May 24, 2007 -- CARTHAGE, Tex. -- Out in the east Texas town of Carthage, a 14-year-old general commercial printer is providing in-house services no other local printing firm currently offers. Complete Printing & Publishing Inc. is a small company that thinks big. New technology, including a Mitsubishi Diamond 3000R convertible sheetfed perfector with coater, is helping the $3 million company deliver big-business quality and service. "We wanted to expand our production capabilities and also expand into the six-color, 40-inch printing market," said Randy Liedtke, general manager and one of three partners in the company. Liedtke is joined in managing the firm by partners Jim Holder, sales and marketing manager, and Joe Holder, information technology manager. "The new press has allowed us to compete for larger jobs due to the sheet size and fast makeready speed," Liedtke added. "In addition, until now, the Dallas Metroplex area was the closest place for print buyers to find a six-color, 40-inch press. We have been able to pull some work back to our community that otherwise has been going out of the immediate area." Housed in a 15,000-square-foot plant staffed by 32 employees are full-service graphics, bindery and mailing departments. Complete Printing & Publishing's postpress operation includes folding, stitching and small-quantity perfect binding. Previously a user of half-size presses, Complete Printing & Publishing produces everything from simple business cards and letterheads to magazines, directories and brochures. The Diamond 3000R is replacing a four-color, 28-inch press. The company will retain a two-color, 26-inch perfector used to print a sizeable amount of short-run one-over-one work. With the Diamond 3000R configured for two-over-four or straight six-color printing, Complete Printing & Publishing plans to extend its reach into magazine printing that requires higher volume and bigger page counts. "Being able to print 16-page signatures in one pass instead of eight-page signatures allows us to compete for jobs with larger quantities," Liedtke said. "We print a lot of two-over-two jobs, too, which also makes this press a huge asset." While Complete Printing & Publishing considered sheetfed presses offered by other manufacturers, it chose the Diamond 3000R for several reasons. In large part, the printing company was impressed with the versatility of the Mitsubishi equipment. "We went to last year's Graph Expo show with the intention of buying an eight-color, half-size perfector," Liedtke recalled. "No one in our area can print four-over-four. We looked at several different presses. In the end, though, we decided that the six-color, 40-inch press gave us more capabilities. In terms of stock type, the Mitsubishi press runs onion skin up to 24-point board. One of the markets we are expanding into is carton printing for the food industry." Liedtke said another significant advantage of the six-color, 40-inch perfector over the eight-color, half-size model is cost. "The actual cost of the Mitsubishi press was less," he said. Complete Printing & Publishing upgraded its electronic prepress to accommodate the Diamond 3000R. The company installed a Screen PlateRite 8300S thermal computer-to-plate (CTP) device. The platesetter features full automation and handles eight-up plate production. It replaced a PlateRite 4100 four-up CTP that had been in operation for two years. For further productivity and quality gains, the Diamond 3000R is equipped with an X-Rite closed-loop scanning spectrophotometer. The Mitsubishi ColorLink CIP4 server connects the COMRAC press control to prepress. "The data server and closed-loop color control system have really improved makeready times," Liedtke noted. "Prepress data is transferred directly to the press. Ink keys are automatically adjusted. The press gets up to color faster and more accurately. That is very important. Everybody wants the job done quickly. No matter how good a printer you are, if you can't turn the job around, you still have a chance of losing the customer."