Church Mutual Expands Into Four-color

“The demand for two-color has definitely declined over the years,” remarks Ryan Podeweltz, production print supervisor at Church Mutual Insurance Co. As a result, the one- and two-color Hamada presses at the Merrill, Wis., in-plant were no longer as busy as they once were, leaving the shop’s four employees in a precarious position.

“We knew that we needed to have high-quality four-color work to be sustainable,” Podeweltz says.

So after years of tracking invoices for outside print jobs, and building a business case strong enough to impress the company’s board, the in-plant just installed a refurbished Presstek 34DI digital offset press. Based on how busy the shop has been since the press went in, it was an excellent decision.

“I didn’t anticipate that we would get this much work this quickly,” he says.

The bulk of that work is coming from the marketing department, Podeweltz says. Prior to getting the DI press, the in-plant could not accommodate the increase in four-color marketing work. That has all changed now.

“They seem to be confident in our work and they keep sending it our way,” he remarks. “It looks every bit as good, if not better, than what we were paying to have done outside.” And it costs less now, too, he adds.

Podeweltz loves how easy it is to set up the DI press and how quickly it starts producing sellable color prints. Ink settings can be saved and reprint jobs can be pulled up quickly. Some brochures that had been two-color in the past, Podeweltz says, are now being printed four-color, giving them a more updated look.

Before deciding on the DI press, the in-plant looked into toner-based digital machines, such as HP Indigo printers, but they didn’t seem to fit.

“The click charges would have added up in a hurry,” Podeweltz points out.

After a Presstek representative visited the shop, Podeweltz checked out a Presstek 52DI at Graph Expo and ran some test prints on a DI. He liked what he saw.

“This made sense with our department,” he says. “I think we’re really on the right track.”

The in-plant is hoping to further expand its services with a digital envelope press and a new collator/booklet maker over the next year. In addition to printing, the in-plant handles design, fulfillment and mail services for Church Mutual Insurance. Last month, Podeweltz says, the shop processed 86,000 pieces of mail. On average, the in-plant produces about a half million printed pieces per month.