When it comes to success, you can’t argue with what the New England Patriots have accomplished. When it comes to dominance in the New England printing industry, there is Hadley Printing.
The full service and family owned commercial offset, digital and large format printer has ruled western Massachusetts and eastern parts of the state, as well as Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont for 123 years, dating back to 1896. The company, located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is managed today by brothers Chris and Greg Desrosiers.
Attributing their success to exceptional quality that is supported by excellent service and the latest technology, the Desrosiers have a conservative approach for making great decisions. They play to their strengths and know what works. When it came time to replace a 1970s vintage Polar paper cutter, they had a late model, 45-inch reconditioned Polar X115 machine from Colter & Peterson installed two months ago.
“I’ve always liked Polar paper cutters for their longevity. They are solid machines and we’ve had them in our facility for over 35 years,” informed Chris Desrosiers, the company’s third generation president.
“Our other Polar is a 54-inch cutter we bought new in 2008. We were close to purchasing a new machine through Polar/Heidelberg but I decided to reach out to Bruce Peterson. We’ve had our paper cutters serviced by C&P for the last 10 years. He presented me this late model machine that fit the specs I was looking for, with low mileage. It only had 2600 cuts on it. That’s almost what we do in one shift with our other cutter. The timing was right, the machine was available and we were ready to buy.”
Well executed game plan leads to equipment investment
Derosiers indicated the timing was right due to demand in his region for high end, commercial offset sheetfed printing.
“We had a strong year in 2018. I attribute it to the strong economy in our region where companies added to their marketing budgets,” he said, giving credit to his 38 employees. “We do work for direct to businesses, academic institutions, and advertising agencies and designers. We added to our sales staff and everything landed in our wheelhouse. We increased business with our existing clients and added some new customers.”
Desrosiers said there was an almost immediate impact once the machine was installed.
“We were very happy with the paper cutter and its installation. The riggers and install team were fantastic. They delivered the machine and were in and out of our facility in one day. The installer was very experienced with Polar cutters, so I had a high comfort level with the process. It was up and running within a day. Our operators have experience with the other Polar and this one has some new technology on it, but it was pretty straightforward to learn.”
The bulk of work being fed to the two Polar paper cutters comes from the commercial offset side of the business. A trio of Komori 5- and 6-color presses – including the newest, a GL40 5-color, 40-inch model with aqueous coater – are equipped with the newest technology features. Joining them on the floor of their 33,000 square-foot facility are several 2-color presses: a 40-inch Manroland, a 12-by-18 inch Ryobi, and two Hamada 11-by-17 inch models. There’s also the Canon 10000vp and 6010 presses for short-run digital work.
“We run two press shifts at 18-hours per day five days a week, and the Polars are handling all finish cutting for both text and cover. The sheets are as large as 40-inches, and they are cut down to as small as 2-by-3-1/2 inch business cards,” remarked Desrosiers. “Our press runs are the full gamut, everything from 50 to 500,000. We go anywhere from 24 pt. up to 30 pt., down to 50-pound light, medium and heavy stocks.”
Polar paper cutters come with a reputation and Desrosiers is taking advantage to the fullest extent.
“The Polar X115 is a highly accurate machine, fast and consistent. From cut to cut, the back gauge moves very quickly and I like its production speed. Sometimes we use them to cut one job for full days or 50 jobs in one day. The programming options are amazing. There are so many things it allows you do, it’s almost to the point where you can order lunch from it.
“From sales to installation, Colter & Peterson was very professional to deal with,” concludes Desrosiers. “There were a couple of minor issues that needed to be addressed and they took care of it right away. I’m very happy with this machine.”
