There's nothing new about being a green printer. There's nothing new about an offset printer pushing into digital. There's nothing new about a traditional printer adding a new offering, such as point-of-sale production, design or even photography. But how about all of the above? That would take a certain type of company with an equal mix of ambition and self-belief.

Print Bound is one such company. Amid the concentrated mass of firms in the high-density print ghetto that is Melbourne's south-west, you need to do something special to stand out. The neighbouring suburbs are crammed with print companies of all descriptions, from independent printers to the local divisions of big private equity-backed groups. It's the suburb where big paper suppliers sit across the road from major print machinery manufacturers, including Heidelberg's regional HQ.

Print Bound is trying to do something special. The firm now has around 50 staff, but when it was conceived nearly 20 years ago, it was just managing director Mauro Mattarucco, partner Mark Tomasini and a one-colour Heidelberg GTO.

Mattarucco had found his way into the print game as an apprentice compositor at the Victorian government printing office. After his first stint working for a commercial print house showed him how not to run a business, he set out to become his own boss.

"We started off very humbly with not much and did a lot of organic growth to
get where we are," he says.

"We slowly built up. We started in West Melbourne then moved to Collingwood and started getting better machinery, like a couple of half-size Heidelbergs and built from there with some folders and stitching equipment. Then we moved over to Blackburn. The progression has always been slow and steady throughout those areas. We spent 10 years in Blackburn before moving to where we are now."

Over the course of growing and relocating, the team has kept on adding extra levels to an offering built on the solid bedrock of litho printing. The first attempt to set itself apart from the crowd came almost by chance. Around 15 years ago, Tomasini's house had just been awarded energy-efficient house of the year by the Master Builders Association. The directors decided to use this sustainability commendation as a catalyst to green up their company. "Once he won that award, we started looking at the company to see how we could bring this into our business," says Mattarucco. To get their EMS in place, they enlisted the services of a specialist who used to work at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement this new idea called an "environmental management system".

Setting the trend
These days, having an environmental management system is par for the course. But back then 'EMS' was a little-used acronym. "There was no one really doing it," says Mattarucco.  

Over in Adelaide, Finsbury Printing – which would go on to become widely hailed as one of the country's leading lights in green printing – was taking a good hard look at its environmental footprint. Finsbury environmental manager Rodney Wade tips his hat to Print Bound.

"There are always devotees of environmental side of things. You'll find them in any industry. Generally, it is because the owner has a passion. My perception of Print Bound is that
those guys had a passion for it and were working away and have done for quite a long time," says Wade.

Finsbury went on to add 'Green' to its very name. Mattarucco's company also decided to talk the talk, not just walk the walk. It got serious about broadcasting the message to the market.

"After having the environmental management system for a while, we decided to start marketing the idea. Up until then it was a very personal crusade within the business and the culture we wanted to have," says Mattarucco.

The solution was to devise a brand for its green achievements. The 'Clean Green Print' label was born. According to the company, the logo has gone on to appear on more than 25 million printed items since being introduced.

The idea of an in-house environmental label might not seem a big deal today, when the printing landscape is cluttered with so many certificates and green consultants. But in the early 2000s, this was still a fairly new concept.

Let's put it in perspective. In 2005, Printing Industries' Sustainable Green Print program was at most an idea being thrown around the association's head office. By October 2005, Print Bound had secured ISO 14001.

"It was very different back then because you were basically on your own. There was no real information, which is why we got the guy in from the EPA. Now there are a lot of people giving advice and information and coming out to help you.

"The PIAA, people from GASAA – there's a lot of help from the associations to become green. Back then we didn't even know what a certification was. We just wanted to become more sustainable."

Even with help, securing ISO 14001 can be hard graft. This is why Printing Industries launched SGP and GASAA launched alternative programme Truly Green – as stepping stones that help put ISO 14001 within reach. Print Bound crafted its own stepping stone.

Did the fact it had already implemented an internal programme help when it came time to secure international accreditations like ISO 14001 or FSC?

Yes, says Mattarucco.

"It was easy to get them," he laughs. "We had no trouble getting them whatsoever."

With more and more printers gaining FSC and ISO 14001, the marketing advantage is being diluted. What was once a value-adding extra is now becoming an expectation, especially from image-conscious clients in the corporate or public sector worlds. The selling point isn't what it used to be.

But Print Bound is not a one-trick pony. While being seen to be green might have been enough of a differentiation for some firms, Print Bound's ambitions were bigger. Even in the early 2000s, Mattarucco was looking at how to add photography and design services.

One of Print Bound's customers was an agency called After Image, which was also looking to expand. The stars aligned, and the two companies merged. The design agency was rebranded as 'Image Bound', fitting neatly into the Print Bound stable.

Print and design
How does the merged entity operate? They share a single premises, but Image Bound has its own space, away from the sounds of chugging Speedmasters. They also operate as independent businesses, to a point.

"They have their own clients," says Mattarucco. "But we do go to market together when there's a need to."

Print Bound has design agencies among its clients, so there's a need to keep a certain distance. Pinching work from your own customers would be marketing poison. So has Image Bound ever come up against Print Bound clients when pitching for work? "No, we've been lucky," he says. "And careful, so it hasn't been an issue."

A core complement of six people make up Image Bound, led by creative director Yves Behar. They have been in business for 20 years, first as After Image before becoming Image Bound seven years ago.

Behar says that being bolted onto a print shop offers some distinct advantages for a designer. "Being here, we have access to the pre-press side of things. Graphic designers are control freaks and we want to know the job will be absolutely right."

Whereas in the past, he would have had to drive across town to do a press check, now it's as easy as wandering down a flight of stairs to see a job rolling into the delivery.

"As graphic designers, we like to control everything. We are the keepers of the brand for our clients," says Behar. The ability to cross-sell is another plus, he adds. "We are able to pick up some clients from the Print Bound group and they are able to consolidate some of our work."

As well as the design side, Image Bound also includes photography in its bag of tricks. On the day ProPrint visits, in-house photographer Roy Evans is in the studio, shooting furniture for a catalogue. These shots will make their way upstairs to the Mac of one of Image Bound's designers to be laid out and then dropped into Print Bound's pre-press, ready for printing. It's joined-up thinking in action. Many print shops dream of becoming this kind of one-stop shop; few actually manage it.

The fact that Image Bound has been a proud member of the family for several years points to a successful pairing.

Mattarucco is now putting his experience with mergers into practice again. In late 2010, Print Bound merged with point-of-sale supplier Final Dimensions. The POS company moved across Melbourne's south-east from Dandenong South to the Print Bound hub, bringing with it an automated diecutting machine and an AutoCAD plotter as well as a host of new clients.

Blast from the past
Final Dimension is the brainchild of Steuart Orchard, a youthful MD whose past life involved the sale of his offset business Print In Vision to Blue Star in 2006. After selling up to the private equity giant, Orchard had to find a new outlet for his sales skills – point-of-sale. Over the past few years, he built the company up to the point it became a viable merger prospect for Print Bound.

But the connections run deeper than that. Orchard actually started out working at Print Bound a decade ago, before setting off to establish his Print In Vision.

After a few years outside the general commercial world, Orchard was keen to get back to what he knew best. So when he was able to re-enter the sheetfed market, he started talking to his old mates at Print Bound. The conversations quickly became negotiations.

From a strategy point of view, housing POS under the same roof as an award-winning offset litho house and design studio makes sense. But Orchard says there was more to it than that. He had gone from being part of the team in an independent SME, to joining the corporate entity that is Blue Star. Then he found himself running a small POS shop.

"It was lonely. I missed the sounding blocks of people like Mauro and having a bigger support team around me," says Orchard.

As warm and cuddly as that sounds, the tie-up also made business sense. "It is great for Print Bound from a strategic perspective, as well as showing their staff that they are looking at other ways to grow the business. I admire Mauro having the strength to have faith in where this can go," says Orchard.

A nicely produced flat sheet and a fully constructed POS stand might both be forms of print, but they're a world apart in the eyes of the customers, with pricing to match. Orchard puts it plainly: "You go from a $3,000 print job to a $30,000 unit."

The fact that all the interlinked services are in the one factory brings costs down, speeds up turnarounds and provides lots of opportunities to cross-sell. Orchard adds: "What a sell. Design, photography, offset, finishing and now point-of-sale – it's a great offering."

Don't forget digital
With all this talk of environmental marketing, in-house design and POS mergers, you could almost overlook the fact Print Bound has just taken the big leap into digital. After scouring the market for years, Mattarucco purchased a Fuji Xerox Color 1000 at the tail end of 2010.

Many offset houses take baby steps to enter digital, perhaps starting off with a light production device. The fact Print Bound has dived in with a high-spec production colour press speaks volumes about the directors' confidence. It was not a decision taken lightly.

"I have always been keen to understand digital printing. It was a bit foreign to us. I nearly went down the trail of calling the division 'Digital Bound' or something but we decided that might be too many, so we kept it under the Print Bound banner."

With so many facets to the business, it looks as if Mattarucco has hit on the right recipe for a diversified business. But it could have all been very different, he says.

"We could have just concentrated on print alone. We would have become a production house for the industry – a trade printer just working for print managers and other printers.

"There was clear decision some time ago. We asked ourselves where our business was headed and the decision was taken to diversify."

Is he happy with the choice? "This route is more interesting," says Mattarucco. "The company's value is higher and it just makes it a more exciting place."

Business briefing – diversifying

· Print Bound started out as a small litho house but has differentiated itself as a green printer, as well as adding design, digital and display to its services.

· The environmental idea started out of the directors’ passion but turned into a saleable commodity to market, badged up as ‘Clean, Green Print’.

· By developing its own in-house environmental management system, it made it easy for Print Bound to secure third-party certificates such as ISO 14001.

· Print Bound merged with design agency After Image and rebranded it as Image Bound so it would gel with the rest of the company. The two companies operate relatively autonomously, but go to market together when it is necessary.
·
Print Bound recently moved into point-of-sale with the acquisition of Final Dimensions. The company is owned by Steuart Orchard, who actually worked for Print Bound a decade before setting up his own firm, which he sold to Blue Star

· After many years of investigating the digital print market, Print Bound recently invested in a Fuji Xerox Color 1000 Press.

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