CHICAGO, IL -- What does a good company do when it is on the threshold of a new level of doing business? For Chris McCann and his team at the Alphagraphics location on Beltline Road in Irving, Texas, it was examining the future and making intelligent decisions. They decided to go the digital route and partner with A.B.Dick for prepress and press equipment. The early results have turned out better than expected. McCann, who bought the business in 1994, has the store on track to do $1 million in business this year after purchasing a DPM2000 CP direct-to-plate device with ScanMaster, A.B.Dick's new digital scanning solution, and a 9995 two-color offset press. These moves allow Alphagraphics to produce four-color work for some notable clients. They include American Airlines, whose world headquarters are located in Dallas, plus All-State Insurance, Baylor University and wireless companies such as Verizon Communications and Nokia. "We used an Itek 430 camera for years. It performed well but in this day and age, it makes more sense to go Computer-to-Plate, especially with more customers bringing their work in on a disk," said McCann. "We looked at how much we spent over the years with prepress houses and service bureaus for film and match prints. We figured the quality and the polyester plates of the DPM2000 CP, plus the scanning resolution of the ScanMaster, would be a big step in the right direction for us." It was the right decision but McCann needed reassurance. Some of the 350 Alpha-graphics stores used a RIPit system; some had chosen the DPM. He had to find out why. "I contacted the owners of other Alphagraphics stores who used RIPit and had stories to tell why they switched to the DPM. I'm happy we have it because of the results we are getting from it," said McCann. "I looked at the RIPit system but the cost and service options for the DPM made more sense," added Marty Taegel, general manager of the store. "Service and training were big concerns. We had some start-up issues like everyone else. But the response from Lee Levett and Tim Knight of A.B.Dick has been terrific." So is the quality of the DPM and the 9995 offset press. "It answers the time and quality demands we get from our customers," said McCann. "A percentage of our customers are very cost conscious. They tell us they need it now and it needs to look great. The 9995 press helps in this area. We turn it around quickly and it looks better than they ever imagined. With the DPM, we scan directly to plate. It has a high quality scanner, cer-tainly as good as any drum scanner I've seen." "The screen quality on the DPM is every bit as good as a piece of film," said Taegel. "We wanted to eliminate 99 percent of our film use and we've done it. The quality of the four-color work we do in two passes with the 9995 press is just as good as any commercial shop with a four-color press, and we turn it around faster. With that kind of versatility, it gives us the opportunity to bid on more jobs."