Prisma, Phoenix (Arizona)
Prisma exceeds customer expectations
Prisma’s tagline, “Message to Market”, says it all. The Arizona-based company views printing as only a small – but crucial – part of what they do. CEO Bob Anderson describes the company as a provider of technology-enabled marketing solutions, saying, “Our core strength is data through direct mail, analytics, and management of the marketing supply chain. As an example, we have had online portals through DokShop for more than 20 years and have over 250 ecommerce shops actively in play.”
Bob Anderson, who is celebrating his 20th year with the company, took over the business in 2000, when revenues were at $1 million and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
His strategy has worked – in 2019, the company generated $48 million in revenues.
Versatile portfolio
“The primary products we produce include direct mail and online small-transaction items such as menus and signage for retail stores, restaurants and hotels – anything needed for back office, front office, and marketing for these organizations,” Anderson says. “That also includes point-of purchase materials, customized brochures, window clings, wall graphics, vehicle wraps, and more.” The company produces more than 10,000 orders per month and 7 million plus pieces of mail per month, as well as 10,000 pick-and-pack orders per month. Although Anderson is quick to say that clients don’t care what kind of equipment you have as long as their job is done in a quality fashion and quickly, he pays close attention to his equipment configuration to be able to deliver on those customer expectations.
Ready for the future
A recent investment demonstrates that approach: Earlier this year, the company installed a Hunkeler Roll-to-Roll system inline. In conjunction with this acquisition, Prisma also added an offline Hunkeler Roll-to-Stack line equipped with a Horizon AFV- 564F Folder on the back-end to finish the rolls coming off the press into either stacked output or folded pieces. On the front-end, the Hunkeler solution features the CS8-II Rotary Cutter with chip-out capability and the DP8 module which allows dynamic perforating from sheet to sheet for flexibility in processing an even wider range of unique applications.
The investment in the press was driven by an increased need to produce variable data direct mail at a high speed. “We had cut-sheet digital before,” Anderson notes, “but we needed the speed and flexibility that inkjet could give us. We print roll-to-roll with our configuration, and then use Hunkeler/Horizon equipment for nearline finishing. The ability to take those rolls and score, perf, slit, and fold really changed the finishing model for us.”
