Wide-Format & Signage September 2021 by WhatTheyThink

SEPTEMBER 2021

32 T rue Print Personalization: Is It All Talk and Little Action? 50 ISA Sign Industry Quarterly Economic Report: A Year of Transition and Uncertainty 54 Fashion After the Pandemic

BIG “L” OR

little “l” Either way, companies love latex. p.46

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EDITORIAL ─ Tradeshows Are Coming Back

ARE VIRTUAL OR HYBRID SHOWS HERE TO STAY?

Cary Sherburne Senior Editor cary@whattheythink.com

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154745

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s show companies and associations gear up for the fall 2021 show season, many in their target audiences are anxious to get back to in-person events. We’ve been talking to some of the exhibitors that have committed to PRINTING United, and they tell us many of their customers are planning to attend. Of course, depending on what happens with the COVID-19 situation, that could change. But at least for now, the outlook is relatively good for inperson attendance. It is likely that companies may choose not to send as many people, but that has been a trend for some time now anyway. Some events will continue to have virtual components, including streaming of keynotes and other educational content that will enable more people to benefit from the presentations. The other virtual component we are seeing is the use of virtual demonstrations in trade show booths that enable exhibitors to contract for less booth space and save resources on shipping of equipment. As a large show, PRINTING United will be kind of a bellwether as to what to expect going forward. Will people ultimately attend, or will some decide it is too risky? And how will they feel about the experience? We look forward to talking to folks at the show to get real-time insight as to what we might see in 2022 and beyond.

That being said, we believe there is still value in a hybrid model, whether it is streaming of presentations and special events or virtual components in exhibit booths. Even before the pandemic, EFI, for example, was offering virtual reality tours of its Nozomi digital direct-tocorrugated press. Considering the space requirements and shipping/ installation expense for that equipment, that makes a lot of sense for a piece of equipment that large, especially when a show is only two-three days. When we get back to the big shows, like ITMA in 2023, scheduled for seven days, and drupa 2024, which is scheduled for 11 days, breaking out the big guns makes sense, and we can expect to see a lot more big iron at those shows. Some smaller shows are scheduled for summer of 2022, including Amplify, a new print finishing show hosted by APTech and ASEA in Minneapolis in June, as well as Americas Print Show, also a new show, hosted by the Affiliates in Columbus, Ohio in August. Both organizations have indicated these may be more regional shows, since it is the first year for both, and neither will have a virtual component as far as we know. The bottom line is this: We are likely to continue to see some hybrid models over the next year or so, but we believe by this time in 2022, most of these events will have reverted to in-person only. ●

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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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 SEPTEMBER 2021

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

Cover Story

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

THE RISE OF HYBRID AND BESPOKE

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

Production design by application By David Zwang - PAGE -

COO Adam Dewitz adam@whattheythink.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dave Fellman John Nelson John Giles Jennifer Matt Preston Herrin Colin McMahon Steve Johnson Frank Romano Karen Kimerer Lou Caron

PRINTING NEWS Mary Schilling Heidi Tolliver-Walker 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 9 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.

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12 16 24 28 32 36 40

SECURITY PRINT FOR PACKAGING

New opportunities post-Covid By John Nelson, Editor at Smithers Pira CUT THROUGH THE CHAOS

How to quantify your current operating reality. By Preston Herrin THE CULT OF “BUSY-NESS”

Take time to prioritize. By Jennifer Matt DIGITAL UNBOXING

Packaging experiences an innovation collision. By Mary Schilling TRUE PRINT PERSONALIZATION

Is it all talk and little action? By Heidi Tolliver-Walker LOOK AT THAT!

Leveraging the power of embellished print marketing. By Trish Witkowski DIRECT MAIL STANDOUT

Use print to reach younger consumers. By Colin McMahon & Karen Kimerer, Keypoint Intelligence

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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NTENTS WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE

46 54

BIG "L" OR LITTLE "L"

Either way, companies love latex. By Richard Romano FASHION AFTER THE PANDEMIC

What to expect By Cary Sherburne

COLUMNS

20 39

43 50 58

PRINTING PULSE

Economic recovery unlike any other. By Richard Romano SALES CLINIC

What drives your business? By Dave Fellman BUSINESS TOPICS

Get creative to cover staffing shortfalls. By Lou Caron ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS

A Year of transition and uncertainty. By Richard Romano EVENTS

In-person PRINTING United returning in October with a diverse show floor. By Richard Romano JOHNSON’S WORLD

Dear Mr. Schwab By Steve Johnson

DEPARTMENTS

4 Editorial 34 Watch List: Video 44 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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LABELS & PACKAGING ─ Hybrid and Bespoke Print Solutions

THE RISE OF

HYBRID AND BESPOKE Production design by application By David Zwang

igital technologies in print and finishing are in a continuing race against market shifts and vice versa. Both hybrid and bespoke print solutions will play an increasing role, and we are in for some interesting times. © Hunkeler

Where it Started Analog press and finishing equipment provided us with the “one solution fits all” design, where production is primarily confined to disconnected processing steps, except for some flexo applications. It has served the printing industry well and continues to, however as the market demands change, there is a need to think about print production differently.

If you build it they will come More timely and cost effective production was introduced with the advent of digital printing and finishing equipment and connected production processes. This digital

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technology fostered the ondemand market for printed products like marketing materials, labels, some flexible packaging applications and book of one applications. These types of systems have been around since the introduction of electrophotographic presses in the 1990s. We have seen the development of many inline modular solutions that go from white paper to finished product, including embellishment. These connected hybrid solutions have streamlined print production and enabled a whole new generation of digital printers to enter the industry.

If you can think it you ‘or’ they can build it The introduction of inkjet took it further by enabling the imaging engine to decouple from the “standard” transport, and in its place become part of a custom or bespoke transport and solution. As a result, we are just beginning to see the creative opportunities that can be achieved. A great example of a bespoke application is the V-Shape Alphaflex. This solution was developed to address the specific need of creating “one-handopening” single-serve packets of almost any liquid or powder from foods to drugs. It starts with rolls of blank substrate manufactured from recyclable homopolymers

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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COLOR DIGITAL PRESSES

imagePRESS C10010VP Series. MAkE An IMPACT. The business landscape has changed in just a short time. So how can you stand out and show the value you can bring to both new and existing customers? The new imagePRESS C10010VP Series digital color presses from Canon offer you the opportunity to make an impact. • Stunning image quality • High productivity across a variety of jobs • Wide range of specialty and synthetic stocks • Print applications up to 13” x 51” in length*

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LABELS & PACKAGING ─ Hybrid and Bespoke Print Solutions

and other biodegradable materials that are suitable for composting. From there it is printed, converted, filled and sealed. It is a print and fill manufacturing solution to create up to 300 filled single sachets per minute. If you have an idea or a need for a bespoke print solution, there are companies that have significant expertise in engineering and manufacturing them as well. Kirk-Rudy, located in Woodstock, Ga., has been engineering and manufacturing bespoke solutions for print and

packaging material handling since 1967. It all started with a mail addressing machine, but now customer prospects come to them with a problem or an idea, and they build it. Much of what they have designed and built over the years focuses on material handling and transport. With the introduction of color inkjet technology, they realized that they could now use that know-how to develop bespoke print solutions as well. They use inkjet imaging technology from HP, Memjet and others with the printhead selection based on the end-use application. They also offer “ready-made” but configurable product design, like FireJet 4C, their recently introduced solution for envelope printing. Engineered Printing Solutions located in East Dorset, Vt. is

another bespoke print solution engineering and manufacturing company. With the moto “No Two Print Read More… Machines Find article at are Alike,” PrintingNews. they epitocom/21154792 mize the term “bespoke print solutions.” They make high-speed production inkjet printers that can print on almost anything. They specialize in direct-to-shape printers, and have produced solutions for some interesting shapes. EPS has built printers to print on bottles, bottle caps, saw blades and candy containers in up to seven colors. They can employ pretreatment to address the object’s surface characteristics and robotics when necessary to transport, rotate or manipulate the object for printing.

Making it All Possible The real driver for the explosion of bespoke printing

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solutions is the release of modular solution from the printhead manufacturers that help streamline the development time and costs to build a bespoke print solution. You can’t just take an inkjet printhead and attach it to a frame. These modular kits usually include printheads, advanced control electronics, and could also include other functional support tools including software. Kodak, one of the earlier entrants into the market, has been offering their Prosper S head modules for years, and recently added Ultrastream. HP has been offering both aqueous and solvent-based printhead kits that can be used for coding and marking. Memjet has been offering complete kits since their initial VersaPass, and since added DuraLink and DuraFlex to address a broad range of applications. To further widen the availability of different printheads for specific applications, Meteor and their sister companies from the Global Graphics group, have developed “Direct,” a solution that pulls all of their expertise together to streamline the development of bespoke print solutions, which can include workflow and editing software all the way through to driving the printhead of your choice.

in hybrid print solutions and most likely an explosion in bespoke development. ●

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.

Exciting Times Ahead As digital technologies continue to advance and market requirements continue to shift, there will be continued growth

For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10005202

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Security Packaging

SECURITY PRINT FOR

PACKAGING New opportunities post-Covid

By John Nelson, Editor at Smithers Pira

s print markets adjust to new realities in 2021, there is interest in diversification into security and brand protection features for packaged goods. The packaging industry was not unscathed by the experience of Covid-19, sales of printed label and packaging fell by -3.1% across 2020 relative to 2019, but this contrasts positively with the -14.0% decline in graphics print and -17.1% fall in publications. One segment that has benefitted has been e-commerce, which grew to account for 21.3% of all U.S. retail spending in 2020. This combined with other factors, such as compulsory pharmaceutical serialization requirements and heightened consumer interest in the veracity of goods, is helping to support further investment in security print and labelling applications. This is among the defining trends for the next five years examined in the recent Smithers expert market data study – “The Future of AntiCounterfeiting, Brand Protection and Security Packaging to 2026.” This finds that out of total

market worth $3.25 billion in 2021, $721 million is dedicated to coding print; and a further $347 million will be spent on specialized security labels this year.

Market Proposition The market for all security packaging features – such as holograms, tamper-evidence fixtures, film wraps, and RFID systems – will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% over 2021-2026. Printed coding sales will grow significantly faster, at an 8.1% CAGR. This is indicative of greater concerns of supply chain security in the wake of the pandemic. Against this backdrop, major print OEMs are showing new interest in security applications. In May, HP launched its new Indigo Secure solution, based around the new 6K Secure Press. This promises multiple options, including print with invisible or infrared inks, variable data printing, unique serialized IDs, QR codes and microtext. It has been designed via a collaboration with Switzerland’s Jura JSP, an existing player in the security

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print sector. High-security printing has typically remained a discrete and secretive segment, dominated by a few technology suppliers and specialized systems, such as Intaglio presses. The innovation of digital print systems is now making it more accessible. Anticounterfeiting packaging and labels represent the best points of entry for mainstream print OEMs and print service providers into security printing. They are also segments that are most cost competitive, as the print buyers are typically brand owners. In contrast for contracts for higher security print products – such as banknotes, passports or tax stamps – governments prefer established partners, with experience of an array of covert and overt technologies.

Coding Print The use of coding print has steadily increased in multiple markets over the 2010s, but saw a significant boost from Covid-19 and the resultant demand for touchless solutions. Data from Statista indicates that around 11 million households in the U.S. scanned a QR code in 2020, while around half of the Chinese population scans QR codes several times during Read More… an average week. Find article at The coding market has PrintingNews. com/21154788 numerous suppliers, many of which have developed technologies to differentiate their solutions for tracking goods. For example, Oregon-headquartered Digimarc offers printed codes that carry more

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Security Packaging

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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information than traditional barcodes. Described as “virtually imperceptible to the naked eye,” the Digimarc Barcode is used on alcoholic drinks, pharmaceuticals, tobacco and apparel. Over 18 million Digimarc encoded images have been identified by customers since 2017, it reports. In New York, Zortags prints randomly distributed 3-D particles within the design of a standard format 2D data matrix code to create an “impossible to clone” 3D optical fingerprint.

Commercial Entry Much of this technology is the IP of small companies, many of which have been spun off from academic R&D projects. These present easy acquisition targets for print OEMs; but the broader challenge is selecting base technologies that can be scaled to work with existing presses at respectable print speeds and cost. From a brand owner’s perspective these can be value-adding options, with secure, unique printed markings also being used as multi-functional customer engagement tools. The same printed overt or covert code that a consumer uses to verify the authenticity of an e-commerce package, can then be leveraged to offer them other benefits, such as promotional discount codes for repeat or related purchases. This is an option being investigated by one of the fastest growing companies in packaging print – flexible substrate contract printer ePac. In Q4 2020 it launched ePacConnect. A new platform for creating serialized, traceable brand protection packaging that simultaneously enables new ways to engage with consumers. In this, all customer orders received via the ePacConnect platform include serialized QR codes on individual packs, giving each a unique digital identity. The concept has already been piloted in both Europe and the U.S. A full global rollout is planned for 2021.

Thermal Inkjet One technology that is firmly embedded in supply chains for goods protected by anti-counterfeiting packaging is thermal inkjet. A number of technology suppliers are now embracing innovative inks to diversify their products beyond simple

monochrome bar or 2D data matrix codes, which are relatively easy for any counterfeiter to copy. This includes invisible ultraviolet (UV) thermal inkjet printing developed by Rotech Machines. This entered the market in early 2020. It is invisible to the naked eye, but elements of the codes – serial numbers, barcodes, standard batch codes and QR codes – then become viewable when placed under a UV light. It is being positioned as a solution for packaged pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, as well as industrial components, that require traceability and authentication. An alternative solution has been developed by Dover Corp’s Markem-Imaje. This employs a thermochromic ink that changes color from black to blue at high temperatures. It can be used to indicate the correct sterilization of food packaged in filled cans and plastic pouches. ●

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MANAGEMENT ─ CXM Process

CUT THROUGH

THE

CHAOS How to quantify your current operating reality.

n unpredictable conditions, relying on quantifiable measurements can reassure leadership teams that they are aligned with their customers and achieving peak performance. Today, change is happening at an unprecedented rate. This hyper-change (often bordering on frantic-change) has become a new operating reality for businesses, not by choice, but by circumstantial necessity. Even in the whirlwind of change, the fundamentals of business persist: Listen to your customers and continually transform your business to solve customer problems. Your customers are

experiencing the same pace of change that you are. Some of their operating realities have been completely upended with store-front closings, distributed workforces, supply and logistical challenges and genuine worry for the future. Designing a program that will bridge the churning waters of change between your company and your customers will provide essential balance to your customer relationships and inform your team in times of disruption. James Gilmore, an original experience-economy author, proclaimed just prior to the pandemic that “the experience economy is not next, or emerging, it

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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has fully arrived.” Customer experience management has matured at the right time to be starkly relevant to business relationships navigating the pressures of hyper-change. Leadership commitment and proper execution are paramount to obtaining, distilling and rightly applying crucial customer feedback.

Customer Experience Management (CXM) A common and powerful stating point

is the Voice of the Customer (VOC) survey process. Success hinges on this being a structured, repeatable process that establishes benchmarks, opens dialogue with loyal and disloyal customers alike and creates new alignment and agility within the organization. A professionally designed Voice of the Customer survey is the information gathering engine of CXM. It will inform your team in key strategic areas, such as: customer experience measurements, market conditions, user experience, product experience, competitive comparisons and demographics. Understand that your first effort is a stepping-off point where you will gather meaningful qualitative and quantitative data, all of which will become an important benchmark to measure future performance. You are creating a CXM process that will assist you in objectively assessing your current operating reality. The process will also have impact across your internal and external constituents. Internally, CXM will provide information to customer-facing teams on their individual and departmental performances, provide information to technology teams regarding user experience, provide product and market intelligence and create insight into systems and process performance. Externally, customers will have a formal voice to constructively offer ideas for improvement, identify trouble processes and employees of the company, and participate in an inclusive continuous improvement process that will transform relationships into strategic partnerships.

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154787

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 ─ CXM Process Key Customer Experience Measurements Three quantitative measures that are essential to capturing the customer experience are Customer Satisfaction, Net Promoter Score and Customer Effort Score. Each measure has individual merits as a benchmark but collectively are essential to track evolving customer sentiment over time. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) is a good short-term transactional measure. It measures interactions with the company that are important early indicators of overall customer experience. Satisfaction is a fleeting, feelings-based sentiment reflective of the most recent interactions with the company. Here is an example of the CSAT question: Overall, how satisfied are you with the company? Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a relational measure of customer loyalty. It reaches beyond recent interactions that characterize “satisfaction.” By asking if the customer will refer (promote) the company to close acquaintances, it can determine if respondents are loyal promoters, passives or detractors to the brand. Here is the established NPS question: How likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague? Customer Effort Score (CES) is a transactional measure of the ease by which customers interact with the company. Even loyal customers will leave a company that is difficult to interact with. Thus, high CES scores connotate a stability in the overall customer relationship. Here is an example of the CES measure: When an exception arises, the company makes it easy for me to resolve my issue. Collectively, these three measurements will allow you to cross-section customers in various combinations of

customer experience measurements. In practical terms the measurements can be viewed in relation to their outcome: happy/unhappy (CSAT), promoter/ detractor (NPS) and stable/unstable (CES). The application of these measurements for each customer not only tells a story, but creates the opportunity to develop an actionable plan. Here are two examples to consider: 1. High-satisfaction (CSAT), low-loyalty (NPS), low-effort (CES) customer: We will refer to these customers as happy, unstable detractors. This customer group would be considered “at risk.” Externally, you should discover from these customers where they are experiencing difficulty as they attempt to resolve issues. Internally, you can then verify the service gap, make improvements and close the communication loop with customers. 2. Low-satisfaction (CSAT), high-loyalty (NPS), high-effort (CES) customer: We will refer to these customers as unhappy, stable promoters. These customers likely had a bad transactional experience, but it has not colored the entire relationship and they often stay engaged with the company. Uncovering, addressing and resolving the root cause of the bad experience will bolster this customer group. Gartner research supports the positive benefits of multiple customer experience measurements and states the benefits as: ● Increased Loyalty: NPS is 65 points higher for top-performing, loweffort companies than for higheffort companies. ● Increased Repurchase Rates: 94% of customers with low-effort interactions intend to repurchase

WhatTheyThink - Printing News | September 2021

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compared to 4% of those experiresults, personal experience and predicencing high effort. tive foresight, you can begin to elevate ● Reduced Costs: A low-effort interthe customer experience and subseaction costs 37% less than a highquently engage customers in meaningful effort interaction. Low-effort expedialogue. ● riences reduce costs by decreasing up to 40% of repeat calls, 50% of esca“We love being lations and 54% of channel independent switching. owners with the ● Increased Employee added benefit of Retention: When service strategic and reps provide consistently tactical support. good experiences to cusIt’s been a lifesaver.” tomers, they feel better about their jobs, and their Emily & Steve intent to stay increases Albritton Sir Speedy owners 17%. Tampa, FL

It Matters What You Know Tilting toward objectivity, a favorite expression is, “It doesn’t matter what you think, it matters what you know.” The purpose of a CXM process is to define what you know, and conversely what you do not know. The latter will enable you to identify blind spots before they become problematic for the company and your customers. Salted into the process is personal experience. Personal experience will inform knowledge, but objective results will balance intuition, creating a decision making continuum. Context is critical and something that will develop over time as you implement a CXM process. As historical comparatives mature, you will begin to see the germination of predictive analytics. Armed with objective

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PRINTING PULSE ─ Economic Impact

ECONOMIC RECOVERY UNLIKE ANY OTHER Things are looking up... maybe. By Richard Romano

Shipments Proving once again that we are in an economic recovery unlike any other, June 2021 printing shipments came in at $6.65 billion, unchanged from May. We usually see declines from May to June, but at least the lateral move has halted two months of declining shipments, which we had attributed to an “evening out” after a massive rise in shipments in March. We keep saying this, but maybe—just maybe—we’re starting to return to our usual seasonality. With events (and concerts and in-person sporting events!) scheduled for the fall, we’re looking at—God willing and the COVID don’t rise—things maybe—just

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maybe—getting back to normal in September or October. Other macroeconomic data have been erratic, as well, so it’s hard to paint an accurate monthto-month picture of what’s happening. Year-to-date (January– June) shipments for 2021 are only slightly below YTD shipments for 2020, but remember, January, February and the first half of March 2020 were still riding 2019’s high and then, after the crash in April and May, there was a massive rebound from June to October. In general, we are expecting to finish 2021 about even, perhaps a little ahead of 2020. But as with a

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lot of macroeconomic indicators (the most noteworthy being inflation), 2021 vs. 2020 is probably not a realistic comparison. That all said, everything (*sigh*) is still tentative right now, with the Delta variant surging in parts of the country and infections on the rise in various hotspots. We’re not out of the woods yet.

Profits For the first half of 2021, shipments haven’t been terrible—all things considered—but profits in Q1 2021 (the most recent quarter for which we have data as of press time) took a sharp, unexpected upturn. Annualized profits for Q1 2021 came in at $1.25 billion, up from -$0.43 billion in Q4 2020—and the first-time profits hit positive figures since Q3 2019. We have typically also looked at printing profits by asset class: large printers (more than $25 million in assets) and small printers (less than $25 million in profits). This division was based on the breakdowns in the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Report, whence we get our profits data. This happened to gibe nicely with our WhatTheyThink | Printing

News Top Shops survey, which set the cut-off for being a “small commercial printer” at $25 million. However, starting with the Q4 2019 Quarterly Services Report, the Census Bureau changed their

Everything (*sigh*) is still tentative right now, with the Delta variant surging in parts of the country and infections on the rise in various hotspots. We’re not out of the woods yet.

asset class breakdowns from more/less than $25 million to more/less than $50 million. So we have recalculated our Net Income Before Taxes by asset class table: So, in Q1, for large printers (those with more than $50 million in assets), profits before taxes had been +0.66% of revenues, a decided

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PRINTING PULSE ─ Economic Impact

improvement from all quarters going back to at least Q4 2019. For smaller printers (less than $50 million in assets), profits before taxes in Q1 were +13.54% of revenues, an increase from Q4 2020, where profits had been +8.26% of revenues. We had been referring to the disparity between “big” and “small” printers as our “Tale of Two Cities” since there had been a great profit disparity between those two asset classes, although the Census Bureau’s adjustment to $50 million as the break point now disrupts that narrative a bit. (It may be time to retire the analogy anyway.) So in Q1 2021, big printers did a bit better profitwise, while smaller printers did a lot better, which means that, for the industry on average, profits before taxes were +5.71% of revenues, up from Q4’s +2.78%. For the last six quarters, profits have averaged +0.51% of revenues.

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Employment June—the most recent employment report before press time—continued the very gradual upward trend in employment: overall printing employment was up +0.1% from May and production employment up +0.7%, although non-production printing employment continued its downward trajectory, coming in -1.2% from May. Publishing is on the uptick, at least when it comes to periodicals. General publishing employment was up +0.9% from May. Digging into the specific publishing segments (reporting lags a month), from April to May, periodical publishing employment grew +4.4% and newspaper publishing employment dropped -0.9%, a continued drop from the previous report. The creative markets are faring a bit better, but employment growth was more sluggish in May

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than it had been in April: graphic design employment was up +0.7% from April to May, ad agencies up +0.2%, and PR was only up +0.5% (compared to +2.7% from March to April). Direct mail advertising employment was up +2.8% from April to May—who would have expected them to be the bright spot in this report?

Whether we’re headed for another shutdown remains to be seen, but for now we can be cautiously optimistic, as can those print businesses that saw work from these verticals languish for most of the past year and a half.

The general June employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was pretty good, and you probably know by now how things went in July and August. In June, the year-over-year change was +7.919 million jobs—not bad when you consider

how badly employment had crashed in April 2020. Some other quick hits from the June report: ● The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6%. ● The employment-to-population ratio was unchanged at 58.0%. ● The 25-to-54 participation rate increased from 81.3% in May to 81.7% in June. ● The number of persons working part time for economic reasons decreased from 5.271 million in May to 4.627 million in June. This is close to its pre-pandemic level. The June report was above the general consensus among economists (assuming there is ever a consensus among economists) and April and May figures had Read More… been revised up. It’s notable that Find article at the sectors seeing the biggest PrintingNews. com/21154789 gains are those that had been shut down the most during the pandemic—leisure and hospitality, public and private education, etc. Whether we’re headed for another shutdown remains to be seen, but for now we can be cautiously optimistic, as can those print businesses that saw work from these verticals languish for most of the past year and a half. ●

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW ─ Prioritization or Planning

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THE CULT OF

BUSY-NESS B Take time to prioritize. By Jennifer Matt

eing busy doesn’t equate to business success. Is your busy-ness leading you in the right direction? Or are you being led by your inputs? Prioritization takes uninterrupted time and discipline, but it results in your activities having strategic direction. One of the things I remember my father saying a lot was, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” It was annoying to hear, especially as a teenager who I now realize had a half-baked prefrontal cortex and almost no ability to delay gratification. I think we have a different challenge today that is the primary thing that gets in the way of real prioritization or planning, I’ll call it the cult of “busy-ness.” The technology we have adopted over the last decade has enabled us to be “reachable” via a huge number of channels, in all locations, at all times. This has created an “interrupt driven” workday and what looks like simply keeping up with the inputs as being defined as “real work.” The issue with this is that the inputs are not coming into you in any sort of prioritized order. If your day is simply managed by what inputs reach

you, there is a good chance you’re ignoring what’s most important to your business. The cult of busy-ness makes it difficult to justify taking time in order to prioritize what your next action should be. Think about how silly that sounds. Your time is your most precious resource; planning and prioritizing how you’re going to spend it should not be so difficult. I think the reason we don’t want to plan/prioritize is that it forces us to make the difficult decisions that we keep deferring. If your company is still running on a Print MIS solution whose support stopped two years ago, wouldn’t you rather focus on getting a customer job out the door than deal with that elephant in the room? If you keep yourself busy you can justify your procrastination on the difficult decisions. Going to work in a custom manufacturing company provides a perfect opportunity for distraction and the cult of busy-ness. I was a big fan of David Allen’s classic book “Getting Things Done.” Published almost 15 years ago, it is still relevant today. The premise that I took away from his methodology was to frontload the prioritization when your willpower is

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154803

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SOFTWARE & WORKFLOW ─ Prioritization or Planning high (think full access to your prefrontal cortex). Basically, you plan how you are going to spend your time so that when you start a day, you are not randomly responding to inputs, you are actually doing what is next most important according to your established priorities. You become less available. I think that’s a good thing. You respond a little slower. You get more done. You get more important aspects of your business done. You move forward based on your priorities, not on the whims of your inputs.

Business success doesn’t come to the busiest. It comes to the businesses that are consistently doing the next most important thing according to their well thought out strategic priorities.

When I worked for a large company in this industry for a couple years, the president of the company famously said during an all hands meeting that he wanted people to respond faster to emails. He believed that the response time driven by the inputs would drive the business forward. It would definitely drive the business in some direction— I’m just not sure what direction that would be because who’s prioritizing the inputs? It takes discipline to NOT respond to all the inputs. It takes discipline to schedule uninterrupted time where you can get work done. It pays off. First of all, you feel better at the end of the day because you actually accomplished something.

Another author I love in this space is Cal Newport—his last four books are brilliant examples of what happens when you step away from the inputs and get real work done. I was working with a printer whose owner personified the mantra of disabling inputs to get real work done. I flew across the country to meet with him and some other colleagues on an important project. We were in his facility, meeting in his office. He never once answered the phone, he never looked at his email, he never once got interrupted by his team to solve some manufacturing process. He was 100% focused on the strategic subject I had flown across the country to discuss (on his dime). In contrast, I have gone to many print businesses where the entire “strategic” meeting was riddled with interruptions. The key people who were required to push strategic initiatives through the business could not dislodge themselves from the day-to-day operations for even a couple hours. Almost every spiritual tradition says that quieting the mind is the first step to a higher level of consciousness. The business side of this is quieting the day from interruptions. You cannot be strategic without first detaching from the manic inputs that will fill all empty space if allowed. Business success doesn’t come to the busiest. It comes to the businesses that are consistently doing the next most important thing according to their well thought out strategic priorities. ●

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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For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10004777

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DIGITAL & INKJET ─ Digital Print Technology

DIGITAL

UNBOXING T Packaging experiences an innovation collision. By Mary Schilling

he presence of digital print technology has created stellar opportunities for label, folding carton and flexible packaging. Throughout the industry, from brand identity and messaging to converting and distribution, digital capabilities cause processes in every part of the packaging supply chain to be reevaluated. The very innovations that make digital viable in these markets disrupt the process and the rules which drive current packaging needs in a way that has slowed the digital integration into the packaging process. Digitally printed labels broke through this innovation barrier way before corrugated. Only in the last few years has digital’s innovation made an impact on the corrugated print space, creating new methods for brands to communicate as well as meet their environmental and sustainability goals. The North American packaging market is a $90 billion market, but has been slow to adopt digital into their processes. Technology innovation must be viable, make money, serve customers and fill unmet market needs. So where does that next innovation fit in the value chain and where is that product sitting in the life cycle? I had a chance to discuss these questions and understand the drive for digital packaging innovation and the related integration requirements with to two of the most

knowledgeable people in the packaging market, Kelly Lawrence, president of Lawrence Innovations, and Jeff Wettersten, president of Karstedt Partners.

Digital Speed Driving Change

Inkjet print heads were first commercialized in the early 1930s. Driven by computer speed, it’s been a continuous iteration in speed and capabilities since then, opening opportunities in industrial markets, wide format graphics, marking and coding, textiles, ceramics, 3D inkjet direct and garment textiles. “You see a very broad participation, and you see inkjet penetrated some of these markets beginning in the early nineties, up through 2018, and where the technology is today,” Wettersten said. “So, if you have fears or concerns relative to the technology, the technology is pretty darn stable by this point in time. It has a good track record of success in markets and applications and has proven itself quite versatile and quite complimentary to existing processes.”

Understanding the Value Chain The value chain, as it relates to packaging, starts with consumers as the ultimate decision makers on what they like or dislike, and then through retailers, brands, printers, converting and suppliers. While the consumer ultimately is the decision maker, the control is at the brand

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or the retailer level with little control at the supplier level. Suppliers have little direct contact with brands and retailers. These connections in the complete supply chain are what makes things happen. “Consumers have created a large shift in buying habits, and there is a big push for environmental sustainability,” Lawrence said. “Brands are changing their sustainability goals and engaging more in e-commerce to take advantage of the online selling model, changing how we engage consumers. “In a big-data retail environment, we must also be aware of how data is tracked. Analytics and research are impacting internal business processes as well as the product itself. Core business models are undergoing fundamental change because of the ability to track the customer base. The big challenge we hear on the supply chain level, is that the focus among retailers and big brands has been on the last mile to the consumer.” The packaging industry is transforming as quickly as the data can be analyzed, necessitating the ability to quickly assess options and make nearly instantaneous changes. “The pace of change is increasing dramatically with implications at the brand level all the way to a converter,” Wettersten said. “It’s a very difficult environment for the typical converter to

operate in because you can’t maintain high volume at low costs if you have continual interruptions in your workflow, and your operation must manage complexity and scope. Small converters particularly, face a dilemma on how they’re going to approach the market and where to focus.” For packaging suppliers to enable the brands, they need to understand the consumer buying behaviors brands are trying to address as well as knowledge of the solutions that are possible. They cannot be just an endpoint to the supply chain. Converters need visibility from the OEMs, ink suppliers and substrate suppliers to really understand what’s possible. They need to drill down to the level of the chemistry, print head and substrate suppliers that enable solutions. By having a more open conversation and engaging different layers of the supply chain, we can make what’s possible a little bit more visible and digestible, reducing the time for technology adoption.

Concentrated Changes From 2019 to April 2020, we saw over 10 years’ worth of projected growth in e-commerce take place in a compressed timeframe due to a rapid shift in the consumer adoption of on-line commerce during pandemic lockdowns. “A buying shift has expanded the need for packaging to communicate with the buyer – there is no ‘point of purRead More… chase’ advertising in the buyer’s Find article at home except the website and the PrintingNews. com/21155025 packaging itself,” Lawrence said. “When we talk about digital transformation, it’s not just digital print, it’s the internet of things and the ability to operate effectively in a digital environment driven by big data. “Consumers’ desire for customization and unique experiences is driving a flip in business

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DIGITAL & INKJET ─ Digital Print Technology recent example was an advertorial for Shark Week on The Discovery Channel. Amazon implementing cross promotion on packaging to TV viewers creates an ideal way for other types of media to reach consumers from an advertising standpoint. “We are seeing more and more promotional elements starting to go into true customization in a high-volume world of packaging,” Wettersten said.

What’s the Fit for Digital? models with more brands creating a direct-toconsumer channel. There’s innovation going on at the brand with sales channels and customer engagement.” Moving the packaging market forward through customer engagement requires personalized oneto-one communications strategies that are not native to this segment. What I like to call “Sticky Packaging” resonates directly with an audience. Digital printing allows brands to create versioned or completely personalized packaging using inkjet driven by data in their process. This personalization extends to advertising and cross-promotion.

Amazon has even started offering a cross-sell option, by printing advertising on packages, which has nothing to do with the product inside. One

The value of digital printing technology extends well beyond the ability to print in a typical converting environment. “It has everything to do with the operational enhancement that digital printing can provide,” Wettersten said. “We work with many companies, and some of them have started bringing out-

sourced work back in-house and enjoying the cost reduction opportunity. We have seen this same effect in the label industry and are starting to see it more in the corrugated industry and folding carton as well. It impacts business from an operational standpoint, and frequently, it can be around converting, material purchases or the operation of the corrugator to upstream processes from print, and aggregating orders for productivity

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The value of digital printing technology extends well beyond the ability to print in a typical converting environment. It has everything to do with the operational enhancement that digital printing can provide.

improvement. There is a need for continued development around materials, software and chemistry. They recognize that there are opportunities, but need assistance to position themselves better with the addition of digital.” Upstream brands and retailers define packaging requirement based on the functional needs of the product. Merchandised brands respond to that, and then converters must build to the predefined specifications. Being last in the chain is not easy for

the converters and often is not ideal for optimizing packaging potential. If you’re way back in the supply chain, you’ve really got to work to understand and influence the decisions which impact the packaging converting process. Inkjet effects every part of the supply chain from the brand to end-product. Understanding this, and educating customers, are the biggest hurdles to success in integrating inkjet into this process. Continued on page 60

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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY ─ Relavance-based Personalization

TRUE PRINT

Is it all talk and little action?

arketing slows down in the summer, and this summer is no exception. People are out and about again, on vacations and taking road trips. They don’t have time to read marketing mail. So what are marketers mailing? For insight, I turned to a favorite source, “Who’s Mailing What.” I can’t review all 20,000 pieces of mail that have been added to the database since the start of the summer, but I can select a market vertical—in this

case, retail—and look at those mailed to my state, which is Maryland. Here is a representative sampling of the calls to action of the first 160 or so pieces of the more than 1,000 added in the past month. ● “Get all of today’s flavors delivered.” (Doordash) ● “Get $15 off your first pet food and supplies order.” (Temptations) ● “Instant savings, plus everyday low prices” (Sam’s Club)

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● “A little more in your wallet” (Kohl’s) ● “Take 10% off your next in-store or online purchase.” (Home Depot) ● “We miss you! Take 40% off almost everything.” (The Woman Within) ● “Semi-annual sale! 60% off” (Athleta) ● “Shopping made easier + safer” (Kohl’s) ● “We wanted to provide you with an exclusive offer.” (Leaf Filter) ● “Spend less! Lounge more 15% off your next purchase of $25 or more” (Chewy) ● “Peace of mind starts with a clean home.” (Clean Authority) We talk a lot about the ability of digital production devices to personalize images, messaging and offers to boost response and conversion rates. We love to talk about data on the value and impact of personalization (although, these days, that data is almost exclusively related to digital marketing). But when I look at what’s being mailed, I see little of it happening on the ground. Rather, I see marketers defaulting to the discounts and other financial incentives. Sure, that works if you hit people at the right time or your offer is the greatest discount on recipients’ stack of mailers if the need arises before the promotion expires. But it still has businesses competing for sales based on price. Only two of the CTAs among hundreds of offers jumped out at me based on lifestyle or need: Doordash (“Get all of today’s flavors delivered.”) and Clean Authority (“Peace of mind starts with a clean home.”) I’m not saying that there is no personalization or targeting in any of these pieces. There may be deep inside the text somewhere. Or they may be targeted based on precisely selected audiences. But if there was significant personalization happening in these pieces, those pieces should look different enough to be flagged by the “Who’s Mailing What’s” AI-driven software as separate campaigns, and that’s not what appears to be happening. Other than price, then, what is really and truly distinguishing one retailer from another? I think back to a printing trade show I attended many years ago. The presenter looked at the room full of C-suite executives and asked them to take out a piece of

paper. He then asked each one to write down what makes their company special—what truly distinguishes them from their competitors—then fold it over and hand that piece of paper to the person next to them. Next, with participants holding the paper Read More… from the person next to them, Find article at PrintingNews. he asked them to open up and com/21154841 read their neighbor’s sheet. “Did you say price, quality and service?” he asked. “Now I want a show of hands—be honest. How many of the papers in your hands have the exact same thing you wrote?” Sheepishly, nearly every hand in the room went up. When I look at these retail mailings, that seminar comes to mind. While these companies may be switching up their offers based on percentages, dollars off or special offers like BOGO (using WMW’s lookup tool, I did note that, a little earlier in the year, Ashley Home Store, for example, tried both “60% off everything” and 50% off + 15% [58%] off furniture in April 2021), nearly every one of these mailings was identical in theme—get a discount or save money. So I give props to companies like Clean Authority and Doordash, which presented their value based on lifestyle needs instead. For PSPs, the question is whether this matters. Supposedly, this industry is transitioning from “printers” to “marketing services providers,” and that means the ability to direct and influence marketing strategy. Printers are investing millions in new, high-speed inkjet presses to produce fully personalized pieces at volume. When that personalization reaches a level at which marketing text and images is truly personalized, I’d expect to see that reflected in the WMW database. Until then, I wonder: To what extent are we talking about relevance-based personalization and to what extent are we actually doing 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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WATCH LIST ─ Videos Trending On Printingnews.com

The Feeding System for the 100K Digital Press Ami Yaari, R&D Mechanical Engineer at HP Indigo, talks about and demonstrates the feeding system on the HP Indigo 100K Digital Press. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154175

Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek Geek Out with Marty Davis Resident Print Geeks talk about how “color management” should really be “color IT.” Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154262

Rollem’s Semi-Slitter: The Top Solution for Back Slitting Pressure Sensitive Materials Rollem’s advanced SS Semi-Slitting technology allows you to back or face-slit stocks on all types of adhesives. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154525

From B2B to B2C: The Challenges Kristen Dettoni founded Design Pool as a B2B initiative targeting interior designers. During the pandemic, she launched Domanda Designs, a B2C initiative. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154307

The Inline Priming System and Application Versatility on the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press Regina Guslitzer, L&P Materials Development R&D Manager, talks about the many developments by HP. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154562

Shutterfly and Spoonflower Execs Talk about the Acquisition Michael Jones of Spoonflower and Dwayne Black of Shutterfly share the entire story about the acquisition. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154736

Heidelberg to Feature Smart Print Shop at PRINTING United Felix Mueller, President of Heidelberg USA, shares his excitement about the company’s presence at the show. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154545

A Unique Aspect to Sappi’s Business You Probably Aren’t Aware Of Nicholas Yardy, Director of Release Technology, talks about their product that can deboss wood grain. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154708

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Modern Litho Sees Growth Opportunity both Organic and Through Acquisition Modern Litho’s Jeff Davidson, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, provides an update. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154907

The HP Indigo Optimizer: Planning Efficient Print Runs at the Press of a Button Dror Kella, Technologist, R&D, in the HP Indigo 100K Lab, demonstrates the HP Indigo Optimizer. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155003

Amplify Print! A New Event Dedicated to Advances in Print Finishing APTech and FSEA teamed up to produce a new industry event that will be held 14-16 June 2022 in Minneapolis. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155056

Labelexpo’s Tasha Ventimiglia on the Upcoming Label Congress David Zwang talks to Tasha Ventimiglia, Americas Event Director for Labelexpo Americas. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21154845

Vanguard Digital Set to Join Durst at PRINTING United Dave Cich, President & CEO of Vanguard Durst, shares his thoughts about Durst’s investment in his company and some of the benefits the combination brings. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155126

Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Printer with Summer Gould Warren talks to Summer Gould, President of Eye/ Comm Inc. Started by her father in 1990. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155059

Warren Werbitt Goes Printer to Print AR with Bill Atta Warren talks with Bill Atta, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Melbourne, Australia’s Dreemar. They develop augmented reality (AR) products for the printing industry. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155062

Frank Goes to War Frank heard that American Airlines is discontinuing its inflight magazine. This prompts a discussion of the “war on paper” that began more than 30 years ago. Find video here: www.printingnews.com/21155060

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FINISHING & MAILING ─ Creative Embellished Print

THAT! T

LOOK AT Leveraging the power of embellished print marketing By Trish Witkowski

he ability to embellish print materials is neither new nor is it unique, as thousands of print service providers have invested in cutting-edge in-house print embellishment capabilities in recent years. Embellishments are hot and here to stay—and although the ability to embellish print can get you up to bat, it’s the printers who excel at bringing ideas and demonstrating their creativity who win the day. Here are some great examples of embellished self-promotional pieces across several categories, including direct mail, packaging and promotion. ●

PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE: Targeted and Versatile Slate Group / Lubbock, Texas Slate Group created a versatile roll fold brochure design that has a unique die cut on the cover and textured reticulated varnish coating. Unroll to reveal high gloss coatings and a bold message that builds to the final interior panel which holds an eight-page booklet stitched into the final fold. This particular sample features a portfolio of their higher ed client work, but the flexible format lends itself to customization for different verticals.

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154843

PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE: Life-Like and Memorable On Line Bindery / Richmond, Calif. On Line Bindery created a standout six-panel accordion fold promotion that was sized and shaped exactly like six real wine bottles. Each bottle’s label features a different embellishment process, like foil stamping, UV and lamination and embossing. They used a Pro-Cut inline mobile die-cutting system for perfect alignment of panels when folded. There was also a business card attached to the back panel in a little envelope.

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PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE: Simple Stands Out Zander Press / Brillion, Wis. This stylishly simple brochure from Zander Press was designed to showcase the capabilities of their Xerox Iridesse press. They chose a classic double parallel fold with a short trailing panel to create a stepped edge that opens out to a long rectangular layout. Silver metallic and clear gloss digital inks add pop and shimmer to the bold graphics.

PROMOTIONAL BOOK: Sample Collection Parkland Direct / Forest, Va. This Wire-O bound promotion holds over 30 envelope concepts that demonstrate Parkland Direct’s wide array of different envelope manufacturing and embellishment techniques—like specialty coatings, foil, and embossing. Fullsized samples are bound in between divider pages that highlight the benefits and uses of each design. They also invite customers to subscribe to their ongoing “creative mailing” campaign where they send a different envelope with a new concept every month.

DIRECT MAIL: Magazine Wrap Franklin Press / Baton Rouge, La. Franklin Press recently sent out a beach-themed oversized mailer/ wrap with digital variable foil and textured coatings. The creative wrap format features personalized, punch-out summer postcards and curved panels to hold the insert. Inside is an eight-page personalized magazine-style brochure filled with print marketing tips and strategies.

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FINISHING & MAILING ─ Creative Embellished Print DIRECT MAIL SERIES: Surprise Reveal GPA with ENPOINTE (formerly GLS Precision Marketing) / Minneapolis, Minn. GPA worked with ENPOINTE to create a compelling mail series that offered a creative way to send samples of their specialty substrates while pushing the boundaries of print with eye-catching special effects. The solution was a simple glued tri-fold with a peek-a-boo panel that lifts to reveal the tipped-on sample and invites them to request a larger set of samples. Specialty papers, inks and coatings were used throughout the series.

PACKAGING: Holiday Keepsake Impress Communications / Chatsworth, Calif. Impress Communications designed and produced a “Magic 8-Ball” keepsake in a cube-shaped custom box that was sent during the holidays. The top layer as you open the box says, “The answers to all you seek . . . lie within.” The ball with custom base was designed to be removed from the box to place on your desk year-round. Production details include the use of specialty papers, holographic foil, laser cutting and etching with personalization, atomic sparkle reticulated varnish and soft touch coating.

PACKAGING: Launch Kit John Roberts / Minneapolis, Minn. Recently, John Roberts launched JR Dimensional (formerly HM Graphics)—a business focused on interactive print, structural design and packaging. They use a hexagon shape and a bee-hive theme in their branding, and the launch kit comes in a box that holds a hexagonal-shaped cross brochure, a dimensional pop-up hexagon and a honey stick, inviting you to “BEE exceptional with us.” Simple gloss and dull varnishes on premium paper keep the focus on the formats.

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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SALES CLINIC ─ Best Foundation Is Good People

WHAT DRIVES YOUR

BUSINESS?

It all comes down to a balancing act.

hree things I’ve heard or read recently: ● We are a sales-driven company. ● We are a customer-driven organization. ● We are a market-driven enterprise. What’s it all mean? And what should be driving your business?

Market vs. Customer Let’s start with the difference between marketdriven and customer-driven. The entire printing industry is a prime example of a market-driven enterprise. Over the last 25-30 years, we’ve moved heavily into digital printing, initially to satisfy a market for shorter runs and affordable color, and later into a wide range of large format products. I don’t know very

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many printers who have invested in offset equipment over the last few years. I know hundreds who have invested in small-format and large-format digital. Customer-driven is different, even though it’s true that customers ultimately make up the market. On a macro level, being customer-driven is all about putting the customer at the center of the entire business strategy – in other words, focusing everything on providing a great customer experience. On a micro level, it’s more about exploring the needs and wants of each individual customer. In the case of prospects, what do they want now, that they’re not getting from their Continued on page 61 Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact him at dmf@davefellman.com.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Address The Needs Of Your Intended Audience

DIRECT MAIL

STANDOUT Y Use print to reach younger consumers.

By Colin McMahon and Karen Kimerer, Keypoint Intelligence

ounger consumers are always a topic of interest because they represent the next generation of preferences and are an up-and-coming source of spending power. Each generation has its own unique preferences in terms of how they like to shop, how they spend money and how they want to be marketed to. So let’s take a closer look at: ● The frequency of contact that younger consumers expect ● How direct mail can inspire younger generations to engage with brand owners ● The critical components of effectively marketing to younger generations

The Right Number of Touchpoints For many years, some seasoned marketers have followed the rule that five to seven prospect touchpoints are required to convert a lead

Figure 1: Desired Frequency of Contact by Brands

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Figure 2: Younger Consumers Spend More Time with Personalized Messages

into a sale. With the constant barrage of marketing messages coming at us these days, some might think that today’s consumers prefer fewer touchpoints or contacts. As it turns out, though, recent research from Keypoint Intelligence reveals that most consumers would like to be contacted by brands on a regular basis (i.e., daily, weekly or monthly). Preferences varied by age, too. Regardless of whether or not they had a relationship with a brand, younger consumers wanted to be reached out to more frequently than their older counterparts. Who knew? Print service providers (PSPs) have an opportunity to talk to their prospects and customers about the value of a print marketing campaign as opposed to a single mailing event. Marketing communications can be made even more impactful by addressing the specific preferences of various age groups as well as the frequency with which they wish to be contacted.

Inspiring the Younger Generations to Engage with Direct Mail Understanding what’s important to each generation—specifically the younger generations—is a requirement for today’s marketers. Today’s print technologies offer multiple options to support the initiatives of each age group and improve response rates. Younger consumers (i.e., millennials and members of Generation Z) actively support

businesses that work to make the world a better place. Rather than using the same images for all age groups, it is especially important for direct mail to reflect your company’s core values and beliefs. All consumers—and younger ones in particular—want the companies that they do business with to see the world through their eyes, rather than what it might have looked like for their parents or grandparents. Younger generations won’t simply take your claims at face value. You must earn their trust, and this means delivering transparent messaging that is void of hype and grand promises. Some important promotional keywords that communicate trustworthiness include savings, security and value. Testimonials are also considered gold in today’s marketing world; younger consumers place a great deal of credence in their peers’ opinions. Interactive elements can also be quite impactful. Rather that incorporating QR codes that direct the recipient to email addresses, phone numbers or websites, create meaningful links that lead to a true online experience. Interactive print can create immersive sensory experiences that excite the consumer and prompt them to take action. Although novelty is huge with younger generations, their attention spans are short. What this means is that the interactive component must be seamless or they will quickly lose interest.

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MANAGEMENT ─ Address The Needs Of Your Intended Audience Younger consumers are also drawn to a tactile experience. Think of all the packages that are delivered to their door on a daily basis, then consider how you might be able to make their direct mail more dimensional to replicate the excitement they feel when unboxing an online purchase. Dimensional mailers are a dramatic departure from flat postcards or envelopes, so they really stand out in recipients’ mailboxes. According to the USPS, the average American household receives only 454 pieces of marketing mail each year. In today’s era of digital overload, a tangible piece of paper that lands directly in the hands of the right consumer can really stand out. Respondents to a research report by Keypoint Intelligence were asked what actions they took when following up to direct mail. For consumers under age 35, the top actions included visiting the sender’s retail store, sharing content with others, learning more about the sender by conducting online research, and making a purchase from the sender. It is important to align your call-toaction with these natural consumer tendencies. For example, make it easy to locate the store (physical or online), or offer a “refer a friend” incentive. Younger consumers place a high value on word of mouth, and it is their natural tendency to share their own opinions.

This Isn’t the Time to Be Subtle! Whether we notice it or not, age segmentation has been used for years as a marketing tool to gain

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our attention. When used correctly, it can provide a much higher return on investment than grouping all consumers into a single audience. Today’s consumers have come to expect marketers to engage with them on a much more personal level, and savvy marketers must respond in kind. Whether they are mailed or sent electronically, highly personalized communications go beyond generic categorizations like name, address and even age Read More… group. Younger consumers Find article at PrintingNews. generally have much to learn, com/21154846 and in some cases they have little idea about where to start when it comes to educating themselves. A brand’s purpose and vision can be communicated via a series of educational direct mail pieces, and this type of messaging will resonate because younger consumers identify with brands that stand for something beyond their offerings.

The Bottom Line All marketers understand that one communication channel is not enough, and that blending multiple channels will generally yield the greatest rewards. Younger consumers expect and even want the brands they do business with to reach out to them via multiple touchpoints, and this calls for new and innovative methods of staying connected. By combining digital inkjet technology, direct mail and digital components, businesses can connect with the younger members of their audiences, add more value to the customer journey, create more leads and ultimately drive more sales. The opportunity with print exists across all generations, but it is more important than ever to address the specific needs of your intended audience. The preferences of Gen Z and millennial consumers provide a great example of how personalized, purpose-driven marketing can work. Today’s PSPs have an opportunity to help brand owners tell a better story, connect with their prospects and customers on a deeper level, and stand out through the use of effective direct mail. ●

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BUSINESS TOPICS ─ Be Experts At Hiring

THE GREAT ASSET SHORTAGE Get creative to cover staffing shortfalls.

have the opportunity to visit with member companies in Southern California and now, in other western states. There are two themes: “We cannot find paper!” and “We cannot find staff!” The first is universal and is out of my reach. The second is an area with which, over the past couple of years, PIASC’s Employment Services team helped our members by providing a pseudo recruiting service as part of their membership. However, the pandemic and unemployment funding has turned this on its head. Not only are many workers preferring to stay home and enjoy the available unemployment benefits, but a growing number of workers have also decided that they want to change careers and/or industries. The shortage of staff that existed before the pandemic has only become exacerbated. So, what do we do? First, we need to be honest about the situation. The reality is that the problem is not going to correct itself in the short term. When the unemployment subsidies end in the coming months, there will likely be an increase in the population of available workers. However, you will need to be very selective to ensure that you are hiring the talent you want. It is too easy to take the first person through the door, which often results in future costly issues. You always have a choice. I continue to emphasize the need for employers to review and improve their recruiting and assessment practices. Have you ever wondered why the industry cannot find workers? Think about it. Why is it a surprise to an industry for which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stopped publishing employment figures in February 2019? Our industry complains

that “we are taken for granted.” True but what are we doing about it? How can we attract workers if they do not know that we exist? Where are the public awareness messages? We have a viable industry that few people know anything about. So, consider what you can do to build awareness. If you are focused on students, remember that they go home to parents seeking guidance. So, it is not just the young people that we must reach; it is also the parents. I do not have a short-term solution other than to say that companies have to be very efficient. Employees have to be versatile and willing to do multiple jobs. I Read More… also believe that we will see comFind article at PrintingNews. panies focusing on core compecom/21154743 tencies and sourcing to others for lesser competencies. If I am great at offset printing but have only a small bindery, would it be better to source to someone with a core competency in bindery and, to the extent possible, repurpose my bindery staff? A few years ago, companies were reducing their workforces because of the efficiency gains from technology. There was a huge emphasis placed on retraining outplaced employees while certain production tasks were moving offshore. My suggestion to repurpose bindery staff should smell like “retraining.” However, I am a big believer that every company’s goal is to optimize the strengths of its employees. To achieve this goal, you must know each employee’s strengths. Your biggest balance sheet asset is likely your equipment. The reality is that without the employees, the equipment is useless. So, ask yourself if you put the same time into understanding and building your employees’ Continued on page 61 Lou Caron is a CPA with extensive business experience in both the insurance and printing industry, and has served as the chief financial officer of companies in both industries. In June of 2017, he became President/CEO of Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California, the largest local print trade association in the nation.

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...

PRINTING UNITED PRODUCT ROUNDUP

MBO, a Komori company, will show the MBO K80 Combi Buckle/Knife folder. The folder includes a palletized feeder and AutoPilot, a camera system installed at the feeder that identifies the current job via a printed data code and acts as a QC system. When it detects a new job via the code, the system resets itself appropriately. This automation allows the operator to load several jobs, press start and walk away to do other work. www.printingnews.com/21155022

Canon Solutions America will show its new Colorado 1630 64” roll-to-roll printer. It prints durable, odorless and instantly dry prints on almost any media at 1800 dpi. www.printingnews.com/21152388

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Heidelberg will introduce a new product, Smart Print Shop Analytics, that bundles all of its analytic capabilities, allowing print shops to uncover ways to reduce make-ready, increase consistency and work with less touches based on real-time data. www.printingnews.com/21154545

In July, Roland DGA announced the 64-inch GR2-640 and the 54-inch GR2-540 large format vinyl cutters as additions to the Roland DG CAMM-1 series. These next-generation machines are capable of cutting almost any shape quickly and cleanly from a broad range of materials, including everything from thin automotive films and heat transfer sheets to thick reflective sheets and sandblast masks. This makes the GR2-640 and GR2-540 ideal for applications such as signs, decals, window film, vehicle wraps and sports apparel. The Roland DG CAMM-1 GR2 series cutters will be on display at PRINTING United. www.printingnews.com/21154166

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Vanguard Durst will unveil two new printers at the show. The VR6D, priced at $140,000, prints 30 boards per hour in quality mode, a high quality mid-range printer with exceptional speed. It features Ricoh Generation 6 print heads. The second new product is the VKH900, selling at the high end of Vanguard’s price range and printing up to 60 boards per hour in quality mode or 120 per hour in production mode. Vanguard will also show Durst’s Pixels to Output workflow integration with its printers. www.printingnews.com/21155023

Standard Finishing will feature iCE LiNK, a cloud-based workflow management system from Horizon that allows print providers to manage and monitor production across multiple finishing devices to provide a higher level of production efficiency. They will also show the Horizon BQ-500 Perfect Binder and the Horizon HT-300 Three-side Trimmer. The BQ-500 can be fed with a conveyor that automatically inserts book blocks into the binder, adjusting spine width according to codes printed on the book blocks. www.printingnews.com/21154733

Durst will show the new P5 350/HS hybrid flatbed/roll-fed UV LED printer that produces up to 7,000 square feet per hour with standard CMYK and optional LC/LM + white and varnish. www.printingnews.com/21152388

RMGT will mark the worldwide launch of the new 8-UP+ RMGT 970 offset press under the theme “Bridging the Gap” PRINTING United. As RGMT has done for the last several shows, the press will run live demonstrations every hour. The theme highlights the gap between digital print and conventional offset, claiming the press can produce offset quality at digital quantity, as well as the ability to replace two to three older conventional offset presses. The company will also show a new automation package called ASAP (Automated Smart Assist Printing) that allows a single press operator to move autonomously from one job to the next with no more than three minutes of down time in between. This is enabled by simultaneous plate changes in about a minute and 40 seconds and automatic blanket washing and application of ink profiles. At start-up, the plates are auto-registered and color controls are automatically set to the requested density. www.printingnews.com/21142796 45

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Latex Printers

BIG "L"

Little "l"

Either way, companies love latex. By Richard Romano

hen HP launched its Latex series of wide-format printers in 2008, it offered a highly flexible alternative to solvent printers, as Latex units could print on a wide variety of materials, including textiles, in the days before dye sublimation was demystified. The ability to print on vinyls and other rollfed media as well as fabrics gave shops a lot of versatility in the kinds of applications they could produce, and in my interviews

with display graphics providers over the years, it was not uncommon to hear one or more Latex machines referred to as a “workhorse.” At the same time, the odorless, water-based inks provided a greener solution to solvent and UV inks. Last winter, when HP updated its Latex line, they identified the primary Latex application areas they track, notably décor, packaging, soft signage, fleet graphics, retail, events and PVC banners and billboards. So…most everything.

Big or Little “L” A point of clarification when it comes to terminology, and the difference between “Latex” and “latex.” Wikipedia defines “latex” as the “stable dispersion (emulsion) of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium.” Latex can be natural or synthetic and many plants exude a natural latex. Synthetic latexes are used in gloves, balloons and many other products—like inks. Most readers probably know this by now, but just for the record: latex inks are perfectly safe for people with latex allergies. Latex printing is virtually John Mark Ltd. specializes in digitally printed luxury wallcoverings, and is a virtually all-HP Latex shop. (Image courtesy John Mark Ltd.)

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synonymous with HP’s Latex (capital L) line of printers, and HP does have the most extensive portfolio, including a relatively new flatbed unit for Latex printing on rigid materials. Mimaki and Ricoh have also long offered latex (small l) wide-format machines, and last year Epson launched its SureColor R Series which uses what it refers to as “resinbased” ink, which is a water-based “latex-like” ink. The launch of the series was meant to offer the same substrate flexibility as latex. Whether the term “Resin” will resinate resonate the way Latex did remains to be seen.

John Mark Ltd. works with HP on Latex printer development. (Image courtesy John Mark Ltd.)

Off-the-Wall Ideas One of the earliest “killer apps” for latex printing was wallcoverings and décor, and many wall décor producers still predominantly prefer latex. One such company is the UK-based John Mark Ltd (www.johnmark.co.uk). “We have always used digital printing HP Latex technology to produce luxury wallcoverings for the design community,” said Matt Fletcher, commercial manager for John Mark. “Since opening, we’ve worked closely with HP to develop the presses that are on market today.”

“Wallpaper” can include a wide variety of substrates, including domestic grade non-woven wallpapers, foils and lenticular wallpapers, commercial grade vinyl wallpaper, natural wallpapers such as Grasscloths, cork, and raffia. (Image courtesy John Mark Ltd.)

Founded in 2012 and based in Leyland, Lancashire, in the north of England, John Mark Ltd. specializes in digitally printed wallpaper. Founder John Mark Watson comes from a family that has been making wallcoverings in Lancashire since the 1800s, and he recognized in 2012 that digital

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Latex Printers

Parallax Digital recently produced décor and signage for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s brand-new headquarters, which included more than 70,000 square feet of material, including their proprietary eco-friendly Evergreen material up to 120 inches tall, as well as SEG fabric lightboxes, including a distinctive LED-backlit acrylic historical timeline bar more than 30 feet long. (Images courtesy Parallax Digital.)

printing was ready to compete with legacy processes. At present, the company is a virtually all-Latex shop, with six HP1500s, one HP800 W and two HP 570s for sampling and short-run work. They have orders in for additional Latex units, “including the largeformat spot white machine, which will supersede the HP800 W once HP releases this new model, which is due to be available spring 2022,” Fletcher said. John Mark works with a wide variety of end clients, from world famous home décor brands, interior designers, graduate designers, textile designers, hobbyists, crafters and artists. “Anyone can try out wallpaper printing, as the costs to have designs produced start from approximately £35 per 10-meter roll,” said Fletcher. And what they mean by “wallpaper” can include a wide variety of substrates, including domestic grade non-woven wallpapers, foils and lenticular wallpapers, commercial grade vinyl wallpaper, natural wallpapers such as Grasscloths, cork and

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raffia, and more recently peel-and-stick wallpapers for the rental market. “What drove John Mark Ltd to HP was the print mark, color gamut, eco-friendly properties of the water-based ink system, and most importantly reliability,” said Fletcher. “Back when John Mark Ltd opened in 2012, the only digital printing options available were UV-cured and ecosolvent machinery which didn’t have the decorative finish of the HP Latex inks, so HP Latex was the only option considered.” And the company hasn’t looked back since.

The Nose Knows Although substrate flexibility is perhaps the biggest advantage of Latex, Fletcher cites another asset

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“HP’s eco-friendly water-based inks don’t have an odor/de-gassing like UV-cured and ecosolvent,” he said. The lack of odor is also a major advantage for The Detroit Wallpaper Co. (www.detroitwallpaper. com), which is celebrating nearly 10 years since its adoption of HP Latex. “With our emphasis being in high-end interiors, the smell of outgassing ecosolvent inks was problematic,” said Owner Josh Young. “Additionally, not having to vent the machinery, which was never really 100% successful, made our working environment that much more pleasurable for our team and visitors.” Based in Ferndale, Mich., just outside Detroit, The Detroit Wallpaper Co. was launched in 2012. The company works mainly with interior designers, be they for residential- or commercial-end

clients, as well as with business owners who approach them directly. “We also work with retail clients as well, though some of our lines are trade-only and only available through showrooms,” said Young. The company also has a fleet of HP Latex machines—two 3600s, two 800s and three 570s— that print on a wide variety of substrates, their main materials being HP PVC-Free Durable Suede and HP PVC-Free Pre-Pasted. “We also do a lot of matte non-woven wallpaper,” said Young. “We are also known for the luxurious natural fiber grounds we print on, including metallic grass cloth, chunky paper weave and a stunning, textural raw silk. Other specialties include shiny mylars, pearlescent mica-coated wallpaper, artist canvas and linen.” Continued on page 62

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ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS ─ ISA Sign Industry Economic Report

A YEAR OF TRANSITION AND UNCERTAINTY ISA Quarterly Economic Report looks at the 2021 economic landscape and how it bodes for the sign industry. By Richard Romano

n July 21, the International Sign Association (ISA) hosted their quarterly economic webinar that looked at Q2 2021 and the state of the sign industry, as well as their general macroeconomic short and long view. The webinar was based on the “ISA Sign Industry Quarterly Economic Report”

(https://www.signs.org/quarterlyreport) and was presented by Shane Norton and Tory Louis, director and senior consulting analyst, respectively, of IHS Markit, who produced the report. The report was sponsored by the National Association of Sign Supply Distributors (NASSD). The session began by providing some macroeconomic context, and the big theme of

this quarterly report was strong demand but supply shortfalls as global supply chains have been disrupted by a number of factors, the recovery from the pandemic being only one of them. This is also causing an increase in materials prices, as Figure 1 shows. What this also means is that some of the recent reports of runaway inflation are temporary blips and will not likely have many long-term impacts.

Figure 1: IHS Markit’s Materials Price Index shows the impact of supply chain disruptions.

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Figure 2. US economic growth by sector. (Source: IHS Markit)

Figure 3. Leisure & hospitality finally on the rebound. (Source: IHS Markit)

“We expect core PCE inflation to remain around 2% after 2021,” said Norton. Elsewhere in the overall macroeconomic landscape: ● Real GDP grew 6.4% in the first quarter,

and they are expecting 11.6% growth in Q2. (The report and webinar came out before the BEA announced that real GDP increased at an annual rate of 6.5% in Q2 2021.)

● IHS Markit is projecting 7.5% GDP growth for 2021 as we continue the pandemic rebound, with GDP starting to return to pre-pandemic normal (4.8%) in 2022.

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ASSOCIATION INSIGHTS ─ ISA Sign Industry Economic Report

Figure 4. Construction growth.

“We’re still coming off the reopening,” said Norton. As always, they also broke down overall U.S. economic growth by sector (see Figure 2). Figure 3 shows that the hardhit leisure and hospitality sector is finally on the rebound, which is good news to print businesses that serve those verticals. One sector that is inextricably linked with the signage industry is construction, and while the analysts see a big rebound in 2021— driven more by residential construction than anything else— 2022 and 2023 will see comparative declines. (See Figure 4.) The analysts are expecting the recovery to continue— but identify risks to continued growth, namely, what is happening with the virus. “The most significant downside risk is continued issues with new variants, virus

infections and new containment measures in response to those which would delay the reopenings,” said Norton. A return to lockdowns or other containment measures would bring the recovery to a screeching halt.

Sign Industry Outlook As always, they divide the sign industry into print and electronic/digital and then look at supply side and end markets. By “supply side,” they refer to the industries that supply components used in sign manufacturing, including wood, paper and printing, metals, plastics and other machinery manufacturing. The IHS Markit Printed Signage Index is based on a given year’s comparison to the historical trend. According to a methodological footnote in the Quarterly

Economic Report on which the webinar was based: “A value of ‘0’ represents an expectation of industry growth right in line with the historical trend. Positive values represent stronger-thanaverage growth. Negative values represent below-average growth. The QER figures were revised based on new historical data to provide a true comparison point for the new index values.” Figure 5 provides a summary of the supply side and end market indices for print and digital signage. “The forecast is looking more consistent this quarter than in previous quarters,” said Louis, “because as we’re coming out of COVID, we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel a little bit more clearly now. You’re going to see fewer changes as we have just a better idea of what direction the economy is headed in.

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However, she did point “With COVID still ongoing, out the supply chain difficuleven as we return to normalcy,” ties that have beset architecsaid Louis, “there will be some tural signage, with many inputs continued monitoring of the from wood to paper pulp, to you COVID situation, so corporaname it, seeing price increases tions, healthcare providers, govin the past year. As during ernments and businesses, still COVID, a lot of mills and proneed those digital signs to keep duction facilities shut updating guidance.” down. And the semiAnd the archiRead More… conductor chip shorttectural signage end Find article at PrintingNews. age has also severely market forecast is com/21154744 impacted the digital very positive for signage supply side. 2021, less so for 2022 “And now we’re at a bottleand 2023—although that could neck, but hopefully by the end of change depending on what 2021 that will alleviate and prices happens in Washington. will return to normal,” said Louis. “Infrastructure construction On the end market side of spending is down and we don’t digital signage, their forecast necessarily know when we will be is fairly bullish for the remaingetting a federal infrastructure der of this year and next, based bill,” said Louis. “Whether or not on expectations of continued the American Jobs Plan is passed higher-than average demand for and in what form it is passed digital signage. will provide potentially a boom

to infrastructure construction spending. But we just don’t have the information yet on what that will look like, so it has not been included in the forecast.”

At the End of the Day As we move into the second half of 2021, there are a lot of ifs, ands and buts. What will the rising infection rates mean for another go-round of containment procedures? (By the time you read this in September you may know already.) Will there be an infrastructure bill and what spending will drive architectural spending and resulting signage demand? And if things go south again and businesses are forced to re-close, will there be any kind of relief bill à la the CARES ACT and other legislation that helped in 2020 and early 2021? Stay tuned. ●

Figure 5. Supply Side

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TEXTILES ─ Industry At Large Hopeful

FASHION AFTER THE

PANDEMIC

What to expect

f the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it’s that unexpected events can turn “business as usual” upside down – and oftentimes quickly. That’s certainly true of the experience of the fashion industry as the pandemic unfolded. And the ramifications continue to be felt as the

uncertainty about when we will see the backside the pandemic remains, as well as what life will look like afterward. In a report published earlier this year, “Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, The State of Fashion 2021,” put forward two potential recovery scenarios. These included an “Earlier

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Recovery” scenario where the industry would experience a sales decline of up to 5% in 2021 compared to 2019. The other is a “Later Recovery” scenario, which seems more likely at this point with the resurgence of the virus around the globe due to a combination of lack of vaccinations and the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant. In this scenario, a decline of up to 15% compared with 2019. In this latter case, full recovery to 2019 levels could not be expected until the fourth quarter of 2023. This industry trauma is due to economic conditions during shutdowns that caused closures and bankruptcies. But it is also due to an acceleration of the move to e-commerce by consumers, as well as greater concerns about the environment and social justice – most particularly the conditions of workers, especially in some Asian countries. And that is driving change in the industry faster than could have been anticipated prior to the pandemic. “The key principles for managing change will be flexibility and agility, alongside operational resilience — a critical capability in an uncertain environment,” according to the BoF and McKinsey report. “To inform decisionmaking, we expect data and analytics to play an increasingly important role, helping companies to track shifts in demand across geographies, categories, channels and value segments. “In a disrupted environment, decisionmakers must be bold. They must develop novel strategies for their assortments or product offering, focused on profitability, value, simplicity and downsized collections, rather than discounting and volumes. They also should create a more

nuanced assessment of store ROI to manage the crisis in physical retail while implementing a truly omnichannel perspective on store operations.” Brands and retailers will respond to this advice in different ways. Some will try to continue with business as usual, and that is likely not a good strategy for future survival. Others will make incremental changes in their manufacturing and supply chain. But the ones that will really break through are those that adopt bold strategies, as the report suggests. And if they don’t, there will likely be a plethora of non-traditional competitors that will step in and do so, especially as younger generations begin to establish businesses that are not hamstrung by tradition. What might those bold moves be? It will vary from company to company, but I believe one result we will see is growth in on-demand manufacturing of apparel and other textile-based products to not only make downsized collections more cost effective, but to also improve timeto-market in an effort to address rapidly changing market trends. And doing so requires harnessing a variety of technological developments, from fiber creation through knitting or weaving, dyeing or printing and cut-and-sew. Whatever they do, we hope they will keep sustainability top of mind. In the end, not only is that good for the planet, but it will be good for business as well. There are examples already of innovative initiatives in place or underway that do just that, and the hope is these initiatives will be successful, will be touted in the marketplace and will encourage others to follow suit.

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154747

Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.

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TEXTILES ─ Industry At Large Hopeful One example is SAI-TEX USA, a subsidiary of SAI-TEX in Vietnam. Its Los Angeles plant is dedicated to on-demand production of denim products in a highly automated environment. While denim is notorious for its lack of sustainability, SAI-TEX has ameliorated that somewhat by launching a denim dyeing factory in Viet Nam that recycles 100% of its wastewater, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the denim fabrics it dyes – and then supplies to LA, among others. Another example is Ralph Lauren’s Color on Demand, a revolutionary dyeing platform that is poised to transform how the fashion industry colors cotton – more sustainably, more effectively and faster than ever before. Leveraging ECOFAST Pure Sustainable Textile Treatment, a pretreatment solution developed by Dow for cotton textiles, Color on Demand expects to result in the use of up to 40% less water, 85% fewer chemicals, 90% less energy and a 60% reduction in carbon footprint compared to traditional cotton dyeing processes. The company plans to integrate this process into its supply chain during 2021 with a goal of using the Color on Demand platform in more than 80% of its solid cotton products. There are also a number of projects in action or underway to reshore textile and apparel manufacturing to North America and Europe. Some of these are designed to create a vertically integrated on-demand manufacturing environment, often reliant on e-commerce and using a variety of digital technologies, including digital print. Of course, the bottleneck in full automation is still in the sewing operation; and though progress is being made in that area, it will be some time before it reaches a point where there is a significant reduction in manual labor.

And that is perhaps the biggest obstacle to reshoring garment manufacturing at scale – the lack of talent in sewing. Here again, there are programs in place that are working to train people in industrial sewing, and those programs are important. For example, ISAIC in the Detroit area, has an aggressive training program in place and runs a factory where the skills can be put to use. They also offer a career path for those who want to take their career to a new level, even dedicating one day per week to training. They have also established partnerships with design schools to offer that avenue to their students as well. According to Jennifer Guarino, who runs ISAIC, historically if someone becomes an industrial sewist, they are pigeonholed as such and have limited career change opportunities; she aims to change that for folks that want to enter the field as sewists and move to other disciplines over time. At SAI-TEX USA, Los Angeles was chosen as a location, according to its President, Kathy Kweon, because there is a substantial pool of sewing labor in the area. One approach they should be commended on is a policy of hiring those who are unemployed rather than poaching from other companies. Kweon notes

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the ultimate goal is to employ about 300 people in the Los Angeles factory. Finding the right talent is a challenge not only in sewing, but across the board – and even across industries in what has become known as The Great Resignation. This is especially true for technicians to repair sewing machines. As more work returns to North America, that means more sewing machines in operation. And that means more service technicians are required. One approach to training both sewists and service technicians for sewing machines is being launched by Shimmy Technologies using gamification and a multilingual approach to make training easier, faster and more engaging, all from a mobile platform. These are just a few of the many innovative activities underway in an environment where the need for innovation and changing the way we do things has become even less negotiable as a result of the pandemic. Supply chain issues, changes in consumer demand, sustainability and time to market are driving

The key principles for managing change will be flexibility and agility, alongside operational resilience. change in textiles and apparel. Some will take an agile approach and adapt their processes to a changing market environment; others will not. Textiles & apparel is a vast global industry, and change does not happen quickly. But there are encouraging signs, and we are hopeful that the industry at large will make the right choices – both from an economic and an environmental perspective. ●

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EVENTS ─ PRINTING United

IN-PERSON The show returns in October with a diverse floor. By Richard Romano

As of presstime, this event was still going to be held as planned. Please check the event website for any changes that may have been announced since.

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his October will mark the second PRINTING United show, a new event—heir to the erstwhile SGIA Expo— that launched in 2019. The inaugural show, held in Dallas, represented the “convergence” of all the disparate silos the printing industry has become in the 21st century, encompassing commercial, wide format, packaging, industrial, textiles and more. As I reported at the time, “Anyone who puts ink on anything is likely to find something of interest; production inkjet presses for small-format printing sat side-by-side with wide-format printers; digital textile printers sat next to screen presses. Vehicles sat ready to be wrapped, and in one part of the show floor, there were flocks of feather flags. There were inkjet corrugated packaging presses. Heck, there was even an offset press.” PRINTING United was a new trade show for a new era, and hopes had been high for the second annual event—but we all know how that went down. In 2020, PRINTING United went virtual and while those who attended it got much out of the online show, it lacked the “je ne sais quois” of an in-person event. So now we are highly anticipating the second annual (or perhaps secondand-a-halfth annual) PRINTING United, to be held Oct. 6–8, 2021, at

the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The convention center offers 1 million square feet to play with—25% more than Dallas—and Mark Subers, president of PRINTING United, expects to fill about three-fourths of that. “If I had to look into my crystal ball, I’d say we’re going to land just about where we were space-wise in 2019,” said Subers. “We’ve got a lot of momentum right now in labels, packaging and mailing and fulfillment. We’re probably down a percentage from 2019 with people just being cautious in 2021, but we’ve expanded in other areas. So it’s a little bit more diverse, but just as much space, or close to it, that we had in 2019.” As for registration, there is no doubt that there is a great pent-up demand to travel, especially to major industry events, although as I write this at the beginning of August, the COVID case numbers in Florida are not especially encouraging. Still, Subers is expecting attendance to be only slightly off 2019. “We expect to land at around 80% of our 2019 numbers,” he said. “We’d be thrilled with 80%, but even if figures come in less than that, we will still be bigger than any previous show we’ve had, aside from Dallas in 2019. We just concluded incredibly successful, sold-out Inkjet and Wide-format Summit events

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in person, showing that business travelers are coming out in full force to support in-person events like these. Our priority is keeping industry professionals safe, while helping them get back to business.” One encouraging factor is that PRINTING United Alliance research recently found that print sales have been on the rise—up 10.4%—the first increase in more than one year. “The biggest number that impacts the PRINTING United Expo is that our index in one quarter went from 39% of respondents saying they were going to spend capex investments in the next 12 months to 60%—21 percentage points in one quarter,” Subers said. “So I think folks are coming out of the malaise. That 39-60% capital expenditure number is really a tell for me about where people’s minds are going to be in terms of where capex spending is going to be happening. I’m really excited about that number as it shows that confidence is growing across the industry.” On the show floor, there will be various application zones and pavilions highlighting the different print sectors. “Apparel is a big focus for us this year where we we’ve got a big apparel zone,” said Subers. “It’s really a microfactory, with lots of equipment and lots of active printed samples. I think it will be a really wonderful experience.” The show floor will also include a packaging pavilion, a Latin American pavilion (with Spanish-language educational sessions), and—as has been de rigueur at events these days, a vehicle wrap area in the PDAA Wide Format Zone. This may sound strange to say, but it will also be welcome to see some heavy metal on the show floor—it’s been the rare event in recent years that had any offset equipment, but Heidelberg

and Ryobi will be bringing their heavy machinery, and there may be more. Outside the show floor, there will be close to 60 educational sessions that cover the waterfront of production, sales and marketing topics. If there was one advantage to the shutdown year it was that event producers built out elaborate virtual trade show platforms—and as much as we may all have Zoom fatigue at this point, there are certain advantages to an online event. How much of PRINTING United’s virtual platform will be retained for the 2021 event? Will it be a hybrid event? “We really took a three-part approach to the PRINTING United Expo this year,” said Subers. The first is a show “preview,” that will start running prior to the physical show. “We’re going to be doing technology previews of things that we hope to see on the floor, all these educational sessions that the editorial team has built out and put together. They’re open to anyone that registers for the show, but they’re not intended to be a standalone digital experience.” The second part is the show itself, of course, and then the third part will be a “wrap up,” or recordings of all the sessions, which will be available through the “Map Your Show” digital experience. There will also be “here’s what you missed” highlights clips. And, of course, there will be a printed “Show Daily.” “It’s going to be a great show,” said Subers. “It’ll be very diverse with solutions, and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone and back into the swing of things.” More info, and any COVIDrelated precautions, can be found at https://www.printingunited.com. WhatTheyThink | Printing News will be in Booth 4652. Stop by and say hi! ●

Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21154720

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DIGITAL & INKJET ─ Digital Print Technology Continued from page 31

Changing Minds with Digital It has taken much longer for inkjet to penetrate packaging than other markets. “There are so many pieces and parts when it comes to package printing that are beyond what production inkjet typically addresses,” Wettersten said. “If we wish to advance inkjet adoption, we have to add more education around the process, which must include the converters.“ OEMs are having conversations with brands, which is great from an inkjet standpoint, but we need to educate the brands on what’s possible beyond just the print stage, as well as the complexity of package design and development. For example, Colgate Palmolive is a $15 billion plus company. Changing their branding communication on packaging is not a conversation with one individual within the organization. It requires a process that will change many minds as it disrupts many parts of internal and external processes. So how do we help brands move digital packaging forward? The industry needs to do a better job of publicizing the marketing wins and the supporting data. Brands as well as the packaging converters need evidence of success. “We are not hearing enough about that,” Wettersten said. “Where is it working? Why is it working? How is it working? If we can bring to the industry evidence of success, the faster we’ll be able to penetrate.” Beyond pure marketing success, brands are also influenced by sustainability factors, because it has been proven their customers care about “green” issues. Major brands are focusing on environmental and sustainability goals by committing to meet new 2025

plastic economy commitments. Industries, governments and even United Nations are pushing for regulatory packaging changes forcing the substrate manufactures to design new films and packaging to help brands meet these goals. By stating that they want 100% recyclable plastics, big players like Colgate Palmolive can shift the industry. “They have already improved their sustainability profile in 99% of the new products they’re bringing to market,” Lawrence said. “This direction is requiring other industries included in the supply chain to also change or innovate.” The sustainability direction is creating more opportunity for inkjet. Inkjet manufacturers such as Barbaran and Jetmaster are creating partnerships for corrugated machines, and ink manufacturers like INX are developing jettable bio-based ink for better recyclability. The value here is that it enables better recyclability of the end printed corrugated. “Brand sustainability is influencing the substrate and the inkjet innovation and all coming together to help corrugated packaging recyclability,” Lawrence said. Across all packaging segments, education on the many marketing, efficiency and sustainability benefits of inkjet – along with the realities of implementing new processes are needed to advance the market forward. ● Mary Schilling is co-owner of www.InkjetInsight.com and the owner of www.SchillingInkjetConsulting.com. She consults with paper mills, fluid and inkjet machinery suppliers and end users. She writes technical inkjet industry and training articles.

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WHAT DRIVES YOUR BUSINESS? Continued from page 39

current supplier? In the case of current customers, what are they going to want/need next?

Sales vs. Cost Sales-driven companies share a key strategic element with customer-driven organizations. It’s one specific part of the customer experience. But it’s not customer satisfaction, which happens on the back end. It’s ease-of-doing business, which is very much about the front end. Sales-driven companies focus on two things, making it easy for their salespeople to sell, and easy for their customers to buy. The opposite of sales-driven tends to be costdriven, and in the printing industry, there’s a specific type of cost-driven that’s especially prevalent. Let’s call that production-driven, in other words, major decisions get made on the basis of making it easy for the company to produce its product, rather than making it easy for salespeople to sell or customers to buy. Now, cost is important, there’s no question about that. So is production efficiency. But we’ve never had a printing company go out of business because it had too much sales. We’ve lost plenty because they didn’t turn a profit. And I am not suggesting that you make it easy for your salespeople to sell by offering crazy-low prices. What I am saying is that there has to be a balance.

The Missing Driver Brian Adam runs a large format, specialty printing company in Milwaukee called Olympus Group. I wrote a book with him last year, called “Rules Of Engagement.” (Yes, this is a plug for the book. More on that in a moment.) I first met Brian when we both spoke at the SGIA Expo a few years ago. I heard him talk about what drives his business, and has from the start. “I went into this thinking,” he said, “that if I build the kind of company that the best people will want to work for, we’ll all be successful.” In other words, Olympus Group is workerdriven, fueled by his and his management team’s efforts to engage with them on every level. Here’s the point. There is no single driver for a successful business. It always requires a balance. But balance is easiest on a strong foundation, and the best foundation is good people. In my experience, most printers don’t put enough emphasis on the quality of their human resources. Rather than cultivating high performance, they tolerate poor performers. That is not a recipe for success. If you’re interested in learning more about “Rules Of Engagement,” please visit www.ROEthebook.com. ●

THE GREAT ASSET SHORTAGE Continued from page 43

strengths as you do purchasing and maintaining equipment. During the great recession, a common theme among companies was “going back to basics” and becoming “experts in these basics.” This required that a company perform a self-assessment to determine its strength and then, in many cases, painfully shed operations that were not core. If there was ever a time to really understand the strength of your workforce, it is now. What are the strengths of our employees? Are we optimizing the use of this asset? Is there someone else with a better asset that could alleviate my problem/shortage? Should I seek a relationship where we (companies) capitalize on our individual strengths while maintaining our

independence? In some cases, are their relationships where we could share employees? If there is one common thing about the printing industry, it is that its people are highly creative. Not just in design and art, but in operations as well. Every printer that I visit has stories of how they figured out how to produce an “it cannot be done” project. Call it “creative” or call it “MacGyver.” Printers find a way to get it done. So, what is stopping us? We need to build general public awareness. We need to be experts at hiring. We need to know our core competencies and find help to cover the holes. We need to deploy our greatest asset, our employees, in such a way as to capitalize on their strengths. ●

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WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Latex Printers Continued from page 49

Again, this is where the versatility of Latex is a boon. “The ability to print onto amazing natural fiber grounds really uplifts anything printed on them and helps to elevate digitally printed wallpaper from being merely a basic sign shop kind of thing to an aspirational, sophisticated offering,” said Young.

The Parallax View “We have been using latex since its inception,” said David Clevenger, owner of Parallax Digital (www.parallaxdigital.com). “We were attracted to it for its cure time and color gamut. As it has

and film, corrugates, acrylic, glass and wood. The Latex units are complemented by UV and dye-sub units. “There are a lot of things to consider when deciding a process for a project,” said Clevenger. “We are always approaching the process from customer expectations and the desired end product.” One feature of Latex that Clevenger especially likes is how the machines print. “The smoothness of Latex inks cannot be achieved with other processes to our experience. It also allows you to maintain green characteristics if the base media is ecofriendly.” One project of which Parallax Digital is especially proud is the décor and signage for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s brand-new headquarters, which included more than 70,000 square feet of material, including their proprietary eco-friendly Evergreen material up to 120 inches tall, as well as SEG fabric lightboxes, including a distinctive LEDbacklit acrylic historical timeline bar more than 30 feet long.

The Inside Look

improved over the years, we are still attracted to it for even more reasons: speed, durability and the ability to stretch where other process cannot.” Founded 25 years ago in Atlanta, Parallax Digital started as a creative and production studio serving advertising and corporate marketing programs and has since evolved into an experienced and versatile signage and graphics print production company, producing, in addition to décor, exterior and interior signage and even exhibit services. They have six Latex units, including a Latex R2000 flatbed. In addition to wallpapers, Parallax Digital also prints on a variety of roll and rigid materials including fabric, vinyl, window shades

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It’s tempting to lump wallRead More… coverings and décor in with Find article at other forms of display graphPrintingNews. com/21154748 ics, but Detroit Wallpaper’s Young makes a good point. “Wallcovering and other interior décor applications used in a client’s home carry an emotional weight that banners or floor graphics or vehicle wraps never will,” he said. “Interior décor applications need to be approached differently than the usual B2B signage mindset. But if the print house can operate at the level it deserves, it’s a wonderful sphere to work in, where technique and design take goods from a commercial printer and elevate them into art.” ●

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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VOTE FOR LATEX! During my outreach for this article, I came across one latex user—in this case a Ricoh latex user— that has a unique niche in the market, one which perhaps stretches the definition of décor a bit. They print and manufacture security cabinets— such as are used in pharmacies, health facilities, military bases, election polling stations, music venues, homeA sampling of American Security less shelters Cabinets’ offerings. (Image courtesy and rehabilitaAmerican Security Cabinets.) tion centers. They can even customize (i.e., wrap) the outsides of these cabinets so that they function aesthetically more like décor than a big metal box just sitting there. American Security Cabinets (https://americansecuritycabinets.com), based in St. Cloud, Minn., was founded in the 1970s originally to manufacture payment boxes for apartment complexes, which evolved into a full complement of secure cabinetry for banks and retail, RX medication disposal, sharps disposal, flag retirement boxes and, perhaps most notably, ballot boxes. They have cabinets in all 50 states and Canada, as well as on military bases around the globe. “Originally, back in the 70s, they started out with little wood boxes, and they turned into metal, stainless steel boxes,” said Kevin Johnson, general manager of American Security Cabinets. Adding any text and graphics to the company’s boxes was a laborious, hands-on process. “We had an old-style cutter and vinyl application that was put on the boxes with the old alphabet soup-style letters on there,” he said. That was the standard until about five years ago. “We got our first Ricoh printer and started doing wraps and different content, specialized signage, messaging and logos on them for our customers. So it was one of those things that evolved.” They had originally been outsourcing these kinds of secure cabinetry wraps, but decided to bring the capabilities in-house. The company

started with a Ricoh Pro L4160 latex printer, but election season and the demand for ballot boxes required them to add more capacity. “When the ballots were running hot and heavy last year, we expanded to a second printer, and brought a Ricoh Pro L5160 on board.” They have also added an EFI Pro 30f flatbed to be able to print on cardboard, coroplast and other rigid materials. The Ricoh latex unit has enabled the company to add far more text and other content than would have been possible in the old days of vinyl Letrasetlike lettering. “There’s a lot of design that goes into it and the content for all the different products has a different focus as to what’s going on in the boxes,” said Johnson. “In the RX world, you’ve got all your dos and don’ts and those kinds of things, and in the ballot world, we’ve had boxes with up to 12 different languages on the side of the box.” This was a big ballot box project for LA County, which required hundreds of ballot boxes with multiple languages. “From an application and design standpoint, trying to squeeze all that content on the cabinets in a very limited space was quite the undertaking.” Like other latex printer users, American Security Cabinets has also been drawn to the flexibility of latex. “We’re using a higher-end vinyl for the application piece, but the flexibility of that working with our cabinets makes it easy for the end, technician to apply it and get a nice even finish on it.” And they are firing up the printers in anticipation of next year’s midterm elections. “It’s gonna kick back up again for sure,” said Johnson.

Conan O’Brien votes using one of American Security Cabinets’ Latexwrapped ballot boxes. (Image courtesy American Security Cabinets.)

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JOHNSON’S WORLD ─ Prefer Print

DEAR MR. SCHWAB Choose print.

ear Mr. Schwab: It was with sadness that I received Charles Schwab & Co’s notice that the summer issue of your magazine On Investing would be the last. As both your client and a connoisseur of printed magazines I can vouch for the quality, professionalism and efficacy of On Investing. I always found at least one tidbit (and usually more) that made reading it worthwhile. I am puzzled by your explanation of your decision to replace your magazine with an email blast to be titled “Investing Insights.” Under the heading, “Why it’s happening,” you stated: “The new Schwab “Investing Insights” will deliver more timely news and commentary better tailored to your needs, interests and goals while also reducing Schwab’s environmental footprint.” I know from your many editorials that by “more timely news and commentary” you don’t mean stock tips, so urgent they can’t be delivered via print. Email isn’t fast enough for such tips either, which would need to be pushed out via sms text messaging or your app. I know that you don’t believe in market timing or day trading. Your print magazine was the perfect vehicle to disseminate your gospel of thoughtful, carefully planned longterm investing. Perhaps by “better tailored to your needs, interests and goals” you mean customized content. Do you know that digital printing allows this as well? If you care to, you could customize every single copy of every issue of On Investing magazine to perfectly match the investing profile of every subscriber. The same technology that lets you customize email enables custom publishing, but with the added credibility, comprehension and retention that print holds over digital media. As for “reducing Schwab’s environmental footprint,” it is a common misconception that digital equals green, but facts don’t support this. The electricity consumed and heat generated by your email blasts far

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exceeds the global impact of paper, a 100% sustainably farmed resource that is also carbon-locking. I’m sad to say I won’t be reading your e-newsletter. I’m Read More… not refusing on principle. My Find article at reason is much more basic. PrintingNews. com/21154820 Even if I found your information of interest, and I do -you’ve earned my attention through years of presenting quality content in your magazine -- I simply won’t get around to it. Your monthly email will arrive along with hundreds of other emails I receive each day. I currently have about 5000 emails waiting to be read. They are out of sight, out of mind, unlike my stack of magazines whose physical presence daily reminds me to keep up on my reading. I also receive phishing emails fraudulently claiming to be from Schwab. Your legitimate email newsletter may very well be deleted by my spam filter, a complication never encountered in print. In closing, let me compliment you and your firm for your excellent utilization of cutting-edge technology. Your incredibly user-friendly website combined with your impeccable live customer service are the reasons you are my broker of record. May I humbly suggest you reconsider the medium of communication that is timeless yet still cutting edge? Of course I’m talking about print. Charles Schwab & Co revolutionized the brokerage world multiple times by bucking trends and giving people exactly the right tools for the job. Once again it is time to be a leader in your industry. Choose print. Sincerely, Steve Johnson ●

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 | September 2021

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