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Game-Changers for the Printing Industry: Wearable Technologies ()
As evidenced by the explosive, innovative changes that are occurring in today’s printing industry, creative destruction is clearly taking hold. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore some of the disruptive forces that are expected to impact the market. This week’s article explores wearable technologies like Fitbit and Google Glass.
Selling Solutions: A Path for Your Print Sales Team
Customers have challenges; the best way to increase your sales is to provide your products and services wrapped into solutions to your customer’s challenges. Solution selling is an easier topic to write about then it is to execute on. Too many people write about the idea without providing guidance on how to get from where you are today (selling print jobs) to selling print programs or solutions.
Advertising Agency Revenues Still Climbing
The chart below shows the latest revenue data, on an inflation-adjusted basis, for ad agencies and publishers. Note how ad agency revenues are rising. While there have always been agencies that specialize in certain media, like television, direct mail, or others, the industry is media agnostic in the aggregate. Its job is to increase the positive visibility of its clients and help spur their customers into action.
HP Scales Up Its PageWide Technology ()
At an event in San Diego, Calif., held June 9 and 10, HP announced that they are scaling up their PageWide technology for use in wide-format printers. PageWide made its debut in 2013 in the Officejet Pro X Series of desktop multifunction devices.
Reducing your Spot Color Ink Cost
Over the years the cost of spot colors has increased due to reductions in ink company branches, minimum quantities, rush charges and additional delivery costs. If you use a lot of spot colors your ink costs have most likely grown. GFI Innovations manufactures an ink dispenser that can help you reduce your spot color ink costs and reduce your environmental impact.
Vincent Printing: Changing with the Times ()
Branding is about getting your prospects to see you as a company that provides a solution to their problems. To be successful, you must demonstrate that you understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. This article explores how Vincent Printing is changing with the times to meet its clients’ evolving needs.
Selected Generally “Non-Offset” Products and Services Offered by US Commercial Printers
Experts at the Past vs. a Vision for the Future
Last week I was in Bali, Indonesia, speaking at Dscoop Asia. The event, the travel, and the reading I did along the way came together with a common theme which can best be summed up by a quote from the book I read on the way home.
Chasing Bottlenecks in Wide-Format Digital
I recently had the chance to talk with Scott Crosby of Holland & Crosby, Ltd., about issues relating to bottlenecks in the wide-format production process. In the article, it’s interesting to see how changes (and improvements) in technology can strongly affect a company’s complete process. The comments included here may sound familiar to many using wide-format equipment.
Inkjet’s Irresistible Rise Is Showcased at FESPA Digital 2014 ()
Last month, being in touch with the latest developments in wide-format inkjet printing for graphic arts and industrial applications meant being at FESPA Digital, a European trade expo billing itself as the “largest focused digital print exhibition worldwide this year.”
It’s Academic – Scholarly Journals are Big Business – May 2014 M&A Activity
Digital content platforms attracted financial and strategic buyers last month, as increasingly sophisticated online systems drive information to centralized providers that automate the design, hosting and distribution of content.
Full-Throttle Communications at IPMA 2014 ()
IPMA 2014 (Milwaukee, WI) featured a tagline of “Full-Throttle Communication.” This article describes how today’s in-plants are moving up the value chain to better serve their customers, and also provides examples of in-plants that were awarded for innovation at the show.
Latest Print and Content Creation Employment Data
Print MIS Implementation: Don’t Forget Your People!
A Print MIS implementation/transition is a massive undertaking. It is usually driven by an extensive technology-focused project plan and/or strategic document. These projects can take anywhere from 6-18 months to implement. So much thought and effort gets put in to so many elements.
Production Inkjet—The Next Wave: Kodak PROSPER 6000 ()
Now that time has passed, and many of the production inkjet vendors are beginning to introduce new offerings, David will look at many of these new products in the context of what was learned in the original series as they are introduced.
Production Inkjet—The Next Wave: Océ ImageStream 3500 from Canon ()
Now that time has passed, and many of the production inkjet vendors are beginning to introduce new offerings, David will look at many of these new products in the context of what was learned in the original series as they are introduced.
HP Highlights Digital Print for Packaging Applications at interpack ()
interpack, a once-every-three-years trade fair held in Düsseldorf, Germany, is like Pack Expo in Chicago—a huge show that’s heavy on packaging and packaging automation but light on digital printing (with the possible exception of coding and logistics labeling).
Notes from a Safari: Nine Big Mistakes That Would-Be Wide-Format Printers Can Make ()
Unless you have been lost, you are all too aware that the market for print has been changing, changing dramatically, and not changing for the best. We’ve had this discussion for a long time, so we need not dwell on it here. As a result, many companies have looked to wide-format and other types of specialty printing as a compelling replacement.
Workflow Automation: Investment Delivers Top Value
Two-thirds of print service providers consider workflow automation a top investment priority simply because it enables them to better service customers and increases customer satisfaction. Today, customers typically want more speed and less cost, whether it’s 100 business cards or a half-dozen editions of 1,000 books each in different page dimensions—by tomorrow—from facilities on three continents.
Xerox Unveils Expanded Impika Inkjet Innovation Center ()
Xerox announced the grand opening of its expanded Impika Inkjet Innovation Center in Aubagne, France, with a customer Inkjet Summit on June 4th. Chairman & CEO Ursula Burns was on hand to officially open the new center. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Andrew Copley, President of Xerox’ Graphic Communications Operations, to understand the extent of the expansion and what it means for the Xerox production inkjet business.
Say Thank You: Customer-Vendor Relationships
When you are the customer, you’re always right – correct? Maybe not always but the relationship between customer and vendor is a tricky one.
Since June 2009, rate of overall USPS price increases almost 4x the rate of increase in commercial printing prices
One Year Later: X-Rite Pantone President Ron Voigt ()
About a year ago, we interviewed X-Rite Pantone President Ron Voigt shortly after he took on the leadership role. In this interview with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne, he updates our readers on what has transpired in that year and strategies moving forward.
In Europe, Canon Seeks the Spotlight with “Niagara” Inkjet Press and Other Product-Launch Announcements
Eager to promote the outcomes of its integration with Océ, Canon is making a concerted marketing effort to acquaint printers worldwide with the merged product lines and ongoing progress in R&D. Lately, Canon has been concentrating the effort in Europe, where it recently made a series of major announcements about new digital printing systems.
Web-to-Print: Are Users Ordering or Shopping?
A web-to-print site is all about customer convenience, enabling your customers to order from you in a self-service fashion. One thing to understand about your customers is whether they are ordering or shopping.
Broadly Defined, Printing Is One Hellacious Cyber Risk ()
Legal expert and printing industry pundit Kevin Keane contributes this article about the risks printing companies face as they handle an increasing volume of internal and external data. But he doesn’t stop there. He provides our members with specific steps that owners and managers must take to mitigate data breach risks.
Transforming and Automating Workflows: Thinking out of the box Part 2
There is an assumption that as service provider there are very specific, almost predetermined ways that a workflow to support your business operations should be developed and deployed. However, sometimes, to use a somewhat overused term, you need to think out of the box. In Part 2 of this article we continue to look at some other ways to approach offerings, and workflows.
The Promise of Process Free Plates
The printing industry continues to look at how to improve processes and reduce the environmental impact of printing. Kodak has developed a new plate, Sonora, which is process free. Process free plates have been around for a long time but they have been more of a niche product. The Sonora plate may change that.
The ICG Remembers Folding Carton Industry Veteran Alan Crane
The folding carton industry has lost a legend. Alan Crane (1924-2014) was a visionary, mentor and cherished friend to many, including members and suppliers of the Independent Carton Group (ICG), who remember him fondly.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Digital Enterprises ()
McKinsey Insights and Publications recently published an article entitled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Digital Enterprises. This article provides a brief overview of the insights from this article and also explores their particular relevance to the graphic communications market.
Paper or Electronic? Sprint Recognizes the Value of Paper in Today’s Business World
Interview of Sprint’s Alan Anglyn, Director – IT Care & Billing Services Business Management by Phil Riebel, President - Two Sides North America
Though Q1-2014 GDP was -1%, the Year-to-Year Trend Remains in the +2% Range
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the second revision of Q1-2014 US Gross Domestic Product (GDP), indicating a contraction of the US economy in the quarter. As reported in prior (“laughable and embarassing”) analysis, an inventory buildup in the last two quarters of 2013 distorted the underlying condition of the economy.
Test Your Assumptions via Minimum Viable Product
We think we know our customers, we think we know our market; we think we can predict the future, we can’t and we shouldn’t invest lots of money without building in the ability to test our assumptions with data rather than opinions and theories.
Q1-2014 Business Conditions Compared to Q1-2013
Business conditions were generally good, with more than 33% reporting business increases of 6% or more. About 13% of respondents indicated business decreases of 6% or more
The Feature Trap of Buying Print Software
There is a hidden pitfall most of us in the position of purchasing print software are very susceptible to. We are all human, and while we have the best of intentions to do thorough evaluations while making a new print software purchase, we quickly fall victim to the ‘feature trap.’
Want To Improve the Value of Your Company Up to 5x Without Borrowing a Dime?
There has long been speculation among business owners and their advisors over how to place a value on privately held companies. Now, newly developed business valuation models which replicate historical buyer experience sheds some light on the topic and provides some very interesting insights into value creation opportunities for current business owners and potential buyers.
Building Your Sales Funnel: Awareness is Everything! ()
The order of the traditional sales funnel has typically been to discover a new opportunity, initiate communication, conduct fact finding, develop a solution, propose that solution, evaluate the solution, negotiate the details, create a purchase order, and maintain the account. This article explores how today’s empowered prospects have rendered this systematic approach obsolete.
NFIB Small Business Index Still Between Two Recession Bottoms
Transitioning Your Print MIS System
If you are currently functioning on a legacy Print MIS system, you know better than anyone that you are going to have to make a move ‘soon.’ Maybe soon is in the next 2 months or the next 2 years, but you know that your system isn’t going to lead you into the future.
Wide-Format Graphics Community Charts another Strong Year ()
The results are in from SGIA’s annual Specialty Graphics Industry Survey (the full report will be released in June), and the data we’ve received shows the wide-format graphics community going strong. The information included here covers some of the “high-points” of our findings, and provides a bit of analysis, from my viewpoint.
For O’Neil Data Systems, the Need for Speed Leads to an Inkjet-Driven Transformation ()
Next week, O’Neil Data Systems (ODS) will be hosting an HP-sponsored event at their Plano, Tex, facility, which will bring together vendors, customers, and printers from all corners of the digital printing ecosystem to see the company’s high-powered “data-driven publishing” in action, as well as showcase their own contributions to this expanding print market segment.
Augmented Reality… A New Reality in 2014 ()
Today’s hyper connected consumers are truly in control of the media that they consume. Today’s marketers must pursue media strategies that deliver holistic integrated communications to drive results. This article explores how printed communications are being combined with augmented reality to increase revenues and response rates.
Labor Market Net Hiring Turns Negative
US employment data has many cross-currents: the unemployment rate is down, but the labor participation rate is at 35-year lows. Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its JOLTS report, which shows they dynamic factors at play in the labor market. This chart shows the percentage of hires less the number of quits on a year-to-year basis. Note in the chart below the rapid rise in employment as the recession ended and the recovery began, and also how it has narrowed and turned negative in recent months. It's been mainly negative for about 18 months.
Web-to-Print: A Mission Critical Sales and Marketing Project
Web-to-Print is a sales and marketing project that happens to involve technology, yet most printers delegate the leadership of web-to-print projects to their technical resources. We are collectively as an industry putting too much emphasis on the technology and not enough emphasis on the sales and marketing aspects.
What’s in a Name? Is it Time to Rethink Your Brand? ()
Although some companies only start looking at their brand image when things are not going well, successful firms are out in front of the market. This article discusses the importance of market dynamics and how they can be leveraged as key catalysts for change.
April 2014 – Deals, Court Filings & Closures in the Printing, Packaging, Paper & Related Industries
It was a Tale of Two Cities for sellers of printing companies in April. For some, it’s the best of times; they appear to have chosen wisely, believed in the power of the internet to transform the business of print, they saw the light and felt the hope of spring as they embarked on their journey. The market anoints these fortunate few with the ultimate reward – the high multiple.
Future-Proofing Your Business: People. Process. Technology
In Part One of this two-part series, we discussed how printing companies are responding to changing market dynamics to future-proof their businesses, and offered some of the questions you may consider asking to stimulate new customer conversations. In Part Two, we look at people, processes and technology required to successfully and profitably change the conversation and deliver new services.
Q1-2014 US Commercial Printing Shipments Down -4% Compared to 2013
March 2013 US commercial printing shipments were down -$148 million (-2.2%) compared to 2012. The first quarter was down -$770 billion (-4%). On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were down -$270 million (-5.4%) and down -$1.05 billion (-5.4%) for the quarter.
Recovery Indicators Rebound; Q1-2014 GDP Below 1% but Corrects for Business Inventory Misjudgments
The recovery indicators rebounded since last month. New orders for manufacturers remained at the same level that indicates growth.
April Printing Employment +1,000
Printing employment in April rose by 1,000 workers. It is always hard to determine if these were actual workers or if the changes were the result of issues with the estimation models of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Production workers were the greatest part of the increase (800).
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