When Dave Hartung joined MHC Companies 15 years ago, he was an oddball. Most people in the industry sold forms, but Hartung stood out because he sold commercial printing, a product offering that hadn't yet gained popularity. Thanks to his background, Hartung made commercial printing one of the strongest businesses at the distributorship.
As a child, Hartung helped his parents at their family owned bar and restaurant in Hastings, Minn. "I was always around people, and that helped me realize I enjoyed that," he says. In 1985, Hartung landed his job as a commercial printing sales representative at a 2-color printing shop in Minneapolis, giving him the opportunity to deal closely with customers. During his three years at the company, Hartung realized that breaking into the commercial printing market was difficult, but he says he gained a thorough understanding of the production process.
When Hartung joined MHC Companies, he talked to the company's leaders, explaining that commercial printing was a virtually untapped market. Soon, the firm began expanding its business and making solid profits with commercial printing. All of the 75 accounts that Hartung handles today buy commercial printing services from MHC Companies.
By 1993, Hartung had realized the importance of adding value for customers. "There's a place for a distributorship as a one-stop solution," he says. "You provide customers with everything they want. You can be a distributor who understands the entire print marketplace--from commercial printing to graphics to prepress and mailing." As customers demanded more services and faster turnaround times, Hartung and the company expanded its capabilities to include graphic services, warehousing and inventory management, database and list management, promotional product procurement and management, and software solutions.
Hartung, who says coming to work is energizing, now is ready to take on more challenges. Recently, an MHC Companies client approached Hartung about providing large-scale fulfillment services. "The company thought, 'Here's something we're really good at. It will be good for our revenue,'" he says. "Now, we're turning into something that we were not six months ago."
MHC Companies' large-scale fulfillment services include assembly, kitting and distribution of millions of printed materials. Kitting involves breaking down large print projects and assorting them into various shapes and sizes for mass distribution. For distribution, MHC Companies takes ships preassembled or kitted materials to specified locations. Manufacturers outsource print assembly needs to MHC Companies, which brings in a large and flexible workforce for assembly. The distributorship can contact up to 50 groups of people consisting of senior citizens, community groups, local charities, youth sports groups and high-school bands for its assembly needs.
Dave Hartung, account executive at MHC Companies in Minneapolis, used his experience selling commercial printing to make it a profitable business at the distributorship.
When most students at the University of Maryland's mechanical engineering program were slapping machine parts together, John L. Smilko was more interested in how the parts actually worked and how he could make them work better. Three years into the program, the self-confessed geek and perfectionist decided to switch fields and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in computer science. Smilko's passion for technology compounded with his drive to excel make him successful in e-commerce.
In 1978, Smilko began working as a programmer/analyst with a company called Maryland Computer Services. When the company split in 1986, Smilko founded Kramer-Smilko Inc. with Richard Kramer, now Kramer-Smilko's president. Over the years, the two looked for ways to incorporate the latest technology and changes into their business. "We've always tended to do the meat-and-potatoes kinds of things and not necessarily sales and marketing," Smilko says. "We have always loved creating fast, reliable and intuitive solutions to complex problems."
When the internet became popular in the 1990s, Smilko thought Kramer-Smilko should begin offering an e-commerce solution. He knew that one would be a great way to provide value-added service to the industry. He expanded MANAGER(TM), Kramer-Smilko's operations software platform that interprets several facets of a distributorship's business, including inventory, forms management, order processing, customer service and accounting, to provide a web-based solution. In 1999, Clifton, N.J.-based Hygrade Business Group installed the software. Today, more than 100 firms use it. "The big, big thing with MANAGER is that it's web-based and requires little tweaking of customers' existing information technology infrastructure," Smilko says. "They simply buy the web solution, and it's up and running in a couple of days."
A turning point for Smilko came last year when he heard Robert Nadeau, managing principal at Northfield, Ill.-based Industrial Performance Group Inc., speak about marketplace changes and best business practices. "Once you achieve best business practices, what do you do to differentiate yourself from others?" Nadeau asked. Smilko realized that "you're talking to an industry that's product-oriented. Differentiation and the delivery of value in the future will be determined by process, not product."
He then came up with the idea to repackage MANAGER with sales and consulting services to assist customers. The system, to be formally launched as Renaissance next month, is a new business model that will reinvent supply-chain management in the industry, Smilko says. The system will deliver value to end users through significant cost savings in product acquisition.
Smilko spent many nights analyzing the new business model. "What's happening in the industry is only a threat if one refuses to act," he says. "The flip slide of tumultuous change is great opportunity. What challenges me is to seize that opportunity."
Preeti Vasishtha is assistant editor of Print Solutions. Email her your comments at pvasishtha@PSDA.org.
John L. Smilko, vice president of supplier Kramer-Smilko Inc., Bel Air, Md., developed an operations software platform that interprets many facets of a distributorship's business, including inventory, forms management, order processing, customer service and accounting. Next month, the firm will release an e-procurement system called Renaissance that Smilko hopes will reinvent supply-chain management in the industry.
