Page 12 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2021

Printer Profile
Printing with the vibe
Conventional business strategy and planning hold little appeal to the brothers McDiarmid, owners of Emerald Press. At a time when the industry’s conversation is channelled by management consultants and business theorists, the success of the mid-size commercial printer in Sydney’s Castle Hill is a vote
of confidence for sticking to what you know best. Patrick Howard sits down with the two print mavericks to learn the secrets of counter intuitive printing.
It shouldn’t surprise that Emerald Press is such a successful commercial printing business. But it does come as
a bit of a shock to realise the extent that Michael and Shaun McDiarmid cheerfully disregard conventional management theory. Following years of consolidation
and carnage in the commercial printing sector, the accepted wisdom is that companies must reinvent themselves, diversify their offerings, and migrate to being marketing service providers for their customers.
Over the years I’ve written many
a feature on the topic, detailing how printers who didn’t change with the times, seek partnerships and mergers, substitute alternative income streams or commit to intense specialisation, were forced from the industry. As the overall demand for print declines, market pressure, savage price-cutting and consolidation are supposed to mean that only very large companies will survive.
Above
Horizon finishing kit: to be augmented with a new Horizon Stitchliner Mark III and
a Horizon BQ- 500 Perfect Binder from Currie Group
Brothers in life and in print: Michael and Shaun McDiarmid at the Castle Hill printery
There is no shortage of examples to make the case. The number of commercial printers in Australia and New Zealand has more than halved in the past 20 years. Spurred by recession, changing market conditions, and latterly the Covid pandemic shutdown, commercial printers struggle to maintain competitiveness. Integrating the internet and digital printing only adds to an already challenging mix.
And yet... the morning I arrive
at the Emerald Press factory in Castle Hill there is a vibrant sense
of activity and determination evident everywhere. Two five-colour Shinohara A2 presses are pumping away, an Indigo 7900 press is churning out digital colour sheets alongside an Iridesse Production Press, while a couple of mono engines chug away in the temperature- controlled digital area. Jobs are moving swiftly out the door to meet delivery deadlines, while new orders are juggled into the production
schedule according to need and priority.
It took a while for the two brothers, who share hands-on roles
– Michael handling production while Shaun takes care of estimating and administration – to find time to sit down for a chat. Deeply engaged with job bags, on the phone to customers and suppliers, or coordinating with despatch, they are busy people. There are no non-essential roles here, no clerical functionaries, and no sales people. Everyone is enlisted in the van; everyone is mustered to the goal of running a no-nonsense, efficient, printing plant. It’s a pleasure to see.
Brothers in arms
I’ve long believed that family-owned and operated enterprises deliver the best business model for the printing industry. Partnerships are good too. So when you get two brothers in partnership, both committed and engaged over many years, playing
Above right
12 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021