Miller's Professional Imaging
Richard G. Miller, President

Miller's Professional Imaging takes special pride in providing quality photofinishing to professional photographers, particularly "people" photographers in the wedding, portrait and special events markets. The business has received much national recognition over the past ten years and in 1994 was named Photofinisher of the Year by "Photographic Processing" magazine. Richard Miller, a mathematics major from M.U. is President/C.E.O. and majority owner. As an indication of their success, there's the fact that Miller's only accepts new customers in the first few months of the year; this is done to aid in their work flow projections, and to better serve their existing customer base.

The work that flows so quickly through Miller's plant comes from pro photographers and studios in 50 states; this, from a lab that does no national advertising. The founder of the company, Bill Miller, an M.U. chemistry grad, started doing color finishing in the '60s, mainly to produce quality work for his own photographic studio.

Revenues have expanded exponentially, growing from $175,000 in 1971 to over 52.4 million in gross revenues for 1999. This is 300 times as much business as when Richard Miller started as an active member of this company. "Much of this growth comes from our commitment to our customer," says Richard Miller, "and our emphasis on quality. We bend over backwards to please our customers. We can't emphasize too much how our success is owed to our employees."

Automation is a key word at Miller's, with a Compaq Alpha and many other advanced workstations serving as the company's central nervous system. Work flow, order tracking, and a user-friendly approach to computer-driven systems are key elements in the production cycle. High-end processing systems are linked with equally efficient delivery systems. The company utilizes Airborne Express for free return shipping of orders. The company has a now very successfull internet componnent

Computerization also plays a major part in Miller's electronic imaging services, with Mac G4's, High Powered Dual Pentiums, SCI Lightjet laser printers, Sienna Mileca printers, Kodak L.E.D. and Digital Multi-printers, Fuji's 550 flatbed Scanner, Fuji's Digital Mini-lab systems, Silicon Graphics workstations, the Sienna Repri and Ellegro systems and Durst Lambda laser printers all doing major duty. The commitment to electronic services is strong, and Miller's has a stated goal of utilizing the latest equipment when and if it makes sense. Indeed, eight staff members handle the hardware and three more handle the software of Miller's computerized systems. "We believe in being leading edge with technology," says Richard Miller, "and we are always on the lookout for better ways to handle our business."

While the employees, equipment and reputation has made Miller's one of the most successful finishers today, much of the success can be attributed to Richard Miller. He started work in the lab in 1971, and had the opportunity to fill in for everyone. He printed orders, processed film, color corrected, entered orders, and so forth. Along with this experience came a philosophy of team play and involvement.

"We also will try anything, and we are always experimenting with new technology and approaches. We try to refine equipment to meet our needs, and get satisfaction from being successful, and making our customers happy. In fact, part of the real satisfaction of this work is wanting everyone who works here to be successful. This is a small community, and we are a part of the community, and the best way for people who work with us to succeed is for the company to be successful. All this is based upon total customer satisfaction - that way everyone benefits."

While Miller believes in new technology, he recognizes that it must be focused on the individual needs of the plant or operation in which it is placed. "For us, new technology is not about power or ego. It's about benefiting the customer and expanding their ability to offer profitable services to their customers. The impact of digital imaging on labs is profound. Some people see it as eating into our business. We see it as expanding the services we can offer. There will always be a need for retouching - it's just that we now have tools to do it more efficiently, and to offer more services.

"We should remember that we're all in the business of providing memories for people and their families - that's an important and vital task, and an important part of people's lives. That's a very satisfying part of this business."

Footnote: Excerpts taken from September '94 issue of "Photographic Processing."