In an interview with PrintWeek, Voigt said: "Anything that happens in the print business affects our industry. Most traditional ink suppliers have been geared toward just servicing the traditional print side and the economy has been shrinking that market. And digital has also taken a piece of it so it’s a much smaller pie. There’s still too much iron out there. So you’re seeing a lot of price wars going on in the printer side and we mimic that."
Until recently, Great Western was primarily focused on the northwestern US, venturing only as far south as Northern California. But Voigt said the company was looking at geographic expansion as one key to its growth, noting that Farbotech was its third acquisition in the Los Angeles area in little over a year.
"You’ve got to have critical mass in any market, which is probably about a 10% share in that market," he explained. "We provide ink and graphics supplies, so we think of ourselves as more of a solutions company. We actually try to have technical specialists as our sales guys."
Voigt, whose privately held company boasts 50 employees thanks to the acquisitions, suggested the ink supply industry was facing a more challenging environment in part because commercial printers were currently unwilling to pay more even though the cost of making ink was rising.
"The price of oil going up does affect the manufacturing cost of ink but it also increases the demand for alternative fuels," he said. "This drives up renewable oils, like vegetable oils, that are a large ingredient in ink. So with a weak demand and a lack of power to raise prices, we really find ourselves pinched from both sides."
Great Western works almost exclusively with independent printers, Voigt said, adding: "We’re not targeting the national or international printers." But with many of these printers now either moving, or considering a move, into digital, the company has responded by creating its own digital division.
"We’re trying to do a consultative approach and provide honest objective advice to our printers. We feel using this approach we will win our fair share of business. With our geographic growth and our market share, we’re projecting growth for the next five to seven years before we reach saturation."
