RYOBI PRINTING PRESSES, LOCAL SERVICE KEY TO SUCCESS FOR FAST-GROWING TEXAS COMMERCIAL PRINTER


MIAMI, Florida, February 1, 2006—Dana Mueller, owner and CEO of Designer Graphics, Tyler, TX, has become a highly sought-after printer of political materials for local, state and national campaigns. He says his business growth and success owes in great measure to his Ryobi presses, which enable him to quickly serve a demanding customer base and significantly boost his profits.

A RYOBI 750 series press, from the same family as the 23 x 29 inch press Mueller recently installed, is being demonstrated live during Miami's Graphics of the Americas/Xplor International Expo, February 3-5, Booth 1219, by the exclusive South Florida Ryobi dealer, Spinola Printers Supply of Sunrise, FL.

Mueller says his new Ryobi mid-size, six-up press and his Ryobi DI press allow him to easily meet aggressive production needs, flexibly shifting from short gang-runs to million-impression projects. Political organizations expect immediate availability and highly competitive pricing and Mueller says his Ryobi presses have enabled him to successfully meet their needs.

Mueller says his RYOBI 755 six-station press with UV capabilities “can have the job done before larger competing shops are in register.”

“What I like most about the press is that everything flows so easily—from the computer to the press to the first sheet off the press,” the veteran commercial printer explains. “In my business, we produce a lot of time-sensitive material and a quick turnaround is critical.”

With the Ryobi UV press, he says, “we can be at color in 50 sheets, we’re in register shortly after the press is up and running and the job is printed quickly. The color is accurate, the project is dry, it goes straight to quality-control, then to the cutter, the folder and out the door.”

In addition to being pleased with the quality of his RYOBI 755 and RYOBI 3404 DI presses, Mueller says he receives strong response from the xpedx Printing Technologies team. xpedx is the exclusive full-line importer and distributor of Ryobi presses in the United States.

“One of the reasons we bought the equipment is that I have confidence in the support the xpedx Printing Technologies team offers,” said Mueller. “They’re local and can be here whenever we need them. And they help us with suggestions, workflow and all the different things that make up a print shop. You just can’t beat that kind of support.”

The 750 series can be equipped with perfectors, coating units, UV curing units and infrared dryers.

UV features on the press enable instant drying, offer superior rub resistance and the ability to do chemical embossed printing, which produces a raised image that contrasts with the high-gloss UV coating. It also enables lenticular and MetalFX, a five color printing process that uses silver as the fifth color.

About Ryobi Graphic Systems

Ryobi Graphic Systems Division of Hiroshima, Japan, is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of offset printing presses. It is part of Ryobi, Ltd., founded in 1943 and makers of power tools, builder’s hardware and industrial die-cast products. The company offers multi-functional offset printing presses, hardware and software, that handle all aspects of a print job, from pre-press to binding. It is a world leader in high-precision large-, mid-size and small presses, DI presses and CIP4-JDF compliant digital workflows. With pressroom installations in more than 160 nations worldwide, Ryobi presses are respected for their superior print quality, cost-effectiveness, ease of press operation, high reliability and precision machining.

xpedx Printing Technologies is Exclusive
Full-Line Ryobi Press Importer and Distributor in U.S.

xpedx Printing Technologies, a wholly owned division of xpedx, offers deep technical support, training, a large parts warehouse, a showroom/demo center and more with a team of executive, sales and technical staff at its metro Kansas City headquarters. It currently has 50 dealers across the U.S. responsible for local sales and service. The company is on the web at ryobi.xpedx.com.

About xpedx and its businesses

Loveland, Ohio-based xpedx, an International Paper company, is North America’s largest marketer and distributor of printing papers, graphics, packaging and facilities supplies and equipment with more than 7,000 employees in 250 locations in the U.S. and Mexico.
Major customers include commercial printers, publishers, manufacturers and companies across many industry segments. xpedx is one of the largest distributors of post-consumer waste content and recycled printing papers in North America.

xpedx also operates a network of 20 merchant and retail facilities from the U.S-Mexico border to Mexico City serving manufacturers and commercial printers in Mexico. Other xpedx owned-and-operated businesses include New York-based Bulkley Dunton, Lenexa, KS-based xpedx Printing Technologies, the xpedx National Technology Center (NTC), a pre-press laboratory and demonstration center based in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a network of 140 retail paper stores in 32 states that operate under the names xpedx Paper & Graphics, xpedx Paper Store, If It’s Paper and Arvey Paper & Office Products. xpedx also operates an online commerce and training site for graphics professionals, suiteshoponline.com, as well as one of the largest business-to-business e-commerce sites in the U.S., www.xpedx.com. ###

Editor’s Note: xpedx is spelled all lower case.

CONTACTS: Don Harvey, VP-General Manager, xpedx Printing Technologies, Lenexa, Kansas, 913-631-8700; Tim Kirby, National Sales Manager, 512-264-3214; Jeff Higgins, xpedx Director of Marketing Services and Information, Loveland, Ohio, 513-965-2923; Press/Analysts: Erik Godchaux, Media Strategy Group, Madison, Wisconsin, 608-256-4540