About Dixie Printing & Packaging
Company History:
Dixie was founded in 1956, by Mr. Richard Rentshaw and originally located on Lewellyn Street in Baltimore, Maryland. The company was purchased by Charles Foster and Arthur Morris, Sr. in 1963 and moved to its current location in 1965.
Arthur Morris, Jr. acquired the company from his father and Brother-in-Law in 1968 and began the process of modernizing the equipment, which then consisted of flatbed Miehle letterpress equipment. Sales were $500,000 in 1968.
At this time there were about 11 carton companies located in the Baltimore area. As they began to close, Dixie picked up manufacturing, sales, and administrative personnel who assisted in the improvement of the business in all areas.
A. Newth Morris, III joined the firm in 1973 after graduating from Stetson University with a degree in business. Working in both sales and manufacturing, he assumed the position of President in 1986. In 1989, Mr. Morris completed the acquisition of the company from his father.
With an experienced team in place, the company set out to grow the business. Today’s manufacturing area was the original total space of 25,000 sq. ft. The raw material warehouse of 17,000 sq. ft. was added in 1976. In 1986, the finished goods warehouse and current office area added 22,000 sq. ft. In 2000, and additional 11,000 sq. ft. was added to connect the building to create a seamless flow for materials. In 2005 and additional 7,802 sq ft were added to make room for the 7 color press. The current modernization is the third wave of equipment updates since locating to Anne Arundel County. The company today, has sales exceeding $20,000,000 with capacity for additional business.
On Aug 15th Kevin J. Kollman acquired an interest in the Company and has assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer and eventual successor to Mr. Morris so as to assure the continued success of the company.
Company Overview:
Early in the 1990’s, Dixie engaged Chesapeake Consultants to help implement the concepts of Aaron Goldrat in his book “The Goal”. Taking the ideas to heart, the company set out to run faster rather than just get physically larger. Velocity through our plant is as much a function of “make ready” as it is machine speed.
In 1992, Dixie began in earnest to reduce make ready time with the addition of the Bobst Easy Press to minimize die cutter make ready. A laser cutter and counter plate router machine were added to provide quick access to exacting tools.
The next obstacle was air hammer stripping. One of the last vestiges of real physical labor in producing cartons, Dixie began the process of adding Blanking Die cutting with the addition of the Bobst 130 ER-II in 1992. This was followed with a 2nd in 1998 and a third in 2000. Today, less than 5% of our jobs are hand stripped increasing our throughput and improving quality for the absence of air hammer damage.
In finishing, the company added two new Bobst Alpina gluers equipped for Straight-line, Automatic Bottom and Trays. Already in place is a Jagenburg with an automatic case packer and a Bobst Domino 90matic.
From the early 90’s, the company followed the developments in computer to plate, CTP. Dixie developed it’s own Mac based Graphics department and began supplying its own laser burned films.
The time finally arrived in 1999 and the company committed to a fully digital graphics workflow through to the printing plate. Dixie was among the earliest of folding carton manufacturers to implement computer to plate. Not without its initial pain, the payoff is that today. The company is 100% film free. The press prints a sharp dot that is in register generally on the first sheet pull.
Dixie rounded out its prepress efforts by adding an in-house ink operation in conjunction with Hostman-Steinburg. This preparation set the stage for the addition of the KBA 130 (51”) 6 color with tower coater complement the existing 4/C and coating printing press.
The 6/C press has semi-automatic plate changers, anilox coating rollers, 8 foot extended dryer and remote ink settings to name a few of the features. Dixie’s Pressmen are able to declutch unused units for cleanup or make-ready while the press is running! The ink settings are supplied from the plate room off of the art program. The press has run recycled paperboard at upwards of 15,000 sheets per hour!
In the beginning of 2005 Dixie added a new 7/C KBA Rapida with perfecting and UV capabilities. Also added was a new Maxon high speed, computer controlled sheeter which enables Dixie to buy paperboard in rolls rather than in sheets. This helped the company to expand its base of paperboard suppliers while reducing lead-time.
Dixie’s slogan: “Quality Cartons, Shipped Fresh Daily!” Speaks to the company focus on helping customers maximize their inventory turns of folding carton inventories. Dixie manufactures to actual customer demand rather than storage, which provides fresher cartons that run better.
