Teamwork, customer service drive printer's growth

Velvet Spicer//December 2, 2011//

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Robert McJury knows firsthand that the right people can make or break a company.

TLF Graphics Inc. has weathered a recession, consolidation in its industry and competition from thousands of printers across the country, not because it has bigger or better presses but because it has a history of making the right hiring decisions, he says.

"We’ve got a lot of heroes that get things done here, and a lot of other companies might not have that," says McJury, 55, a partner and vice president of sales. "Our people stay with us. They know where we’re trying to go."

Its focus on people and service has kept the commercial printer at the top of its game since McJury and his two partners, Daniel Wagner, vice president of operations, and Ronald LeBlanc, vice president of finance, bought the company in 1998.

"We don’t necessarily think our systems or our presses are better than anybody else’s," McJury says. "Our business is tough in that we don’t necessarily have something that you have to come to me for. There are 3,000 guys like us around the country. We generate revenue by out-servicing other people."

The company has some 130 staffers at its Metro Park facilities in Brighton. Last year was a record year for TLF, in which it posted nearly $20 million in revenue. The company ranked fourth on the most recent Rochester Business Journal list of commercial printers, based on the number of local employees.

McJury expects sales to surpass the $20 million mark this year, and the company has begun a process of expanding its floor space by moving operations from one of its two buildings into a larger replacement facility that it has acquired nearby.

"Our service mentality, our folks, our broad offering and broad base of clients, that’s what’s allowed us to grow," McJury says.

Industry veteran
McJury’s history in the printing industry goes back three decades to when he began working in sales at Moore Business Forms Inc. in Batavia. Working for a large company taught him discipline, he says.

"You have to have thick skin. I learned a lot about people," he says. "I think it teaches you habits you don’t want, too-the red tape and, occasionally in a big company, the lack of responsibility."

In the late 1990s, McJury faced the choice of moving his family to New York City for the company or staying in the area to find something new.

"I can remember the day I mentioned it to my wife and very young daughters; everybody in the car was crying," he recalls. "I was with a big company and brainwashed to the point where I thought we were the best in the world."

McJury chose to leave the company he had spent 17 years with and began working at TLF, a small firm that had been founded in 1980 as a flexographic printer. At roughly the same time Wagner-who had attended Notre Dame High School in Batavia with McJury-was in a similar situation and joined TLF as well. LeBlanc had been in the finance department of the company since the 1980s.

"I took a big leap of faith at the time, moving from a large company to a very small company, but I got to stay in the area," McJury says. "Within a year of being here, the previous owners wanted out, and we bought it."

In 1998, TLF was operating as a flexo printer and had purchased a screen printing company. The new owners embarked on a plan to grow and transform TLF. Today some 65 percent of its revenue comes from flexographic labels, 25 percent from digitally printed products and 10 percent from point-of-purchase signage.

Many of the labels TLF produces are used as product decoration or warning labels on industrial or household products. Most recently the company has begun developing QR codes-images to be scanned by smartphones-through its OKScan division, as well as developing mobile applications for customers for creating labels and other items for smartphones.

"We morphed into a digital printing company, and now we’re continuing to morph into a company that’s providing solutions where print isn’t necessarily the only thing that comes out of it," McJury says.

TLF has begun producing skins for laptops and cellphones, decals for cars and skateboards, and water or sports bottle wraps.

"It’s kind of edgy. It’s all personalized," McJury says of the company’s new focus.

Short-term goals for the firm include the continuing investment in digital printing equipment, McJury says, while longer-term goals include finding solutions and additional sources of revenue that do not necessarily involve the print aspect of the business.

While TLF is poised for growth, it has seen its share of turmoil, especially during the recent recession.

"Because a big chunk of our business is tied very closely to manufacturing, at the end of ’08 it seemed like someone shut the spigot off. It was tough," McJury recalls. "So we adjusted. We adjusted in a lot of ways. We did have to adjust employment by a few, but not too severely."

By January 2009, however, things had begun to turn back around for the company, and by that September the problem was lack of workers.

"We were so busy we couldn’t find people," McJury notes. "We racked up some serious overtime in contract labor trying to live (its customer service motto) at a time when the business just boomed."

The biggest challenge he has seen in the industry, McJury says, is a technology shift from traditional printing to digital printing, along with the capital required to jump into digital printing.

"We bought equipment we could afford at the time," he laments. "Ideally, if we (had unlimited) cash, we would have bought bigger, faster, better."

At the same time, clients have changed, and so has demand within the marketplace, McJury says.

"Lead times used to be four weeks; now it’s four days," he says. "Just-in-time inventory, smaller quantities, quicker turns-that’s probably been one of the challenges we’ve seen."

Within the organization, challenges include improving profitability to reinvest, as well as dealing with health care costs and compliance issues related to regulations in the industry.

What keeps him up at night is having to deal with clients who are wrestling with their own high costs, McJury says, and those who do not understand the value they may be receiving.

"How do you every single year provide a 5 percent cost reduction when a client is demanding it?" he says. "At some point in time you have to start stapling $20 bills to the carton and ship them."

But those demands, he says, have forced the company to look in a different direction to increase profitability, which is where the QR codes, laptop skins and various other products come in.

"That’s caused us to look and say, ‘Is this where we want to play forever, in this high-stakes, highly competitive area? Let’s go out and look at where we can generate revenue from other sources,’" McJury explains.

Several things keep McJury balanced and coming back for more, he says, including running five days a week, his relationships with his wife and daughters, and the equilibrium achieved among TLF’s three partners and their differing management styles.

"We balance each other out extremely well: finance, operations, sales," McJury says. "There’s some give and some take. We’ve been at this 15 years together, in what could be considered a tough industry, and we’re still friends. We said we went into this together, we’re going to be equal, and we try to stay that way."

Michael Goupil, TLF’s business development manager for digital printing, says the partners complement each other nicely.

"They all have their individual functions, and every one of them is personally ideal for those functions," he says.

He describes McJury as a visionary, strategic thinker and the consummate salesperson, putting the customer first.

"They’re absolutely perfect for their roles," he adds. "None of them play in each other’s sandbox, and they respect each other’s jurisdictions. That’s a good balance."

McJury considers himself a hands-on leader, but one who is gradually moving away from that style.

"We joke about it," he says. "When Ron, Dan and I get into something, we’ll usually make it more of a mess than it needs to be. Let the folks who are the experts, who do this every day, do it."

While McJury is not a micromanager, says Diane Hill, who serves as major account manager at TLF, he knows everything that is going on.

"He knows everything; his memory is amazing," Hill says. "He’s genuinely a good person, a hard worker. The people who answer to him, we want to do a good job for him. Bob will do anything for any of us."

Loyalty is important at TLF, McJury says, and keeping employees for the long term is one key to customer satisfaction.

"We communicate regularly and in as much detail as possible with our folks," he says. "Do they understand all of the financial information we share with them? Probably not. But they can go home and say, ‘They shared everything with me.’ I think that keeps them engaged."

An emphasis on communication and training helps improve confidence in staffers, Hill says, and that is reflected in the success of the company.

"There are many companies out there that can make signs and labels. What sets us apart is our people, our customer service," she says.

The environment she works in is friendly and family-oriented, Hill adds.

"I tell my friends I will retire from here," says the seven-year veteran of the firm. "I come in to work wanting to work. The guys own a local business, and they work hard to make it successful with the right people in the right positions."

Goupil notes that the company has low turnover.

"That’s a testimony to how much people enjoy their work," he says. "I think the leadership of the three owners permeates this place. There’s no ivory tower here. These guys walk the talk. They work as hard or harder than anybody."

McJury says his weakness is attention to detail.

"I think that’s left for someone else," he says with a laugh. "But I think, generally, I have a pretty good feel for people. My folks are willing to line up and do whatever it takes to ultimately help the company."

The best part of his job is meeting with clients, McJury says, as well as the diversity of the industry and his role in it.

"Every time you go out, you learn something," he says. "I can’t believe how things are changing. I’m excited about the technology. I’m excited about the future."

The ever-changing technology keeps the job fun, Goupil says.

"The challenge of growing our products, our services, developing new products and services and becoming competent at them, while gaining more market share, is exciting and rewarding," he adds.

If McJury could pass along a piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs or struggling business owners, it would be the admonition posted on the wall in the company’s offices: Find a way to say yes.

Additionally, he says, the company would not be the success it is if its leaders did not surround themselves with good people.

"We can’t do it all," McJury says. "But you have to trust your instincts. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. I would say in the course of a day I probably make more mistakes than I make good decisions, but it’s learning."

At home
McJury was born and raised in Batavia and now lives with his wife, Patricia, in Fairport. The couple has two grown daughters, Abigail, 28, and Stephanie, 26.

Wagner, 54, was raised in LeRoy and now lives in Pittsford with his wife, Carolyn. They have a son, Christopher, 29, and a daughter, Caitlin, 27. LeBlanc, 58, was raised in Rochester and shares a home in Fairport with his wife, Karen. They have two daughters, Adrienne, 31, and Jackie, 25.

Both Wagner and LeBlance graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology, Wagner in 1979 with a degree in business administration, LeBlanc in 1977 with a degree in finance. McJury earned an associate degree at Genesee Community College.

McJury enjoys spending his spare time with his family, including making trips to Washington, D.C., to visit one of his daughters. The McJurys enjoy travel and involvement with several charitable organizations, including the Advent House, School of the Holy Childhood and Lollypop Farm.

A favorite family memory comes from childhood, when he and his four siblings, parents and grandmother would pack the car and drive to Long Island to visit relatives. He also enjoyed playing sports with Wagner in high school.

McJury also owns an 1829 farmhouse he enjoys working on in his down time, he says.

"We joke with him about being a wannabe farmer," longtime friend James Danylyshyn says of his friend’s hobby. "Not that he’s actually farming, but he’s got himself a little tractor doing different things, whether it’s cleaning out his pond or retrenching something, but he’s always out in the yard."

Danylyshyn calls McJury a family man who is caring and likes being involved in the community. McJury is well-respected among his friends and colleagues, he adds.

"He’s not one to sweat the details," says Goupil, the business development manager. "He keeps it simple, and he surrounds himself with managers that he trusts will handle the details. Personally, he’s everyone’s friend, and I think I speak for all when I say he’s one of the best strategic customer managers I’ve ever seen."

Robert McJury
Title: Partner, vice president of sales, TLF Graphics Inc.
Age: 55
Home: Fairport
Family: Wife Patricia; daughters Abigail, 28, and Stephanie, 26
Education: A.A.S., marketing, 1978, Genesee Community College
Hobbies: Family, travel, working at his farmhouse
Quote: "We can’t do it all. But you have to trust your instincts. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. I would say in the course of a day I probably make more mistakes than I make good decisions, but it’s learning."