Trend Offset: Taking Major Steps

Between adding a facility, hosting a technology summit, and naming a new CEO, Trend Offset Printing Services, Inc. had a busy and productive year in 2016 – and plans to continue upping its game this year.

The Los Alamitos, CA-based Trend Offset is a full-service commercial printer with a portfolio of services that includes pre-media services, heatset and coldset web offset printing, cut-sheet toner, and roll-to-roll inkjet digital printing, coupled with complete finishing services including perfect binding, saddle stitching, mail, and distribution. Its focus is in four primary markets: publications, direct mail, catalogs, and retail inserts.

The company began as a small printing operation in Long Beach, CA , in the 1950s. Incorporated in 1986 by brothers Robert and Anthony Lienau, Trend Offset remains family-owned and managed. Its history is dotted with milestones such as the opening of new facilities across the country, pioneering new technologies like CTP in 1995 and installing one of the first roll-to-roll inkjet presses that can print on offset stocks in the United States.

‘Substantial growth’

The year just ended was a big one for Trend, according to director of communications Michelle Ratzlaff. “We experienced substantial growth in two key areas of our business: first, with the grand opening of our first digital press facility, and second, with the opening of our fourth location in Walton, KY” on September 1. There are currently 1,000 employees.

The privately-held company has experienced what management terms “incredible stability and growth” over the years, in contrast, says Ratzlaff, to the “turmoil and consolidation in the printing industry as a whole.” Trend notched $310 million in total sales for 2016, she adds.

The firm serves a wide variety of companies in several sectors. “Historically,” says Ratzlaff, “Trend’s core client base has comprised magazine publishers and advertisers. While this has not changed overall, we have experienced a resurgence in demand from the business sector due to the addition of our digital press fleet, which is able to meet the needs of consumer service industries like healthcare and financial institutions.”

Indeed, 2016 saw the company takes a series of major steps. In early August, and in response to increasing client interest in the firm’s newly opened Digital Marketing Solutions Center, Trend acquired the new IBIS Smart Binder SB-3 bookmaking system to complement the existing MBO offline finishing equipment.

“Trend is very excited to add new functionality that will enhance our extensive menu of existing configurations and services that provide our customers with a plethora of options to reach their audience,” says John Bryant, vice president, digital marketing solutions, at the time. “The SB-3 enhances our digital marketing solutions with high-speed binding complete with piece-level tracking. Trend continues to demonstrate a solid commitment to its customers by making serious investments in meaningful solutions that allow them to easily transition between the product configurations they desire.”

At the same time, and in response to steadily increasing client demand, Trend also acquired two new Goss SP 2200 Pacesetter saddle-stitching machines for its California and Florida facilities. The technology, configured with selective binding capabilities and inkjet personalization, is intended to provide clients with greater flexibility in versioning, inserting, and demographic stitching.

“Trend sent a team to drupa to research the latest in technology and what equipment will help provide the best value in the marketplace,” says Steve Furlong, chief operating officer, at the time. “We were impressed with the Goss SP 2200 with its unique pocket features that allow crews to reverse feed the pockets in just minutes. These stitchers are truly state-of-the art equipment that reduce make-ready times and increase run speeds – keeping Trend extremely competitive in today’s market.”

Then, in October, Todd Nelson was named the company’s new chief executive officer. He had served as the company’s president for 10 years during a key growth period, and oversaw unprecedented growth as Trend expanded from a one-plant regional printer into a three-location national printer. Nelson’s client relationships and business growth expertise, together with his awareness and involvement with Trend’s key vendor partnerships, made him an ideal fit for the position of CEO, according to the company.

Educating print marketers

In the spring of 2016, Trend also hosted a Technology Summit at its corporate headquarters. Its purpose was to introduce clients to the new addition to its California campus, the Digital Marketing Solutions Center – where the firm’s digital print and finishing operations are located. At the heart of the Center is its Canon Océ ImageStream 2400 roll-to-roll inkjet press, the latest addition to Trend Offset’s press fleet (installation was completed in early 2016).

In all, Trend hosted more than 200 clients with the support from some of its technology partners during the two-day event, which included tours of the facility, breakout sessions on a variety of topics, and keynote speakers from industry professionals.

Celebrating the opening of Trend’s new Digital Marketing Solutions Center, the Technology Summit brought partners like Canon Solutions America, Xerox, Ricoh, Sappi, West Linn, MBO, Catalyst, EFI, USPS, DBM Group, and CX Group together to educate print marketers on the latest in print innovation. The Summit’s theme, Blazing Trails on the Road to Innovation, represented Trend’s continuing pledge to speed-to-market by bringing the newest print technology to its customers.

“Trend believes that in order to empower our clients to thrive, we must go above and beyond to provide value in the form of access to information and education,” Ratzlaff explains. “Our Technology Summit was one example of how we provide that value.”

Expansion and the future

Recently, the company expanded to a fourth printing facility in the Midwest in order to meet customer demand for greater capacity and improved distribution options. By adding a fourth location in the Midwest, Trend has created a comprehensive national distribution footprint that offers customers more effective shipping and mailing solutions.

In combining strategic locations in California, Texas, Florida, and Kentucky with a distribute-and-print model, Trend can now effectively cover most of the largest U.S. cities within a one-day drive of each facility, decreasing shipping costs for its clients. Trend Midwest is now fully operational and exceeding the quality standards of its clients that require distribution efficiency to the Midwestern and northeastern states.

The firm’s network now looks like this:

• The facility in Los Alamitos includes 13 heatset and coldset presses and complete finishing services. A Digital Marketing Solutions Center features three digital press lines and a finishing line.
• The plant in Carrollton, TX, utilizes five heatset and coldset presses and complete finishing services.
• In Jacksonville, FL, Trend's facility houses six heatset and coldset presses and complete finishing services.
• The Walton, KY plant includes a trio of presses and complete finishing services.

“This expansion will allow Trend to better serve and support the needs of our growing client base,” reports the company. “ We are very excited to enter the Midwest region, with Trend’s signature high-quality web offset printing and finishing.”

In 2017, Trend will focus more comprehensively on engaging with its customer base.

“Our investments last year were inspired by the voices of our clients and their need for more choice, better distribution and more options for personalization,” Ratzlaff concludes. “Now that we have made investments in the technology to help us meet those client desires, Trend will focus on helping our customers grow their businesses and succeed by leveraging new options that will enable them to flourish as communicators and marketers.”

Trending Green

In addition to having three of its facilities tri-certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and the new Walton facility FSC-certified (and in the process of tri-certification), Trend Offset demonstrates its commitment to the environment in numerous other ways as well. Here are just a few examples:

• It evaluates the environmental practices of its suppliers. For example, Trend’s largest supplier of ink and other press chemicals has a long dedication to producing materials using renewable resources and doing so in a way that creates the smallest carbon-footprint possible. Its inks qualify for the ASA (American Soy Association) seal because of their content of soy oil.
• Trend recycles virtually 100% of the paper waste it generates. This material is marketed directly to consumers of recyclable paper where it is used to make products such as printing paper, cardboard boxes, and wallboard.
• Its used ink finds a home in two ways. First, it recycles some inks onsite (zero carbon footprint) for use in the printing process. The company remanufactures some of its own black ink in this way. This saves on transport and outside recycling cost and lowers its cost to customers for a portion of the ink used in their print jobs. Then, it sends the ink (and other press chemicals) that cannot be recycled to leading disposal firms. One “end of life” home for this material is as fuel in kilns used to dry concrete and bricks.
• Its non-hazardous water waste is sent out in 5,000-gallon tank trucks (for efficiency, inventory is held on-site until it reaches full load quantities) where it is clarified, treated, and used in irrigation and dust-control applications.
• Every plant utilizes RTO “afterburners” that incinerate over 99% of the VOCs from its heatset printing presses.
• The company recycles 100% of its aluminum lithographic printing plates.
• It has implemented a Transportation Management System (TMS), which enables the firm to manage the movement of finished product from its door to its customers with high efficiency. “While the primary benefit our customers may see is sustainable low freight costs, one facet of this program is that it minimizes the carbon footprint associated with shipping our products.”

Trending Green

In addition to having three of its facilities tri-certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and the new Walton facility FSC-certified (and in the process of tri-certification), Trend Offset demonstrates its commitment to the environment in numerous other ways as well. Here are just a few examples:

• It evaluates the environmental practices of its suppliers. For example, Trend’s largest supplier of ink and other press chemicals has a long dedication to producing materials using renewable resources and doing so in a way that creates the smallest carbon-footprint possible. Its inks qualify for the ASA (American Soy Association) seal because of their content of soy oil.
• Trend recycles virtually 100% of the paper waste it generates. This material is marketed directly to consumers of recyclable paper where it is used to make products such as printing paper, cardboard boxes, and wallboard.
• Its used ink finds a home in two ways. First, it recycles some inks onsite (zero carbon footprint) for use in the printing process. The company remanufactures some of its own black ink in this way. This saves on transport and outside recycling cost and lowers its cost to customers for a portion of the ink used in their print jobs. Then, it sends the ink (and other press chemicals) that cannot be recycled to leading disposal firms. One “end of life” home for this material is as fuel in kilns used to dry concrete and bricks.
• Its non-hazardous water waste is sent out in 5,000-gallon tank trucks (for efficiency, inventory is held on-site until it reaches full load quantities) where it is clarified, treated, and used in irrigation and dust-control applications.
• Every plant utilizes RTO “afterburners” that incinerate over 99% of the VOCs from its heatset printing presses.
• The company recycles 100% of its aluminum lithographic printing plates.
• It has implemented a Transportation Management System (TMS), which enables the firm to manage the movement of finished product from its door to its customers with high efficiency. “While the primary benefit our customers may see is sustainable low freight costs, one facet of this program is that it minimizes the carbon footprint associated with shipping our products.”