Trade offset pioneer Millenium Printing (MPI) teams up with Mitsubishi. Installation of first-ever Tandem DIAMOND 3000TP 8-colour complements company’s ongoing expansion.
For the past 12 years, Markham’s Millenium Printing has been quietly, confidently, establishing itself as one of the best sources for printing brokers, small printers, photocopy store outlets, etc., while at the same time growing at an astounding 500%.
It all began just over a decade ago when two brothers, Pal and Robbie Dhanju, made a humble start in the printing business with small 2-colour presses at their Woodbridge shop. Business over the next 5 years was consistent and strong. This formed the foundation for future moves and expansion that would take the company to an entirely new level.
The success really started to build, however, about 5 years ago when they made their first big move – installing their first 28” Heidelberg 5-color with coater.
“It was totally a new experience from a small 2-colour to a 4-color format,” says Pal Dhanju, President, MPI. “However, our strong hands-on production experience and loyal customer support really helped us in making the right moves at the right time.”
The next 3 years saw a tremendous 100% growth each year – from one 4-color to a new 6-color plus coater Mitsubishi Diamond, and another 4-color, from 25” format to 40” presses, and from 10,000 sq. ft. to 18,000 sq. ft. of production space with a complete in-house bindery facility.
“Our focus from the beginning was that of a high-tech, one-stop printing shop dedicated solely to trade,” says Dhanju. “While working with trade people, we have to be very careful about the pricing because in this B2B environment, every penny counts. Therefore, our whole buying process is very strategically designed.”
“Our Purchasing Department is always on the lookout for the best without compromising on the quality of the product,” says Vice-President Robbie Dhanju, who controls the entire purchasing process for the company. “We want all our brokers to maximize margins on every single job they do with MPI – and we always back-up our clients concerning any quality issues,” he adds.
“We’ve never forgotten that, and every move we make is always well thought out in advance and intended to give the maximum to our clients in terms of quality and price.”
Marketing Director Neeraj Gupta echoes that philosophy.
“Once files come to us, we make certain we take care of every little detail until final completion of the job. We’re meticulous about that,” he says. “Our clients trust us explicitly to provide the best price and the best service,” says Gupta.
“The result? Today we occupy over 18,000 sq. ft. at our Markham location and serve more than 700 clients. We built up our business one client at a time and now provide not just offset printing, but a host of finishing specialties and special services in-house.”
Millenium’s finishing services include aqueous coating, lamination, spot UV coating, varnishing and much more. Specialty services include diecutting, embossing, foil stamping, perforating and thermography, to name a few. Combine this with full in-house Mac and PC pre-press facilities, and you’ve got one of the industry’s best one-stop trade-only shops.
But production can never be a one-man or two-man show in the fast-paced printing environment, say the Dhanjus. They proudly believe in the culture of team management and the brothers give full credit for their success to their professional and dedicated team of more than 45 employees who work round the clock 7 days a week.
THE BIG NEWS
But the biggest news of all, though, is the company’s imminent expansion. It will move from its existing location at 111 Ferrier St. in Markham, Ontario, to a new, larger 40,000-sq.-ft. facility (Millenium House) at Hwy 7 and Keele by the end of December.
The focus on acquiring new technology will always remain a priority, partly because of the strong production background and experience of the Dhanju brothers.
Because they understand technology, they’ll always be on the lookout for the best in the industry. In fact, they were one of the first shops in Canada to install the AGFA chemical-free CTP system designed to improve quality and help the environment at the same time.
The soon-to-be installation of a fully automated Mitsubishi Tandem DIAMOND 3000TP 8-colour 40-inch press with coater (equipped with roll-to-sheet inline facility) at their new location will give MPI a new level of speed, quality and service.
“We’ll be the first printer in Canada to install the Tandem DIAMOND 3000TP,” says Pal Dhanju. “This is the only press in the industry that enables one-pass printing of both sides without tumbling the sheet.”
For jobs calling for double-sided printing, he says, perfecting presses result in higher productivity compared to single-side printing presses. For example, delivery time is usually shortened by 30% since they don’t require time to dry one side of the sheet. It normally takes half a day to one full day before the other side can be printed. This is just another example of how Millenium has kept ahead of the game by utilizing the latest technology.
The reason for trying this new Tandem technology, rather than other perfecting presses, Dhanju says, is that it overcomes all the shortcomings which perfecting presses used to have, such as marking problems and limitations of running heavier card stocks. In Tandem presses, because the sheet flows straight, it overcomes these situations.
In addition, the press has the capability of printing from paper rolls, which makes it a complement to a full-web press without compromising quality and thickenss.
Despite all this new technology, Dhanju says the company will never lose its focus on trade-only service.
“I can’t stress too strongly that our primary reason for success, technology and fine service aside, is that we’ve dedicated ourselves solely to trade-only. We’ve never dealt with any end users. This has inspired a new level of trust and confidence amongst all our 700-plus clients, and they have remained with us over the years.”
The other key factor, says Dhanju, is that names like Heidelberg and Mitsubishi also inspire confidence in the trade printer – not just when it comes to quality, but when it comes to ongoing back-up service, technological expertise, machine ruggedness and dependability.
To find out more about Millenium Printing, please visit www.mpiprint.com or phone (905) 475-8771.
