Consolidated Solutions makes the handoffs work

The trouble began in transit. Merchandise was reaching customers damaged, and a client asked Consolidated Solutions to examine its packaging. A damaged shipment sounds like a warehouse problem. But follow it backward and the boundaries dissolve: materials, structural design, truck capacity, retail presentation. The package had to survive several different jobs before anyone bought what was inside.

Consolidated studied packaging, shipping and returns together. Its redesign used less material, accommodated more merchandise and gave shoppers more accessible sides of the pallet display. The company reports annual savings above $2 million, with damaged-product returns down 80%. These are its figures for an unnamed client, rather than a promise about the next job.

The useful observation is almost embarrassingly physical. An improvement to a package can change freight economics. A marketing supplier that follows the product far enough can find a problem outside the original brief. For a buyer, that suggests a better opening conversation: show the supplier the journey, including the returns pile.

01 / A name with an operating plan

Ken Lanci founded the business in 1996 as Consolidated Graphics Group. A company announcement published by Printing Impressions explains the name: Lanci was consolidating businesses from printing and mailing. The current name, Consolidated Solutions, reflects the wider collection of work that followed. The origin is refreshingly literal. Combining the pieces was the idea from the beginning.

Today the company serves organizations in healthcare, insurance, retail, financial services and other industries. Its place in the market is marketing execution: the practical work of turning designs and customer data into things that can be ordered, produced and delivered. Think of the interval between approving a campaign and putting its materials to use.

The service list stretches from graphic design and promotional apparel to offset printing, packaging and distribution. That range matters when a customer needs several connected operations. An agency can supply a concept; a printer can supply printed sheets. Consolidated’s proposition is to accept responsibility for more of the sequence, including the software coordinating it.

02 / The insurance card is a systems problem

Consider the humble insurance ID card. It must contain the appropriate information, reach the intended member and remain connected to a production process someone can inspect. Consolidated’s CONSOLmx software addresses this territory, alongside explanations of benefits, welcome packets, invoices and policy changes. Its customers include the organizations doing the communicating, rather than the members receiving the envelope.

The product’s published capabilities include document generation, address hygiene, proof review, production dashboards and mail tracking. Approval records can capture who approved a proof and when. For qualified mailings, tracking integrates USPS data. Such details explain the appeal more clearly than a general claim about personalization: people need to know what happened to a particular document.

CONSOLxt applies related tools across industries. It combines document processing, marketing automation, data integrations and brand storefronts. Controlled PDF templates let users personalize selected fields while retaining layout, color and typography rules. The company-owned product site names EyeMed as a customer for a marketing portal intended to help its sales staff communicate consistently.

That is a recognizable organizational headache. Let everyone create their own collateral and a brand acquires many unofficial versions. Make every request travel through one designer and work queues up. A controlled template offers a practical compromise: local people can change the relevant details while the organization retains its visual standards.

03 / What failed before the next press arrived

Software still needs somewhere to send the work. In an April 2022 account, equipment supplier SCREEN described Consolidated’s move away from relying on cut-sheet devices for demanding variable-data production. CEO Matt Reville said those machines had been too slow and unreliable for time-sensitive healthcare and insurance work. The limitation was throughput under deadlines.

“a press that could handle large volumes at high speeds”Matt Reville • SCREEN Americas, 2022

A Truepress Jet520EX arrived in 2015; a Jet520HD+ followed in August 2021 as healthcare demand increased. SCREEN described the newer machine handling color commercial and direct-mail work, with black-and-white transactional work on the earlier press. Smaller, less repetitive jobs stayed on cut-sheet equipment. The decision allocated work according to its demands.

The same attention to production appears in the company’s prepress offering. Consolidated describes G7 Master certification, color correction, accurate proofs and measurement equipment for repeatability. A storefront can preserve the correct template; printing must preserve the intended appearance. Brand consistency has to survive both the screen and the press sheet.

Then comes storage and delivery. Consolidated offers kitting, pick-and-pack, inventory management and warehousing beside its production and distribution operations. Its fulfillment services can combine stocked materials with print-on-demand pieces. That makes the ordering portal more useful: the company behind it can assemble and ship the physical materials being requested.

The implication for a buyer is to compare the complete assignment. A print quote alone cannot tell you whether someone must still reconcile orders, manage stock or assemble packets. List those tasks before comparing proposals. Otherwise an apparently inexpensive component can leave a substantial amount of coordination on the customer’s desk.

This model depends on fit. A portal needs useful data and agreed approval rules; a warehouse needs sensible inventory decisions. Bringing activities together does not remove those requirements. It gives a customer a place to coordinate them. The strongest reason to choose an integrated supplier is a workflow that actually crosses those boundaries.

04 / The people behind the delivery

Consolidated became an ESOP company in 2021, giving employees an opportunity to receive company stock with potential retirement benefits. Its community work has a particularly concrete expression at Cuyahoga Community College: donated printing services. In 2024 the Tri-C Foundation recognized Reville with its Chairperson’s Award after years of company support.

Expansion continued in 2026. Transaction adviser Generational Capital Markets announced that Consolidated had acquired HKM Direct Market Communications’ assets, with the deal closing June 23. HKM’s announcement described a combined team exceeding 250 professionals. The acquisition adds another chapter to a business whose original name already contained its method.

For a prospective customer, the practical test is how much coordination the work requires. Consolidated offers individual services as well as bundles, scoped through a quote. A recurring program spanning data, approvals, production and distribution gives that breadth something useful to do. A simple occasional job may need only one service. Start by mapping the handoffs; then decide how many belong together.