Six Months After 9/11 One of our members, Shuja Shabbir Vice President at Printfacility, recently wrote and asked if their story would be worth sharing with others at WhatTheyThink.com. Printfacility is just a few blocks from the World Trade Center and the struggles this company has endured to stay in business are very humbling. The commercial printer has not stood still during the past six months. They continue to print on their HP, Canon, Xerox and Oce equipment. However, Printfacility had to close down for a month after the attacks. Even when they opened back up, sales were way down. And worse yet, executives found that financial help was NOT very easy to come by. Despite these formidable challenges, Printfacility pressed onward. The company invested in a Kodak Approval XP, they are building a new web site and considering additional solutions from Creo, RealTimeImage and printChannel.com. Of course, the financial burden remains for this courageous firm. We hope this story will move you to contact Printfacility with your best wishes and encouragement. By Shuja Shabbir, Printfacility Incorporated in March of 2000, Printfacility culminated from eight years of experience that I had in this industry. We are proficient in all of the latest technologies and implementation techniques, and cater to a wide range of professionals including artists, design firms, advertising agencies, financial companies, lawyers, architects and the general public. Our services include digital color printing, large format color, AutoCAD plotting, document management, prepress, offset printing, finishing and duplicating. Prior to September 11, Printfacility was stronger than it had ever been. Suddenly, after September 11, Printfacility found itself closed for four weeks due to the proximity to the World Trade Center. Even after the doors opened, only one third of the business returned. During the time that Printfacility was shut down, its expenses accumulated. Leases on the machines had to be paid, rent had to be paid to the landlord (who would not give any break) and to top it all off, the insurance company refused to pay on the claims, citing a clerical error on the insurance broker’s part. With no other choices remaining, Printfacility was forced to reduce staff to a mere four employees. Even FEMA denied any assistance, claiming that we were not in business long enough, nor had the company acquired enough collateral to qualify for an SBA loan. Other organizations which claimed to be able to help were there; however, the amount of paperwork and time required to become considered for financial assistance made that path infeasible. We were considering the purchase of a KPG Approval before September 11, in part because of a few clients that required that service. At first, outsourcing KPG Approval work was considered, but I felt uncomfortable depending on an outside company to maintain our quality and response times, and did not want to risk any client relationship. After September 11, it became only too apparent that new means of generating business were required to keep Printfacility in business. Purchasing the KPG Approval was definitely a risk, but a well calculated one. The decision to get this particular brand for proofing was simple, considering that it is an industry standard and "top of the line". Our current equipment list includes: • HP plotters both for AutoCAD and indoor/outdoor Graphics • Oce equipment for plotting & duplicating engineering drawings • High speed Canon color copiers/printers • High speed Xerox b/w copier & Oce b/w digital copier • Linotronic Imagesetter • Howtek Drum Scanner • High speed b/w scanner for document management • Large format color scanner • True two color offset press with platemaker • All the required finishing equipment to do mounting, laminating & binding services Since September 11, we have made a significant effort to expose ourself to potential clientele and demonstrate that not only did we survive the World Trade Center disaster, but we are still dedicated to providing the same quality of service as previous. In fact, with the purchase of the KPG Approval, we are well positioned to aggressively compete in the downtown Manhattan area. We have also started the development of our web site, www.printfacility.com. In the future, we expect that customers will be able to place orders and proof jobs online through printfacility.com. To do that we are exploring the possibility of incorporating the services of either printChannel.com, RealTimeImage.com, or Creo’s Synapse Insite. But like every other business affected by the World Trade Center disaster, we are taking every day one step at a time. Once again, I would like to thank you for your response and I hope other members at WhatTheyThink.com are encouraged by our effort. Best Regards, Shuja Shabbir Vice President *Editor’s Note: Having spoken with Shuja, it is clear that any help or words of encouragement would be appreciated. At the very least, send an email and thank him for sharing so openly. 212-406-5880 or e-mail [email protected]