PARAMUS, N.J. – August 11, 2008 – NAPL, the not-for-profit management association for business excellence in the printing and graphic communications industry, announces a call for entries for the 29th Annual Management Plus Awards (M+). The deadline for entries is November 7, 2008.
 
Management Plus is a unique industry-specific corporate development and assessment program. Printers participate in a free self audit that reveals a road map for greater profitability through management improvements. Companies assess nine key areas of their operations: internal control systems; financial performance; marketing/sales plan; business planning; human resources; environmental/safety concerns; quality control; community/industry affairs; and vendor relations.  If a company is pleased with the results of their own survey, they have the option to enter the annual Management Plus Awards competition.
 
“Most graphic arts competitions judge printing quality,” said Robin Schabacker, program coordinator, NAPL. “Management Plus underscores NAPL’s mission to elevate business excellence industry-wide. It evaluates how well a printer’s company is performing, as measured against a benchmark of successful businesses in the industry. Simply by filling out the questionnaire, printers can determine what they need to do in order to increase profitability. That means you’re a winner just by participating, even if you don’t go for the gold.”
 
Management Plus measures printers’ current management acumen against more than 30 years of data, helping them determine key areas for improvement. The program has helped hundreds of firms step back from the constant grind of daily business to look at overall performance. Many have discovered that relatively small changes in management techniques have had profound impacts on achieving business objectives.
 
“We are proud to be Management Plus award-winners, yet we use the Management Plus Program primarily because it helps us manage our business better,” said James W. Finger, II, President of Nies/Artcraft Companies and NAPL’s Awards Committee Chairman. “You can talk about how well you print or how fast you responded to clients, but the bottom line is that Management Plus helped us grow our company by concentrating on best practices. It allows companies to fine tune their strengths, improve their weaknesses, and ultimately make a profit to reinvest.”
 
Entries are judged against how well the business compares to industry standards among similar companies.  Gold, Silver and Merit Awards will be given to printing concerns which score at least 90%, 80% and 70%, respectively against established benchmarks.  One Hall of Fame award will be presented to a company consistently recognized over several years for management excellence. The award was named in memory of William K. Marrinan, a leader in the printing industry and a major contributor to the success of Management Plus. Hall of Fame inductees receive the opportunity to present two $1,000 scholarships in the company’s name to four-year graphic arts schools of their choice.
 
All award winners become members of the prestigious Management Plus Society. Any commercial printing, in-plant company or graphic arts group is eligible, as long as it produces graphic arts materials within its own manufacturing facility.
 
NAPL will honor the award-winning companies at a Management Plus awards banquet on March 17, 2009 during NAPL’s Top Management Conference in Tucson, Arizona.
 
Management Plus is sponsored by American Printer magazine, Compass Capital Partners, Ltd., and MAN Roland. The entry fee is $95 for members and $150 for non-members. For more information about NAPL’s Management Plus program, contact Robin Schabacker, program coordinator, at 800-642-6275, ext. 6307 or [email protected]. To download an entry form, visit www.napl.org.