Print ResponsiblyFor the first time, as an experiment in online communication, WhatTheyThink Going Green and the principles of PrintResponsibly.com - Christopher Gravagna and Don Miller - conducted a "slow motion interview" with SKYPE chat. Here's the result. GNK: Good morning, folks! Great to have you online. Before we talk about PrintResponsibly.com, your website and storefront, let's talk a little about the two companies "behind the curtain": OnDemand Color Group and Diamond Graphics. Would you give us a quick overview/profile of the two companies? CG: OnDemand Color Group was started in 2003 after I sold my first company; Big City Graphics. I wanted to be a bigger solutions provider, a 1-stop provider.  Since then I've acquired several companies to assemble services like bindery, die cutting and digital printing to eliminate the need to outsource. DM: Diamond Graphics was founded in 1992 and has been built to serve today's "on demand" marketplace through five acquisitions. The intent was to also create a 1-stop shop and enhance productivity and efficiency. GNK: Are OnDemand Color Group and Diamond Graphics still two separate companies? Or have you merged them? CG: They are two companies now, but we intend to eventually merge them. GNK: Are you offering two different kinds of services? Litho in one and digital in the other, for example? Or are both full line; litho and digital? DM: Both facilities offer digital and litho services. Diamond Graphics offers small format, 14"X20" and below while OnDemand Color Group offers from 14"X20" to 28"X40" as well as die cutting and finishing services that compliment both facilities. GNK: Could you tell us roughly what your revenues and employee counts are? CG: OnDemand Color Group, and its companies, employs about 65 people; revenues exceed $10 million. DM: DiamondGraphics has about 15 employees and revenues north of $2 million. GNK: What made you take the step to bring those two facilities together with a green focus? Was it a personal philosophy, rather than a business decision? CG: Don and I got to know each other very well over the past 2 years.  We found that we had a common interest in implementing sustainable solutions; it both served our personal philosophy and made good business sense. The movement to web to print was a natural place for us to start; to use the web as a feeder mechanism to support both production facilities. It was an evolution over time, through personal lifestyle changes and an awareness of the negative impacts of traditional processes. Every step then became about doing it in a better way and making it as green as possible. GNK: You're in NY/NJ right? Is it harder or easier to be "green" in a big metro area? Or does it matter since you have an ecommerce site? CG: Yes, we are located in NY and NJ. It's somewhat easier because of the transportation infrastructure, the density of customers and prospects, and suppliers are close by. Our ecommerce capability also makes geography less of an issue. GNK: A new report from PRIMIR - Sustainable Print in a Dynamic Global Market - makes the point that printers are greener than most people think. For example:
  • 71% use vegetable inks on press
  • 55% are alcohol-free
  • 25% use renewable energy or purchase renewable energy credits
  • 95% recycle plates
  • 95% recycle paper
  • 70% recycle ink cans
  • 50% recycle shrink wrap
  • 41% have a document environmental management plan in place
  • 13% measure their carbon footprint
  • 68% measure their energy use
  • 46% measure VOC emissions
  • 67% are FSC-certified
  • 60% said certification was worth it
As you can see from the list of activities, printers are indeed becoming more lean and green. What are you doing that goes beyond the norm; more than recycled paper and vegetable ink? DM: We take a holistic approach to each job; we assess the job requirements and execute on the equipment and systems that will make it the greenest it can be.  We use waterless presses, which save resources, reduce VOCs by 90% and add to print quality. We have also reduced waste on press, implemented on-line proofing and switched to chemical-free platemaking and processing. We converted equipment and film in order to provide a biodegradable shrink wrap solution. So you can see, we have eco-engineered every step of the print process from concept to delivery. As for inks, we take one additional step; we found a company that uses our waste ink as a fuel additive so we eliminate ink as a waste product. We, of course, have an extensive paper, cardboard, and aluminum recycling program at both locations as well. At the same time, we have created a cultural awareness among our employees that says "this is what we are and what we do." We've instilled a green consciousness in everything we do. GNK: Are you doing anything really out on the edge? A green roof? I guess you can't have an organic garden in the city... CG: I'm actually trying to get approval form my landlord to get a windmill put on the roof of my building. Actually it's not a traditional windmill; it's called a "windcatcher." To save energy we've converted both facilities to energy efficient lighting and ballasts. Something we are doing a little differently is to grind down wooden pallets so fiber can be used as mulch in gardening and landscaping. GNK: For some printers, going green may mean making some big changes in the way they do business, for others it will be a small change. What are some of the challenges you came up against? What lessons did you learn? CG: Our first step was chain of custody certification. We had to initially understand what the FSC was all about then go through the certification process. It was also an educational process learning to separate "greenwashing" from truly green capabilities. We're still learning every day. DM: It's also a challenge to get the message out. Many companies in our industry claim to be green but they really don't have much to back it up beyond using recycled paper. GNK: Did you find the CoC process difficult or was it just the need to document everything? DM: The NJ facility was the guinea pig; the first to be certified.  Once we got through that and understood the process, it was easier to prep the NYC location for what was to come. It was a bigger project and took longer than we originally expected. It took us about 3 months of doing something every day, between paperwork, policy creation, and physical changes to the plants GNK: Both sites have dual chain of custody certification? (FSC and SFI) DM: Both sites are dually certified. GNK: I'll put you on the spot here. How do you define "greenwashing" in our industry? DM: Someone told me, "We are a green printer, we can use recycled paper if the customer asks."  Another printer told a client that soy and vegetable inks were only available in CMYK which is simply untrue.  There's lot of confusion out there. GNK: Discover Financial Services (the Discover card people) survey about 750 small businesses every month and their April 2009 survey included a poll asking about social networking. The responses were very interesting:
  • 38% are members of Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space or Twitter
  • 46% use traditional networking methods (conferences, trade shows, local groups or chambers of commerce), 16% cited "other" networking opportunities, 8% cited online sites, and 7% said email. 22% said they weren't sure...
  • 62% of small businesses still don't have websites for their businesses, an improvement of 3 percentage points since 11/07
  • 45% of those who belong to an online social network use it to promote their businesses
In contrast to most traditional printers, you do most of your marketing and client communication electronically. What are some of the pros and cons? DM: Some of the positives are the ability to customize a message/answer, the speed of answer, etc.  The challenge is that it requires constant attention to the website, especially updating status so the customer can check on line.  File exchanges and proofing are still concerns. We use new media for mass communication but have the printed material to back up the electronic communication. For example, we have a sample kit available to order on line. We send out a package of samples so that the customer can touch the paper and get a sense of the final product. GNK: We interviewed a small number of printers a couple of months ago about their "social media marketing" and asked, "Can you track sales to your online sales efforts? Do you see social media as an effective sales tool or should we consider it something else, like a customer relationship tool?" One person responded, "When we finally get a sale that way, we will be able to track sales from our online efforts." Do you find social media marketing to be an effective sales tool? CG: Absolutely! Being able to share a message of a special offer instantaneously to your friends/followers/colleagues/LinkedIn contacts, etc., has become a proven mechanism to get quick results and answers.  We've also used social media as a research tool to help make our products better.  It is the foundation for the ability to monetize the tons of information that we collect. GNK: How much time do you spend managing your website, your blog and other social media? CG: We spend a lot of time on social media and our website; it's almost 24/7. The blog is an area where we want to spend more time. Email, Twitter, etc., is gradually becoming 24/7. GNK: So it's expanded from a part-time to a full-time effort? CG: Full time plus... GNK: Is that because you have your ecommerce interface? Or is that because this is the new way of doing business? Or both? CG: Given trends I've seen, it's a new way of doing business. It has become part of our culture to operate on an around-the-clock basis. We have technology partners we communicate with in China where there is exactly 12 hours difference in time. Before we got on this call with you, we concluded an online chat with our colleagues in Beijing. GNK: It's time to wrap; is there anything else you'd like to add? CG: The way we're doing this interview is a perfect example of how we're embracing technology and social media. And there's no paper required for this interview. :-) DM: We're also pursuing an approach that says, "We know you need to print. We can provide a better way." GNK: Thanks for your patience in trying something new... Let's keep the lines open for more conversations. See you on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn!