Case Study: Minuteman Press Westendorf transforms its business with customized workflows

Labor costs reduced by 30%, turnaround times by up to 50%, ROI in just one year, and ongoing workflow improvements

In February of 2025, Minuteman Press Westendorf Printing of Dayton, Ohio, a second-generation family business for over 40 years and a trusted name in superior-quality commercial printing, converted to a Minuteman Press Franchise under new owners Frank and Melissa Hiti, who also owned a Minuteman Press Franchise in Lebanon, Ohio. This move created a powerhouse for exceptional printing, mailing, and marketing services in southwestern Ohio.

Minuteman Press Franchise owners, Frank and Melissa Hiti

Customers benefitted from automated prepress workflow that streamlined file processing, faster turnarounds, a new B2 offset-style digital press that offered larger sheet sizes, more substrate flexibility, better ink durability, and an improved online ordering experience that gave businesses easier ways to manage their printing needs. However, the journey was not without major obstacles which had to be overcome, according to Scott Allen, Minuteman Press Senior Operations Manager.

“Other than the addition of new software with the Adobe Suite, current workflows were built primarily for traditional offset printing, to move forward it needed to be updated.

We were moving rapidly towards a more efficient digital workflow environment, with the purchase of a new Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1e digital full-color sheetfed inkjet press. I knew we needed a robust workflow to give us maximum flexibility with our layouts.

We had researched other digital formats and concluded that the KM-1e was going to be our final choice.”

– Scott Allen, Minuteman Press Senior Operations Manager.

Next came the most challenging task – connecting the DFEs (Digital Front Ends) of all printing and finishing devices with the existing in-shop workflows at both locations. “We had one location in Lebanon, Ohio, and one in Dayton,” said Allen. “We needed to ‘knit’ those two workflows together from our front-end workflow through to prepress, and from prepress to our traditional and digital assets, as we had also purchased an iJet Color 1175C Inkjet Printer. At the end of the day, all our CSR team, prepress, printing and finishing devices needed to work seamlessly together, and we needed expert help with this.

Basically, the shop was scaling up, purchasing new equipment in anticipation of more work and more complex projects. Our management team had the foresight to see that everything needed to be integrated to make sure that every single step of the production process – from prepress to final delivery – was smooth, efficient, and error-free, while maintaining the franchise’s exceptional print quality standards. Our research to find an industry expert connected us to Significans Automation President Marc Raad. The Significans team, led by Workflow Automation Specialist Darlene Roy, partnered with Allen and his team.

“Westendorf was seeking automated solutions to streamline their production workflow, particularly in areas such as customer approvals, file organization, and imposition generation,” he recalled. Their goal was to reduce manual intervention in repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable time for prepress and production staff to focus on higher-value activities. To achieve this, a comprehensive assessment of their current processes and pain points was conducted to identify where automation could bring the greatest impact.

“The all-encompassing solution we implemented involved the use of Enfocus Switch, leveraging its web portal and checkpoint functionalities. This resulted in a seamless workflow where production and prepress teams could send files directly to customers for approval, all the way through to generating press-ready impositions.

This not only improved turnaround times, but also reduced the chances of human error during the file handling and communication stages. To ensure consistency and accuracy across both digital and conventional print platforms, imposition software was integrated into the workflow. This automated the generation of impositions, eliminating manual layout work and ensuring that each job met the required press specifications.

Additionally, files were archived into structured, organized folders, allowing for easy retrieval and reuse for future projects. This complete solution provided Westendorf with a more efficient, reliable, and scalable production process.”

– Marc Raad, President – Significans Automation

Their automation journey begins

Partnering and outlining our goals with the Significans team, was the first part of the project. The First step was migrating our existing (3) servers, re-formatted and expanding our networks. Then combining all 3 servers into one for speed and remote access. Then the implementation of the customized workflow software previously mentioned. This was done in just 2 weeks.

“We had weekly follow-up calls with Significans’ implementers, benchmarking our progress and keeping our combined project on track. This partnering was critical and the ‘backbone’ of our new system getting it in place was a huge milestone of our project.

Then we started developing unique, open-ended workflow solutions for our teams—capabilities that Enfocus Switch was able to deliver. Our desktop applications were soon integrated into our new, centralized server.

As a team, we were creating what I call a ‘hub-and-spoke environment’ within our facility. Our intake teams started working cohesively as a group at both locations. Soon, staffers began loading files into the new system that flowed smoothly to prepress, and from there to all our digital assets, regardless of where they were located.”

– Scott Allen

Significans also developed metadata intake prompts that instantly pinpointed which location jobs came from, placed the correct file into the proper directory, and created a folder with a unique job number. This was a game-changer because all this work was previously done by hand. Plus, it was extremely time-consuming and was prone to costly human errors.

“We didn’t have that cross-platform communication at all, so this was a huge time savings for us,” Allen said. “The second major improvement came when we got proofs to our customers much faster by integrating that process as part of the file intake. Now, when a client proof is ready to be sent out, it can be routed to the customer through Switch and not through a traditional email attachment. Plus, prior to Significans coming on board, we had a prepress person at Lebanon and a prepress and two at Dayton. Today, with the architecture we created, they can work as one, regardless of their location. Ultimately, we did choose Dayton to be the place for our prepress hub to reside.”

As well as simplifying file intake and quoting, the new system automatically assesses, in just 2 minutes, which press a specific job should be assigned to, significantly optimizing press usage. Allen eventually wants to integrate direct mail and variable data into the new system in the near future, as well as create a more robust proofing system.

Reduced labor costs and faster turnarounds and ROI

“Our current progress would not have been possible without Significans’ hub-and-spoke system and without these integrations.

Their team created a highly customized workflow that enabled our two production facilities to work seamlessly with each other.

That saved us hours of work and reduced stress and errors as well. Plus, we had three full-time prepress employees. Now we have two and we’re still just as productive.

That move alone, saved us upwards of $60,000 per year.”

– Scott Allen

In addition, Westendorf’s customer service reps can now communicate with each other and work more efficiently from virtually any location. They couldn’t do that previously. Turnaround times have been reduced by up to 50%. Jobs that previously took 7 to 10 hours are now completed in about 5 hours or less. Overall, the company is now able to get the most complex print and finishing jobs on press quickly, in addition to getting client approvals much faster. Essentially, this is what’s happening alongside their continuous improvement efforts.

I can’t say enough about Marc Raad and his Significans team led by Darlene, who I’ve often called my digital savior. They’re wonderful to work with. They understand. I’ve worked with a lots of different companies on projects similar to this, but I’ve never experienced this high level of knowledge and service. I can pick up the phone or send an email outlining what I need, and usually get a response in minutes – and I’ve been doing this type of work for over 49 years!”

– Scott Allen

Westendorf Minuteman Press will continue to work with Significans on new integrations aimed at improving efficiency, reducing costs, and accelerating time to market. Plus, Allen expects to recover his original investment in just 12 months!

For an assessment of your workflow software systems, and to discuss your current needs and future goals, please call Significans Automation at 1-877-463-4465.

Or, e-mail Marc Raad, President, at marc.raad@significans.com .

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