the opportunities and the size of the industry.
Structural solutions are heavily influencing the industry now.
Introducing younger minds to the
Differentiate yourself from other companies. Offer solution-based services. Provide finished products that uniquely fill needs.
creative requirements for providing solution-based structures/packages will show them that the printing industry is not just about ‘graphic design,’ but also creative thinking.
In such a competitive landscape, how can printers win more sales?
JT: It’s important to differentiate yourself from other companies. Offer solution-based services. Provide finished products that uniquely fill market needs. Make sure you are fully aligned with the buyers’ expectations. Maintain an equipment portfolio that is technologically advanced, well maintained, and efficient enough to be versatile and cost competitive. Make sure you are giving your company good exposure to allow buyers to know your company’s name. Keep evolving!
What are some of the biggest opportunities in the print industry?
JT: Producing products with special effects and/or embellishments as well as supporting sustainable options that create positive impacts for both the customer and the environment are some of the biggest opportunities.
What do you think is the most exciting thing about print today?
JT: Technology and growing capabilities available for us as manufacturers is exciting. The possibilities are endless. Ultimately, the industry is based on creativity. Therefore, if you can dream it, it can likely be created. It’s also exciting to see what young people entering the industry bring to the table, and how it allows companies like ours to evolve. Theoret’s responses were edited for length. For more Q&A Spotlight interviews, please visit www. printaction.com/profile.
Battlefield Press was the first Canadian printer to win Sappi’s Printer of the Year Award.
HP unveils two new printers for packaging
Meet the HP PageWide C550 and Indigo
200K digital presses
HP recently launched its newest highspeed, post-print digital corrugated press, the HP PageWide C550 Press. This advanced single-pass platform is designed to help converters optimize manufacturing costs and improve operational efficiency for the production of corrugated packaging.
The C550 uses HP’s Thermal Inkjet technology and water-based inks and sports a speed of 90 lm/min.
David Tomer, general manager of HP post-print corrugated solutions, said, “HP is continuing its investment in the packaging market to create new opportunities for packaging converters and brands to benefit from the analog to digital transformation. We are very excited to deliver the C550 press to the corrugated industry. It is built on the field-proven success of the C500 press and allows converters to economically
produce flexo and litho boxes at high speeds without slowing down the press. We are constantly working on innovative solutions that not only improve post-print stability and productivity for converters, but also meet the quality and flexibility demands of brands for packaging.”
The HP Indigo 200K digital press is designed to give digital flexible converters the competitive edge with better productivity, on-demand delivery, no minimum orders, unique designs, reduced energy consumption, and minimal waste.
“The HP Indigo 200K is a mid-web digital press especially designed for converters addressing the needs of brands in flexible packaging, but it also serves the growing requirements of the label and shrink sleeve industries for higher productivity and wider format,”
said Noam Zilbershtain, VP and general manager of HP Indigo and Scitex.
“Flexible packaging is a growing market. I have no doubt the HP Indigo 200K digital press will open the door for more flexo converters who want to join the success, and reign in industry 4.0.”
The HP Indigo 200K digital press showcases a 30 per cent increase in speed and 45 per cent boost in productivity compared to the HP Indigo 25K.
Featuring gravure-matching colour quality based on the HP Indigo Liquid Electro Photography (LEP) and OneShot Color technologies, the new press offers the widest available range of ElectroInks and is designed to print high coverage packages with white on the majority of industrial substrates, both surface and reverse. Additional business opportunities include unique brand protection elements.
The HP Indigo 200k is a mid-web digital press.
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