The skills that Gilbert Salinas first learned as a teenager in the pressroom at the Pearsall Leader weekly newspaper in his south Texas hometown still serve him today as the successful owner of Diversified Printing Services Inc., a 27-year-old print finishing operation in San Antonio. “It’s amazing, but the more modern equipment with all its bells and whistles still works on the same principles: pressure, heat and operator ability,” Salinas explained.

Salinas founded Diversified Printing Services in 1984 with his wife, Belen, and sons Rick and Beto, and it remains in its original location just blocks from downtown San Antonio at 1927 W. Commerce. The company serves a wide range of clients, from private industry to government to universities, with work coming from in-house print shops and commercial printers. It offers large-format diecutting, embossing, foil stamping, sheet-to-sheet and sheet-to-board laminating, tab cutting, automatic stick and peel taping, high-speed gluing and hand work. Gilbert Salinas said he also is considering transitioning into the cold foil industry in the future.

Starting Out

After working at the newspaper in Pearsall for five years and the Hondo (Texas) Anvil Herald for nine years, Gilbert Salinas took a job with one of San Antonio’s largest commercial printers, Clarke Printing Company (now Cenveo), where he worked for more than 19 years. At Clarke Printing, Salinas was involved with the trade work that was being outsourced and began to see the need for a trade shop on which local printers could depend. A print supply representative alerted Salinas to several letterpresses that someone had unsuccessfully tried to convert into diecutters but had decided to sell.

Salinas purchased the 12x18” C&P with a Rice feeder and the Kelly three-cylinder press and thus, Diversified Printing Services was born. The presses still had their rollers so Salinas did some overprinting for the first few months before deciding that wasn’t the direction he wanted the company to go. He then converted the machines to diecutters. For the first three years, Salinas continued to work full time at Clarke Printing Company while his wife and two of his four sons, Rick and Beto, ran the new business. “By then, we had enough business to keep everyone busy,” Salinas said, and he went to work full time with his family. “Our first capabilities were simple, as we did numbering, crash printing, diecutting, cold embossing and hand gluing, while serving the local commercial printers.”

Through the years, the business grew to as many as 18 employees. Today, Diversified Printing Services is made up of 10 employees, working a single shift. In addition to company president Gilbert Salinas, manager Rick Salinas and estimator Beto Salinas, one of Gilbert Salinas’ nephews, Eloy Salinas, joined the company about five years after its founding and now serves as customer service representative. And grandson Gilbert M. Salinas is a press operator. Belen Salinas no longer works day-to-day in the business.

Changes and Challenges

While many of the skills needed to ensure exceptional finished products remain much the same as when Gilbert Salinas started out, he said the pace of technology has created the largest changes to Diversified’s business over the years. Computers have been both a blessing and a curse, he explained, because they reduce turnaround times on job components such as ordering of dies, but they also create an urgency on the part of customers that has not been there in the past.

The tight economy in recent years also has meant that much of Diversified Printing Services’ work has transitioned to shorter runs. “People are not ordering in the same amounts that they used to,” Salinas explained. “The long runs are nonexistent for us. They are all short runs. Customers order more frequently, but it seems they are all small quantities. They don’t want to stockpile anything.” Not only that, but customers are more conscious of how much they want to spend. “They are looking for bargains, and in this industry there is no such thing,” Salinas said, noting that many customers are trying to negotiate lower prices, while many of Diversified’s costs are fixed.

One challenge this has created, Salinas explained, is a tendency for some customers to try to cut costs on their own by, for example, going direct to the diemaker rather than letting Diversified Printing Services handle that. While this may result in a small savings, Salinas said it can lead to time consuming and project-extending problems that would not occur if his company were in direct communication from the start with the diemaker. Salinas said he continuously works to explain to customers the benefits of having Diversified Printing Services handle such tasks. “They will listen, but I haven’t seen any real change. I guess the mighty dollar is more powerful than my words,” Salinas said with a laugh.

Expert Results

The company runs a Bobst SP102 auto platen diecutter with stripping, a Gietz FSA 720 automatic foil stamper and diecutter, a Yawa auto stamper and diecutter, a Thomson 19x25” hand-fed press, four automatic 12x18” platen foil stampers, one Universal folder-gluer, in addition to mounting and laminating equipment. This allows Diversified Printing Services to expertly finish such projects as pocket folders, CD sleeves, counter cards, case cards, easels, custom boxes and cosmetic point-of-purchase displays, among other jobs.

The company’s commitment to quality and best business practices is evidenced by its philosophy, which is displayed prominently on its website, “Above all, we value: courtesy, respect, integrity, teamwork and excellence.” Gilbert Salinas said he is particularly proud of the company’s foil stamping work. Diversified Printing Services has received recognition from the Foil & Specialty Effects Association’s (FSEA) Gold Leaf Awards, winning a Silver Award in 1999 and a Gold Award in 2000 in the calendar category. Salinas fondly recalled the award-winning calendar from 2000. This self-promotional piece that the company produced to share with customers featured an intricate bald eagle design atop a billowing U.S. flag stamped with multiple colors of foil. He noted that the use of patriotic themes such as eagles and flags exploded after Sept. 11, 2001, “We did our calendar the year before that just because we believed in America, and it really turned out beautifully.”

Spreading the Word

Networking has been an important part of Diversified Printing Services’ success. In addition to the company’s involvement with the FSEA, Diversified is a lifetime member of the Printing Industries of America (PIA). It also is a member of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and has a HUB (historically underutilized business) certification from the state of Texas.

Gilbert Salinas said he first learned of the HUB Program, which certifies minority- and women-owned businesses and encourages state agencies and universities to contract with these businesses for services, through the chamber of commerce. “These initiatives are designed to eliminate barriers for equal economic opportunities in state purchasing for HUBs,” according to the state’s vendor guide. “All Texas state agencies and institutions of higher learning are required to make a good faith effort to include HUBs in their procurement opportunities.” Other states have similar programs that may go by different acronyms.

In addition, word of mouth remains one of Diversified Printing Services’ best sources of customers. Salinas said the company’s six-year-old website also has brought additional business, noting that customers have mentioned choosing Diversified after seeing its specialties listed there. The company’s central location, near several major interstates, also is a boon in that it provides easy access for clients, who are spread throughout San Antonio, as well as other central and south Texas cities.

With the slowed economy, Diversified Printing Services has kept some open positions unfilled, and this has left Gilbert Salinas performing some of the delivery work, giving him more opportunities to stay in close contact with customers, something he has always made a point to do. Throughout the company’s history, Salinas has made courtesy visits to his customers, first calling to ensure the time is good, then bringing with him such treats as tacos, a San Antonio favorite, or doughnuts. A self-described shy person by nature, Salinas said the key to calling on customers is just to make the commitment to do so; he makes the calls as time allows. “Usually, I’ll just decide that today I’m going to go out and go visit some of our customers,” he said.

Giving Back

Community involvement extends beyond business interests for Diversified Printing Services. The company donated one outer wall of its 10,000-square-foot facility for a mural project of the nonprofit San Anto Cultural Arts organization. Artists and area youths designed and painted a mural that was finished in 2002 and unveiled with a large celebration, including a blessing by a Roman Catholic priest. Featuring a pair of hands cradling the globe, the mural reads: “Mano a Mano. The future is ours,” or “Hand in hand. The future is ours.” Similar murals are painted throughout the area, which Salinas said helps to inspire community pride. “I did it because kids needed a place to come and spend after school,” Salinas said. Diversified also offers plant tours to school children.

Family Ties

The challenges of running a small business can overwhelm some families, but the Salinases have worked as a successful team for the past 27 years. Gilbert Salinas noted that any deference sons Rick and Beto are given isn’t because of their family ties but because of their seniority with the company. Although half of Diversified Printing Services’ employees are Salinas relatives, Gilbert Salinas said everyone at the company is like one big family. Most employees have been with the business for at least 10 years and those with more than 10 include Manuel Pena (lead foil stamper), Marie Rodriguez (bindery supervisor) and Maria Vicky Guerrero. Some of them also are related to each other, such as office manager Mary Munoz and her son, press operator Christopher Munoz.

The collegial atmosphere that Salinas has fostered helps each employee to improve his or her work because everyone is involved in quality control. “All employees check each other’s work, not just at the start of a job but through the whole run, and nobody gets offended if things are pointed out to them,” Salinas described. To reward exceptional efforts, such as work on special projects or going above and beyond to complete a job on time, Salinas will set aside a special gift for the employee. He said he asks what would be most meaningful to them, whether it be a bonus or a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. In the past, a dedicated budget was set aside for such rewards, but today bonuses are given as situations present themselves.

This commitment to employees pays off as Diversified Printing Services strives to give its best to customers, delivering on-time, quality work. Gilbert Salinas looks ahead to a time when customers’ budgets aren’t as strained. But for the time being, he and his family and employees work as efficiently as possible to create excellent products that meet the demands of short turnaround times while staying within budget constraints. “We are being very vigilant of expenses,” Salinas said, “and taking care of our customers as we all are trying to survive this recession.”