Early this year, EO Johnson Business Technologies became the premiere Standard Horizon Dealer in the Upper Midwest, when it acquired print finishing solutions company Standard Dynamics. The acquisition of Standard Dynamics, based in Burnsville, Minnesota, was finalized in January. The move benefits customers of both Standard Dynamics and the EO Johnson Production Print Division in several ways--among them, bringing a premiere level of print finishing solutions to the Upper Midwest as an authorized Standard Horizon Dealer. It's a designation that doesn't come easily, and is only given to dealerships who meet stringent standards, making them the best in the business.
"I believe what EO Johnson brings to the table in terms of their Production Print portfolio and knowledge really goes well with our history of being finishing experts," explains Al Hillmann, past President of Standard Dynamics. "Most of the competitors in the market kind of do their finishing because they have to, but they're not always doing it the right way. And we fix problems like that, and make it right." Hillmann adds that Standard Dynamics is among the longest-tenured authorized dealers of Standard Horizon products, since 1933.
The acquisition of Standard Dynamics augments EO Johnson's Production Print service offerings, providing diversified product lines including respected industry brands like Standard Horizon, Count, OKI and Morgana. For EO Johnson customers, that means unprecedented access to high end finishing products and service, and everything from tabletop to fully-automated production print solutions.
With the recent acquisition, EO Johnson becomes the sole Standard Horizon authorized dealer in much of the Midwest: the only dealer that provides the Standard Horizon finishing line in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and one of two in Wisconsin. And that's significant for several reasons.
"I believe that Standard Horizon's attention to manufacturing and quality is second to none in the industry," said Hillmann. "I've been to their plant...they manufacture about 85% of everything that goes into their products so they have total quality control over everything, and they build to last. Their total commitment to world class manufacturing, you see it every time you take it out of the crate."
"There are several unique, additional capabilities that this gives EO Johnson. Al has some people there that are second to none in the industry as far as service and support," explained Jeff Reuter, Director of the Production Print Division at EO Johnson. "We've really got a good technical background that came with Standard Dynamics, and that really enhances what EO Johnson can do. We've already tapped into that and it's been phenomenal for everybody."
Who stands to benefit most from these added capabilities? Frankly, everybody.
"Seriously, the bulk of our current clients on both sides stand to gain a lot of what we offer for both. But the main focus is going to be commercial printers and in-plant print shops," says Reuter.
"Anybody who in the past has required very skilled labor will benefit. The Standard Horizon line brings a high level of automation, so any customer that needs highly-skilled operators...the Horizon Line comes in and it's very automated and takes the skill out of operating the equipment."
More, companies will enjoy a unified, streamlined approach from sales to service to invoicing.
"I would hope it makes it easier for someone to buy from us knowing that we're going to take care of the printing side of things, the finishing, to remove those points of different vendors handling different things," adds Reuter.
On top of that, when problems arise, they'll be tackled head-on. That's unlike the blame game so often played when different companies fulfill different production print needs within the same entity.
"An example of something like that would be in the printing process, sometimes the image will be susceptible to rubbing off. A printing company might say it's a print engine problem, and will put it on the company that sold the print engine," Hillmann explains that with EO Johnson and Standard Dynamics on the same team, everyone works in tandem to address issues if they arise. "We're going to solve it. We're not going to point fingers. We'll stand up and make it right--that's what we do. And that's what we've always done."
When it comes to authorized Standard Horizon dealers, the choice is clear in the Upper Midwest. From start to finish, EO Johnson can now provide a comprehensive production print finishing solution for your business. Contact us to learn more about how the Standard Horizon line and EO Johnson's Production Print specialists can help you.