By Ayanna Kirton, Staff Reporter
Michelle Belnavis (left), director of sales for MAPCO Business Printers, and Michelle Hamilton, the company's managing director. - Carlington Wilmot /Freelance Photographer
MAPCO BUSINESS Printers has doubled its existing capacity with a US$1 million investment in the expansion of its plant and the acquisition of new state-of-the-art equipment, financed by a loan from National Development Bank and privately placed equity.
Managing director of MAPCO, Michelle Hamilton, says the investment represents a sharper focus on meeting the needs of clients as well as increasing its ability to respond quickly to the ever increasing work orders.
MAPCO has also expanded the size of its board of directors; a move, Ms. Hamilton says, that will change the image of the business from a small 'mom and pop' operation to a more established company with a vision to becoming a major player in the Caribbean.
The company's recent expansion has also enabled it to capture a significant portion of business that was once sent overseas to international commercial printers.
"We now handle a large number of the printing jobs that were once done overseas and we have obtained various patents for specialised packaging for several manufacturing companies," said Ms. Hamilton.
EXPERIENCE
For 16 years, MAPCO has provided printing services for many of Jamaica's larger food producers, manufacturing companies and financial institutions and, according to Ms. Hamilton, demand for quality colour printing still exists in a world where accessibility of household printing technology has become widespread.
"It is more cost effective for persons to employ the services of a company like ours because of the costs associated with printing large quantities on their own," said Ms. Hamilton. "The need for promotional material has also increased considerably and local companies are now recognising the importance of quality packaging as a result of the threat foreign competitors pose. They often spend more to enhance their image, thus increasing their sales," she said.
While manufacturing companies spend millions of dollars annually on packaging material, and large businesses and financial institutions invest in the production of publications chronicling their annual reports and company results, the managing director said with the exception of newspapers the popularity of print media was still very low in Jamaica.
"In all my years in this industry I have yet to see a successful magazine produced in Jamaica and I know this stems largely from sponsorship and advertising support as well as quality of the content," said Ms. Hamilton.
From an industry perspective, the managing director, who is also the president of the Printing Association of Jamaica, said there was also need for increased collaboration in the industry. According to Ms. Hamilton, the Jamaican industry, currently saturated with a large number of small players, would not be able to compete effectively without mergers or the pooling of resources. This, she feels, could help to combat the excess capacity and meet the challenges that are bound to arise once the CSME and other trade agreements are implemented.
"Jamaican companies need to realise that because we are very small in the global scheme of things a lot can be gained from collaboration which will help us secure a stronger presence in the industry," said Ms. Hamilton. "If we think outside the box and that involves moving beyond these borders we will be able to expand the industry in a more meaningful way."
