Offering "Bright Ideas for the Business World" since 1985, Associated Printing Company of Covington has undergone a remodeling and re-branding with the purchase of a top-of-the-line digital printing press and new digital Cannon Copiers

Associated Printing Company co-owners and brothers Chuck and Frank Hill say the new press allows them to produce better quality products at a lower price for their customers.

"This allows the people in this community to get things done in-house with the quality that they would expect downtown (in Atlanta)," Chuck said.

With the purchase of their new press - a state-of-the-art fully automated Heidelberg PM52 Press - images are now transmitted directly to the metal plates of the press. Film has been completely eliminated from the process which cuts down on the potential for mishaps say the brothers.

"It allows us to produce a full-color product much faster and for a better price," Frank said.

With the new press, the brothers say they are going to focus more on color printing. Before the Heidelberg press, Frank says the color quality was only 1,200 dots per inch. With the new press, printing resolution has been increased to 2,540 dpi.

"We'll be able to compete in pricing and in quality with pretty much anyone out there," Chuck said.

Whereas some of the larger printing companies refuse to do small orders or charge prohibitive prices for small orders, small orders of 500 to 20,000 brochures are not a problem for Associated Printing which caters to the small to mid-range business market say Chuck and Frank.

Associated Printing has a sign division, owned by John Paul Hill, in the city of Newborn. The company can manufacture any type of sign with the exception of illuminated signs.

On Nov. 20, Associated Printing will have an open house and customer appreciation day to show off the new equipment to the public.

At 10 a.m. there will be a ribbon cutting with the Covington/Newton County Chamber of Commerce. Representatives from Heidelberg and Cannon will also be on hand to answer questions.

A demo of the new press will take place following lunch which will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A second demo will take place at 1:30 p.m. There will also be door prizes and attendants can register to win an iPod.

"We just want to reintroduce ourselves to the public and let them know we're here to serve them," Frank said.