LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. -- Like most commercial shops, PDM Litho, Inc./Peachtree Enterprises prints a little bit of everything -- "soup to nuts," as one partner in the firm put it -- for a very diverse clientele. And like most printers, the objective is to make money when one can. That usually requires staying flexible, leveraging one's strengths and anticipating those times when "fast-and-furious" becomes the general state of the business. These are some of the ingredients that came together in the Long Island City, N.Y., printer's most recent press purchase. PDM Litho installed a 40-inch Mitsubishi Diamond 3000LS with coater, its fourth Mitsubishi press in 12 years. The six-color press is improving PDM Litho's already solid standing in the metropolitan New York City printing market. "Printing is a challenging business, and you have to constantly invest in technology or the industry will pass you by," said Aaron Craig, general manager and a partner in the 15-year-old company. "The first Mitsubishi press we bought did not include aqueous coating capabilities. Now every press we buy is equipped with a coating unit. You get a feel for what you should and should not do to improve efficiency while maintaining a commitment to high quality." Housed in the 32,000-square-foot building that PDM Litho has occupied since 2002 are millions of dollars worth of capital investments the company has made in recent years in prepress, printing and finishing technology. For instance, when PDM Litho relocated from the smaller space it had rented in Manhattan for 10 years, the printer traded in its first Mitsubishi press on a Diamond 3000LS almost identical to the new one. A six-color, 28-inch Mitsubishi press acquired eight years ago also shares the pressroom floor, along with a two-color, 40-inch perfector and a 20-inch press from another manufacturer. Jobs typically are printed on 60-pound to 24-point paper, both coated and uncoated. Run lengths in the 3,000 to 7,000 range are most common. The new Diamond 3000LS provides a high degree of flexibility in scheduling, according to Craig. "Jobs with runs of 40,000 or 80,000 printed on two sides tie up a press for an entire day," he said. "This press allows us to accommodate those larger quantities, yet still be very efficient on shorter runs with tight deadlines. Not every press prints the same, but two similar presses from the same manufacturer offer greater interchangeability, which also improves scheduling." Craig added that another significant advantage of operating similar presses from the same manufacturer is the short learning curve. "Your operators become familiar with the mechanics of the press, and that familiarity stays with them," he said. PDM Litho has been reaping performance benefits as well because of its relationship with Mitsubishi. "Mitsubishi presses print as sharp a dot as any press in the industry," Craig said. "We achieve good speeds from the presses. They run reliably."