In 1914 Lew A. Cummings and two employees opened a small commercial printing company and began operation. Over the next 100 years Cummings Printing has evolved into a magazine and catalog printer competing on a national scale. Read More...
The first building was located in Concord, NH and there the business slowly grew until sometime in the late 20’s when a fire damaged much of the facility. At that point Lew decided to move to a building he bought in Manchester, NH on West Central Street. He believed the opportunities for growth were better closer to Massachusetts and in the more populous city.
His instincts were correct, and by 1954 the company had outgrown the inefficient 3floor structure on Central Street and began construction on a new facility on the former Manchester Public Gardens on 215 Canal Street.
It was Canal Street where Cummings changed from a local commercial letter press printer to a sheet-fed offset company producing a number of out-of-state publications. Only 4 years after moving to his new plant, Lew A. Cummings passed away and his son John W. Cummings became owner.
The 60’s and 70’s were an up and down period. John was ill for much of the time that saw lows of a near union takeover and a narrowly avoided bankruptcy, to highs of a new addition and the complete transition from “hot type” to 4-color offset.
By 1988, the company’s equipment and methods had become dangerously antiquated. Magazines were increasingly being printed by “web” technology and Lew A. Cummings Co. had neither the space nor the finances to make the transition. It was late in this year Jack L. Cummings was made president.
Over the next 5 years the company updated equipment, stream-lined processes and managed to construct (1993) a new 65,000 sq ft plant at 4 Peters Brook Drive in Hooksett, NH. For over 6 months production took place in both facilities as one machine at a time was slowly disassembled, moved and reassembled. This was a long and expensive process and Lew A Cummings Co. Inc., now d.b.a. Cummings Printing, struggled for the first few years.
However, the new location enabled Cummings Printing to purchase web equipment and therefore compete much more effectively. Soon sales increased, one 8 page web was replaced by two 16 page webs, printing plates were made using digital files rather than film flats stripped by hand, and ISO 9000 became the method by which production was managed.
Now, 100 years later, Cummings Printing Company is thriving in its expanded 100,000 sq. ft. building and a new $9,000,000 Komori 38D 32pg web press has been installed. We believe, that as with our first foray into web printing, this device will take Cummings Printing to a new level of growth and success.
Our objective at Cummings Printing has been simple: provide customers with a quality product, delivered on-time and within budget. Quality is an overused cliché at most companies, but at Cummings it is a way of doing business. As an ISO 9002 company, Cummings has implemented a quality management system that involves every employee, from customer service to shipping.