STATISTICS
Name: Corporate Graphics International
Country: United States
Employees: 300
Corporate Graphics International Home Page
Company Report: Corporate Graphics International |
Using cutting edge technology and an old-school knack for customer service, CGI is reinventing what a commercial printing company can be. Written by A.F. Hutchinson & Produced by Seth Lull |
| June, 2010 |
MANAGEMENT Mankato, Minnesota-based Corporate Graphics International (CGI) is more than your typical commercial printer. Of course they do plenty of customized printing for their Fortune 1000 customers – everything from business cards and office products to e-commerce solutions – but their core competency is helping organizations sustain their corporate identity. A host of global household name companies depend on CGI’s distinctive approach to corporate communications products. Because CGI’s customer base is comprised of large firms with complex organizational structures and unique circumstances, their responses to each company’s needs are tailored to the finest detail. With a stellar performance record that includes an accuracy rate of 99.80 percent and an on-time rate of 98.42 percent, it’s no wonder industry titans turn to CGI for innovative print, electronic and communications solutions. Securing a niche in the volatile printing business requires getting dirty, a fact that’s not lost on company president Dave Gahn. CGI’s parent, Taylor Corporation, “owns 30 different brands of occasion and greeting cards from wedding invitations to holiday greeting cards and so forth. We were already experts in doing small runs; 100 and 200 of high quality, personalized items. This part of the printing business is the crummy part. Most folks want to set up a press run for eight hours and one million copies. Our press operators set up maybe 50 times a day at any one of our operations, run 100 pieces, and so our legacy in the wedding invitation and in the occasions group is a natural progression to corporate ID. We do lots of high quality, strict style guideline controlled images in small lots.” INFO, PLEASE “We are a specialist and a quantifiable, verifiable industry leader in a slice of collaterals called corporate identity products,” Gahn says. “At its heart, corporate identity – let’s take a business card – is an exchange that is permission-based. You don’t generally stuff a business card in somebody’s pocket; you have to engage in some sort of conversation and exchange cards because of a common interest or relevancy that you have. As a result of that permission-based exchange, there’s also the anticipation of further contact in a relevant context. “All of those precepts have been important in business and will go on for ever and ever -- maybe longer,” he laughs. “But they are trending toward the use of electronic devices. Electronic communication is a more virtual exchange, so even though the things that we write invoices for today are printed products, our business is really facilitating those permission-based exchanges of relevant information that can be shared, stored, and retrieved easily.” Gahn theorizes that business cards are likely to “have a longer tail” in the transition to mobile electronic devices than other customized office products like letterhead and envelopes. “We currently offer a solution set that addresses and bridges the use of business cards to electronic mediums through the use of 2-D barcodes, QR codes or Microsoft® tags,” he says, noting that a virtual exchange offers the potential for a richer and more robust brand experience beyond a logo and tagline. CONVERGE™ CGI’s leading-edge online ordering site, Converge™, enables customers to quickly and painlessly order their personalized business products. Converge extends the power of a company’s marketing communications department by insuring that style guides and corporate branding initiatives stay consistent within an organization, no matter how large it may be. CUSTOM CARE Leveraging the power of green is one of a number of ways CGI takes care of its customers. “We have to be green in the way that we produce things and also support the green initiatives that our customers and their partners have. We’ve just recently moved all of our house stocks to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) stocks and improving in-house manufacturing techniques to drive down waste and the use of toxic components and resources,” he stresses. A large service footprint further supports CGI’s value-added approach. “We are probably the only corporate ID specialist that has different plants in the United States. And that does two things: on the green side it means that these cards aren’t sitting on trucks and going across country, and it greatly improves our shipping time,” he notes. “Our facilities are ISO certified; we have Six Sigma and lean initiatives that are part and parcel of our operating methods. We use technology to drive down costs, add value and be more responsible as a citizen of the earth when it comes to energy and the environment.” CREATING COMMUNITY “One of the indulgences we have is a private company, is that we don’t have to always run those 90-day races and make a bunch of shareholders happy and report to Wall Street,” Gahn laughs. As a member of the Taylor Corporation family of companies, CGI is backed by one of the largest privately-owned firms in the country. “People don’t know that we’re five different businesses, and bigger than any one would guess,” he adds. “Part of our corporate ethos and the motto of our company is to provide opportunity and security for employees. You would never hear that from a public company.” “Our leader, Jean Taylor, is a really strong advocate of community involvement and giving back to the community. If you wrote this story and didn’t include that you’d miss a lot about the ethos and rhythm of our company,” he warns genially. With a powerhouse combination of small runs, smart solutions and a supportive environment for clients and employees alike, CGI is well-positioned to stay at the top of their game for a very long time. |
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