DES PLAINES, IL, Schawk, Inc. a leading provider of brand development and deployment services, enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers, announced today it has executed a formal supply agreement with American Yuncheng Gravure Cylinder, Inc. (AYGCI) located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. AYGCI is the U.S. subsidiary of Yuncheng Plate Making Group Co, Ltd., the world's largest manufacturer of gravure printing cylinders.

This strategic relationship and supplier agreement is expected to allow Schawk to expand its current gravure cylinder engraving capabilities in the North American region, thereby further enhancing its portfolio of brand development and deployment services.

Schawk's Chief Operating Officer, A. Alex Sarkisian, commented, "By forming an alliance with American Yuncheng, we are better-positioned to deliver expanded world-class gravure cylinder engraving services to our clients in North America while continuing to focus our internal capital investments into technology and leading edge modes of communication both domestically and internationally, particularly in developing and emerging regions."

Mr. Sarkisian added, "We have been doing business in Asia since the late 1990s, and as part of the services we routinely perform for our clients, we were familiar with the high quality products and services provided by the Yuncheng Group. We look forward to doing business with American Yuncheng in North America and believe that this relationship will be beneficial not only for Schawk but for the overall market as well."

"We are pleased to have entered into this agreement with Schawk," said Wenchun Li, CEO of American Yuncheng. "Schawk is well known in its industry and has a reputation as a world-class provider of brand development and deployment services globally. I believe that combining Schawk's capabilities and excellence and Yuncheng's world- class quality and efficiency will further elevate the quality of service and products delivered to the North American brand imaging market."