Click here for a printable version (.pdf) of this edition of Notes

This dossier contains top-secret case studies of the John Roberts Company (aka JR). The enclosed f iles reveal the full breadth of JR’s capabilities‑–information that, until now, had remained closely guarded.

You’ll also find the secret combination to a cache of documents disclosing JR’s formulas for success. Crack the code to gain knowledge of their vast operations. Refer to it often.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to study these files and determine how John Roberts can solve even your most vexing print, finishing and mailing projects. By accepting this mission and acting on it, your time will be freed up and you can go home at a decent hour instead of digging around in someone’s file drawers for the answers.

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From the President’s desk

“I didn’t know you did that!”

This is the response our John Roberts sales reps often hear when they discuss our full range of services with clients and prospects. Since its inception 55 years ago, JR has achieved nationwide recognition as a high-quality commercial printer. But our excellence goes far beyond the printed page and includes a full arsenal of capabilities. These include, for example, such specialized processes as stochastic and UV printing, CAD services and package design, diecutting, fulfillment, mailing and mail personalization services – the list goes on and on. Our broad capabilities are supported by state-of-the-art equipment, such as our recent acquisition of a 10-color sheetfed press. What’s more, we pride ourselves in hiring the industry’s best and brightest experts in print, finishing and direct mail production.

You’ll find the full disclosure of our capabilities tucked inside this issue of JR Notes. We invite you to “crack open the safe” and learn how John Roberts is well-positioned to take your entire project from concept to fulfillment.

Pursuit of the ultimate customer experience is the mission we’ve accepted. The following pages are a peek into our files to show you how we use our resources and creativity to turn each client’s “Mission: Impossible” into “Mission: Accomplished.”

Michael Keene
President
The John Roberts Company

This is where we draw the line.

Case Study: Packaging/folded cartons

Project Challenges: Package design must be both functional and attractive; files prepared by outside agency.

JR’s Solutions: Understand customer’s operations; create design template. Fish aren’t the only prey that need to be lured in. At the other end of the line is the customer who chooses fishing apparatus because the package did its job. “We’ve been working with Pure Fishing for years and provide many types of boxes for their fishing lines,” says JR account coordinator Susan Burner. The Stren packages include diecuts that reveal the spool and label, as well as allow the line to be threaded from the box and onto the fishing reel.

“Bernie Palmer, their JR account executive, has made many trips to their plant in Spirit Lake, Iowa, to see what their line production needs are and the uses,” says Sue. “That way, we can better understand why a flap is a certain size, and the best way to build the carton based on how the spool is placed in it.”

But the box needs to be more than functional. “A few years ago, they had their agency update their packaging to command more attention,” Susan says. “The new design looked great on the screen, but the layers didn’t translate well for reproduction. Our desktop department helped out by building the layers and creating templates for them to use. Now, ongoing package design is a more turn-key process for them and more compatible with printing.” JR continues to work with their designers as Pure Fishing’s packaging needs evolve.

Where is the Wi-Fi access for my folder?

Case Study: Presentation folder

Project Challenges: Create a folder with “wow” power to include product inserts and hold a CD.

JR’s Solutions: CAD design replicated notebook computer screen and keyboard incorporating inserts and CD holder.

Say you’re selling ergonomic equipment for a laptop. How do you get your prospects to stand up and take notice?

JR’s solution for Ergotron was to develop a presentation folder that was both functional and, well, fun! When opened, the folder “became” a notebook computer. The top half included a pocket with a 9.5” x 6.5” diecut “screen,” revealing a hologram-type lenticular print of the product. The pocket could also hold sell sheets slipped behind the lenticular. The bottom half represented a keyboard, with a pull-out CD holder.

By getting in on the design stage, JR was able to use CAD capabilities to create mockups of a notebook. “The client was bowled over when we presented the initial design,” says JR account rep Matt Herkenhoff. “We went through a number of different mockups, all created by our CAD department.”

When choosing stock, sturdiness was a prime consideration. A 150# Utopia Premium Silk Cover stock was used, starting with a 28” x 40” sheet printed on a sheetfed press. The forms then required diecuts and scoring for the notebook screen, tabs and pull-out CD holder. Next, the sheets were folded down to 9” x 12”, assembled and glued, all by hand. At the final step, the CD, lenticular print and sell sheets were inserted. “The client just loved it,” recalls Herkenhoff. “And it was a huge hit at their product kickoff seminar.”

It’s, like, glittery!

Case Study: Catalog

Project Challenge: Develop a piece that appeals to preteen girls.

JR’s Solutions: Thick glossy UV coating with suspended sparkles on cover.

How does a direct mail catalog compete with iPods, InStyle and MTV to grab the attention of a preteen girl? JR helped Target find a way.

“I was carrying with me a small sample from our inhouse ink room when I met with my client,” says JR account rep Chris Dahl. “It was a gloss UV coating with suspended sparkles. My client thought this was a perfect solution.”

Because sparkle UV coating was a new process, testing needed to be built into the timetable to achieve the best results without jeopardizing Target’s drop date. “The UV coating was rolled on extra-thick to accommodate the sparkle bits, requiring specialized rollers,” explains Dahl.

Catalog production included both a web press for the guts and sheetfed press for the cover. John Roberts Direct handled the mailing of the more than 1.1 million pieces to complete the project.

It’s not just green , it’s turf!

Case Study: Catalog

Project Challenges: Color must match product; eliminate moiré pattern on clothing.

JR’s Solutions: Color correction, stochastic printing, sheetfed and web synchronization. PremiumWear’s 84-page catalog of Page & Tuttle golf wear included more than 400 color swatches. The client came to JR unsatisfied with the work done on a previous catalog at another printer – to them, the colors were flat and not true. This time, they wanted a better match to their clothing line.

The Solution: Let JR do the color matching. “To match the colors, we brought in a truckload of product – hundreds of shirts,” JR account rep Mike Nordberg says. “It looked like a Nordstrom store with all the clothing hanging around. We literally put the product right up to the sheet and tweaked the color until the match was perfect.” Due to the extensive volume of critical matches that were needed, the decision was made to do the work up front in the prep department rather than “fix it on press.”

Also at issue was the tendency to get a moiré pattern when printing clothing. “Stochastic printing is perfectly suited to clothing – especially patterned and striped,” Nordberg says. “With stochastic, you don’t have the conflict of screen angles and clothing textures.” The end result: sharp, true color, with the clothing’s texture coming through undistorted.

The client also asked JR to solve one other concern from their previous catalog: colors on the cover, run on a sheetfed press, didn’t match the inside pages, which were run on a web. JR’s solution was to run them at the same time, using the first form approved as the color match for all other forms run on both the web and sheetfed presses.

Code words: Sleds leap through seamless slopes

Case Study: Catalog

Project Challenges: Photo crossovers; top secret information; unique color needed.

JR’s Solutions: Careful matching on press and in bindery; stringent security measures; special ink color developed on site.

Arctic Cat is all about expansiveness – moving on snowmobile from point A to point B through pristine winterscapes. Naturally, their 48-page catalog needed to reflect that, requiring many crossovers in the 9” x 22” spreads. “It was important to match color – which was especially challenging since we printed on three presses,” recalls JR account rep Jerry Olson. To accomplish this, the presses were “fingerprinted” – a technique that documents how each press will print on the various grades of paper involved – and then calibrated accordingly. Registration in bindery was carefully tended to, as well, to keep the large photo spreads virtually seamless.

Production security was also a concern that the client requested and JR took seriously. “We flagged the project as it moved through each department so every employee involved would know to take extra steps to ensure security,” says Olson. “Every load was marked and all waste was shredded and baled immediately.”

Another client request was to develop a unique green color. JR mixed process colors with a metallic, achieving a pearlized metallic green that appears to leap off the page.