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TMN 14 September 2001
Graphics Industry News with a piquant point of
view
TMN is an online newsletter 'dedicated to individuals in the
printing and graphic arts industry for the purpose of their self
development, their companies success and the enhancement of the
printing and graphic arts industry in society. It does this
through education, information and research.' *
* From the Mission Statement of the IAPHC
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
As a nation's innocence lies wounded, words are feeble and futile.
Only in prayer is there truth. God speed all you innocents;
God speed all you heroes.
Maybe it IS the economy, eh Genius?
With apologies to James Carville, we marvel at the retrenchment
occurring all over the printing industry and we wonder if the
economy or the Internet can truly be entirely to blame for the end
of the good times roll.
"The Internet was not invented to reduce the amount of
printing; but that will be one of the outcomes," thus
predicts an IAPHC member.
The news this summer has been a simmering stew of confusing
signals. Where is the print industry headed? Better
days? Sideways? Oblivion?
"The single biggest impact on our business was the Internet -
it dramatically cut our print volume. We saw our clients opt
to use the Web instead of printing brochures and other marketing
related materials. This drop in print volume led to
overcapacity in the marketplace as a whole, which in turn led to
brutal price competition." Dennis Watt, CEO of
Watt/Peterson, a Minnesota firm with a proud history of award
winning printing as it shocked the local market with the news it
would close.
The easy conclusion might be that more and more printers will be
closing. Indeed, all summer long, well known firms in
Toronto, Greensboro, Kansas City, Dallas, New York (and maybe your
town too) stunned their markets with the news they were going out
of business.
In mid July, the PIA reported a 12.5% decrease in the number of
printing plants in the U.S. since 1993 and noted that most of the
6,795 plants that had seemingly "gone away," were plants
that employed less than 10 employees. At the other end of
the spectrum, large plants had actually increased their number
although that would be an obvious result of the rapid
consolidation in recent years. According to Dr. Ron Davis,
chief economist of the PIA, "Generally, the plants that are
closing are smaller plants with less than 10 employees."
Ironically, as we chatted with printers around North America, it
was the smaller shops who seemed to be avoiding summer doldrums.
From Connecticut, to St. Paul to Seattle we heard from small shops
setting internal records. How can this be?
Are small shops being propped up by the consumer spending we read
so much about?
Are small shops more nimble in the digital saber dance? Are
small shops more adept at dealing with the instant gratification
demands of today's digitally enabled clients?
We suspect all of the above are factors, and suspect that some of
the busy small shops are benefiting from the sales volume left on
the table by the thousands of now closed shops. We would
also note that one time small shops sometimes grow up and become
far larger enterprises through external acquisitions.
Therefore, a cutting edge firm like Line and Tone found it prudent
to merge with Target Graphics in the New Jersey market; and Suttle
Press, an expertly managed firm in the southern Wisconsin/Chicagoland
market saw opportunity in acquiring another family owned business
- Straus Printing in Madison. All these companies have IAPHC
connections and have been active participants in the marketing
synergies they find in entering the International Gallery over the
years. We do not think this is mere coincidence.
Meanwhile the big dawgs found the summer sledding rather slow as
many firms returned to their roots in basic ink on paper
operations. Marc Reisch, the CEO of Quebecor World USA said
on July 16th: "This has been a very tough first
half." But he further noted that Quebecor remains very
comfortable with "print as a viable medium," and he
predicted: "Not only is print here to stay, there is
still some very healthy growth ahead."
On August 14th, Banta Corporation said that second quarter sales
for its print segment were down almost 14% to $226 million and
noted a 10% reduction in advertising page counts in magazines, and
an inventory bulge in educational books and products.
Mail-Well continued its new strategic direction of divesting
itself of its Label Printing and Printed Office Products segments
and plans to be able to return to a more targeted focus on
commercial printing and envelopes by the end of the year.
Bowne sold its commercial printing operations in Montreal to the
existing management group in early July, but by August it said the
financial printing outlook was becoming even more bleak.
Meanwhile Consolidated Graphics showed at least glimmering signs
of having turned the corner. In late July, CEO Joe R. Davis
said: "Longer term, we believe that our national
accounts strategy also offers significant growth prospects.
By leveraging our network of 63 companies in key markets across
the country, we successfully sell our services to national
corporations who are interested in simplifying their supply chain.
This strategy allows us to reach large customers through our
nationwide network of companies while maintaining our focus on
service levels that can only be provided by a local printer."
Mr. Davis says his firm now has 10 such national accounts.
Perhaps printers of this size were also taken off their game by
the dotcomet excesses. Now, with a renewed emphasis on the
"gal what brung 'em to the dance,"
optimism can actually be detected only a few inches below the
radar screen. Quebecor World's Mr. Reisch actually said his
firm had hit the acquisition trail once again. And on August
27th the PIA's Dr. Davis predicted that the North American print
economy would rebound in 2002.
Of course, events of September 11, may utterly change all that.
The Really Big Shew in Chi Town
The Print 01 show was of course marred by the horror on the East
Coast. But even before the cataclysm, some folks wondered if
the aisles seemed a bit more empty this go-around.
In one sense, the big news didn't require being at the show.
Any savvy Internet surfer knew that FujiFilm USA had announced
plans to acquire PrimeSource, as well as Heartland Imaging and
Graphic Systems, a few days prior to the show; and although the
news of Hewlett-Packard acquiring Compaq certainly dwarfed the
announcement a few days later that H-P would also acquire the
balance of the stock it didn't already own in Indigo, it was the
latter news that trumped many other Print 01 news releases.
And while we think the news about Indigo is important -- we recall
the comment of Carly Fiorina when H-P invested its initial $100
million into Indigo: "Our research shows that, today,
more than 96% of printed pages are produced by commercial
printers. It's a market that has yet to fully reap the
benefits of the digital era," we think the ongoing
digital debate remains fascinating and still unclear after Print
01.
One show attendee remarked: "My point is that you go to
these shows to see if there is a certain technology breaking free
of the pack so you can make the right business decision. I
went to Chicago looking for some answers and left with
questions!"
A week before the show, the Wall Street Journal ran a
provocative story comparing the Xerox FutureColor to the
Heidelberg NexPress offering. The FutureColor which was
re-branded at Print 01 as the DocuColor iGen3, was memorably
described in the Journal as being 7 feet tall and as long as a
Winnebago (hopefully with better mileage!)
The Journal succinctly observed:
"The new machines aren't copiers, but giant digital printers.
With a click of the mouse, pages with text and image are
transferred from computer directly to a press. The machines
are most cost effective for runs up to 5,000 pages, a range that
encompasses the vast majority of corporate printing jobs such a
product brochures. For larger runs, color offset
printing involving plates and proofs will remain the most
economical solution."
The article also revealed some less than genteel comments from the
main protagonists. Anne Mulcahy, Xerox chief executive,
forecast that her firm would dethrone Heidelberg by 2002, and she
opined that the NexPress machine offers no major technology
breakthroughs. Heidelberg's Chairman Wolfgang Pfizenmaier
retorted that the FutureColor is more of an oversized copier
rather than a sturdy press and he made light of Xerox and click
counts: "Our strategy is not to fool our customers with
crazy figures."
While some experts give the edge to Heidelberg, we draw the
reader's attention to the news from the Xerox Research Center of
Canada, which reported on 25 July, that it had developed a
breakthrough technology yielding color dry inks or 'toners.'
The technology is called emulsion aggregation (EA) eh? The
EA Technology process creates small toner particles that are
precisely controlled in size and shape and color so that color
images from xerographic equipment display image quality rivaling
ink based offset color printing. As we have noted before,
Xerox Canada has a well deserved reputation for digital
leadership, indeed our attendees at the 82nd IAPHC Convention in
Toronto in August heard a fantastic vision for a digital printing
future from Helene Blanchette of Xerox Canada and the Montreal
Club. The multiple digital thrusts from Xerox with the
iGen3, the EA Technology and the new partnership with
Presstek all portend a potent Xerox cocktail that may still
surprise the print world pundits.
The digital debate is just beginning. It's more than press
versus perceived overgrown copiers, and it's more than being
merely run length sensitive; it's about a printer making the right
choice to survive. The attendee we referenced above didn't
get the help he needed to make survival decisions. That is
the challenge before all industry suppliers -- if they are to
remain relevant they must help lead the way. Printer's needs
have moved beyond consultative selling. They need leadership
that shows the way to lasting digital success.
One IAPHC member suggests that the major vendor players in the
printing business five years from now may very well be Heidelberg
and Xerox; and Hewlett Packard and maybe Canon too. Three of
those have heavy computer systems and systems integration
backgrounds and that may very well become more important than iron
manufacturing expertise in the digital economy.
We found the words of Mark Dance, CEO of CreoScitex to be
compelling: "Printers will face many choices over the
next decade involving business systems and new technology.
Those decisions will determine a printer's success and even
survival. It's survival of the fittest."
Mr. Dance's comments were made not at Print 01, but at the 7th
Annual World Print Congress in Beijing, China on May 22, 2001.
Reminding us once again, that the printing industry of today and
tomorrow, is inalterably both global and digital.
Want to Adobe-Size your orderflow?
Our good friend Lonn Lorenz of the San Francisco Club works at
Adobe Systems as an evangelist for the ways in which printers can
leverage Adobe expertise in building their printing and graphics
businesses. Adobe has teams all over the world working with
printers to help them use Adobe software more effectively.
Lonn has been working with those teams and has developed a number
of free offerings. Once such development is called the Adobe
Partner Finder an online resource where printers can register into
a database and then are located when a designer or anyone else
searches the database to locate printers in a geographic locale or
by a given specialty. Lonn is not going to try to sell you
anything, he merely wants to make sure you are aware of this free
opportunity. We think highly of Lonn and admire his
passionate expertise. If you would be interested in learning
more, please contact him at llorenz@adobe.com
As if to underscore the power of this approach, our International
Gallery Chairman Dan Marantz recently accessed the International
Gallery of Superb Printing Database in search of printers who had
entered a specific kind of project in 2001. He found 4 such
printers - Offset Impressions in Reading, PA. Suttle-Straus in
Madison, WI, Connecticut Printing and Graphics in Danbury, CT and
Applied Printing Technologies in Moonachie, NJ.
E-note to Dan Marantz -- maybe you should talk to Lonn about the
synergies of an Adobe International Gallery sponsorship and very
helpful database growth?
We say again, it's a global AND digital world. Are you
ready?
Club and IAPHC News
We were able to reach via e-mail four members of the New York Club
of Printing House Craftsmen, Vince DiPalma, Helen Marsh, Joe
Prestino, and Ralph Locascio. Blessedly, all were spared
immediate pain this week. Yet, as the Six Degrees of
Separation philosophy reminds, we will all know someone, who knew
someone. May they rest in peace.
International Printing Week
The planning is underway in many Clubs to mark a festive
International Printing Week, January 13-19, 2002. The theme
this year is "Celebrate the POWER of PRINT."
IAPHC Headquarters has received a quantity of 2002 IPW key chains
from the International Printing Week chairman Dr. John Leininger.
The cost is a mere $1.00 U.S. each. The key chains make for
very appropriate gifts for Club Board members or perhaps as
speaker mementos. Let us know if you would like to order
some key chains. If you have any questions about powering up
your celebrations, please feel free to contact John at ljohn@clemson.edu
GTI Light Tables
Through the generosity of Mid-Hudson member company GTI Graphic
Technology, the judges of the International Gallery of Superb
Printing were able to review your entries on Portable Viewing
Stands. These stands retail for $395. Now however, the
stands used for judging (lightly and lovingly) can be had for only
$299 plus S/H. Every judge commented on how great these
stands work. If you would have an interest in obtaining a
stand, please contact International Gallery Chairman Dan Marantz
at dmarantz@aol.com
Platinum Reserve Gifts
The IAPHC Board would like to thank the following for their
generous gifts to the Platinum Reserve Fund. These gifts
were received at the Toronto Convention:
$1,000 The Chicago Club of Printing House Craftsmen in memory of
the son of Jim and Nancy Chiero
$ 500 Superior Printing Ink Company
$100 each from the Adirondack Club, the Montreal Club, Dr. John
Leininger, Tom Blanchard, Ray Rafalowski, Cindy Johnson, Bill
Leahy
Toronto Convention Awards and Accolades
The IAPHC Board salutes the winners of the various awards which
reward members and Club for their fantastic dedication to
Craftsmanship. Look for more about these winners in the
upcoming issue of the IAPHC Communicator.
International Craftsman of the Year -- Stewart A. Graham of the
Lima Area Club
Governor of the Year -- Bill Orr of the Fifth District
Van Hanswyk-Jasser Award -- Linda Laney, 3rd District Governor,
Buffalo Club
International Gallery go-getter contest winner -- Arthur Mole,
Vancouver Club
Chairman's Citations -- Anthony Sarubbi, New Jersey/North Shore
Club, Kathy Schoenick, Madison Club, Frieda Sarubbi, New
Jersey/North Shore Club, Don Landers, San Francisco/Diablo Club.
Club Bulletin Contest Best of Show -- Kathy Schoenick Madison Area
Club
Club Membership Top Recruiters -- Lou Woods, Des Moines Club, (62)
Chris Nail, Jacksonville Club, (17) Howard Drayson, Jacksonville
Club, (14) Blair Dreyfus, San Francisco Club, (14) Richard Jones,
Los Angeles Club (13).
Club of the Year Winners:
Large Club - San Francisco Club, Blair Dreyfus president
Mid-Size Club - St. Louis Club, Pierce Conley president
Small Club - East Bay Club, Wendy Greenberg president
We congratulate all the winners, and further thank the members of
the host committee of the Toronto Convention -- Bob Dale, Jay
Mandarino, Ralph Pike, Catherine Wilson, Marie Thomson, Doug
Barnard, Robin Solomon, Karen Solomon. You folks did a
fabulous job, as Mark Benkoski, president of the Pittsburgh Club
wrote today:
"I thoroughly enjoyed Toronto. It was great to meet
with other professionals in the industry and the town was an
excellent choice for the Convention."
The new Executive Officer team of Tom Blanchard, Chairman, Howard
Drayson, Vice Chairman and Bill Orr, Secretary Treasurer was
elected and installed at the Convention; and the International
Gallery Best of the Best Awards show was a splendid highlight.
More about Convention doings will be forthcoming in the IAPHC
Communicator.
This writer would like to offer a special thanks to two members of
the IAPHC Board whose service ended (at least for now) after many
years on the Board. Frieda Sarubbi has made tremendous
contributions as our Procurement Chair (and before that as
International Printing Week Chair and Club Bulletins Chair); her
partner Tony Sarubbi has played an equally huge role in the
success of the IAPHC in recent years as he went through the
Executive offices. We trust that neither Frieda nor Tony
will become strangers, they have been too important.
Support our Sponsors
Eighteen industry suppliers provided support for the 27th
International Gallery of Superb Printing in 2001. They are:
PrimeSource Corporation, Kohl & Madden, Heidelberg, Fuji Photo
Film, Finch Paper, Kodak Polychrome Graphics, Neenah Paper,
Mitsubishi Litho Presses USA, Mohawk Paper, AB Dick, Western
States Envelope, MyFujiFilm.com, Komori America Corporation, Karat
Digital Presses, a Division of KBA America, Inc., MBO America,
Independent Machinery, GTI Graphic Technology and Worzalla.
Mohawk Paper, Karat Digital Presses, Komori America and
MyFujiFilm.com are all first time sponsors.
We are indebted to each of these firms for the generosity of their
commitment to our premier program, and encourage all members to
support these firms in turn.
Closed circuit to Laura Shore at Mohawk -- some entries from the
San Francisco Club were Mohawk Superfine promotional pieces, and
they were winners!
The 2002 International Gallery sponsorship drive has already
begun. If you would like to see your firm become a sponsor
of this wonderful event, please contact this writer.
Y'KNOW Requests
Your Knowledge Network Obviously Works (Y'KNOW?)
We distributed an article at the Toronto Convention titled Gee
Gallery! It tells the story of one International Gallery
entry from Modesto, California and shows how Gallery can lead a
firm to new business possibilities. If you would like a
digital copy of the article please e-mail Lesley Addy at
laddy1069@aol.com and she will speed you a copy.
Lesley can also provide any Club bulletin editor or interested
member special news releases for all 18 of the International
Gallery Best of the Best winners; for the 2002 IAPHC Mid-Winter
meeting at the Excalibur Casino in Las Vegas; or the 2002 IAPHC
Convention in Albuquerque, NM.
1) From member-at-large Roger Buck of Ward/Kraft: We have a
new division that sells a dye sublimation system to small print
shops and photo shops. It's used for making very small runs
of ad specialty's like 2 coffee cups, name badges, tile murals,
t-shirts, etc. It's really a cool system and inexpensive.
If anyone is interested in learning more, have them contact me via
e-mail at RBuck@WardKraft.com
2) From New Jersey member Pam Conover of Conover & Associates:
If your company needs help marketing it's services contact Pamela
Conover, Conover & Associates. We consult nationally
with printing and graphic arts firms to create, implement and
monitor marketing programs. Program fees are flexible and
affordable. Please e-mail pamconover@aol.com
3) From Omaha member John Bergman: I need information from
anyone in the newspaper inserts area. I need samples of
different runs, and specs on what is most economical to run at
each house plus preferred paper stock samples. This project
is not limited to the Midwest although initially it would be run
in Omaha, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, Des Moines, or St Louis.
Any interested parties contact me at jbergman@oriental.com
4) From Sierra Nevada member Marjie Swiatek of Dynagraphic
Printing: I would like to hear from anyone with expertise in
the field of microencoding; if you can help please e-mail me at
maswiatek@aol.com
5) From Mike Murtaugh at MJM Printing & Graphics: I
secured a large piece of online business, and need the form of
contract to present to the client. Has anyone seen such a
document? You can reach me at mjr@mjmprinting.com
6) From Akron member Mark Day of Daybreak Graphics: Is
there a member operating a Heidelberg 74 DI? My digital
printing needs exceed the limitations of the Quickmaster DI's 12 x
18 format. Specifically, I am looking to produce short run
posters (200-500) with a trim size of 18 x 24". I'd
love to do business with a fellow IAPHC member. You can
contact me at mday@daybreakgraphics.net
7) From Roger Buck at WardKraft: Our comp department is
having a problem. We have a Lino 530 using 18" Kodak
film. The problem is that it takes several feet for the film
to run out square. The technicians say this is normal and
sometimes it may take up to 30' for the canister to get evened
out. If you have any ideas please contact Steve Sinn our
comp manager at ssinn@wardkraft.com
8) From Tony Sarubbi of Universal Press and the North Shore/New
Jersey Clubs: I have a piece we are quoting on that is a bit
different. Part of the concept is a manner of winning a
prize by placing a red filter on your TV screen when a specific ad
runs. When you see the print (three process colors, yellow,
cyan, magenta) all you see is a series of dots. When you
place a red filter over the top and place it against your TV
screen you can now read type. Almost like a 3D effect.
Can anyone tell me what this process is called, who does it,
contact names or numbers? You can contact me at asarubbi@universal-press.com
9) From member-at-large Barry Gagnon of the City of Burlington in
Ontario: I am looking for any information on printing
performance indicators. We have a small press, 2 copiers, (1
digital) a network colour copier etc. You can reach me at
gagnon@city.burlington.on.ca
For Sale
Walt Gutowski of the Grand Rapids Club has two pieces of equipment
for sale:
a 3M 1124 plate processor, model # 1124AG
a Nu Arc Ultra Plus Flip Top Plate Maker Model FT32V3UP-KR
Contact Walt at walt@swiftprinting.com if you have an
interest.
2001 International Gallery Winners
The winners from the 27th annual International Gallery were
announced at the Toronto Convention. We are shipping all
winners as quickly as possible. If you would like to see
yours added to the top of our shipping list, please just ask.
The International Gallery submitted more than 3000 world class
entries to its International panel of judges for the third
consecutive year. Once again, the judges were bowled over.
We applaud all our winners, and hope you have a box already
filling with potential submissions for the 2002 event.
That's all Folks! --30--
Yours in Craftsmanship,
Kevin Keane
IAPHC
7042 Brooklyn Blvd
Minneapolis MN 55429 USA
800-466-4274
http://www.iaphc.org/ |
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