Company
TuMarx Printing
Abbottsford, Wisconsin

Profile
Mark Gorke began his printing company in 1983 with his sister-in-law in a small 1,000 square foot shop. The business quickly outgrew the small space and it was moved to a larger building. In 1995, Mark bought a print shop in Medford, WI and in 2001 he joined forces with Mark Renderman. With a play on words, they renamed their business "TuMarx" Printing. With a small staff of four full-time employees, they are truly a business printer, offering catalogs, brochures, forms and other business needs.

Challenge
TuMarx Printing had been manually making their plates in-house. The company was experiencing errors in their plates and decided to upgrade to a computer-to-plate solution. In doing so, TuMarx needed versatile 4-up capability due to the variety of presses in their shop.

Solution
Printware Platestream Violet 4 Computer to Metal Plate System

Results

• Immediate reduction in plate making time
• Reduced Cost of materials
• Eliminated errors in plates

Computer-to-Plate Workflow
TuMarx Printing officially began in 2001 with the
Abbottsford, Wisconsin partnership of Mark Gorke and Mark Renderman. Profile Mark Gorke started in the printing industry in 1983 and later bought a print shop in 1995. The two joined forces six years later and changed their name from 1st City Printing to TuMarx Printing.

"We have several different presses in our shop," Mark Gorke comments. "With this variety of presses, we were concerned with upgrading and the machine not being compatible." Gorke chose the Printware PlateStream Violet 4 computer-to-plate system for its compatibility with 4-up presses.

The Printware Decision
With TuMarx now seeing great savings in time spent making plates, the company began looking into improving their system. Gorke said, "We decided the Printware PlateStream Violet 4 fit our needs. Its versatility and speed were the features that attracted us from the beginning, but we were surprised at the changes it brought to our company.”

The Printware PlateStream® Violet 4 system was installed in July of 2007, and they've already seen significant improvements. Gorke commented, "Deciding to go to the PlateStream has benefited not only our staff and business, but also our customers. It's been a great addition.”

Results of the Violet 4
Before acquiring the Printware PlateStream Violet 4, TuMarx made plates manually. This process was long and tedious, sometimes taking two or more days to get jobs to the press. Not only was time an issue, but because TuMarx was recycling and reusing their plates, they were finding mistakes in their jobs. These mistakes added to the prolonged time it took to complete each order. With the Printware PlateStream® Violet, the company is
able to receive an order, make the plates, and then have it on the press within the same day. He added, "The savings in time helped us decide on the Violet 4. Our staff is now able to turn around jobs within a day or two, which otherwise would have taken weeks. These benefits undoubtedly make our customers happy, which is our primary goal in business."

Other features of the new Printware PlateStream Violet 4 that benefited TuMarx printing were the previewing station and ease of use that the machine offered. “With the previewing station, we are now able to view prior to making the plate and we can thus make any necessary changes. This saves on mistakes and the time it takes to go back and remake these plates”, stated Gorke. Also, the ease of use was important to TuMarx Printing. With being such a small printer, all employees needed to know how to use the new Printware PlateStream. Gorke added, “Minimal training was needed to get our machine rolling. The learning process was simple and to the point, and if any questions came up, the Printware technicians were always available to help.” The results and benefits of this machine are remarkable. TuMarx is now seeing the impact of savings on time and material costs. The quality and accuracy of finished plates are two other key features that were immediate and significant.

Working with Printware
Gorke commented. "Printware was very easy to work with. Their techs were fast and efficient." TuMarx was very impressed with the smooth and fast installation. TuMarx staff now calls Printware’s customer support line to solve small problems as they arise. “With their great phone support, I was able to fix my problem fast”, Gorke said.