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By Kevin Keane, IAPHC CEO On how to become a billionaire printer "Taylor then put his farm boy handiness to work. Taking old parts from a car, a heating element from a stove and a tube from a TV, he rebuilt a stamping press so that it could put a design and a name on a napkin in one step, rather than two. Taylor's innovation saved about a penny per napkin. And that penny a napkin bankrolled a billion-dollar fortune." 26 April 1998 Minneapolis StarTribune feature on Carlson Craft owner and Taylor Corp printing magnate Glen Taylor. Digi-rox? or Digi-Rocks! The 24 April issue of The New York Times reported that Xerox sold more digital copiers and service contracts in the quarter just ended while keeping a lid on costs. The article said that: "Xerox has proved it can persuade corporate customers to buy the more expensive digital machines instead of the older, cheaper photocopiers." Last week, we were shown a facilities management proposal Xerox made to a member-at-large who owns a highly successful service print shop in California. The printer will be able to replace a 5090, a 5100, a 5765 and the Fiery unit, with a DocuColor 40, the newest, fastest Fiery and put in a fully loaded Docutech for about $2,000 more per month. Then comes the kicker -- suppose that the printer no longer had to pay California sales tax on the copy clicks, because the arrangement is no longer equipment leasing but instead is XFM, Xerox Facilities Management? He gets all new, much more productive Xerox equipment, for virtually the same monthly payment. Look for more of this as our industry continues to change. The approach actually comes from Xerox Business Services (XBS) and the proposal is for 'Site Management'. Views from VUE/POINT Interesting responses to a survey at VUE/POINT conducted 14 April: - We are seriously concerned about the future prospects for companies like ourselves: Strongly agree 26% Agree 33% Disagree 23% Strongly Disagree 14% N/A 5% - It is our plan to move from Mac-based work to PC or other non-Mac processes: Strongly Agree 1% Agree 8% Disagree 40% Strongly Disagree 47% Apple to the Core On 27 April Reuters out of Hong Kong reported an interview with Apple Computer's senior veep of worldwide sales, Mitchell Mandich: "But in fields such as publishing and education where Apple loyalty is fierce, the company's market dominance is anywhere between 50 percent and 90 percent worldwide, Mandich said." Which explains the last noted question from VUE/POINT! Meanwhile at Adobe On 27 April Investors Business Daily reported Adobe Systems wants to tell the world that its graphics software isn't just for the pros anymore. Quoting CEO John Warnock: "The professional sector isn't growing at the rate that it did over the last ten years. I think the nonprofessional market is wide open for very high growth." Adobe's so called nonprofessional version of PhotoShop is called PhotoDeluxe. The new version of this software is aimed at businesses. The new PhotoDeluxe can be used to create business cards, flyers, banners, labels and other things and is set to come to market next month. One wonders in an editorial manner whether the good folks at Adobe have ever sat with the preflight folks at your mother's printshop and heard the charming things being said about a software program for non professionals called Publisher. Sigh. What was it William Lamparter said about Print 97? Control of the process has moved from the prepress department to the content creator (a.k.a., the nonprofessional.) No Film at Eleven? In the 31 March issue of Tuesday Morning News, (and if you are a new subscriber don't forget that all previous issues of TMN are archived on our website CraftNet at www.iaphc.org) we noted the Graphic Arts Marketing Information Service report on the market potential for graphic arts consumables. While still large, it is obvious that Computer to Plate is eroding conventional film sales. Last week in TMN, we speculated that the reported $669,000 drop in consumable sales at Printware, Inc., might be from Deluxe. The company confirmed our guess on Friday 24 April when it said that it expects sales of printing plate material to Deluxe Corp. will end after the second quarter. This reminded us of a recent note from an International Gallery judge and Deluxe employee thanking us for the opportunity to be a judge: "While Deluxe continues to evolve from a specialty printer to an information services company, I still enjoy getting involved with the 'ink on paper' portion of the business. If you need volunteers again this year, please let me know. It is a privilege to be a part of the event." Proof of the evolution of Deluxe also came last week when it announced plans to sell the Paper Direct division, which had been a part of Current, Inc for the past several years. Further confirmation of the changing nature of the graphic arts supplies business comes from James Mullan, president and CEO of PrimeSource Corporation who said in a statement on 24 April: "Our first quarter results (mostly a mirror of the same quarter a year previous) reflects a general industry softness in traditional supplies..." And finally, "I wasn't excited about working in a printing company. I was excited about making a dollar an hour." Glen Taylor on his first job out of high school in 1959.
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