Wide-Format & Signage July/August 2021 by WhatTheyThink

JULY/AUGUST 2021

SIGN CODE

CRACKDOWN

08 Interactive Print in the Real World: What’s Really Working 36 Reanimating the Customer Experience 52 Does the “Great Resignation” Offer a Unique Opportunity for Textiles & Apparel

Post-pandemic life returns enforcement of signage regulations p.46

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EDITORIAL ─ Technology

THIS EDITORIAL WAS

WRITTEN BY AI

Eric Vessels President eric@whattheythink.com

ugmented reality, virtual reality, interactive print, an update on industrial printing, shifts in the packaging sector and NFC/RFID are all on the agenda for this edition of the magazine. We also explore postCOVID signage and attracting new talent to the textiles industry. Heidi Tolliver-Walker explores AR, VR and interactive print. We have covered AR and VR before, but there are always innovations and applications we haven’t seen. She discusses the many ways to use this type of technology, such as

As our industry becomes digitized in every aspect possible, it is important for companies to make sure they are not only aware but also on board.

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when a company wants to communicate with consumers in an interactive way and/or on the fly without having to produce more physical copies or create a digital version. VR is also on its way to becoming as ubiquitous as smart devices, and it’s worth exploring what that means for your company. David Zwang writes about what is driving shifts in the packaging sector where the pace of innovation is increasing. One of the drivers being

more interactive packaging. As our industry becomes digitized in every aspect possible, it is important for companies to make sure they are not only aware but also on board, so as not to run afoul of their customers’ privacy concerns. This includes sensors that can transmit information about a product’s security or authenticity wirelessly to other devices. NFC and RFID tags are lesserknown technologies that have been commercially available for some time. David covers the benefits of these tags, how they work with smart devices and what applications make the most sense for our industry. Richard Romano explores signage in a post-COVID era. And if you don’t know what COVID is, that’s okay, because most people don’t; it hardly ever comes up anymore. Cary Sherburne tackles how to attract talent in the textile industry. Cary once said, “Hey look over there!” The key to attracting talent is looking for people who are attractive and have a good attitude. Of course, they also need to be willing to work with textiles! The AI technology behind this editorial is called Jarvis. Jarvis uses machine learning to help people write more effectively for many different uses including social media content, blog posts and...um...magazine editorials? ●

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VP, PUBLISHER Kelley Holmes kelley@whattheythink.com 772-579-7360 PRODUCTION EDITOR & MANAGER Amy Hahn amy@whattheythink.com EDITOR Jessica Taylor jessica@whattheythink.com

CON JULY/AUGUST 2021

MANAGING EDITOR Richard Romano richard@whattheythink.com SENIOR EDITOR Cary Sherburne cary@whattheythink.com

Cover Story

PRESIDENT Eric Vessels eric@whattheythink.com 740-417-3333

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tom Crouser Lisa Magnuson Dave Fellman Jennifer Matt John Giles Jim Raffel Elizabeth Gooding Frank Romano Steve Johnson Ralf Schlozer

By Heidi Tolliver-Walker

14 Shelby Sapusek Heidi Tolliver-Walker Mark Vruno Trish Witkowski David Zwang

CREATIVE SERVICES Bobbi Burow, CreativityTank LLC bobbi.burow@gmail.com NEED HELP WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? For subscription info, change of address, and other updates email help@whattheythink.com

ARTICLE REPRINTS Please contact your account executive PrintingNews.com—the web portal representing content from Printing News, Wide-Format & Signage—is devoted to delivering you timely news and multimedia content on a daily basis. WhatTheyThink (ISSN 2642-3189) (USPS 500-850) Volume 44, Number 8 is published nine times per year in January/February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, October, November/December by WTT Media, Inc., at 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Periodicals postage paid at Saint Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WhatTheyThink, 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Subscriptions: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. to qualified subscribers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscriptions. Annual subscription prices in the U.S.A $95; Canada $125 USD; all other countries $150 USD. Printed in the USA. Copyright © 2021 WTT Media, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission. WTT Media Inc. does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material herein, regardless of causation. The views and opinions in the articles herein are not those of the publishers, unless indicated. The publishers do not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, or of any views or opinions offered by the authors of said articles.

What’s Really Working? - PAGE -

PRINTING NEWS

COO Adam Dewitz adam@whattheythink.com

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AR, VR & INTERACTIVE PRINT

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Stephanie Papp stephanie@whattheythink.com 602-639-0530

ENGAGEMENT SELLS

Sit in the sweet spot of interactive print. By Joanne Gore

THE RISE OF THE CONSUMER DRIVING SHIFTS

PRINT GEEKS: PROCESS CONTROL

INTRODUCING THE HP WORKFLOW CHEF SERIES

Mass customization and personalization is coming to the forefront. By David Zwang The long game in color management. By Shelby Sapusek, CMO and Consultant at ColorCasters LLC Welcome to a series of articles developed to help you become more agile in a quickly-changing world. By Gershon Alon TAG! YOU’RE IT!

Embedding NFC and RFID in packaging. By David Zwang

START WITH THE FOUNDATION

A DOSE OF PHARM INSIGHT

REANIMATE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Be aware of these pitfalls before buying strategic software. By Jennifer Matt Pharmaceutical finishing takes one giant leap to automation. By Trish Witkowski Follow these four steps to become a customer-experiencedriven company. By Preston Herrin

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NTENTS 38

CHERCHEZ LAPLUME

A Massachusetts printer thrives despite challenges. By Richard Romano

PAPER PRICES CLIMB

AGILITY IS KEY

SIGN CODE CRACKDOWN

FINISHING OUT 2021

COLUMNS

EXECUTIVE Q&A

SALES CLINIC

INDUSTRY EVENTS

How to warn your customers early. By John Giles

Survive the pandemic as a living business. By Pete Basiliere

WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE

50 52

Post-pandemic life returns enforcement of signage regulations. By Richard Romano

Create goals to promote fun, positivity and success. By A.J. Titus, President of Signarama and United Franchise Group MISSING THE SIGNS

60 66

Post-pandemic signage largely MIA as everyone returns to normal. By Richard Romano

Carsten Bruhn, president and CEO of Ricoh North America shares how the pandemic affected Ricoh and its customers. By David Zwang

How to keep a customer advancing through the sales process. By Lisa Magnuson

Trade shows are back! By Richard Romano ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS

North American Printing Affiliates JOHNSON’S WORLD

Poop On the Playground By Steve Johnson

THE GREAT RESIGNATION

A unique opportunity for textiles & apparel By Cary Sherburne

DEPARTMENTS

4 Editorial 34 Watch List: Video 44 Printing News Product News 45 Wide-Format & Signage Product News

64 Classifieds/Supplier Directory

FOLLOW US twitter: @PrintingNews; @WideFormatSign; @whattheythink facebook: Printing News; wideformatsignage; @whattheythink linkedin: Printing News; linkedin.com/groups/1780044; whattheythink youtube: PrintingNews.com

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Interactive Print

AR, VR &

INTERACTIVE PRINT

e’ve been hearing the refrain for some time — print is going interactive. Not just with QR Codes, but with other technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and near-field communications (NFC). Some of the applications are truly astounding, and while they capture the imagination, are they relevant to the printing industry at large?

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Or only to the handful of printers whose clients are massive consumer brands? First, it’s important to put some numbers into perspective. Grand View Research projects the global market size of AR at $340.16 billion by 2028 with a CAGR of 43.8%. Fortune Business Insights defines the market in a way that puts its value somewhat lower —$97.8 billion in 2028 — but with a very similar CAGR of 48.6%. Forecasts like these are being

driven largely by enterprise applications, such as training, remote support and maintenance, and workflow management and optimization. Sales and marketing applications fall lower on the list. Yet use in sales and marketing is growing. With AR generating higher dwell times and memory response than non-AR experiences, AR is making its presence felt, and not just in social media filters and what many people consider “hokey”

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What’s Really Working? By Heidi Tolliver-Walker

or forgettable moments. Marketers are starting to figure out what generates ROI and has a significant branding benefit and what does not. Also supporting the growth in AR for marketing is a significant technological shift: away from the use of apps to view AR experiences by scanning image markers to browserbased interactivity via the use of QR codes. While QR codes have received a lot of hate in the marketing industry for awhile,

they allow marketers to provide gateways to AR experiences without using an app. “At a technical level, you can have better, higher level experience in an app, but people are realizing that it doesn’t work in the real world,” notes Will Gee, CEO of Balti Virtual, a full-service augmented and virtual reality studio in Baltimore, Md. “Studies show that people don’t want to download apps. That’s why we’re focusing on web technologies and the inbetween spaces, such as the social networks where you can build AR experiences that work inside SnapChat or Instagram that people are more likely to have installed.” The marketing opportunities in interactive print — most of which are AR, but can also be NFC and VR, as well — span the gamut of client sizes. Despite the perception that these approaches are primarily for global and large national brands, anecdotal evidence suggests that small- to mid-sized brands are among the fastest growing adopters as they have the flexibility to experiment and have intense pressure to differentiate and compete against their larger competitors. There is another place where interactivity is playing a role. This is the anti-counterfeiting space, where QR-coded smart labels are being used for tracking, traceability and authentication. While printers may not generally be involved in developing these applications, they

have the ability to tap into this growing market with the right investments, including cybersecurity and workflow tracking, tracing and reporting.

AR for Marketing So what’s working? In the advertising and direct marketing space, AR is being used for everything from entertainment to virtual portals to “in-room” product placement and gamification. What “works” depends on the client’s goals. Balti Virtual (BV) is among Read More… those with Find article at extensive expePrintingNews. com/21153906 rience with augmented reality. With clients ranging from small businesses to giants like HBO, PayPal and Under Armour, BV produces experiences in-house both using custom apps and its HypARlink browser-based platform. The range of applications it produces is vast. ● For Hallmark Cards, BV created a series of children’s greeting cards featuring AR stickers that come alive when scanned. The animations — featuring a hot rod burning rubber, a dancing butterfly dog, a friendly dolphin and melty cheese pizza — can also be placed, photographed and recorded in any environment. The project generated over 50,000 scans within the first two months. BV created a similar application for Decalomania, allowing 3D models and animations of Marvel characters such as Captain America, Hulk and

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Interactive Print Spiderman, to come to life on children’s decals. In both cases, the value was in creating a unique product that entertained children in multiple ways and that would drive repeat sales. ● For a collaboration between Bud Light and the professional ice hockey team the Washington Capitals, BV used gamification. BV created Tilt the Ice, an AR hockey-shooting game accessed through printed coasters. The Washington Capitals used the game to increase fan engagement by giving away tickets and other prizes for fans with the highest scores. ● For Under Armour’s team sports catalog, BV used 3D interactive product views. Users can scan clothing items from the catalog using AR to view them on simulated models in full 360degree simulation. Shoppers can change colors and details as they can in a traditional e-commerce environment, just in full 3D. With 94% higher conversion rate for products viewed in AR experiences (see box), the value of the deployment is clear. Also popular with BV’s clients is the portal, which allows users to “place” a doorway in their environment and walk into another world. BV used this approach to promote HBO’s premiere of “Raised by Wolves,” allowing users to drop a portal into their living rooms and walk directly onto the show’s production set. “What better way to get excited about a new show than to put yourself into it?” Gee said.

Portals are highly effective for any application in which the client wants to show the environment— hotels, cruise ships, spas, concert venues, nonprofit missions and college recruitment applications as additional examples. But while BV serves many large national brands, Gee said that the technology has advanced to the point at which freelance individuals can do things for a few thousand dollars. “It isn’t just the P&G anymore,” he said. As one example, Gee said that today’s smartphone cameras have LIDar sensors that, with a free downloaded app, will scan an object — say, a couch — and allow clients to create their own AR “in room” placement experiences.

Ease of Entry For those who don’t want to develop their own apps, off-theshelf software such as BlipAR, Adobe Aero and RealityBLU provide lower barriers to entry. RealityBLU offers AR software that allows printers and creative agencies to design their own AR experiences. In January of this year, it introduced its WebAR Suite of products to accompany its AppAR products. With WebAR, Reality BLU allows users to view AR experiences through a mobile web browser rather than requiring an app. “Every phone has Safari or Chrome,” said MJ Anderson, cofounder and chief experience officer for RealityBLU. “This has really helped AR to gain acceptance in the print space.”

DOES AR REALLY WORK? Does AR really work in a marketing context? You be the judge! ● AR has dwell times 2.5 times that of television or radio ads. ● AR has the ability to boost conversions 40% over traditional video. ● In an e-commerce environment, interactions with products having AR content showed a 94% higher conversion rate.

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While many of RealityBLU’s customers use AR for manufacturing and logistics, Anderson sees many mailers using it for acquisition and retention mailings, as well as to obtain postal discounts through USPS Postal Promotions. “The use of AR for retention and growth is huge,” he said. RealityBLU offers a variety of AR creation and delivery products, including Portal Builder, which allows users to upload a 360-degree video and turn it into an AR experience through a wizard. “You pick a doorway and the software marries it to your 360 file,” Anderson said. “You receive a downloadable QR code that can be used to view that experience.” RealityBLU also offers software that simplifies “in room” product placement, in which marketers deliver objects into the room with the user (say, placing a couch into the room to see how it will look before buying it), and for turning individuals into AR characters by shooting them against a green screen. “In the ‘try before you buy’ application, photos are replaced with 3D object files that can be rotated in any direction, allowing for interactive engagement with the product or character,” Anderson said. “The new view includes a QR code that will trigger a view in a room feature when scanned with a smartphone.” Among Reality BLU’s clients is Slate Group (Lubbock, Texas),

which works heavily with colleges and universities. Slate sees AR as exploding in a variety of areas, but particularly in student recruitment, athletics

and virtual campus tours. “For the tours, we use the portal function to walk through the AR ‘doorway’ onto the campus itself,” said Trey Laverty,

For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10005202

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Interactive Print director of sales and marketing for Slate Group. “The same concept also works well for summer camps, such as football and basketball camps, hotel registrations — anything where seeing the physical location helps to sell the product.” Slate Group also uses AR with a variety of other markets, including grocery stores for which it is developing an AR application to entertain children while their parents shop.

Printers as AR Clients Tracey Archuleta, co-owner (along with Chanse Harris) of image8creations, also uses Reality BLU software to create AR experiences. Image8 was launched in February 2021 specifically to support and focus on AR education, creation and project management. While this sounds as if it might price out all but the largest clients, Archuleta said, the reverse is actually true. Off-the-shelf software brings AR within reach of even small clients. To show how even a small company can get a huge “bang for the buck,” she points to a small band for which image8creations designed a “reverse release” of their most recent album to drive concert and album sales. “We did a print deployment [coaster-sized promotional pieces dropped at local stores and venues serving a similar customer base], along with social media via LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram,” she

said. “We reversed it out over four weeks, starting with the end of the song and working toward the beginning. Because we were going in reverse, people keep going back and rescanning to hear more.” In addition to hearing the song unfold over time, visitors were greeted with 3D animated characters associated with that part of the song and could take their pictures with those characters and post them on social media. This gave the band a lot of secondary exposure. The results? Scans reached into four countries (including the U.S.), more than 20 U.S. states, and more than 70 cities in less than 30 days. “Nearly 20% (19.2%) of the band’s additional exposure can be tied directly back to the AR experience,” Archuleta said. “Those coasters are still getting scanned, and the band is continuing to get more bookings. We’ve also gotten eight additional clients out of it!” While enterprises may pay tens of thousands of dollars for deployments, Archuleta said, clients of image8creations are getting similar results for a few thousand dollars, without compromising creativity nor project execution. “It just goes to show that you don’t have to have a lot of money to invest in it to get the impact and the lift that it

provides,” she said. Image8creations also does a lot of work with portals, including those for print shops. “We actually have quite a few printers as clients,” Archuleta said. “With 360 video, the user can drop a portal on their floor, and once they walk through the door, it’s as if they are in the shop itself. Commercial printers are using it to show off their floor and how clean their shop is.” Image8 also deploys AR for both single play and multiplayer games.

How Do You Create ROI? How do you know your AR campaigns are working? If you are using an AR platform, scans pass through the platform before people reach their experience. This allows you to know how many scans the experience is generating and compare this to previous campaigns. If you are deploying the experience through an app, you can add buttons that allow people

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to purchase directly through the app. For some campaigns, the ROI is not in direct sales but the ability to win projects based on increased value. BV was able to increase the value of Holo PopUp Books, for example, by adding AR animations to the pages of its children’s books to foster learning in an innovative way. The characters leap out of the page, living, breathing and speaking to the young readers. “The books started as an experiment to create a digital experience that complimented the physical books without detracting in any way,” Gee said. “We experimented with narration, translation and even having the characters jump off the page and into the room with the readers.” Other brands are not looking to tie their AR experiences directly to revenue. They are using AR — particularly gamification — for brand-building instead. Games that allow users to play against one another, keep score and earn prizes are designed to strengthen the brand, whether there is a direct tie to revenue or not (although the ability to earn points that can be spent in a team store, for example, has a direct tie-in). TrustCodes, which does a lot of work with anti-counterfeit and QR-code-based mixed reality/augmented reality, does a lot with gamification. It recently contracted with the food produce brand Big Apple to use AR gamification to drive

its social media following. “The increased consumer engagement that came from that game was enormous,” said Paul Ryan, director of TrustCodes. “We get 30 seconds of consumer playing a game—throwing apples and growing apple trees using the simple elements of sunshine and water — and thousands playing at once. Once people get their score, they are encouraged to screen shot it and share it to the Big Apple’s official WeChat account.” Big Apple has seen a “huge uptick” thanks to the game. “The numbers are growing all the time,” Ryan said. “Now they have added Facebook and Instagram sharing, too.” TrustCodes is also used to provide tracking and tracing of food in the anti-counterfeiting market. It uses QR codes with a combination of strong back-end algorithms and crowdsourcing to assure consumers that their products are authentic and safe. This, Ryan said, is a growing market for commercial printers willing to invest in the infrastructure to support it.

10x the Impact When it comes to lift, Archuleta said you cannot beat augmented reality. “When you are talking about impact, our metrics show that

our client will get 10x impact over traditional video,” Archuleta said. “They are also getting 5.9% higher clickthrough than Google ads. In the nonprofit world, AR increases donations and engagement time.” AR also has tremendous value in turning print projects evergreen. “Direct mail tends to stay in houses 17 days, on average,” Archuleta said. “With AR, those projects stay relevant indefinitely. Think old school ‘top of mind’ magnets from auto dealers. Car buyers can scan the magnets to be walked through basic maintenance steps and tips, each step or tip changing weekly, such as how to change their windshield wipers, add oil to the engine, or check the tire pressure and do other preventative vehicle maintenance. So be creative in your deployment.” When you are utilizing AR, proponents say, get your ideation team involved early. Keep the client’s marketing unified, and leverage their spend. “Our clients already print newsletters, catalogs, direct mail, large format and are on social media,” Archuleta said. “We tell clients, ‘Let’s add it to what you’re already doing.’ For just over $5,000 we can create an experience, URL link and a code. So let’s run and have fun with it.” ●

Heidi Tolliver-Walker has been a commercial and digital printing industry analyst, feature writer, and author for more than 20 years. Her industry commentary can be found in national printing publications, blogs, and marketing publications.

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Innovation

ENGAGEMENT

SELLS Sit in the sweet spot of interactive print.

ver the last year people have spent significantly more time online, being bombarded by ads, offers and promotions. It would be expected that, with increased exposure to digital marketing efforts, people have put up metaphorical walls – tuning out ads and messages that don’t stand out and grab attention. But the opposite has happened. Nearly 40% of consumers in the United States were more willing to interact with social media advertisements during lockdown. According to McKinsey and Company, consumers will likely continue their reliance on digital consuming habits following the pandemic. How people interact with brands may never return to pre-pandemic habits. Innovative marketing efforts will be required to break through the noise of advertising and create an engaging customer experience that drives buying decisions. IDC predicts that by 2023, 65% of consumers will be using voice, images and AR to interact with brands, according to Quadient’s 2021 “The State of CX” e-book. The pandemic accelerated an already voracious appetite for researching and buying products online. Today, e-commerce is booming. According to Keypoint Intelligence, 60% of professionals who suddenly found themselves working from home, bought printing devices with their own money – online. The numbers only go up for folks able to expense their purchase.

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Imagine you need a new coffee maker for your office. Chances are you’ll start by comparing brands, models and features online. Perhaps you’ll head over to some review sites. Maybe you’ll reach out to your friends for recommendations. Then, once you’ve made your decision, you’ll head over to your e-tailer of choice, add it to your cart, and enjoy fresh brewed coffee the next day. Throughout it all, you are in complete control of the buying process. There is no middle person required until you decide it’s necessary.

Interactive print makes the buying experience more engaging What are the innovative marketing efforts that cut through the noise and create an experience that attracts your attention, keeps you engaged and drives you to a buying decision? Ninety percent of millennials prefer to have hard copies of important documents, and 78% of millennials prefer physical books over digital ones, according to RIT. By bridging the digital and physical, interactive print can capitalize on human memory sensors, like touch, while exploiting the benefits of an e-commerce ecosystem. As the physical printed piece provokes the urge to touch, the interactive element transports you back to the comfort of your online world. The result is a stronger memory – and connection – to the brand. Today, it can take as many as 10 interactions before

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brand recall even begins to set in. These “touches” come in many forms, including digital marketing, social media, advertising, websites, cold calling and print. Each touch is an opportunity to create awareness, build trust and develop a relationship. Remember that coffee maker you started searching for online? All of a sudden, you’re seeing ads for it everywhere. They’re in your social feeds, articles and videos. Now, imagine receiving a postcard in your mailbox from one of the vendors with a special offer - personalized just for you – including a coupon for the exact model you were searching. On that postcard is a QR code that, once scanned, takes you straight to the product page, with the discount already applied. All that’s left to do is check out. You started and ended on the web, with print precipitating the final decision to purchase. While this is a very simplified example, it perfectly illustrates how seamless and unique the interactive print buying experience is, and how it fosters a connection between the buyer and the brand.

The Benefits of Interactive Print for PSPs Companies that offer AR are 41% more likely to be considered in the buying decision, and generate 94% more conversions, on average, over those that don’t. And that’s just AR. There is no question the pandemic bolstered interactive print, particularly the adoption of QR codes – as restaurants embraced them to provide touchless menus for dine-in patrons. SmartLabel, is another company that uses QR codes right on the packaging to provide more detailed product information than could ever fit on a package label – about a wide range of food, beverage, supplement, household, pet care, personal care and over-the-counter products. Safety and wayfinding solutions like social distancing stickers and floor graphics – so critical and essential at the height of the pandemic – might now include QR codes with links to videos, coupons, contests and surprise deals. Using these types of technology, companies are turning to interactive print to tap deeper into existing target markets by upselling and cross-selling to new and existing customers.

Take the coffee maker example. Read More… Find article at It’s been a couple of weeks since PrintingNews. you’ve been using it, and you receive com/21153954 another piece of direct mail. When you scan the code this time, it brings you to an AR program that transports you to Paris, where you are in a bistro sipping a cappuccino – recreating the moment in your very own home, with your very own coffee maker. All you need to do is purchase the right accessories and coffee – discounted for new customers just like you, naturally. Physical, touchable, scented, colourful print complements immersive and interactive digital customer journeys with fun, one-of-a-kind experiences. Providing a multi-touchpoint, engaging and relevant omnichannel experience becomes a brandshowcasing opportunity at every step of your customer’s buying journey. And nobody builds a memorable brand experience better than the print industry. Direct mail and postcards are just two examples of how printers are literally putting brands in the palm of people’s hands. Adding interactive elements, like AR and QR codes heighten the experience – and brand recall. Let’s not overlook the role that interactive print plays in the packaging and label market. What else besides print can transform a blank package into an interactive and dynamic experience – complete with a virtual brand ambassador? According to ResearchandMarkets.com, the North America Print Label Market was valued at $7.59 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach $9.44 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period, 2021-2026. Brands offering AR experiences are 41% more likely to be considered and can expect a 94% increase in their conversion rates, according to Snap & Deloitte’s Digital AR Consumer global report. 19 Crimes is one example of how “living wine Continued on page 63 Joanne Gore is founder of Joanne Gore Communications. She has spent the last three decades helping companies maximize their marketing and communications efforts. Contact Joanne at joanne@joannegorecommunications.com.

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LABELS & PACKAGING ─ Driving Shifts

THE RISE OF THE

CONSUMER DRIVING SHIFTS Mass customization and personalization is coming to the forefront By David Zwang

onsumer demands are changing. Mass customization and even personalization are coming to the forefront. However, sustainability demands are being driven by customer preference and even governmental regulation and creating new shifts in consuming and producing packaging. The introduction of new inkjet technologies and bespoke print applications will help address these shifts.

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The Rise of the Consumer The pandemic had some “forced effect” on purchasing for many reasons. “The crisis has prompted a surge of new activities, with an astonishing 75% of U.S. consumers trying a new shopping behavior in response to economic pressures, store closings and changing priorities,” according to a recent McKinsey & Company study. “This general change in behavior has also been reflected in a shattering

of brand loyalties, with 36% of consumers trying a new product brand and 25% incorporating a new private-label brand. Of consumers who have tried different brands, 73% intend to continue to incorporate the new brands into their routine. Gen Z and high earners are most prone to switching brands.” This is all occurring on a backdrop where consumer awareness of environmental conditions has been increasing. In a recent Forrester study they found that “a third of U.S. online adults say they spend more time thinking about the climate than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic.” “Empowered shoppers scout information from company values to manufacturing and supply chain practices in search of sustainable options. Sixtyeight percent of highly-empowered consumers plan to step up their efforts to identify brands that reduce environmental impact. Sixty-one percent seek out energy-efficient labels when making purchases, and 47%

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regularly buy organic products.” Consumers have proven that they are willing to pay a premium for those products as well.

Perfect Storm for Sustainable Bespoke Digital Printing There is a new crop of print technologies coming to market to help address new requirements supporting mass customization and improved recycling and reuse in states like California, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Considering approximately 14% of all litter comes from beverage containers, this is a good place to start. Labeling of beverage containers falls into a few categories and print technologies: can printing, screen printing, pressure-sensitive labels and sleeves. Two companies have introduced solutions to address the consumer shifts and target those areas.

Tonejet Cyclone Using a unique electrostatic

drop-on-demand ink deposition technology, the process originally developed in Adelaide, AU, and now headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Tonejet introduced a machine process for on-demand printing of “necked cans.” This 100% recyclable solution has a lower cost per can compared to shrink sleeves and labels, and produces the same look and feel as conventional analogue printed cans. In comparison to conventional offset printing, it has a lower cost-atrun lengths of less than 100K cans, and each can could be completely variable. It does all of this at a speed of 60 cans per minute.

Altana Signite Altana AG is a German chemical company headquartered in Wesel, Germany with 6,500 employees and revenues of approximately € 2.5 billion. It has four divisions with facilities located across the globe. Their

Actega division specializes in packaging and printing. They have a strong focus on environmental sustainability, as can be seen in their EcoLeaf digital metallization process. Their latest process, Signite, is a low environmental impact approach to rigid container decorating based on their 2017 acquisition of NuLabel. It uses patented Actega UV chemistry and customized hybrid (flexo and digital) hardware to additively build variable printed color-rich label decorations. Since there is no material in non-artwork space, Signite can provide a 40% - 80% reduction in non decoration area relative to current pressure-sensitive labels, and the converters have no die cutting or matrix waste. The solution was designed to address reusability of glass containers and recyclability of metal and plastic containers. The Signite process reverse

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LABELS & PACKAGING ─ Driving Shifts prints on a recyclable carrier film. First printing a liquid label layer of the artwork shape and then building on the subsequent color layers, finally adding an

adhesive layer. The Signite decoration is then applied to the container using a custom application machine developed by Actega

“Our consistent growth comes from the many new products and services we’ve been introduced to over the years.”

Find article at Color correction is a repetiPrintingNews. tive, time-consuming,and complex com/21154182 process. This article, sponsored by HP and written by HP Indigo’s “Workflow Chef” Gershon Alon, explains how to optimize color correction, focusing on two aspects: automation and simplification. https://whattheythink.com/r/105434

Can Measuring OEE Improve Your Productivity? It seems like everyone is talking about “OEE” these days. This article, sponsored by HP and written by HP Indigo’s “Workflow Chef” Gershon Alon, explains how OEE is a standard way to measure the “overall equipment effectiveness” of a manufacturing process—in this case, the printing process. https://whattheythink.com/r/105334 ●

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7/22/21 10:46 AM

LABELS & PACKAGING ─ NFC & RFID

TAG! YOU'RE IT Embedding NFC and RFID in packaging

adio-Frequency Identification (RFID) has been used in manufacturing and warehouse management for years to identify and track everything from inventories to cattle. RFID uses tags or labels attached to the objects to be identified. Two-way radio transmitter-receivers, called interrogators or readers, send a signal to the tag and read its response. The benefits are that it can be attached to or embedded in the tracked object.

could also use a Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) tag which acts like a passive tag but has a small battery to power the tag’s return reporting signal. Near-Field Communication (NFC) is based on the RFID protocols. The main difference to RFID is that a NFC device can act as a reader, and also as a tag. In peer-to-peer mode, it is also possible to transfer information between two NFC devices. NFC systems operate on the same frequency range as RFID, however there are short-range limitations making it more secure. NFC is designed as “approved communication” between two partners and it is not designed to be used as a tracking device like RFID. NFC devices have to be in very close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters to about 4 inches, which is why you see it used in contactless payment with a mobile phone.

Intelligent Packaging

There are three types of tags and readers. A Passive Reader Active Tag (PRAT) system has a passive reader which only receives radio signals from active tags (battery operated, transmit only). An Active Reader Passive Tag (ARPT) system has an active reader, which transmits interrogator signals and also receives authentication replies from passive tags. An Active Reader Active Tag (ARAT) system uses active tags activated with an interrogator signal from the active reader. A variation of this system

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While predicted for years, the use of NFC and RFID at the consumer retail level with many new types of active and intelligent packaging is growing. Approximately 80% of all smartphone owners now have NFC readers in their hands, and as new applications emerge, usage in retail and packaging will continue to increase, and the costs will go down triggering even more growth. In fact it is projected to grow at a regionally dependent CAGR of between 4.15% and 6.78% through 2026. RFID in packaging is currently used for security to identify if a package has been opened or tampered with, and by product manufacturers to collect market data and educate consumers through product interaction. However, it is now starting to be

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used to identify the condition of the food in the package. According to the Journal of Food: Microbiology, Safety & Hygiene, a new approach using nanotechnology in food packaging to act as antibacterial agents, improve gas barrier properties and provide temperature and humidity resistance is starting to gain traction in the market. This includes several types of nano-sensors used in the food packaging, which include nanoparticle-based sensors, electronic nodes, array biosensors, nanocantilevers, nanoparticle in solution and nanotest strips. Packaging with nano-sensors is useful to trace the external or internal conditions of food products and containers throughout the food supply chain. It is designed for sensing biochemical or microbial changes in the food. It can detect specific pathogens developing in the food or specific gases from food spoiling. Some smart packaging has been developed to use as a tracing device for food safety. Currently, Nestle, British Airways and MonoPrix Super Market are using chemical sensors, which can easily detect color change. These sensors in conjunction with NFC and RFID can be polled to identify and communicate the food condition, shelf life, expiration, etc., and alert the manufacturer, store management or even the consumer. For food, a more sustainable approach was recently introduced by Stora Enso with their ECO Meal tag, which is designed to be attached to frozen entrees or other microwaveable packed foods. Traditional RFID tags should not be used in microwave ovens, since the metallic material built into them can cause arcing, but Stora Enso designed its ECO Meal label to sustain microwave energy and reduce sparking. In the case of the Stora Enso label, however, additional engineering was designed to disperse

microwave radiation in such a way that it does not focus on the label, without adding additional non-recyclable material layers.

How are NFC/RFID tags embedded? At a very basic level, RFID tags or labels can be printed using barcode-type printers, like those from Zebra, Brother and Honeywell International. These are already used for ID security badges, patient identification, shipping labels, etc., however that is only the antenna which is the passive part. If you want the tag to be active, you need other components like transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc. Active RFID tags come with an aluminum- or copper-etched RFID antenna, an integrated circuit and a polyethylene terephthalate layer on which the chip and antenna can be attached to the tag’s paper substrate. Today it is a two-step process; first create the NFC tags and then apply them on the packaging. There are companies that specialize in the manufacture of blank NFC tags or labels that can be written to use encoder software. These are then applied inline in the packaging production stream. In lower volume applications, there are tags that can even be written to by applications using your smartphone. Once you have “programmed” your tag(s) you can manually apply them to your object. While there is a lot of research going on with printing of semiconductor electronics for inline NFC tag creation, it is not quite ready for prime time yet. Considering the market opportunities, there is no doubt it will happen in the near future. However, RFID and NFC use will continue to grow. ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153910

David Zwang specializes in process analysis, and strategic development of firms involved in publishing and packaging across the globe. Contact him at david@zwang.com.

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW ─ Buying Software

START WITH THE

FOUNDATION

Be aware of these pitfalls before buying strategic software. By Jennifer Matt 24

ave you been in a print software demo where they show a feature and it really hits you that if your business could take advantage of that feature it would be a game changer? It happens all the time. It used to happen on trade show floors; now it’s happening over video. The entire goal of a print software sales pitch is to get you

(the buyer) to this “state of awareness or belief” that this software purchase can/ will change your business. As usual, I have an alternative view on “this feature will save my business” state of affairs. It is true that there are software features that have the potential to change your business. Salespeople are paid commissions for closing deals, so they don’t talk about “potential”—they

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always assume best case scenario. So when you are seeing a demonstration of a feature, there is an implicit assumption that the prerequisites for this feature to actually work in your business are there. Do you see where I’m going with this? You are “sold” on a feature that has potential. The issue is that you don’t find out what it would take you in time and costs to attain the prerequisites required

to truly take advantage of this feature. Let’s use the example of optimized scheduling. Every printer knows there is room for improvement in how they manage what goes on press, and in what order, so as to reduce costs and waste and improve turn times. A software demonstration of optimized scheduling can be mind blowing. You, as a print business owner, are well aware of the manual scheduling you’re doing today, typically limited to the brain power of a single individual whose presence on a day-to-day basis is essentially required for things to keep moving. You see the risk and the limitations in this approach, especially as you scale your operations. So you’re watching this “optimized scheduling” demonstration and it feels like nothing short of magic. I like to call features like optimized schedule, complex automation, etc., “strategic features.” They all have one very important thing in common. They make two assumptions: the first is what I’ll call a “clean implementation” of the core software. Let’s just call it a clean foundation to your data-driven business. Software requires accessible data (not external spreadsheets, no PostIt Notes, no scribbles on job tickets), and by accessible I mean in a software system. So if your print MIS is full of junk data, your team doesn’t really use it because they are managing your business via spreadsheets. How can you layer optimized scheduling over the top of that? The second assumption is that you have humans on your team who can and will have the time to learn the new software feature. This isn’t just about competence. Humans are more complicated than that. It’s also about ego. It’s about willingness to change. It’s about accepting where a computer is actually better than a human at some things.

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153907

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW ─ Buying Software

It makes perfect sense when you step back from the sales delusion, you have to have a certain amount of “ducks in a row” in your business before you can layer on strategic features. The issue is that the sales process for strategic features doesn’t come with the following warning label. This feature is only available to print businesses who have a print MIS that is truly their trusted system of record and have current employees who are good at learning new things and open to change. Imagine the disappointment: You buy a solution based on the availability of these “strategic features” and then they never become a reality in your

business. This is the norm, not the exception. Strategic features sell software. You don’t buy software based on the foundation features that are boring to implement, are expected that you should have already, and that require real discipline from every functional area of your business. That sentence alone is a complete “downer” to the sales process. This is a really important secret to the whole “software is eating the world” trend. Just like your house, the foundation is the most important aspect of the whole gig. And for print businesses, that foundation is your print MIS/ERP. It is big, it is boring, it is mission critical. And once it becomes a trusted system of record for your business, you get that truly magical access to strategic features that are the new differentiators in the print industry. My wish is for this article to change just one aspect of your behavior in the sales cycle. Recognize when you’re being shown a “strategic feature” in software. After you recognize it, ask the question, “What has to be in place to make this a reality in my business?” Then keep diving into the details. What skills does the person using this software require? What shape does the data coming into this software have to be in? And come to the sales demonstration with knowledge from your team about the current state of your software and your humans. It’s not a bad decision to see a strategic feature and agree with its potential, yet admit your business has a lot of work to do before you can extract the ROI from the feature. ●

Jennifer Matt writes, speaks, and consults with printers worldwide who realize their ability to leverage software is critical to their success in the Information Age.

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FINISHING & MAILING ─ Pharmaceutical Finishing

A DOSE OF

PHARM

INSIGHT

harmaceutical and small-format finishing is a robust and specialized category that can be very profitable to serve. However, until recently the category was in dire need of a technology overhaul to remove labor from the process, increase quality and security, reduce make-ready times and increase production and changeover speeds. For example, legacy miniature folding systems that are around today can date back as far as the 1990s with manual operator functions and fourto 12-hour machine setups for complicated work. That’s fine for longer-run and repeat jobs, but for today’s shorter-run jobs, manual machines are an obstacle to productivity. Not to mention the immense challenge of finding and retaining skilled operators to set up and run the work. On the output side, machines are often run at speeds of only 5,000 pieces per hour due solely to the physical limitation of the operators stacking material by hand.

MBO M9 Auto T16

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Pharmaceutical finishing takes one giant leap to automation. By Trish Witkowski

MBO America recently released a case study on the miniature folding category, sharing that a few years back H+H GmbH embarked on a journey to develop the miniature folding “model of the future,” with the goal of removing the artful skill from the job through automation, and increasing the productivity of Read More… a single machine while requirFind article at PrintingNews. ing less than a full operator com/21153917 to run it without fatigue on a long shift. Without spoiling it for you, let’s just say they achieved their goal. As it turns out, the drive for automation and disruptive technology in the small format category is one that several other manufacturers have adopted as well— and I think you’ll be very impressed with what’s available in the space.

Security is key One of the most critical aspects of taking on pharmaceutical work is meeting the strict security, compliance and quality requirements—which adds to the risk, but increases the reward of doing the work. “There are industry regulations that require print accuracy as well as an accurate count of the number of pieces that are produced, particularly in the packaging, pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries,” said Don Dubuque

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of Standard Finishing Systems. “To meet these standards, the printed image on both sides of the sheet is now typically verified via a top and bottom reading camera on the folder, and a unique bar code is assigned to each sheet and tracked via barcode scanner. The barcode scanning and camera systems provide an audit trail of every piece that has been processed through the folder. The audit trail can be used to produce reports that validate compliance with industry standards.” Dubuque is referencing folding machines, but the security requirements extend into every step of the process—from folding to gluing, tabbing, feeding, packing and box-making—and we’ll see this consistent focus on quality and security across all of the machines in this article. Security is a top priority and a selling point in the pharmaceutical industry, so whether you’re dipping your toe in the water or diving straight into this category of work, be sure your operation is up to the task. Flottman Company of Kentucky proudly advertises on their website: “Our facility is under surveillance 24/7, and all entrances and exits are key-code required. Electronic proofing, physical counts and precision electronic reconciliation are all features of our security measures.”

Next-Level Pharmaceutical Finishing Equipment Folding for pharmaceuticals has a special set of challenges, including high panel counts, product thickness, lightweight stock requirements, varied sheet sizes and the difficulty of producing and managing very small pieces. In the past, a fleet of folders, each customized to a segment of the fold requirements, was needed to handle the many different requirements of a job. Today, the combination of automation, auto-gap settings, score positioning and a high number of fold plates means that most folds can be accommodated with just one or two system configurations. Can standard format equipment be modified to perform pharmaceutical finishing work? “Traditional folders will usually not fit the bill for pharmaceutical, insert and outsert folding,” Dubuque said. “The size of the fold rollers and

PHARMA LINGO Inserts – a document included in the package of a medication Outserts – general term for folded material attached to the bottle Sidesert – an outsert glued to the side of the bottle Topsert/Capsert – an outsert glued to the top of the bottle Twinsert – two individual outserts glued together (aka: bundling) old-out Label – an expanded content label F with folded panels illow Folding – a thick and fluffy insert with P many folds, printed on very light stock

PHARMA ACRONYMS PI – Physician Inserts PPI – Patient Package Inserts IFU – Instructions for Use DFU – Directions for Use RTA – Right Turn Angle Outserts ECL – Expanded Content Label

the transfer points in the folder and in delivery won’t accommodate the smaller-sized fold panels required in this market space. Additionally, traditional folders generally can’t handle the product thickness or provide enough fold plates to produce many of the folds required, especially for pharma applications.” So, if you’re getting into the category, you’ll likely need some new equipment, but the good news is that these machines are not just for pharmaceutical work—they can also be used to create materials for cosmetics, electronics, product warranty information, consumer warnings, pocket-sized maps and instructions. Capabilities in this category are also a pretty powerful differentiator—if your competitors can’t do it, your work can’t be commoditized. A lot is happening in miniature folding this year, and here’s a look at some of the most exciting offerings in the category.

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FINISHING & MAILING ─ Pharmaceutical Finishing Heidelberg TH56 Pharma

G&K-VIJUK 24-Plate GUK FA53 Folder This modular triple knife outsert system has 24 plates, and can fold outserts with up to 350 panels on lightweight pharmaceutical stock. The machine boasts intelligent quality control features, touch screen operation and an array of features and accessories—including heavy-duty pressing units, a vertical stacking delivery unit, feeders, tabbers, glue verification systems and camera systems.

Heidelberg Stahlfolder Extended Pharma Solution

MBO SmartPack100

Stahl introduced their first fully-automated folding solution focused exclusively on pharmaceutical and small insert applications. The solution features the integration of an automated Stahlfolder TH 56 small format buckle plate folder with at least eight plates in the first unit, and eight in the second unit—and when combined with an inline parallel knife unit, a belt labeler, plus the delivery, the result is an automated solution that Standard AF 406F Folder reduces make ready times from hours to minutes.

H+H M9 Miniature Folding Machine for Inserts H+H executed a radical redesign/re-engineering of their M9 Miniature Folding Machine to fit the evolving demands of the small insert and

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pharmaceutical industry. The M9 has up to 24 automated buckle plates and automated fold rollers, plus their highest-level M1 Advanced control system, automatic quality check and rejection, and the exclusive MBO slitter shaft cassette system. The automated M9 can make ready a 16-plate parallel fold in 10 minutes. This machine can be ordered as a manual or automated model, and can be optionally expanded with a wide variety of additional components for maximum flexibility and customization.

H+H S 45 Miniature Folder This versatile folding machine has a common configuration of eight plates in the first unit and four plates in the second unit, which is designed to fit 90% of the pharmaceutical insert and small insert market. The machine is modular and can be scaled to include glue units, knife fold and pressing units and various deliveries, and is positioned as an economical entry point into small insert production.

Horizon AF-406F Small-Format Folder The Standard Horizon AF-406F is a fully-automated small format folder that provides ease of use and application flexibility for the small insert and pharmaceutical markets. The sixbuckle plate folder with pile feed and suction head has 17 pre-set fold patterns and can perform folds down to .79. inches. An optional six-buckle second unit can be added in line or cross-wise. For production efficiency, 200 custom jobs can be stored

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in memory for easy recall and automated makeready in seconds.

“Large printers don’t want to break down their larger in-line folder gluers for the short- to mediumsized carton runs,” said Kevin Moll of B&R Moll. “This Packing and Stacking is a great opportunity for the small- and mediumThe management of high volumes of small-forsized printers to go after this business where there is mat product coming out the end of a machine is one more profit in the runs. of the biggest obstacles to productivity. Here are “In the folding carton pharma world, there is a two compelling solutions for increasing productivity larger opportunity in the cannabis market. There and quality in the output and transfer of materials. are so many designs and layouts, but the runs tend to be short. Short folder G&K-Vijuk PPM gluer changeover times make today’s Auto Stacker machines more desirable in this This modular short-run world. It leads to Auto-Stacker more jobs being run in a attaches to day with a single outsert systems operator, which and miniature folding ultimately has a units. The machine automatically colfaster ROI.” lects miniature folded materials into trays, Here are some Bobst Expertfold with Accucheck and compresses them, and moves them into the outstanding technologies Accubraille delivery area, while moving the next tray to consider for pharmaceutical boxinto place without interruption. Optional quality making and gluing operations. control add-ons include the two-camera CM Bobst EXPERTFOLD 50 | 80 | 110 Inspection Station, the CTM Coding/Serializing & Folder Gluer + ACCUBRAILLE + Fold Inspection Station for tracking and tracing, a ACCUCHECK Glue Verification System, and the Baumer hhs Xcam This extremely versatile folder-gluer allows System for content verification. you to produce an impressive number of box MBO SmartPack100 Pharma Insert/ styles in a wide range of materials at speeds of up Outsert Automated Tray Packer to 450 meters (1,476 feet) per minute. Designed The MBO SmartPack100 automates the exit end for speed, automation and ease of operation, of pharmaceutical production lines for any legacy the EXPERTFOLD delivers striking productivor brand machine. The unit places pharma prodity and quality, and can simultaneously carry out ucts into trays, while removing the manual steps of other in-line processes for maximum efficiency. quality control and sorting of good and bad product. For the pharmaceutical and cosmetic markets, The operator only loads paper and trays into the combine with the ACCUCHECK in-line quality machine and removes filled trays. According to control system for zero-fault packaging, and MBO, the productivity of existing machines can be ACCUBRAILLE for high-speed Braille (and images, upgraded 50% to 100% just by adding the packer letters, numbers) embossing. and removing the older manual delivery units. Continued on page 63

Packaging and Gluing The opportunity and excitement in pharmaceutical finishing doesn’t stop at folding—and the opportunities abound for printers of all sizes.

Trish Witkowski specializes in creative solutions and engagement strategies for direct mail and marketing. She frequently travels and speaks to print organizations and their clients to illustrate the power of print.

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EXECUTIVE Q&A ─ Ricoh North America

WEATHERING THE STORM Carsten Bruhn, president and CEO of Ricoh North America shares how the pandemic affected Ricoh and its customers. By David Zwang

avid Zwang talks with Carsten Bruhn, the newly appointed president and CEO of Ricoh North America, about how the pandemic has affected Ricoh and its customers, as well as where the printing industry is going as we emerge from the year of COVID. Printing News: Carsten, congratulations on the new role. This is pretty exciting, but I understand you’ve been with Ricoh for a while. Carsten Bruhn: I have been with Ricoh for more than 30 years. I am originally Danish, but 23 years Carsten Bruhn, ago my family and myself President & CEO moved to England where I was the CEO of a company here in the UK. Since then, we’ve never looked back. I worked for Lanier Worldwide at that time, an American company that Ricoh later acquired. Over the last four years, I have managed our global sales. Before that, I also lived a for a couple of years in Tokyo, where I worked for [Ricoh’s] BSG that really started off the journey of this digital services company and that direction. And that’s been fantastic. I’m excited about the future of this next job. PN: You’re taking this role on at an interesting time. Now that we can see the beginning of the light of day— and I know if you’re in the UK now, maybe the light isn’t as bright as it is over here—do you expect any long-term changes in the way that Ricoh does business? CB: First of all, I think it’s very important we recognize the last 12 months have been very, very tough for everyone, and especially for some families. My thoughts go out to them. And when that’s been said, I think the pandemic will transform

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many, many industries, and now it’s a matter of who clearly understands the opportunities ahead of us—because I think the opportunities will be big— and then who will adapt very quickly to understand what’s happening. It’s not a secret that the biggest part of our business is really working with our customers in the workplace, and when suddenly everybody sits at home, it does make a difference to the business. But we have had fantastic opportunities to work closely with our customers. The more we progressed into [the pandemic], we all started to learn to still do business together, but virtually. I think what’s more important now is to understand that this has accelerated the journey into the digital world, so I can sit anywhere and access data and information in a very secure manner. I don’t think we will hear many people talk about the “office” anymore, but much more about the “workplace,” because now suddenly we can work anywhere. Everybody talks about this hybrid office, so there’s no doubt that it will change. And Ricoh is an 85-year-old company, and while sometimes change can be a little bit slow, we are very passionate about always working with our customers to make sure we transform with them. I think this pandemic actually was an opportunity for Ricoh to realize that we need to work with our employees, our customers and partners, to make sure that we transform. PN: You’re taking over this position at a time when there are not just challenges in the world and how we do business, but in the print industry itself. Ricoh has been very strong in the enterprise and business community, and that’s one of the areas that’s probably been hardest hit and has been in decline even before the pandemic. But print is evolving, and given the way people look at it and how they’re using print and imaging technologies, where do you see Ricoh’s position in that new world? CB: I do want to clarify one thing, as there was a bit of a misunderstanding lately about some

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announcement that Ricoh would maybe leave print, which definitely is not our intent. We are still very focused on print. It’s more what we are adding to print. I think print will change. You know, I heard 10 years ago, people talking about the paperless world, and we haven’t really seen it yet, but I have to say, print will change and be different. Take, for example, graphic communications. We see growth coming from that area, and that’s where I think we will also see growth with the investments we have been making, such as in software and applications. So there will be what we call transactional print, the traditional print, but we will definitely be moving into how we do the digital. How do we provide customers with the data they need, remotely or on-site, and that can be in different formats? The office print is being challenged, there’s no doubt about that, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away. It’s just a different way, again, of how we print. In the production print area, we definitely see big potential there, and we are investing to make sure we will continue to be a market leader. PN: As I look at the market and not just Ricoh, but some of your competitors, everybody’s going through the same issues because people use what was the copier, the printing device, differently today than they did before. There’s more emails. But I also see tremendous opportunities for growth in print and print imaging in new fields, packaging, for sure, and in industrial print. Do you see Ricoh making investments in those areas? CB: Absolutely. We are investing in label printing, supporting customers in their manufacturing to make sure it’s an integrated solution that works together with the manufacturing. Sometimes, you develop a strategy, but then customers pull you into something you were not even aware of. And that’s what’s happening right now. We see that in logistic companies and in manufacturing companies. We actually see print growing there, but in new areas. It’s not the traditional office print, but suddenly now we are part of their manufacturing process, part of the warehousing processes. So print will be different, but there’s still a big, big potential. And we are investing in that together with our sensor technology, by the way, to make sure we can

support clients with that kind of technology that came from print. PN: Yeah, many people don’t recognize that print was one of the earliest industries to get involved in digital, and we did break a lot of ground, and a lot of things that we’ve developed over the years have found their way into other industries. And of course now it’s key that all these other industries and print start to work together. I’m assuming that’s one of the things that Ricoh will be working on, how do we move to this Industry 4.0…dream, if you will, which really crosses many industries, Read More… with digital technology and print. Find article at CB: The business case that PrintingNews. com/21153765 always pops up is the old camera industry where in the old days we all took pictures and we got them on paper. Not all of those companies managed to transform and become digital in that world and in that space. But when I sit at home, we still look at pictures on prints, and then you also have it electronically. I think that it’s a similar journey we see in our industry. For me now, it’s just a matter of making sure you still recognize that our core DNA was print, so what kind of services do we then wrap around that? You know, what kind of applications, what kind of software? When I lived in Japan and I traveled around the world to do an inventory, one of the things I was most impressed with was actually, within the production print area, how early we created our own software portfolio to make sure that you could get the right balance between digital and transactional print. That was a big eye-opener when we started to introduce agile development vs. waterfall development. And for me, that was just fascinating and something I have used since I saw that in our facility in Colorado. PN: I really appreciate you spending the time with me. I wish you the best of luck and I hope once you do get over here, we get a chance to meet and shake hands together. And I look forward to seeing where Ricoh North America goes under your leadership. CB: Well, thank you very much, David. And I look forward over the next few years to share some successes with you and share with you how we are transforming Ricoh. ●

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WATCH LIST ─ Videos Trending On Printingnews.com

First Place Winners of the AATCC Concept 2 Consumer Student Merchandising Competition Discuss their Project and their Futures AATCC received nine entries. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21152783

Court Ruling on Debt Collection Communications Puts Printing Companies on Notice The ruling prohibits PSPs from printing and mailing debt collection letters and related notices. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21152974

EFI’s Fiery Business CTO Josef Coetsee on DFEs David Zwang talks to Josef Coetsee, CTO of EFI’s Fiery Division, about EFI’s unique approach. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153005

bluesign: Making Inroads on Increased Sustainability in Textiles & Apparel Reinhard Umber of bluesign discusses the extensive process the company’s partners must undergo. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21152556

Meet This Year’s #1 Small Commercial Printer: Strategic Factory Keith Miller, President and CEO talks about how the company coped with the pandemic and future plans. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153291

EFI Reggiani Adds Ease of Entry Printers, Localized Ink Manufacturing, to Portfolio at ITMA Asia 2021 Adele Genoni, EFI Vice President and General Manager at EFI Reggiani talks about the company. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153171

Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer with Julie McFarland Warren talks with Julie McFarland, President and Owner of McNaughton & Gunn Inc. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21152876

Global Graphics’ Eric Worrall on SmartDFEs David Zwang talks to Eric Worrall, VP of Products and Services for Global Graphics Software, about digital front ends (DFEs). Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21152391

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The Value of Affiliates Membership Adam LeFebvre, President of Specialty Print Communications and a GLGA Board Member, explains why it is important to support their local Affiliate. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153902

Home Decor to Take Center Stage at Smithers Digital Print For Textiles Michelle Courtois talks about the projects she will present and the future of the home decor market. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153386

The Promise of Pigment Inks Eric Beyeler, Global Marketing Manager for Artistri® Digital Inks at DuPont, talks about their history, ink distribution, and pigment inks for printing. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/2115349

Jetstream Ink-Jet and Cutting at 70,000 cards per hour! This video shows the Jetstream system operating in-line with a high-speed ink-jet system producing mail ready postcards. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153683

Process Control for Ultimate Quality on the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press Roi Liraz, Indigo V12 Program Manager, demonstrates process control on the HP Indigo V12. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154033

New Yarn Production Process Designed to Minimize Shedding of Microfibers Clean Ocean Fiber Tech develops a new way of making yarn that significantly reduces microfiber shedding. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153583

Color Calibration on the HP Indigo 100K Digital Press Deisy Kapon, WWTS IST Product & Content Dev. Manager at HP Indigo, demonstrates Print Care. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153977

The Digital Label Factory Gershon Alon, Head of PrintOS, talks about leveraging advanced technologies on the HP Indigo V12 to streamline the digital label production workflow. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21153644

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MANAGEMENT ─ Customer-Centricity

REANIMATE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Follow these four steps to become a customer-experience-driven company.

o have an experience with a brand that leaves you thinking, “They get me,” is a distinctive event, especially when it is repeated. You remember it. You talk about it. You form an affinity to the business and brand. You also know it did not happen by accident. It was architected and executed by a culture fixated on creating a remarkable customer experience. As the business world recovers from the collective disruption of a global pandemic, it is time to reanimate the customer experience with new breadth and depth. It is imperative to build back a business that will sustain through the certainty of future disruptions and thrive in fluctuating business climates. How do you evolve your business and imbue your culture with a customer-centric ethic that actually modifies your organizational DNA? Begin with a clear understanding of what customer experience is and what it is not. It is not customer service. Forbes defines the difference between customer experience and customer service this way: Customer service is the advice or assistance a company gives its customers; customer experience is the total journey of a customer’s continued interactions with a brand and the perceptions that customer internalizes about your business. Under that definitional framework, here are four steps to becoming a customer-experiencedriven company.

Quantify your current operating reality.

How does your business measure-up, exactly? Answering this question with a set of quantifiable customer-experience measures is critical. This is a two-way mirror: an objective inward assessment of your company and an assessment of your customer’s perspective of interacting with your company. Gathering insights from customers on market conditions, demographics, products and services, competitors and their overall experience, then objectively correlating those to growth and performance for the company, will yield a trove of actionable results. With pertinent results, you can begin to stitch together plans that will decisively alter the fabric of your customer experience efforts.

Qualify crucial customer context.

From the first impression of your brand on a prospect, they are forming perceptions of your company. The value your brand messaging conveys, whether digital or direct, begins to establish a context for the relationship. Qualifying the value your company can deliver in the context of the results that the customers expect to attain can be an enigmatic process. How does the customer define the success of the relationship? How will they objectively measure success? If your solution reduces time investment, speeds productivity and

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time to market for the customer, will you get credit? How does your customer quantify the results of your solution on their market performance, both top and bottom line? These are all qualifying questions that contextualize customers’ expectations. Establishing these performance expectations will allow you to minimize, or even eliminate, variations in interpreting outcomes. This process is the practical outworking of the axiom, “Begin with the end in mind.” The framework within which you establish the context of customer success should be a collection of performance measurements you can regularly communicate to customers. Your team will construct, track and manage the customer based upon these measures for the entirety of the customer lifecycle.

Take radical ownership of outcomes.

From the outset, your team should be acutely focused on delivering on customer expectations. In every customer relationship, there is a time when promises made must become promises kept. Full transparency and accountability to performance outcomes are the central ingredients in establishing trust with your customers. Providing detailed metrics and analytics on a scheduled basis through a business review process or dynamic dashboard of activity will advance the relationship, demonstrate your commitment to creating quantifiable value and facilitate business expansion opportunities. Furthermore, it will create historical performance records that you can reference at any time during the lifecycle of a customer. The goal of perfection is a myth. In your business you cannot be perfect in execution, but you can be perfectly consistent in the transparent and accountable way you remedy underperformance. Own the responsibility for misses and the subsequent recovery plan, and your customers will

indeed view you as radically different from your competition.

Galvanize and G\grade your resources.

Customer experience is the sum total of all interactions a customer has with your brand or business. This includes all passive and active communication through digital and direct channels. Every touchpoint matters. Every department within a company creates output that impacts the customer experience. Thus, every department should have multiple customerexperience measurements built into their performance evaluation. Galvanizing the entire company to see their work product through the eyes of the customer is another stitch in the cultural fabric. By adopting key customer experience measurements within your Read More… organization, you will be able to hone Find article at in on troubled departments or assoPrintingNews. com/21153755 ciates rather quickly. Each department should have metrics that roll up to executive management. This kind of accountability will ensure that your resources are performing at standards that will exceed your customer’s performance expectations, as well as your own. Every company has some vestige of customercentricity in their DNA, otherwise they would not have survived their first year of existence. Following these four steps will launch you and your company on a journey where customer experience transcends culture and becomes a business philosophy. With the customer at the core of your philosophical beliefs, the company culture will automatically trigger the kind of experience that will set you apart from all others. ● Author’s Note: Watch for new articles that unpack each of these four steps to becoming a customerexperience-driven company.

Preston Herrin is a strategy, growth, and performance consultant. He has served in c-level and senior leadership roles at fast-growth companies like 4over LLC, Café Press, and Drummond. In his 30-year career Preston’s roles span strategy, business development and executive management providing e-commerce, software, logistics and service solutions for all vertical markets such as Manufacturing, Finance, Healthcare, Nonprofits and more.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Thrive Despite Challenges A Massachusetts printer thrives despite challenges. By Frank Romano

LaPlume’s Scott Morton

CHERCHEZ L APLUME 38

ighty percent of all U.S. printing companies have fewer than 20 employees. We often read about large companies acquiring advanced technology, but what about the small shops? It was the advent of offset duplicators that saw the spurt in new printing businesses in the 1950s. Many of those firms grew and became the base for today’s printing industry. Digital printing became the “go to” technology for small printers after 2000. With flexible acquisition plans, small printers could compete effectively with full-color printing in many new markets. Meet LaPlume & Sons Printing of Lawrence, Mass. In addition to multiple offset presses, they run a large contingent of digital devices. They were expanding into new services and things were going well, and then... In 2018, gas service in the Greater Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts had a pressure surge. Suddenly, LaPlume & Sons Printing saw its heating system burst into flames. Part of the building was destroyed. They survived that catastrophe only to be hit with a pandemic two years later. Non-critical Massachusetts businesses were to close down and printing was not categorized as a critical business. But their customers specified them as important to their supply chain and LaPlume was able to remain open. For all printers, these have been challenging times. LaPlume has served its community for 85 years and survived many challenges. At just about 20 employees, it is bigger than a small printer and smaller than a mid-sized printer. LaPlume exemplifies the heart and soul of the printing industry. It has established a production footprint that is expansive and a service level that is very high.

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Gabriel LaPlume, a Canadian native, owned a small bicycle repair shop in a shed behind his Lawrence, Mass. home. As a depression-era business in the community where he lived, he was known for his hard work and generosity. It was out of his generosity that LaPlume printing was founded on a sunny day in 1935. After completing the repair of a local customer’s bicycle, the customer returned to pick up the bike, but with empty pockets. LaPlume accepted a small Kelsey Excelsior hand press in lieu of payment. It was then that he realized there was an opportunity to supplement his repair shop by printing small items, such as wedding invitations, greeting cards and raffle tickets. Slowly and steadily, he began moving his tools out of the shed, trading them for professional printing equipment, paper and ink. Their table-top hand press evolved to a powerdriven Chandler and Price platen. By the 1950s, they moved into offset litho with a small duplicator and expanded to six-color 40-inch capability. I have seen this story repeated throughout the printing industry. Gabriel and his wife Regina had 13 children, and his seven sons took an interest in the business. This was a unique way to populate a workforce. They formally branded as LaPlume and Sons Printing Co., Inc. By 1966, his sons, Raymond, Ronald and Jim, took ownership of the family business and began expanding it into the multi-faceted operation it is today. Today, the company is run by son-in-law Scott Morton, who began his career in law and engineering, but is now firmly a printer. Specializing in all forms of printing, LaPlume has both offset and digital printing. Many of their experienced and dedicated staff are family members and many have been with LaPlume for 20 and even 40 years. Today, they continue to do business with hundreds of customers in their immediate area, across the country, and even international. LaPlume operates multiple offset presses, ranging from two to six colors, which offer the flexibility to print large runs in widths up to 28 inches. Heidelberg and Akiyama presses are driven by PDF-based computer-to-plate workflows.

LaPlume’s production equipment also includes multiple digital presses. Xerox and Konica-Minolta systems produce exceptional printing. Digital printing lets LaPlume produce variable data pieces that can be customized to each individual recipient. Digital press manufacturers are Read More… paving the way for the future of the Find article at print industry, and LaPlume has fully PrintingNews. com/21153754 embraced this changing technology to better serve its customers’ needs. LaPlume also offers the ability to create mass mailing through its newly expanded in-house mailing capability. Their team of experts also design and create stunning apparel and promotional items. Services include embroidery and screen printing of all forms of apparel, as well as promotional and giveaway items to help get the word out about a brand. Our visit to LaPlume revealed several reasons for its success over 85 years: 1. A lthough LaPlume deals with customers directly, a major part of its business comes from printing brokers. This gives them a very large sales force. 2. Capabilities that the company does not have are farmed out. When volume reaches a certain level, that capability is brought inhouse. 3. They have leveraged the advantages of social media and the web, both from a promotional and a customer communication point of view. 4. They have seen runs become shorter and have thus expanded their digital and workflow capabilities. 5. Paper availability is tightening. Finding new employees is not easy as many vocational schools have de-emphasized printing. But LaPlume, like many other American printers, keeps moving ahead, overcoming obstacles every day. ●

Frank Romano’s career has spanned over 50 years in the printing and publishing industries. He is the author of 40 books, the Editor of the International Paper Pocket Pal, a contributor to major encyclopedias and dictionaries, and the author of numerous articles.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Customers Need Time To Plan

PAPER PRICES How to warn your customers early

t’s happening. Printers are being forced to increase their prices as business reopens. In recent weeks, paper companies have notified printers that paper prices will be climbing 6-15% in the coming months. The price of mailing will jump as the USPS pushes through another price increase. Wages will be forced upwards as minimum wages climb and the competition for workers increases. We know printing costs are going up, and we need to start letting customers know prices will too. Be proactive and tell your customers about higher prices. Contact your customers, particularly your top customers, about the pending increases. Start with a conversation about increased prices and then follow up with correspondence so they understand. Climbing prices are a reality because of the effects of the pandemic, but you must let customers know when it will happen. Customers need advanced warning. No one likes surprises. Customers need time to plan for the increases. It is better to start working with them on a new budget and price before they place the order rather than try to justify the new prices afterwards. You should have records about your customers’ buying habits and know what jobs are on the horizon. If the prices will be going up in the next 90 days, let them know so they can be prepared. Talk about the reasons behind the price increases. The customers need to have the context of why prices are going up. USPS changes, paper

shortages, transportation cost increases are only some examples. It is obvious that things are costing more. You need to remind customers why they are seeing price increases for their printing needs. Don’t apologize for the increases. Increasing selling prices are just part of being in business. It costs money to pay employees, provide service and meet customer needs. If a business doesn’t increase their prices, they won’t be around for long. Keep it simple. You don’t have to over-explain your price, because most customers don’t understand the print pricing process anyway. Like other businesses, the pandemic has forced us to increase our prices. Good customers will understand. Make sure everyone in the organization knows the prices are going to increase. No matter how rational a price increase is, there will be pushback from some customers. Train employees to provide simple answers. If you have already told customers there will be a price increase before they see it on an invoice, you will have fewer complaints.

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Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153915

It is essential that you handle a price increase quickly and honestly to ensure that your customers understand the situation. Be open to discussion with customers about the price increases. There may be opportunities to explore alternatives to reducing their costs. It could open the door for sales discussions that will result in more printing purchased. Customers may shop your prices once they learn of the impending increases, but in today’s environment everyone is being forced to either raise prices or drastically reduce services. If you already have good relationships with your top customers, it will be easier for them to understand why the increases are happening. Low-priced printers will find it hard to stay open with the new economic pressures and no government assistance. A lot of customers will be looking for new printers when their current

printer shuts the doors. One bright spot for printers during the past 18 months has been direct mail, but the postal service rate increases may spook customers. The expected price increases by the USPS this month will push the average postage price for marketing mail by 6.5% for letters. Some of the highest postage price increases are on flats and periodicals at 8.8%. Shippers using parcels will see an increase of 9.3%. Will print buyers blame the increased costs on the USPS or the local printer? Start today to prepare your staff and customers for a rapid climb in print prices and keep the focus with the customer on the value you provide. Most economists expect prices to continue to rise into next year as the economy readjusts from the pandemic. This will drive printing costs even higher. Helping provide customers with solutions to control their printing costs will help printers grow their business in the coming year. ●

John Giles is a consultant for the printing industry who works with Tom Crouser and CPrint International to help printers prosper. Contact John at (954) 224-1942, john@cprint.com, or johng247@aol.com.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Agility

AGILITY

KEY

Survive the pandemic as a living business.

Narrow Web Flexible Packaging for the Food and Beverage Industries

he pandemic proved one thing: Companies inherently cannot see beyond their current customer and supplier base, protecting rather than challenging what works. The inability to pivot quickly and decisively in the face of supply chain challenges reflected the attitude of “That’s the way it is and always will be.” Most new ideas - and new market opportunities - derive from small companies. But, contrary to conventional wisdom, the number of startups exploded despite COVID. For example, Forbes magazine reports more than 4.3 million people registered new business applications in 2020, a 25% increase

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from 2019, and PayPal experienced a 40% rise in business accounts. Many new businesses close within five years for a variety of reasons. And while the startups that survive will provide a solid living for the entrepreneurs and their employees, few will grow from two people to a $2 trillion company as Microsoft has over 40 years. Closer to home, the printing industry has been stratified for decades. Ten or so huge companies have always had a few billion dollars in revenue, and a handful had sales of a few hundred million. Today, RR Donnelley, the largest company on the 2020 Printing Impressions Top 350, has $5.5 billion in revenue, while number 350, JP Graphics, has 0.10% of RR Donnelley’s sales, or $5.5 million. In other words, small and midsize enterprises comprise most of the printing industry’s 25,000 companies. So, what are commercial and industrial printing companies doing not simply to survive but thrive? Charlie Lahr, manager of inkjet solutions at Komori America, reports clients are looking for a multitool, Swiss army knife type of technology. They want to produce as many things as possible, such as short-run cross-over from offset, direct mail, packaging, signage

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and synthetics. While some are a bit more narrowly focused, Komori’s commercial accounts look to do as much of a mix as possible. Customers in 2020 and 2021 have been getting into packaging, point-of-sale, folding carton and pressure-sensitive work. Lahr’s advice is to look at your book of business and focus on the value-added opportunities. “It is not just an analog to digital conversion, but an understanding of customers and what opportunities digital can present,” he said. “Analyze your complete book of business and make customers aware of your printing capabilities.” WhatTheyThink’s Printing Outlook 2021 found strong evidence of this trend. Forty-five percent of printing companies with more than 20 employees plan to add package printing, digital label/ wrapper printing and specialty or industrial printing capabilities. A prime example is Amherst Label, a family-owned and operated New Hampshire label printer founded in 1978. The company has steadily invested in flexographic and, more recently, digital label printing presses and auxiliary equipment. Today the company produces short- and long-run jobs, with the longer ones often incorporating different versions within the job. Amherst Label uses hybrid inline printing capabilities, more “one pass manufacturing” of customer orders, saving material, time and labor costs. With 20% growth during the pandemic and sales on target mid-way through 2021, Amherst Label found weaknesses in its supply chain. Unlike companies that attempt to protect what has worked for them, Amherst Label chose to challenge those practices. Nye Horner, VP of sales & marketing, noted the company reacted by investing in storage and stocking more inventory and purchasing a new inline, four-color flexo press with digital printing capability. The company also cross-trained employees and teams of employees, adding flexibility while improving performance and productivity. “The pandemic has been a challenge but an opportunity,” Horner said. “We’ve learned a lot and continue to be successful. Indeed, we look at this as a new way of operating the

business.” Put another way, Ricoh organizes itself around the concept of “a living business.” Gavin JordanSmith, senior vice president, Ricoh Graphic Communications, defines a living business as “one that is agile, can shift month-to-month, and can quickly, efficiently adapt to the needs of its customers.” The pandemic accelerated the concept’s adoption as the needs of Ricoh’s customers changed over the pandemic’s course. For example, Ricoh Graphic Communications found direct mail grew by 127%, impacting its customers as online purchases increased, Read More… and so did the need for marketFind article at ing services and printed mail, not PrintingNews. com/21153909 to mention a sustained increase in the volume of monthly statements. The rise in e-commerce, whether B2B or B2C, resulted in new digital packaging applications. Moreover, the pandemic resulted in approximately a 25% surge of new merchants generating new opportunities for service providers and new service providers mentioned earlier. “That rise in brand and merchant owners has a direct link to new digital printed packaging applications,” Jordan-Smith said. Demand for printed packages will always be there, with digital commercial and industrial printing enabling short-run versioning, very short-run personalization and prototypes. Printing companies, regardless of revenue, must develop and hone their ability to pivot quickly and decisively in the face of supply chain challenges and rapidly evolving customer demands. Successful managers will challenge what customers want by implementing a flexible mix of prepress, press and finishing equipment, integrating internet ordering and manufacturing execution software, nurturing an agile team of production personnel and employing open-minded salespeople. ●

Pete Basiliere provides research-based insights on 3D printing and digital-printing hardware, software and materials, best practices, go-tomarket strategies and technology trends.

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PRINTING INDUSTRY NEWS ─ News Trending On Printingnews.com Epson Announces Integration of InLine Solutions to the SurePress L-6534VW UV Digital Label Press Standard Announces AFV56K iCE Folder Standard Finishing Systems, a leading supplier of post-press and paper handling solutions, recently announced an addition to their line of automated folding solutions: the Standard Horizon AFV-56K iCE Series Folder. This 6-buckle folder with integrated knife/buckle crossfolding has been designed for improved efficiency, more operator-friendly production, and reduced waste and make-ready. Setup and changeover times on the AFV-56K iCE Folder are nearly 20% faster than the previous model, the AFC-566FG. The system’s roller gaps and buckle plates are set automatically and can be easily fine-tuned from the improved touchscreen control panel. The AFV-56K has introduced automated stop deployment and adjustment under the knife when cross folding as well as trailing edge roller adjustments to insure accurate fold position with reduced operator intervention and maximize machine uptime. The system features a brand-new, automated register table with an adjustable vacuum drive belt that eliminates steel and plastic ball drive for registration. www.printingnews.com/21153884

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Epson announced new in-line solutions for the SurePress L-6534VW UV inkjet digital label press, including the integration of a finisher, external unwinder and inspection systems from partner companies. The added features bring system flexibility to label converters, allowing businesses to make a complete digital production solution ideally suited to their operation. The SurePress L-6534VW highspeed digital label press prints pressure sensitive, shrink and in-mold labels and flexible packaging with outstanding durability at speeds up to 164 feet per minute (fpm). Engineered for reliability and ease of use, SurePress comes standard with all the functions required for label production, including in-line digital varnish, a corona treater, white ink, and an additional UV curing unit. www.printingnews.com/21154124

Duplo USA Launches DPC-600 B2 Format Digital Die Cutter Duplo USA introduced the new DocuCutter DPC-600 Digital Die Cutter with the ability to process B2-size sheets and a wide range of substrates that includes chipboards and plastics. The flatbed cutter pre-orders have already sold out. The DPC-600 is designed for producing short-run packaging, pocket folders, foam board displays, face shields, and so much more. Featuring smart technology without any physical dies required, it handles large media up to 23” x 31” and can cut, kiss cut, score, and perforate in one pass. www.printingnews.com/21154135

Konica Minolta Launches AccurioPress C7100 Series Konica Minolta introduced the AccurioPress C7100 series, digital color presses packed with innovative technologies to create more profitable business opportunities. From intelligent automation and enhanced finishing to flawless quality, advanced capabilities and exceptional durability, customers have the power to grow their businesses through a press that works smarter. Succeeding the highly successful AccurioPress C6100 Series, the new AccurioPress C7100 model runs at 100 pages per minute (ppm) with the AccurioPress C7090 at 90ppm. With a focus on optimizing performance, offering new and advanced print products, and growing the entire business, the AccurioPress C7100 series serves more customers and completes more jobs with innovative technologies that power success. The AccurioPress C7100 Series is designed to support a highly responsive print room environment where customers rethink agility and offers a choice of different controller front ends from EFI, CREO and Konica Minolta’s own offering to perfectly match customer requirements. www.printingnews.com/21153889

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE INDUSTRY NEWS

Access the Arizona Advantage with the New Canon Arizona 135 GT UV Flatbed Printer Canon U.S.A. Inc., announced the launch of the new Arizona 135 GT UV flatbed printer. This technology investment offers sign makers, print service providers and offset and screen printers, among others, new ways to fulfill business opportunities. Whether starting out in the rigid applications, large format graphics industry or looking to diversify into new applications, the Arizona 135 GT delivers high image quality, impressive productivity and reliability, application versatility and excellent total cost of ownership – at a smart investment level. Designed for outstanding productivity and application versatility, the easy-to-use Arizona 135 GT produces exceptional image quality due to its VariaDot grayscale printing technology, which uses advanced drop size selection techniques to deliver photo-realistic images.

MUTOH Releases New Vibrant MS31 Eco-Solvent Ink MUTOH America, a leader in wide-format inkjet printers, cutters and inks, is excited to announce the release of their new, MS31 EcoSolvent Ink. New enhancements developed for MS31 Eco-Solvent Ink include a wider color gamut, better adhesion, improved dot gain along with excellent weather abrasion / chemical resistance all which result in enriched image quality. MS31 inks include an Avery ICS Performance Guarantee, as well as GREENGUARD Gold Certified. MS31 is a direct replacement to Eco-Ultra VJ-MSINK3A inks that have been discontinued and requires no special flushing when switching from one ink to another. Additionally, no special firmware update is needed, and the new Eco-Solvent ink comes in convenient 220ml, 440ml cartridges and 1000ml ink bags. Eco-Ultra inks are now discontinued and are available while supplies last. Contact your dealer for availability.

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MUTOH Releases New Exclusive StartRight Kit Training Tool for MUTOH XpertJet 661UF UV/LED Printer

Xaar Acquires Leading Print System Integrator FFEI

MUTOH America, a leader in wide-format inkjet printers, cutters and inks, is excited to announce the release of their new exclusive training tool, the StartRight Kit. This kit features Project Application Guides for the XpertJet 661UF UV-LED printer, including lessons, video instruction, sample output, blanks and a sample JIG with inserts. These materials offer users the opportunity to quickly get their units up and running and add creative, textured signage capabilities to their shops. Instructions on using FlexiSIGN & Print MUTOH Edition 19 and its presets also are included in the kit, as well as a USB with course documents and online instruction modules. www.printingnews.com/21153926

Xaar has completed the acquisition of print systems and printbar specialist FFEI Limited. The deal will accelerate the company’s existing growth strategy and will enable Xaar to capture additional opportunities in vertically integrated solutions. FFEI is a leading integrator and manufacturer of industrial digital inkjet systems and digital life science technology with many years of experience in managing technical integration and engineering projects. Its highly innovative and advanced imaging solutions and printbar manufacturing have enabled the business to establish several joint ventures with world leading organisations in both digital inkjet and life sciences. The addition of FFEI strengthens Xaar’s capabilities and skills and will help to provide a more comprehensive solution for its growing number of OEM and UDI (User Developer Integrator) customers. www.printingnews.com/21153932

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Signage Regulations

SIGN CODE

CRACKDOWN Post-pandemic life returns enforcement of signage regulations. By Richard Romano

hen last we checked in on the world of sign codes (September 2019), Thomas v. Bright had replaced Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) as the case to watch regarding the regulation of exterior signage. To recap: In Thomas v. Bright, a case that originated in Tennessee, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of a federal district court that the government cannot distinguish between on-premise and off-premise signage because it is an unconstitutional

sign code tries to regulate onpremise differently than billboards —at least to the extent that they did in Tennessee— then those regulations are content-based and therefore unconstitutional. “Tennessee did eventually amend their DOT regulations to be more compliant,” Hickey said.

Austin City Limits content-based distinction. The decision had the potential to change the way that signs are regulated across the country and the way that the sign industry does business. Tennessee appealed that case to the Supreme Court, and in summer 2020, the Supreme Court denied certiorari (fewer than four justices determined that the circumstances of the decision of the lower court warranted a review by the Supreme Court). “So that is the law of the land in the states covered by the 6th Circuit,” said David Hickey, VP of advocacy, of the International Sign Association (ISA). In essence, if a community’s

But when one case closes, another opens. In this case, we move from Tennessee to Texas and Reagan National Advertising of Texas v. City of Austin. In a nutshell, outdoor companies wanted to install digital billboards in Austin, Tex., and applications to do so were declined by the city as the sign code prohibited off-premises digital signage, while allowing electronic message centers (EMCs) and other digital signage onpremises. As in Thomas v. Bright, it came down to an on-/off-premises signage issue (a distinction based on whether the sign advertises something physically

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located where the sign is placed). At any rate, outdoor advertising company Reagan National Advertising sued the city, claiming that Texas’s sign ordinance was content-based and thus unconstitutional. On Aug. 25, 2020, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and ruled that the on-/off-premises distinction is content-based, and therefore “presumably unconstitutional.” The city appealed to the supreme Court, and was supported with an amicus brief signed onto by ISA and its affiliated associations in the 5th Circuit, which include the Texas Sign Association and the Mid South Sign Association. The friend-of-the-court brief was joined by Scenic Texas and several Texas chambers of commerce. “The ISA believe that the on-off distinction is locationbased, not content-based, and a city should be allowed to decide between on- and off-premise signage,” Hickey said. Scenic Texas, by the way, is a group that fights “visual pollution”—like billboards—and to find them and ISA on the same side of the issue shows how “this issue is making for strange bedfellows,” according to Hickey. This very unique joint filing proved effective, as on June 28 it was announced that the Supremes would in fact hear Reagan National Advertising of Texas v. City of Austin. ISA will likely be submitting a friend-of-the-court brief representing the on-premise sign and graphics industry in support of overturning the 5th Circuit’s decision.

At any rate, it’s not for nothing that many in the sign code world find the original Reed decision to be “the gift that keeps on giving.”

Keep It Dark Still, it’s not all Reed all the time, and some new trends in sign regulations have been emerging, specifically involving sign lighting restrictions for traditional signs. The brightness of EMCs has long been a contentious issue, and ISA’s nighttime brightness recommendations have become extremely popular with state DOTs and they have become the gold standard for city and town officials drafting sign regulations around EMC brightness. The problem now is that communities are trying to apply those same recommendations to internally illuminated signs—sign types for which those recommendations were not intended. “EMCs are LEDs that are exposed to the naked eye,” said Hickey, “whereas your typical cabinet sign could have LEDs or fluorescent lights, or even have two forms of lighting in there. Not all of those are dimmable, and they may work differently. And of course they’re not visible to the naked eye because there’s a plastic face over them at different distances from the lighting, and these plastic covers can have different thicknesses and different colors.” Basically, the recommendations for apples are being applied to oranges. A lot of these new rules are being driven

by “Dark Sky” movements, as well as other general anti-signage advocates. If you have ever been to a town meeting— or have seen episodes of “Parks and Recreation”—you know that one outspoken critic can drive a whole movement. At any rate, ISA is currently considering developRead More… ing a set of sign Find article at lighting recomPrintingNews. com/21153762 mendations à la its EMC document. After all, signage that is too dim to be effectively seen and that lacks that visual “pop” is bad for the business that owns the sign, and for the sign industry in general.

The Day After You may have noticed that virtually all pandemic-related signage that sprouted like mad in spring 2020 has all but vanished (see “Post-COVID Signage on page XX). There are a few reasons for that. Back at the height of the pandemic, everyone realized the power of signage to communicate important messages, such as safety guidelines, directions to testing (and later vaccination) sites and so forth. This was especially true with temporary and even digital signs, because they both have the ability to not only quickly communicate a message, but can be easily changed, as recommendations and guidelines evolved over the course of the year. Continued on page 61

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MANAGEMENT ─ Franchises

FINISHING OUT 2021 Create goals to promote fun, positivity and success. By A.J. Titus, President of Signarama and United Franchise Group

an you believe that 2021 is more than halfway over? If you have had a year like me, it has done nothing but fly by since the minute the calendar flipped over. If the passing of time in 2020 resembled a slug, then 2021 is a racehorse. A lot of this feeling has to do with the amazing reopening of the U.S. economy, as well as all of the opportunity that is out there right now—especially in the sign industry. In case you missed it, the International Sign Association

quarterly economic report anticipates over 6% growth across the industry this year–these are amazing numbers coming out of a global pandemic! That 6% represents so many tangible opportunities for finding growth this year for your own business. Between the number of new businesses opening, and the overall growth of existing businesses ramping up to meet pent-up market demand, there is a new market segment waiting for you. The key to finishing out this year is to maintain your focus.

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You will miss out on the big growth gains if you are not focused on the top three things in your business—any more than this, and the vision becomes cluttered. So first start by making a list. Write down everything that you can think of that could be an opportunity for your business in the next calendar year. Then, look at that list again—you’ll want to put the items in order this time from most impactful to least impactful. Those top three impactful items should be your biggest revenue and culture drivers. These three will become your business goals for the year if they weren’t already. Everything else you do on a daily/weekly/ monthly basis should ladder up to these three goals and be a part of the plan to achieve them. You might be surprised how things that were previously a “time-suck” disappear from the list when you re-prioritize what is important. Then create measurable metrics of success for these goals and individual goals for each team member to help measure their success over time. For instance, if your overall goal is to increase your business in the medical industry, you then need to create a metric to track your success. Maybe your metric is $100,000 in sign sales to businesses in the industry

this year, such as hospitals, clinics or medical vendors. You would then create specific goals for your marketing team such as marketing materials produced, leads gained from your website or content pushed out on your channels. Maybe your production team would be measured against average time to complete an order or staying on schedule with installs. Your in-house customer support agent might be measured on how much they can upsell an order, the number of positive customer reviews they can drive or their number of outbound calls on a weekly basis. Whatever you determine the goals to be, they need to have a deadline and a means of measurement—that way, you can track your success. As you work toward your goals in the second half of this year, it is important to remember that we are in a fun, publicfacing business. Coming out of a year like 2020 where business was all hands on deck, 24 hours a day, we need to re-energize our teams and our customers. At Signarama, we just set the Guinness World Record for “Most Signatures on a Banner in One Hour” with all of our owners at our World Expo event. Why did we decide to do this? Because it was a fun, energetic event that also brought notoriety to our brand. We are celebrating 35 years in business this year, and we have chosen to celebrate this milestone more than we have in the past. We learned this year that achievements are worth sharing, and spending time focusing on positive things is critical to the success of our teams. Customers also want to do business with professionals who have a proven track record over a period of time. Take time to celebrate your wins with your customers this year and look for ways to make a big deal about the accomplishments of your team. ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153908

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Lack Of Signage Post-Pandemic

MISSING THE SIGNS

Post-pandemic signage largely MIA as everyone returns to normal.

erhaps the biggest trend in post-COVID signage is…that there really isn’t any. As I wrote early and often throughout last year, COVID-related signage bloomed like madness in the spring and continued through the summer. In our forecasts of 2021, my prediction had been that there would be a continued demand for some kind of pandemic or postpandemic signage, as businesses, municipalities and others need to communicate salient policies regarding mask-wearing, vaccination and/or testing requirements, and so forth. But I had completely underestimated the extent to which everyone would be eager to return to “normal” and remove all signs (in several senses of the word) that there had ever been a pandemic. It was confusing at first. In May, when places started opening up in earnest, maskwearing policies were inconsistent, and even in the same shopping plaza, different stores had different policies (or perhaps “attitudes” is the better term). In Home Depot, not a mask was to be seen, while across the parking lot in Barnes & Noble, everyone was still wearing

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masks—yet there was no signage identifying what a particular store’s attitude was. And floor graphics, which had taken off during the pandemic, were taken off once it was over. “We haven’t seen social distancing signage in

(Above) A UPS Store location had self-printed door signage explaining their mask preference. It has since been taken down. (Left) Likewise, a health food store also briefly had ersatz signage explaining their preference.

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A tiny whiskey bar in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which had been completely closed since mid-March 2020 and only reopened in May 2021 (“I didn’t want to put up those awful plastic dividers,” the owner told me). The policy is proof-of-vaccination for admittance, and this small window sign has also since disappeared.

ages,” said Eric Lazar, partner and lead evangelist for Speedpro Chicago Loop. “We had a significant run of floor decals last June/July 2020 and again in the late in winter 2021….but since then, dead.” And you may have noticed that directional graphics in supermarket aisles—which, to be honest, was never particularly effective—vanished. For a brief period, there was the kind of ersatz signage we saw a year earlier, with some locations explaining their mask policy/attitude. Another reason for the dearth of post-pandemic signage is that while municipalities had largely relaxed their enforcement of sign codes during the pandemic, and/or didn’t have the resources to police signage, that is not a trend that is continuing. “With things opening back up the last few months, we’re definitely seeing that cities and towns are going back to the way things were, and they’re stepping up enforcement of sign codes,” said David Hickey, VP of advocacy, of the International Sign Association (ISA). (See “Sign Codes: Post-Pandemic Life Returns Enforcement of Signage Regulations” on page XX.) Still, that doesn’t impact signage in retail and other such locations. Another form of signage that had bloomed last year was “celebration signage,” or lawn signs commemorating a graduation or birthday. Interestingly, they have remained somewhat popular, and graduation season did see

Celebration signage is nowhere near as popular as it was last year, when graduations were largely virtual, but some people are still using lawn signage to celebrate an educational accomplishment.

a fair number of lawn signs—certainly not as many as last year, when graduations were virtual, but far more than in previous years. I had thought they might evolve into something more elaborate, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case. As things return to normal, things are pivoting back to the Read More… Find article at way they were. Still, the print busiPrintingNews. nesses that “pivoted” to safety com/21153760 signage now have the capabilities to produce other kinds of signage. And, after all, it’s not a foregone conclusion that the pandemic is 100% over. The Delta variant is raging in parts of the country and while the current vaccinations are effective at preventing transmission, there is the very real possibility that a new variant could emerge for which the vaccinations are ineffective. Should that be the case, we will need signage to communicate whatever new policies and recommendations emerge. And at least we know what is needed and how to produce it. ●

Richard Romano has been writing about the graphic communications industry for 20 years. He is an industry analyst and author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books.

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TEXTILES ─ Opportunity For Job Creation

THE GREAT RESIGNATION A unique opportunity for textiles & apparel By Cary Sherburne

“T

he Great Resignation” is the accordterm coined for U.S. workers ing to the quitting their jobs or finding U.S. Bureau spots in new industries. of Labor According to the U.S. Labor Statistics, that Department, more than 4 million Americans quit number had baltheir jobs in April, a record high. And even more looned to a stunplan to do so as we exit the pandemic. ning 9.3 million, with 5.8 Among reasons cited in various articles about million “separations,” including volunthis phenomenon include unhappiness or boredom tary quits, layoffs, discharges and other separawith their current job or industry, a desire to contions, with 4 million of those being voluntary. The tinue to work from home and ditch the commute, largest number of voluntary departures came in and the ability to have more flexibility in terms retail, professional and business services, and transof work/life balance. Some are even quitting to portation, warehousing and utilities. pursue a post-pandemic adventure. Others stated So that leaves us with this question: If people are they were looking for a job where they could conquitting due to boredom or unhappiness but still tinue to learn something new. Or perhaps they are want to work, where will they look? And how can taking advantage of companies that are poachthe textiles and apparel industry, which has long ing workers with the lure of higher pay, more flexstruggled to attract new talent, generate interest ible work hours and conditions, and among those looking for something new? signing bonuses. For many, the textiles and apparel Read More… For many who worked from home industry – particularly the manufacturFind article at PrintingNews. during the pandemic, they learned ing aspect – gets a bad rap. This is largely com/21153763 that they could be just as productive due to an outdated perception that factoor even more productive. And they ries are labor intensive, boring and even saw the financial benefits of avoiding costs associdirty or unhealthy in other ways. Those of us in the ated with traveling to the office every day. In addiindustry know, of course, that for the most part, tion, many took the opportunity to add to their this is not true. As a growing number of compaknowledge and skills through various online nies begin to reshore at least some of their produclearning platforms. tion in an effort to diversify a broken supply chain As a result of this shift in mindset, there were model, these factories are actually quite high tech. more than 7.5 million unfilled jobs in the U.S. in In fact, microfactories and on-demand manufacturthe first quarter of 2021, compared to just over 5 ing operations can be highly automated – up to the million in the second quarter of 2020 as the panpoint of sewing, which is still the last mile in terms demic unfolded. By the second quarter of 2021, of automation.

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Of course, there is a growing amount of automation in sewing, but it still requires skilled workers to produce a quality sewn product. Skilled sewists are not easy to come by these days, especially since sewing is no longer taught in most high schools, as it was when I was growing up. There are some regions of the country that still have a labor pool available, but even there, many are aging out. The good news is there are programs and/or hiring initiatives available to help address this issue. ● The Industrial and Sewing Innovation Center (ISAIC), located in Detroit, has had no difficulty hiring due to both the quality of the work environment and the career paths open to employees. ● Ziel in Newburgh, N.Y., is working with the Orange County Industrial Development Agency, an accelerator program focused on building out economic opportunities for the county, to locate people who want to get trained in sewing and might end up working with Ziel or elsewhere. ● SAI-TEX USA just opened a new cut-and-sew factory in Los Angeles manufacturing denim

products with a goal of employing 300 people. Its president, Kathy Kweon, notes that the company has a policy of seeking employees from the local talent pool who are not employed, rather than poaching from other companies. ● Shimmy Technologies has robust training tools for both sewing and machine repair accessible from a mobile app and in multiple languages, using an engaging gamification approach. These are just a few of many examples beginning to gain steam across the country.

The ISAIC Approach Jennifer Guarino of ISAIC said that her organization has not had any difficulty hiring. “The average age on our factory floor is 30 years old, and we are happy about being able to attract younger people,: she said. “Part of it is just the environment we offer people to work in. It’s a beautiful environment. But also, without question, people here will tell you they are here because there is an opportunity to keep learning.”

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TEXTILES ─ Opportunity For Job Creation Guarino said that all too often, workers are pigeon-holed and are not given opportunities for lateral or upward mobility. “Typically in the industry, we didn’t invest in people on the factory floor,” she said. “If you learn how to sew, you sew, and you should always just continue to sew. The minute there is an opportunity to become a technical designer or a programmer or an equipment technician, you are just passed over. These job opportunities are reserved for people who have either gone through traditional academia or some type of trade school.” But that’s not how it works at ISAIC. In fact, the organization dedicates every Friday to help people pursue other areas of interest with ongoing training. “Each person here has a career map,” Guarino said. “Everyone starts by taking our Fundamentals of Industrial Sewing course which also includes an introduction to production. Beyond that, they can choose paths they are interested in, like equipment technicians, circular knitting, direct-to-garment print, automatic cutting and more. ISAIC is also partnering with design schools so there is an opportunity for employees to learn design as well. They all started as sewists. So when an opportunity

comes up – either here or elsewhere – in their chosen field, they are ready to roll with it, including even starting their own businesses.”

Shimmy Into the Future Perhaps your company doesn’t have the same types of resources found at ISAIC, but don’t despair. Check out Shimmy Technologies, founded by CEO Sarah Krasley. It’s a 20-person industrial ed tech start-up that uses video games to get the next generation excited about technical careers in our industry. The focus is on both sewing and sewing machine repair. While it is well known we have a dearth of sewists, what is less well-known is there is an extreme shortage of technicians to repair sewing machines. A recent article in the Fall River, R.I., Herald News features John Talmadge, who has repaired sewing machines for more than four decades, and feels like he’s the last man standing. “Everybody’s either dead or retired. [I’m] one of the few people left standing who are qualified to repair, service, assemble and sell industrial and commercial-grade sewing machines,” he said. These are machines designed for creating sewn products in apparel, but also other items

Robotic sewing machines add value but still have limitations that require talented sewists

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ranging from auto upholfrom manufacturing.” But stery to Army tents, baseis that really true? Like so ball gloves, angle braces and many things in life, one horse saddles. Just how dire must look at the total cost is the situation? of ownership. Sure, you “Without John Tallmadge might lose a day of prothere is no textile manufacturduction, but consider how ing in New England,” a client much it costs every time said. you lose an employee, That’s why Krasley’s move or have to operate with into training machine techs is fewer employees than so important. you need, or suffer from “We are just starting to less-than-optimal prointroduce a new set of mobile ductivity because staff games designed to excite is unhappy or bored or American Gen Z and millenniworking in uncomfortable als about becoming machine conditions. technicians,” said Krasley in Perhaps this change in a recent SPESA interview. employer mindset might “We’re focusing on building a be more difficult for older, platform that allows users to more established comlearn at their own pace and panies, but it shouldn’t on their free time with their be. The good news is that mobiles as the only required during and post-pandemic, tool. We’re also building supthere has been an exploSample Shimmy Screen Shot porting content to keep them sion of small businesses excited and show them a starting up. (small) glimpse of what a career as a machine tech According to a report by Axios, the number could look like. Additionally, a recruiting platform of entrepreneurs starting a business “easily hit a connects these certified users to factory jobs so record high in 2020. It’s now much easier than it that exciting, well-paying jobs don’t go unfilled. It’s was in 2008 to start a small business selling goods been fun to think through how to make repair and or services online.” maintenance sexy.” In fact, online retailers account for one of every three new businesses formed over the pandemic, Where do we go from here? according to the article. And that’s an opportunity Based on her experiences at ISAIC, Guarino has for job creation in textiles and apparel by entredefinite opinions on this front. preneurs who are likely to be able to create a more “I think the industry has to wake up and realize flexible and inviting work environment where – how many of us are still doing the first job we employees can do something they love and look ever took?” she said. “Not that many of us. So why forward to an exciting career path. ● do we expect that of employees? If someone wants to sew for the rest of their life, that’s Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, fine, too. But it’s the options and not to be journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing excluded from the opportunity.” communications strategies for the printing and Companies might think, “Oh, I could publishing industries. never run my business by taking a day off

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SALES CLINIC ─ Stalls & Stops

AVOID THE

STALL How to keep a customer advancing through the sales process. By Lisa Magnuson

tatistics indicate that most “stalls” and “stops” in the sales process are associated with a lack of rigor during the qualify stage. Many sellers also fail to provide value during the develop stage.

essentially is stalled (or worse yet, DOA).

What causes “The Stall” from your prospect’s perspective?

It’s easy to fall into the following trap.

1. Your prospect expresses interest in your products or services. You are thrilled. 2. Your prospect asks for a proposal. You jump at the opportunity to move so quickly. 3. Your prospect doesn’t return your calls or emails, loses interest and

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● Your prospect doesn’t see enough value to continue. ● Your prospect assesses the project as a B or C priority. In many situations, “do nothing” is your biggest competitor. ● Your prospect is resistant to committing or unclear on next steps. ● Prospect feels that you’re asking for too much. ● Your prospect has found a better way to solve their problem.

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Best Ways to Avoid “The Stall” ● Don’t shortchange the qualify stage. Be clear on all the topics to cover during this stage. If it’s not a fit, move on. ● Ask about the customer’s sense of urgency and match. ● Focus on them during the develop stage instead of diving in about your products and services. Help them make an internal business case which includes outlining their priorities and the outcomes they’re seeking. ● Bring up budget/ financial aspect at the correct stage

of the sales process. ● Integrate your sales process with their buying process. Be clear on what they’re doing, thinking and feeling during each stage of their buying process and match your efforts accordingly. ● Keep the following in mind throughout the sales process. Now more than ever, salespeople must approach the sales process with the following three things in mind. 1. Make it simple for your prospect. 2. Show immediate impact for your prospect. 3. Eliminate risk for your prospect. ● Do rigorous pre-call planning for each prospect meeting. Make agendas for all sales calls. ● Gain commitment for next steps early in the meeting to avoid a stall. ● Make sure next steps are clear and simple and appropriate. ● Build value throughout each meeting. Test for understanding and gain agreement frequently on the impact and outcomes that your prospect is seeking. ● Ask open-ended questions. Look for clues that you’re aligned with your prospect. ● Be on the lookout for yellow flags or unresolved concerns. Don’t ignore.

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153764

Ring the bell! Your reward will be to continually advance instead of stall to ultimately “ring the bell” more frequently with massive, TOP Line Account wins. ●

Lisa Magnuson founded Top Line Sales in 2005. It has a proven track record of helping companies overcome the barriers to winning TOP Line Accounts. Learn more at www.toplinesales.com.

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INDUSTRY EVENTS ─ Schedule

UPCOMING EVENTS Trade shows are back! By Richard Romano

ll events listed below are in-person unless otherwise indicated. Some events will have a virtual component. Check individual event sites for online attendance options, as well as in-person event guidelines. All event details were accurate as of press time. Check event websites for any updates.

2021

Inkjet Summit July 26–28, 2021 Austin, TX and online https://ijsummit.com

Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics International Vendor Show July 29–30 Las Vegas, NV https://www.franserv.com AlphaGraphics Technology Expo Aug. 5–6, 2021 San Diego, CA https://web.cvent.com/event/ a0dd64fd-0a12-4c5f-8220-db32681872c8/summary Proforma Annual Convention and Family Reunion Aug. 8–11, 2021 Orlando, FL https://onlyproforma.com Printsource New York Aug. 17–19, 2021 Online only http://www.printsourcenewyork.com

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Techtextil North America Aug. 23–25, 2021 Raleigh, NC https://techtextil-north-america.us.messefrankfurt. com/us/en.html Label Congress 2021 Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2021 Rosemont, IL https://www.labelexpo.com/congress/ Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) Fall Conference Oct. 3–6, 2021 Frisco, TX https://fallconference.flexography.org PRINTING United Oct. 6–8, 2021 Orlando, FL and online https://www.printingunited.com Canon thINK Ahead Forum To be held in two waves: Oct. 11–13 and Oct. 13–15, 2021 Boca Raton, FL https://www.thinkforum.com/news/think-ahead2021-person-event-be-held-two-waves-october11-13-and-october-13-15-2021 FESPA Global Print Expo Oct. 12–15, 2021 Amsterdam, The Netherlands https://www.fespaglobalprintexpo.com/welcome#/ INDOPLAS, INDOPACK and INDOPRINT, the Indonesian International Plastics, Packaging and Printing Exhibition Oct. 13–16, 2021 Jakarta, Indonesia https://www.indoprintpackplas.com TLMI Annual Meeting Oct. 17–19, 2021 Naples, FL https://tlmi.com/events

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2021 SPESA Executive Conference Oct. 27–28, 2021 Boston, MA https://spesa.org/events/executive-conference

ICE Europe, CCE International, and InPrint Munich March 15–17, 2022 — Munich, Germany www.ice-x.com/europe, www.cce-international.com, www.inprintmunich.com

Cannata Report’s 36th Anniversary Awards & Charities Gala Nov. 4, 2021 Morristown, NJ https://www.thecannatareport.com/featured/thecannata-reports-36th-anniversary-awards-charities-gala-start-me-up-celebration-scheduled-fornovember-4/

2022 National Print & Sign Owners Association (NPSOA) Annual Owners Conference March 17–19, 2022 San Antonio, TX https://npsoa.org/event-calendar/ Read More… annual-owners-conference/ Find article at PrintingNews. com/21153767 Labelexpo Europe

Xplor 2021 Nov. 16–18 St. Pete Beach, FL https://xplor.org/XPLOR21/ 68th Annual Franklin Event Nov. 17, 2021 New York, NY https://pialliance.org/2021_franklin_event/ Digital Textile Printing Conference Dec. 8–9, 2021 Durham, NC https://www.sgia.org/events/ digital-textile-printing-conference

2022

EFI Connect Jan. 18–21, 2022 Las Vegas, NV https://go.efi.com/Connect

PACK PRINT INTERNATIONAL—International Packaging and Printing Exhibition for Asia February 9–12, 2022 Bangkok, Thailand https://www.pack-print.de Hunkeler Innovationdays 2022 Feb. 21–24, 2022 Lucerne, Switzerland https://www.innovationdays.com/en/

April 26–29, 2022 Brussels, Belgium https://www.labelexpo-europe.com RadTech UV+EB Technology Expo & Conference May 9–12, 2022 — Orlando, FL https://www.radtech.org/ In-Plant & Mailing Association (IPMA) 2022 Educational Conference June 12–16, 2022 — Buffalo, NY https://ipma.org/ipma-2022-educational-conference/ AmplifyPrint June 14-16, 2022 — Minneapolis, MN A new conference and exhibition dedicated to educating printers and designers about the latest possibilities in the realm of finishing. www.amplifyprint.org. Labelexpo Americas Sept. 13–15, 2022 — Rosemont, IL https://www.labelexpo-americas.com/ welcome-labelexpo-americas PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO 2021 Sept. 27–29 — Las Vegas, NV http://www.packexpolasvegas.com Labelexpo India Nov. 9–12, 2022 — Greater Noida, Delhi, India https://www.labelexpo-india.com ●

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ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS ─ Affiliate Operating Committee

NORTH AMERICAN PRINTING AFFILIATES New opportunities abound as independent associations.

hat happens when your independent local/regional organization suddenly becomes extremely independent? That happened to all of the former North American Affiliates of Printing Industries of America several months ago when our relationship ended with PRINTING United Alliance. Luckily, for the Affiliates Managers, we had already worked together on a variety of projects over the the past several decades and have the support of our collective organizations. For the past several decades, the 20 Affiliates throughout North America were loosely organized under an Affiliate Operating Committee. The committee was comprised of an informal group of five Affiliate Managers appointed to work on projects that directly affected Affiliate organizations. These issues included membership growth and retention, group buying programs, membership engagement, as well as a host of other opportunities that did not directly relate to our relationship with Printing Industries of America. In late 2018, it was decided by Affiliate Managers to formalize the committee and expand its responsibility to discuss projects/programs that were desired by local/regional membership, but were not being addressed by the national organization. A general operating agreement was signed by all Affiliates throughout North America, and committees were developed to further discuss and strategize how to deliver a significant return on investment to members. Rather than Affiliates collapsing after our relationship with PRINTING United Alliance ended, Affiliates

were freed from past obligations Read More… Find article at to not compete with the national PrintingNews. organization, and we were well com/21153766 positioned to provide needed services and programs to members. The relationship we share with one another is not our opportunity to create a new national print organization. Instead, it is our opportunity to work with one another more closely. We still remain independent, and the Operating Committee does not speak for or make decisions for the Affiliate structure. Affiliates have struck agreements with thirdparty providers to conduct surveys to create economic trend reports and industry financial analysis/ assessments. Additionally, many Affiliates have resurrected human resource updates and information by collaborating with local/regional state employer associations. Finally, there are a variety of group buying programs that Affiliates are currently creating that will provide a significant return on investment to participating members. Liberating Affiliates from past obligations has allowed us the freedom to develop valuable and relevant programs that help members. The Affiliate Managers thank our Affiliate volunteer leadership for voting unanimously to support us through this difficult moment. It has become apparent that Affiliate members overwhelmingly support our local/regional organizations. We are receiving phone calls, emails and personal notes providing us with positive feedback and appreciation for protecting the Affiliate structure. We appreciate the support and look forward to providing Affiliate members and the industry at-large with a significant return on investment. ●

Joseph Lyman is the President of the Great Lakes Graphics Association and has served as the Chair of the Affiliate Operating Committee since 2019. The Affiliates consist of 21 independent organizations throughout North America charged with providing local/regional services and benefit to printers, finishers, tag/label manufacturers, packagers, converters and vendors.

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Continued from page 47

Soon after the pandemic began, ISA offered a webinar to city planners about temporary signs during times of crisis, and 200 communities participated. “We recommended that they loosen up their temporary sign regulations to deal with all the shutdowns and to give businesses a chance to succeed,” said Hickey. “And many communities across the country did suspend enforcement of their sign ordinances to give essential businesses and other stakeholders a better chance to communicate.” Throughout the pandemic, we all longed for a return to normal—which can sometimes be a case of “be careful what you wish for.” “Now, with things opening back up over the last few months, we’re definitely seeing that the cities and towns are going back to the way things were, and they’re stepping up enforcement,” said Hickey. “We recommend that sign companies really keep an eye out and make sure that, if the communities where they do work relaxed enforcement during the pandemic, don’t count on that lasting too much longer.” One reason that enforcement was relaxed was that during the pandemic, local government offices shut down, staffs were sent home, and communities didn’t have the resources to crack the whip on sign code violators. But at the same time, most communities

were left with insufficient resources for permitting, which led to cities trying to get by with a limited capacity. This led to many sign companies having a difficult time getting permits and inspections for sign installation. “A lot of communities don’t have online permitting, which slowed things down a lot, and then there was the problem of doing inspections and enforcement when you couldn’t even go to those locations,” said Hickey. “Sign companies were caught in the middle of that.” As local government officials have been making their way back into their offices, look for more attention to be paid to sign code and permitting issues than had been the case in the last year or so—“which has its good and its bad points,” added Hickey. As with so many things, permitting problems had been a challenge in the “Before Times,” and the pandemic only exacerbated them. “A trend that we had been seeing in the last couple of years is an increasing amount of trouble with the permitting process, whether it’s the timelines or the cost of permits and related issues,” said Hickey. “That’s probably the number-one issue for sign companies: getting signs permitted in a timely fashion. That’s something that we expect to continue to see.” As a result, ISA is working on a “best practices for sign

permitting” that they will make available to planners and local enforcement officials. “They can see that if this works in this large city, this works in a smaller rural community,” said Hickey, “to make sure that all stakeholders are heard and things are done efficiently and transparently.” One solution would be to make more use of online permitting, but many communities don’t have the resources to build out online permitting capabilities. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the need to be able to do things remotely. “Hopefully there have been lessons learned and things will improve and we’ll be able to get things done online in a more expedited process,” said Hickey.

Code Comfort Although compliance with sign codes and other regulations is ultimately the responsibility of the sign owner, the sign shop that is conversant in the local requirements can provide an invaluable service to its customers, and can help them from falling afoul of the sign police, especially as we return to normal. And while it’s the rare sign code that ends up in high-profile cases like Reed v. the Town of Gilbert or Austin v. Reagan, being prepared to deal with these trending regulatory issues (legal, lighting and permitting) can save sign companies a lot of grief—and make them look even better to their end user customers. ●

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PRINT GEEKS ─ Process Control Continued from page 19

While your customer might know what they want in their mind, this type of communication isn’t effective. What is “warm” or “vibrant” to them probably means something different to you. That’s why we have to use data to communicate about color. There are four stages of working with statistical data: collection, analysis, communication and action. 1. C ollection: The most important thing about collecting data is determining what data to collect. Verification software can provide an abundance of data; but you don’t need all of it. In the case of this hypothetical customer, they are concerned about red. So you would want to collect data pertaining to that color. 2. A nalysis: Once you have the data you need, you can analyze it. Do you have a swatch or sample of the expected red to compare it to? Using a spectrophotometer in conjunction with verification software, you should be able to determine how close the two reds are mathematically. 3. C ommunication: Now that you have actual data on both reds, you can clearly explain to the customer the actual difference between the two. Some verification software will even take the data and show it pictorially to more easily examine the difference. 4. A ction: Once the difference between the two reds is known statistically, you can then determine what action – if any – is needed to adjust for better color quality. Without clear communication through statistical

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data, it is almost impossible to achieve the desired color quality.

The Process Control Baseline Process control is about systemizing what you do. You need to create a baseline. The baseline you create will be unique to your facility and its workflow. First, you’ll need to choose your preferred color target. Again, we suggest CRPC 6 or GRACoL. Your goal is for your printer to be as accurate and precise as it can be when compared to that target. Next, you need to decide how you’ll gather your data and what you’ll do with it afterwards. There are many considerations. 1. What spectrophotometer will you use to measure data? 2. What verification software will you use to analyze the data? 3. What are the tolerances that will be acceptable (in Delta E)? 4. What data should be collected? (This will probably be decided situation by situation, job by job.) 5. Where will the data be displayed and stored? 6. What will you do with the data? 7. And perhaps most importantly – who will be responsible for the data collection and management? Once you’ve established a baseline ICC profile for your printer and have determined what to do with the data you collect, you’ll be able to confidently enter Read More… the cycle of ongoing statistical Find article at process control. PrintingNews. com/21153942 Eventually, your printer will drift from its known good print condition. Many times this happens when a variable changes; such as a different ink or substrate. That’s when you’ll want to verify it against the baseline measurement. Based on that outcome, you can decide whether it’s the right time to re-calibrate your printer and/or build a new ICC profile as the baseline. Process control is the long game of color management. It never ends. Your baseline profile needs to be monitored and maintained if you want consistent, repeatable and predictable color. ●

WhatTheyThink - Wide-Format&Signage | July/August 2021

7/21/21 4:56 PM

A DOSE OF PHARM INSIGHT Continued from page 31

B&R Moll Vantage 720/920 In-Line Folder/Gluer

NJM AUTOSERT Model 277 SIDESERT & TOPSERT Outsert Applicators

The B&R Moll Vantage Machine is an in-line folder/gluer ideally suited for producing straightline boxes, boxes with partitions, and auto-bottom boxes at speeds of over 20,000 pieces per hour. The machine can meet pharmaceutical industry demands with optional features such as vacuum assist, servo placers for pharmaceutical inserts, documents, labels and cards, RFID/sensormatic tags, barcode readers, adhesive verification, camera verification, window patching, Velcro application and ink-jet printing.

This hot melt glue outsert applicator for pharmaceutical labeling applies outserts in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses—including double and triple thickness—at very high speeds. A new outsert carton magazine feeder comes standard on the TOPSERT model, and is optional on the SIDESERT. The machine features a new rotating three-arm pick-and-place system, a small footprint and optional inspection and rejection system. It can be integrated with an NJM AUTOCOLT labeler and with any third-party conveyor. ●

ENGAGEMENT SELLS Continued from page 15

labels” are jumping on the interactive print bandwagon. They’ve created an app that scans the label on their wine bottles, and immerses the buyer by bringing the bottle of wine to life using AR. Their most recent addition includes rapper, artist and entrepreneur, Snoop Dogg, sharing stories of his road to success. CNBC called it, “The secret trigger that makes you reach for your favorite bottle of wine.”

Is interactive print here to stay?

attentions will shift away from monitors and towards more live, physical interactions – between people, between products and between brands. Companies that rely solely on digital strategies to attract and engage buyers may suddenly find themselves behind the pack, while their competitive counterparts continue to embrace the powerful role that interactive print plays in the buyer journey. The possibilities for innovation are nearly endless. ●

With lockdowns lifting and the world reopening,

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Join Now at https://whattheythink.com/join/

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WhatTheyThink - Wide-Format&Signage | July/August 2021

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JOHNSON’S WORLD ─ What Matters Most

POOP ON THE PLAYGROUND It’s the little things that count.

public servant in our state is unusually outspoken. While most politicians refuse to answer questions directly, equivocating about their positions on crucial issues and trying their darndest not to offend anyone, this one addresses every issue with startling frankness. Many citizens find such candor to be a breath of fresh air, but there are those who would rather feel a gust of hot wind than listen to cold, hard facts. Knowing a friend of mine usually stands on the opposite side of the political fence as this statesman, I asked him before the last election if he intended to vote for him. I wasn’t surprised when he said no, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to know what burning issue irked him enough to withhold his vote from a qualified candidate. Was it the candidate’s strident tone? No, said my friend, that wasn’t it. Was it his constant negative (but highly accurate) remarks about the dismal condition of our state’s finances? Perhaps it was placing blame on the incumbent party for their failure to make headway against impending financial disaster? No, my friend said, noting that he did not materially disagree with the candidate’s facts and figures, disheartening as they might be. If not the candidate’s focus on fiscal policy, is it that you disagree with his stand on social issues? He has taken strong positions on the role of public education in our society and doesn’t hesitate to weigh in on local and national issues as well as statewide education funding and policy. May I presume that you disagree with one of his positions? No, my friend really didn’t have a problem with the candidate’s positions on education. In fact, my friend really wasn’t all that familiar with the details of the candidate’s opinion on these issues. That leaves military service and involvement in foreign wars. While many candidates for statewide office hide their

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Read More… Find article at positions on issues of national PrintingNews. importance, our candidate is com/21153903 fiercely outspoken. Does that bother you? No, my friend noted, these issues weren’t the problem. Well for goodness’ sake, why aren’t you going to vote for this candidate? “He lives next door to my son’s school.” True, but what does that have to do with anything? “He lets his dogs out at night. They poop on the ball fields in the schoolyard, and the candidate doesn’t clean up the poop.” There you have it, my friends. A lifetime dedicated to public service, countless hours spent analyzing issues, nearly limitless devotion by an army of volunteers, yet an election was being derailed by some dog poo on a playground. What a shame. How about you? You offer great quality, terrific service and competitive prices, yet some prospects still won’t work with you. Perhaps it was that political post on your salesman’s Facebook page, or maybe that rude and unhelpful clerk in accounting who answers your phone when the operator goes to lunch. Maybe your shipping cartons are environmentally unfriendly, or just not labelled the way the prospect likes. Are you planning to buy some expensive new equipment? Maybe you are considering entering hot new markets, selling products and services you’ve never offered before in the hopes that it will revitalize your sales. Great, but before you embark on your company’s next big thing, pick up a bag and a shovel. You might want to clean up your poop. ●

Steve Johnson is a successful print owner and digital pioneer. Each month in Johnson’s World, he offers up his take on the day-to-day world of graphic communications.

WhatTheyThink - Wide-Format&Signage | July/August 2021

7/21/21 4:32 PM

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ting A survey of prin tions and communica ut their executives abo k and business outloo print the industry’s rings. offe and service

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■ M ore than one-fourth (28%) of print businesses surveyed said that revenues for 2020 had decreased more than 25% compared to 2019. ■ 1 0% said that revenues had stayed basically the same, and, 12%, revenues increased in 2020 compared to 2019. How did they manage that? ■ T he number one business challenge this survey is “regaining business lost due to COVID,” selected by 55% of respondents, with number two being “keeping my employees safe from COVID,” selected by 40% of respondents. ■ I mproving economic conditions” is the top opportunity, cited by 50% of respondents, followed by “national recovery from COVID-19,” cited by 48% of respondents. One new opportunity we added—“producing post-COVID print materials” was only selected by 11% of respondents. ■ O ne-fourth (24%) of our respondents have no planned investments for 2021—although, in our pre-COVID 2019 survey, 32% said they had no planned investments for 2020. ■ O ne-half of our respondents have hiring plans for 2021.

The report is available now in the WhatTheyThink Report Store at: http://bit.ly/3rX0msE

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Wide-Format & Signage July/August 2021

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