Anthony Locicero, Associate Editor03.15.19
It was back in 1994 when childhood friends Michael Fontana and Chris Joyaux believed that many Chicago-area businesses needed a more cost-effective way to handle direct mail campaigns.
“At first, we took on smaller projects, aiming to do such an excellent job that we’d be invited to bid on the larger ones too,” Fontana recalled. “It’s a very simple strategy, but it worked perfectly for us. Within a few years, we were managing full-color jobs with complex requirements that enabled us to invest in advanced presses, and eventually, the inserting and finishing equipment we have now.”
Joyaux and Fontana founded American Litho, which began with “a handful of employees with a single press to a workforce of 350 offering integrated data, design, print, mailing and digital marketing services for some of the world’s best-known brands,” said Fontana, the company president.
American Litho operates out of a 320,000-square-foot plant in Carol Stream, IL. It is among the Top 5 catalog producers in the nation, according to Printing Impressions, and was named the No. 1 mid-sized employer in the area by the Chicago Tribune.
The company generates $125 million in annual sales, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“It’s great to be recognized for the positive work environment we’ve created – a place where people can grow and thrive,” Fontana said.
According to Fontana, American Litho has a very diverse client base – businesses in the manufacturing, travel, consumer goods and health care industries, as well as the performing arts sector – “because we look for new challenges all the time.”
Most of the businesses American Litho serves, he noted, are major retailers who use print, digital and social media to reach their customer base.
“They rely on us for innovative strategies that work in the mailbox, in stores and online,” Fontana said, adding that the company also serves financial service organizations that offer business and consumer services nationwide.
“They value our approach to direct mail efficiency, including full-color, data-driven personalization and special printing effects proven to lift response rates,” he continued.
American Litho uses high-speed web and offset presses with full in-line capabilities, and has invested in equipment such as the HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press “so that client companies can personalize every direct mail package they ship, even when mailings total in the millions,” Fontana said.
“High-speed equipment with precise color control is essential to the success of every project we handle,” he added. “Our digital printing capabilities are ideal for focused projects such as test mailings, where we want to duplicate the quality usually reserved for larger mailings but keep costs modest. Also, for clients who have unique display and signage needs, we offer wide-format design and printing on substrates from vinyl to metal to laminate and beyond.”
hubergroup supplies American Litho with its inks for heat-set, web, sheetfed, UV and conventional offset applications.
“Our ink vendors need to be real partners and deliver solutions that ultimately deliver results to our customer. We select our ink vendors based on service record, proven product performance and product consistency,” Fontana said.
American Litho’s president praised hubergroup.
“They are a service-oriented, customer focused supplier,” Fontana noted. “They are also one of the companies leading the charge on sustainability and the Green Initiative. Their commitment to the environment is a good fit with our values.”
Listening to Customers
Recognition by the media as well as Great Lakes Graphics Association awards aren’t the only places where American Litho differs from its competitors.
“Every printer is concerned with quality and cost efficiency. These goals are crucial, but in my mind, they’re just the start,” Fontana said. “What sets us apart is our habit of going deeper and asking more questions every time. The conversation doesn’t begin and end with price, nor does it center solely on the problems the client wants to solve.
“We listen to their concerns, but we widen the discussion to find other ways we can help.”
Questions that Fontana and his staff consider and ask include:
• “Is this the best format to use?”
• “Can we make simple changes that will cut cycle times and improve response rates for stronger return on investment?”
• “Are we taking full advantage of customer data insights?”
“Questions like these show that we don’t want to do average work,” Fontana noted. “Our goal is to help the client deliver irresistible offers and appeals to the people they care about, which takes research and creativity on our part. Clients also appreciate having one point of contact from start to finish, with every detail of their projects handled under one roof.
“This brings clarity and efficiency to the process and makes their work so much easier.”
American Litho is G7 Master Printer certified.
As part of its community outreach, the company has also raised money for the American Cancer Society.
“At first, we took on smaller projects, aiming to do such an excellent job that we’d be invited to bid on the larger ones too,” Fontana recalled. “It’s a very simple strategy, but it worked perfectly for us. Within a few years, we were managing full-color jobs with complex requirements that enabled us to invest in advanced presses, and eventually, the inserting and finishing equipment we have now.”
Joyaux and Fontana founded American Litho, which began with “a handful of employees with a single press to a workforce of 350 offering integrated data, design, print, mailing and digital marketing services for some of the world’s best-known brands,” said Fontana, the company president.
American Litho operates out of a 320,000-square-foot plant in Carol Stream, IL. It is among the Top 5 catalog producers in the nation, according to Printing Impressions, and was named the No. 1 mid-sized employer in the area by the Chicago Tribune.
The company generates $125 million in annual sales, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“It’s great to be recognized for the positive work environment we’ve created – a place where people can grow and thrive,” Fontana said.
According to Fontana, American Litho has a very diverse client base – businesses in the manufacturing, travel, consumer goods and health care industries, as well as the performing arts sector – “because we look for new challenges all the time.”
Most of the businesses American Litho serves, he noted, are major retailers who use print, digital and social media to reach their customer base.
“They rely on us for innovative strategies that work in the mailbox, in stores and online,” Fontana said, adding that the company also serves financial service organizations that offer business and consumer services nationwide.
“They value our approach to direct mail efficiency, including full-color, data-driven personalization and special printing effects proven to lift response rates,” he continued.
American Litho uses high-speed web and offset presses with full in-line capabilities, and has invested in equipment such as the HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press “so that client companies can personalize every direct mail package they ship, even when mailings total in the millions,” Fontana said.
“High-speed equipment with precise color control is essential to the success of every project we handle,” he added. “Our digital printing capabilities are ideal for focused projects such as test mailings, where we want to duplicate the quality usually reserved for larger mailings but keep costs modest. Also, for clients who have unique display and signage needs, we offer wide-format design and printing on substrates from vinyl to metal to laminate and beyond.”
hubergroup supplies American Litho with its inks for heat-set, web, sheetfed, UV and conventional offset applications.
“Our ink vendors need to be real partners and deliver solutions that ultimately deliver results to our customer. We select our ink vendors based on service record, proven product performance and product consistency,” Fontana said.
American Litho’s president praised hubergroup.
“They are a service-oriented, customer focused supplier,” Fontana noted. “They are also one of the companies leading the charge on sustainability and the Green Initiative. Their commitment to the environment is a good fit with our values.”
Listening to Customers
Recognition by the media as well as Great Lakes Graphics Association awards aren’t the only places where American Litho differs from its competitors.
“Every printer is concerned with quality and cost efficiency. These goals are crucial, but in my mind, they’re just the start,” Fontana said. “What sets us apart is our habit of going deeper and asking more questions every time. The conversation doesn’t begin and end with price, nor does it center solely on the problems the client wants to solve.
“We listen to their concerns, but we widen the discussion to find other ways we can help.”
Questions that Fontana and his staff consider and ask include:
• “Is this the best format to use?”
• “Can we make simple changes that will cut cycle times and improve response rates for stronger return on investment?”
• “Are we taking full advantage of customer data insights?”
“Questions like these show that we don’t want to do average work,” Fontana noted. “Our goal is to help the client deliver irresistible offers and appeals to the people they care about, which takes research and creativity on our part. Clients also appreciate having one point of contact from start to finish, with every detail of their projects handled under one roof.
“This brings clarity and efficiency to the process and makes their work so much easier.”
American Litho is G7 Master Printer certified.
As part of its community outreach, the company has also raised money for the American Cancer Society.