50 Years of Firsts

1951

• Ira Strack begins his career in printing.

1966

• Ira and Mary Lee Strack, with partners Charles Dodson and his wife, Betty, open Custom Printing Company in North Little Rock

  They started the company with used equipment they purchased: two offset presses, two letterpress machines, a Linotype machine, a camera, a ruling table, a folder, a drill, a stitcher and foundry type.

1971

• Custom Printing expands its physical plant for the first time.

Early ’70s

• Custom Printing embraces the new “direct-to-plate technology.”

  This both eased and sped up printing processes.

1975

• Custom Printing expands it physical plant again.

  This gives the business a larger presence on the 1700 block of Pike Avenue.

Late ’70s

• Custom Printing is one of the first area printers to install high-speed copiers.

• The Strack family creates a family photo that should have never been put on the internet.

1978

• Custom Printing becomes a corporation.

1983

• Custom Printing developed their own software for estimating and accounts receivable using BASIC programming language.

1984

• Custom Printing purchases a Kodak 350 High Volume, High Speed copier.

  This allows short run, black ink, letter and legal size jobs to be run on the copier instead of the press.

• Custom Printing adds computerized typesetting.

1990

• Son Paul Strack joins the business, bringing a wealth of energy for sales and a great knowledge of computers.

  This also may be the first time a CPA left public accounting to go into printing sales!

Early 1990s

• Custom Printing replaces typesetting with desktop publishing and adds digital color printing.

1993

• Custom Printing wins the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce Small/Medium Business of the Year.

1995

• Custom Printing expands again to create its current physical plant.

1996

• Paul Strack is named president of CustomXM.

  Dec. 20, 1996

1999

• CustomXM launches its first website.

Early 2000s

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  Custom Printing wins Best in Show – NAQP Premier Print Awards.

2004

• Custom Printing starts repositioning its business.

  The company now embraces “cross-media, interactive marketing solutions” as well as traditional print.

2006

• The business’s name changes to CustomXM.

2007

• CustomXM purchases a NEXPRESS Digital Color Production Press from Kodak.

  This enables unique versions of each printed document based on the prospective customer.

2009

• CustomXM adds a Kodak Dimensional Printing System.

  Digitally printed images now can mimic the surface of the items in the image. So, an image of a football actually feels like a football!

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  CustomXM wins Arkansas Business’s Business of the Year.

• Printing Industries of America awards CustomXM with two Best in Category “Benny” awards at the Premier Print Awards.

  The business also wins a Graphic Award for self-advertising work.

2010

• Paul Strack is a finalist for Arkansas Business’s Business Executive of the Year.

2012

• Mary Lee Strack sends Paul a Facebook friend request…

• CustomXM becomes one of the first commercial printers in the area to install a 3-D printer.  Less than 3 months later, they become one of the first commercial printers to totally abandon that technology.

• CustomXM created the state’s first virtual shopping wall at McCain Mall.

2013

• CustomXM adds wide format printing capabilities with its SignXM division.

• Paul Strack is named Printer of the Year by the National Association of Quick Printing.

2014

• CustomXM opens a business office in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock.

• Printing Industries of America awards CustomXM with a “Benny” in Best of Category at the Premier Print Awards.

• CustomXM celebrates International Print Day with our first music video.
  

2015

• CustomXM becomes one of the first in this area to offer digital printing with clear and white toner, and the ability to print on a 27” sheet size.

2016

• CustomXM adds promotional products and ad specialties to its product offerings.