Since 1995, Pressline Services has made a name for itself by providing newspaper customers with services such as web-width reductions, press overhauls and numerous other types of press maintenance. The company has helped many publications save money and increase the life of their existing equipment, and with a recently created parts division, they seek to provide a greater degree of service to customers through three different divisions: parts, engineering and a Web-based parts ordering system.

Performing extensive work on presses manufactured by Goss International Corp., Pressline depended on the company for a large percentage of the parts that they needed to perform repairs, modifications and the like, and after Goss’ first filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999, Pressline and others in the industry became concerned about the future of the supply of parts vital to their business.

“That shook the trees a little bit, and a wave of concern for support went throughout the industry,” said Greg LaRocca, operations manager at Pressline.

As LaRocca explained, company founders Jim Gore and Steve Brown had already been thinking of moving into the press parts business, to ensure there would be an uninterrupted supply of parts for customers.

When Goss filed for Chapter 11 a second time in September 2001, LaRocca explained that the wheels were truly set in motion for Pressline to establish itself as an independent company in the press parts business and break free of the bonds of dependency brought about by the situation with Goss. In October of 2001, Pressline began moving into a new office and warehouse facility in Joliet, Ill., building inventory and getting ready to serve customers.

“The first couple of months dealt primarily with setup and getting started in the building and the various permits, supplying racks, parts, buying furniture, all that kind of stuff,” LaRocca explained. “We really started getting into the parts aspect of it [late last year] and it has grown substantially. The word is getting out. Over the years, we’ve made contacts and friends throughout the industry, and we maintain those relationships with the customers, and they’ve been very supportive and very helpful, and it seems to be going along very nicely.”

Having spent a number of years at Goss as the purchasing manager and the parts sales manager, LaRocca is familiar with the channels used by the company to obtain the parts that it did not assemble or manufacture. Besides LaRocca, Pressline hired many former Goss employees to staff the new parts division and make it as knowledgeable as possible. With a great deal of industry experience among all of its staff, Pressline stands poised to make efficient use of employee knowledge. Since the October opening the divisions have grown, expanding to serve a larger number of customers.

“The engineering division has five people, and we have three individuals here in operations,” LaRocca said. “We have two warehouses here at this location, and we are selling parts. Our primary purpose is to continue supporting the activities of the St. Louis office, namely the support of the rebuilding and enhancement business. That was the original intent. Of course we’re going to expand that into selling parts directly to the end users as well.”

“The new divisions are organized to support each other,” explained Pressline Services General Manager Jim Gore. “Daily parts and consumables are available in a timely manner to newspaper pressrooms; engineering is able to design and enhance parts to benefit press efficiency and cut costs; and the ... maintenance and parts management interactive software helps customers schedule regular maintenance, making parts replacement proactive rather than reactive.”

Having developed a proprietary Web-enabled software program, Press Manager Online, which inventories all equipment and corresponding parts, Pressline’s new system is able to provide a detailed preventative maintenance schedule based on each customer’s standards and special preventative maintenance procedures. The program also has the capability to automatically schedule maintenance jobs and parts replacement.

With the parts engineering division, Pressline hopes to provide complete, customized solutions to customers, and they have consequently assembled a team to meet such demands.

“What we’re doing with our engineering staff here is actually designing our own components, our own equipment, and we’re subcontracting the same people that are familiar with the press parts and the press industry, and we’re using many of the same sources, and of course a few others as well,” LaRocca said.

Gore and Brown took the hiring process a step further when they formed the new division, LaRocca explained, and “Instead of just selling parts they actually brought on board ex-Goss engineers to actually design their own parts and design their own enhancements. (The parts) are not just a mere copy of what the [original equipment manufacturer] has done over the years; it’s actually a newer, different approach to get the job done. In that respect we are a bit different and unique. Within the Pressline organization you have service, enhancements, parts, a maintenance package that we also offer, and finally engineering support. To our knowledge, the only other company that offers that is the OEM itself, Goss.”

Having built a group with the abilities to serve a wide range of customer needs, Pressline is continually striving to get the word out and let people know about the wide range of services they provide.