Quality on time is demanded at Meridian Printing

An East Greenwich printing company’s products are truly works of art. Meridian Printing is a leader in the world of art books and prints, a high-end form of printing only few companies dare to take on. “It is a very demanding field to be in because a painting has to be just right,” said Dennis Glass, chairman of Milton Holding Company, which owns Meridian as well as Elite Color Group in Providence, KeyTech in Warwick and Stinehour Press in Vermont.
Milton is the American branch of the Dublin-based James Crean plc, a $350 million international holding company.
Between Meridian and Stinehour Press, also a specialist in art printing, Milton is the largest fine art printing company in the country in terms of revenue,
Glass said. Half of the work produced at Meridian and Stinehour is related to the art field. “It is a
very difficult field to be in because of the technological demands necessary to maintain quality,” said Glass. “But it is also a very prestigious market for us to be in as well.”
Art printing is not the only thing on Milton’s palette. While they battle in a fierce international market for art books and the like, the four businesses within the holding company are also a strong presence in the commercial printing field in New England.
Along with having advanced printing capabilities at Meridian and Stinehour, Elite is a color separation company and KeyTech is a specialized printing business.
“We face competition from offshore printers of the art work and competition locally for the commercial printing. So it is important for us to keep abreast with the changing technologies. It helps being part of a large group in order to pay for the capital equipment ,” he said.
Glass said all indications are that the holding company plans to continue to collect more printing companies. Crean bought
Meridian and Elite from Glass in 1996. Glass had purchased Meridian in 1978 and started Elite in 1989. Shortly after Crean’s purchase of the two companies the U.S. holding company was created to collect more businesses here. KeyTech was the next to be bought in 1997 and last May the holding company purchased Stinehour.
“Crean has been pretty aggressive in expanding in the United States in terms of acquiring printing related companies,” Glass said. In fact, he said Crean will turn over the international print and packaging division to Milton Holding Company early this year.
Milton had $23 million in revenues last year, Glass said.
Fern Malouin, president of Meridian, said the company’s success isn’t all about its size. “Service and quality are what make us stand out and always have,” said Malouin, who has been with Meridian since 1978. He said those attributes are important in art printing “Most of our work comes through word of mouth. It comes from people who like doing business with us and know we will meet their needs and on a deadline,” Malouin said.
Customers of Meridian include the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago.Duplicating images of the finest paintings in the world carries with it some pressure. “It is a very high stress field, because there is no room for error. Every detail is vital to the product,” Malouin said.
Malouin said one of the best ways to maintain quality is to know your limits. “Everything is on deadlines. We pride ourselves in meeting deadlines, but doing it by producing quality work. If we can’t maintain quality in order to meet a deadline, we will pass on the work,” he said. “This field is about perfection.”