Printing News - August 2018

August 2018

The Resource for Commercial, Sign & Digital Printing

• Workflow Automation: Transforming Print • How to Hire Great Salespeople • Taking Stock of Industry Associations • When it’s Time to Hire a Graphic Designer

The Future of Digital Print for Packaging whattheythink.com/r/90840 Egor Fom Fomin/S in/Shtte httersto rsto st ck.c k com m

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Table of Contents

August 2018

In the Know Events: G7 Training - Clemson University This flexography based training for G7 Experts & G7 Professionals will provide three full days of extensive hands-on practical experience and live demonstrations as well as in depth discussion on G7 methodology.

August 7-9, Clemson, SC

On the Cover

Commercial Printers & Label Printing The latest trends in label design and production.

By Heidi Tolliver-Walker

16 Succeeding in Spite of Print Software’s Weaknesses How a company’s culture shapes its success in overcoming soft ware weaknesses.

By Jennifer Matt

17 Vintage Chic Inside trade binderies, olde world craft smanship meets today’s latest technology.

By Trish Witkowski

18 The Rise of Machines: How Workflow Automation is Transforming Print Choosing the right workflow solution to meet client demands now, and ensure future success.

By Laurie Weller

22 Taking Stock of Industry Associations Review 16 printing industry associations with the business resources you need now.

By Cary Sherburne

28 Canon Launches Océ LabelStream 4000 5-Color UV Inkjet and Flexo Hybrid Press Canon challenges today’s label press market with its strengths in production inkjet.

By David Zwang

PRINT 18 Returns to Chicago’s McCormick Place.

Come learn, connect, get business done and experience the future of the graphic communications industry. www.PRINTevent.com September 30-October 2, Chicago, IL

30 Network Financial Printing Continues to Secure its Place in the Print Industry

Sister Publications

The NFP story: providing error-proof services since 1996.

By Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

Focusing on Production Inkjet's Next Frontier

• Top Tips on Successful Print & Mail Marketing

34 Graphic Arts Companies Feel the Pinch of Aluminum Tariffs

Departments 08 Printing Pulse 36 New Products 38 Classifieds/Supplier Directory

Exclusive Section

• Why White Ink is an Irreplaceable Tool for PSPs

Impact on manufacturers of lithographic aluminum plates—is just the beginning.

By Richard Romano

PLAYIN ING WITH INK & MEDIA A

60-Second Super-Cool Fold of the Week #409 PrintingNews.com/12380206

Inkjet’s Age focuses on the issues surrounding inkjet printing technology. It covers the industry news, trends, products, services, and management issues that will help printers grow business using this technology.

August 2018

The Premier Source for the Visual Communications Industry

Columns 32 When It’s Time to Hire a Graphic Designer

By John Giles

The Heights and Pitfalls of Window Graphics • Protect & Serve: Overlaminates • The Do’s and Don’ts of Window Graphics • Wide Format: Now and Venn • Microfactories and Automation the Stars at TechTextil TexProcess

33 First Steps in Hiring Great Salespeople

By Joe Rickard

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thINK Join the independent community of Canon Solutions America production print customers. www.thinkforum.com Sept. 5–7, Boca Raton, FL

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Coca-Cola brings summer vibes to Riga bus shelters for Fuze Tea | JCDecaux Latvia PrintingNews.com/12422730

Wide-Format & Signage is the business and technology resource for corporate and senior management focusing on issues across the wide-format and grand-format markets.

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SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE CONTENT

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August 2018

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Canon Solutions America introduces a new breed of fast, high-productivity continuous feed production inkjet presses with the Océ ProStream™ series. The series combines the vibrant colors of offset with the variable-data versatility of digital printing — providing a powerful platform for publishing, direct mail printers, and commercial printers.

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Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. Océ is a registered trademark of Océ-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. Océ ProStream is a trademark of Océ-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. ©2018 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved.

For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10006967

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Printing News Group Joins WTT Media to Expand Independent Industry Coverage

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TT Media, the parent company of WhatTheyThink.com, has announced that the Printing News Group is joining the organization to strengthen the industry’s most extensive independent news and analysis platform with both print and digital media covering commercial printing, wide format, labels, packaging, signage, specialty graphics, textiles and other industrial applications of print technology.

Kelley Holmes, former Group Publisher at SouthComm, recently acquired the assets of PrintingNews.com, Printing News, Inkjet’s Age and Wide-Format & Signage magazines. Holmes will be joining WTT Media as a partner and Vice President.

“The printing industry needs a strong independent multi-media resource to provide trustworthy commentary and analysis, discussion of emerging technology and critical industry trends, and deliver advanced coverage of technology demonstrations in areas such as new printing techniques and materials, interactive print and more,” said Kelley Holmes. “I’m excited to team up with WhatTheyThink to develop cutting edge print and digital media products that inform executives about our evolving industry to provide them with the inspiration and insight they need to plan for the future of their businesses,” she continued.

The combined businesses will work in tandem—both creating original content and sharing content for each publication and website—while keeping the unique nature of each intact yet maximizing the content developed by the talented group of industry experts across the entire portfolio.

“WhatTheyThink is a digital native and pioneer in providing high quality commentary and analysis to the industry using the latest web technologies,” said Eric Vessels of WhatTheyThink. “By working together with Kelley, we’ll be able to leverage her print media expertise with our extensive online experience to build a unique cross-platform information source that demonstrates the power and synergy of both print and digital media.”

For more information about the expanded WhatTheyThink and Printing News Group offerings, visit WhatTheyThink.com and PrintingNews.com.

VP, GROUP PUBLISHER Kelley Holmes kelley@whattheythink.com 800-616-2252 x8511

COO Adam Dewitz adam@whattheythink.com 800-616-2252

PRESIDENT Eric Vessels eric@whattheythink.com 800-616-2252

MANAGING EDITOR Richard Romano richard@whattheythink.com 518-290-6584

SENIOR EDITOR Cary Sherburne cary@whattheythink.com 603-430-5463

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tom Crouser Dave Fellman John Giles Jennifer Matt Joe Rickard Phil Riebel Amanda Santiago

Christopher A. Smith Heidi Tolliver-Walker Laurie Weller Joann Whitcher Trish Witkowski David Zwang

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Paul Zimmerman paul@whattheythink.com 800-616.2252 x8515

PRODUCTION MANAGER Connie Wolf cwolf@endeavorb2b.com 800-616-2252 x1679

ART DIRECTOR Barbara Pineiro bpineiro@endeavorb2b.com 800-616-2252 x6316

CIRCULATION Jackie Dandoy jdandoy@endeavorb2b.com 800-547-7377 x1711

SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE For change of address or subscription information, call: 877-382-9187; fax: 847-291-4816 email: circ.PrintingNews@omeda.com mail: PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257

ARTICLE REPRINTS Please contact your account executive

M E D I A

PUBLISHED BY

About WhatTheyThink WhatTheyThink is the global printing industry’s leading independent media organization.

WhatTheyThink offers a wide range of unbiased, real-time market intelligence, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging trends, technology, and critical events affecting the commercial printing, wide format, labels, packaging, signage, specialty graphics, textiles and industrial printing.

WhatTheyThink’s membership subscriber base reaches 140,000 people around the globe, two thirds in North America. Members pay a nominal annual fee to access premium content. Most recently, the company added additional areas of special interest, including finishing and textiles, drawing on industry experts to manage those sections and contribute commentary and analysis. The company also offers video services, webinars, custom content and more.

About the Printing News Group Printing News is celebrating 90 years in the market this year. Over 76,900 subscribers receive coverage of the market through several key avenues, including the best of the monthly content in the Printing News print publication; the Wide-Format & Signage publication; the Inkjet’s Age publication, a special section within the pages of Printing News; and, the web portal PrintingNews.com.

PrintingNews.com is a daily digital data warehouse of content that features web exclusive content, channelized targeted video content, photo galleries, webinars, blogs, and shares more than 53,500 content items that can be accessed globally. Complemented by daily eNewsletters, subscribers can research any company or product in the graphic and visual communications industries through this essential online resource that connects buyers and sellers in the marketplace with real-time lead generation.

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WTT Media, Inc. 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116 800-616-2252 PrintingNews.com PrintingNews.com—the web portal representing content from Printing News, Wide-Format & Signage, and Inkjet’s Age—is devoted to delivering you timely news and multimedia content on a daily basis.

Printing News (ISSN 2380-5056) (USPS 500-850) Volume 41, Number 11 is published ten times per year in January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November and December by WTT Media, LLC, at 2038 Ford Parkway #218, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Periodicals postage paid at Saint Paul, MN 55116 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Printing News, PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257. Canada Post PM40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Printing News, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Subscriptions: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. to qualified subscribers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscriptions. Subscription prices: U.S. $47 per year, $91 two year; Canada/Mexico $69 per year, $128 two year.

All other countries $101 per year, $191 two year. All subscriptions payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank. Canadian GST#842773848. Back issue $10 prepaid, if available. Printed in the USA. Copyright 2018 WTT Media, LLC. 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 from the publisher. WTT Media Inc. does not assume and herby disclaims any liability to any person or company for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. The views and opinions in the articles herein are not to be taken as official expressions of the publishers, unless so stated. The publishers do not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the articles herein, nor do they so warrant any views or opinions offered by the authors of said articles.

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Printing Pulse Bespoke Beatson Clark Bottle Aims To Fight War On Sugar Kolibri Drinks asked Beatson Clark, the Yorkshire-based glass packaging specialists, to design and manufacture a bottle which allows consumers to control the amount of sugar in their drink.

The sugar is stored in the cap of the bottle rather than in the liquid of the drink.

The idea behind the unique design is to allow the consumer to customise the amount of sugar and flavour in their drink, to suit their own taste and preference.

Beatson Clark’s in-house design team worked with Kolibri Drinks from the early concept stage through to manufacture. The brief was to create an elegant bottle which would appeal to the premium retail and restaurant market.

The bottle itself, designed and produced at Beatson Clark’s glassworks in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, is a cone-shaped 300ml white flint flask made from 30% recycled glass on average.

All the sugar has been removed from the botanical drink in the bottle and is stored instead in an elegant cap, so for the fi rst time consumers can decide how much sweetness – if any – they wish to add to their drink.

The co-founder of Kolibri Drinks, Kamila Sitwell, said: “At a time when consumers are incredibly discerning and expect premium experiences in all aspects of branding, standard off-the-shelf bottles wouldn’t work for Kolibri Drinks.

“Beatson Clark worked with us from the very beginning, all the way through consumer and industry testing and the complex incorporation process with the patented cap which enables customisation of sweetness.

“I don’t think many companies are able or willing to go the extra mile to go through a complex and time-consuming process to deliver something truly disruptive.”

Charlotte Taylor, Beatson Clark’s Marketing Manager, said: “We’re finding more and more companies, particularly small businesses with big ideas, approaching us for unique bottle designs. The drinks business is a multi-billion pound industry, and competition is fierce, so they’re all looking for something to make their product stand out on the shelf.

“Rather than being bound by what we can’t do, we take a can-do attitude. This type of bottle is the first of its kind we’ve produced and the finished product looks great. The quality of the glass matches the level of innovative design.”

Flavours in the Kolibri range include: Elderflower & Lime, Strawberry & Basil and Cardamom & Chilli. It’s currently available for purchase in Gaucho Restaurants, M Restaurants and Champneys Hotels.

Kolibri means hummingbird in 30 different languages and is seen as a symbol of joy and freedom around the world.

PrintingNews.com/12421519

PIA Launches Grassroots Call To Action On Aluminum Tariffs; Urges Congress To Relay Print Industry Concerns Printing Industries of America (PIA) has launched a grassroots call to action in response to industry impacts triggered by Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum announced by the Trump Administration on June 1, 2018. PIA members impacted by price spikes on aluminum printing plates are urged to share their stories with Congress. Aluminum is used in the production of lithographic printing plates and the highest quality sources of this input are countries in the European Union, which are subject to the tariff. This input is generally not available for print equipment manufacturing companies to source domestically. Within the past three weeks, major suppliers of aluminum printing plates in the U.S. announced price increases and/or “surcharges” as pass-through costs to customers. “Since President Trump announced Section 232 tariffs on June 1, 2018, the reaction by suppliers in our industry—and the pain felt by many PIA member companies—has been swift,” said Michael Makin, President and CEO of PIA. “Three major aluminum plate suppliers pointed directly to the aluminum tariff as a reason for these double-digit percentage price increases, demonstrating the need for the entire supply chain to collectively advocate for a solution.” “This negative impact was predictable. At the 2018 Print & Packaging Legislative Summit, PIA and a delegation of print equipment suppliers met with top-level Department of Commerce officials to warn of the painful consequences coming down the

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road due to the aluminum tariff,” said Makin. “Unfortunately, we see now that such concern was warranted and we are facing an uncertain reality in terms of how long such tariff-related price hikes will be in effect.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce maintains a product exclusion process that allows importers of aluminum, such as printing equipment manufacturers, to apply for exemptions and receive a response within 90 days. However, the process has been overwhelmed by a huge volume of applications from various industries, and deadlines are not being met. The U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade held a hearing to examine the problems associated with the product exclusion process; PIA submitted a letter for the record as part of this hearing. “If your company is impacted by Section 232 tariffs, sharing your tangible example with lawmakers is vital to help the Trump Administration and Congress understand the real-life impact of trade policy on the printing and graphic communications industry,” said Makin. “PIA stands ready to work with Congress to advocate solutions that both combat unfair trade practices and avoid harming printing companies.”

PrintingNews.com/12421975

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BREAKTHROUGH BRILLIANCE. Meet the world’s first xerographic press able to print mixed metallics with 6 colors in a single pass – the Xerox® IridesseTM Production Press. Command attention with mesmerizing iridescent metallic hues, precise spot embellishments, Ultra HD resolution and a robust suite of finishing options.

Automated to deliver remarkable results and enable untapped revenue opportunities. Embrace your inner brilliance.

Visit us in booth #1621 at Print 18.

xerox.com/bebrilliant

©2018 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Xerox®, Xerox and Design® and Iridesse are trademarks of Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10008702

Printing Pulse New Recognition Program to Debut at PRINT 18 The Products You ‘Must See’ at PRINT 18 Will Be ‘RED HOT Technologies’ The opportunity to see groundbreaking vendor products and equipment is just one reason thousands of industry professionals flock to the PRINT event in Chicago every fall. But with hundreds of booths in the Exhibit Hall, it can be a challenge to really see all the innovative products on display.

That’s why this year the Association for Print Technologies is rolling out the RED HOT Technology Recognition Program, showcasing the newest products at PRINT. The RED HOT Technology Recognition Program puts a fresh spin on the now-retired MUST SEE ‘EMs program—giving attendees a simple way to learn what’s new in the hundreds of exhibitor booths at PRINT. Featuring publishing and printing technology or equipment that has come to market within the past 12 months, the RED HOT Technology Recognition Program highlights the “what’s new” on the exhibit floor. A printed guidebook will indicate the location of each RED HOT Technology in the Exhibit Hall and each recognized product will sport highly visible RED HOT Technology markers. Each of these technologies is then eligible to win one of three RED HOT Vanguard Awards, based on its merit as a game-changer in the industry.

The RED HOT Breakthrough Award recognizes products that build on existing technology to significantly advance its use; the RED HOT Collaboration Award recognizes innovative new products that result from a combination of technologies from different manufacturers; and, the RED HOT Pioneer Award will be given to a product that is the first of its kind or entirely new to this industry.

“Attendees tell us that one of the most exciting parts about visiting the Exhibit Hall at PRINT is the opportunity to see all of the latest products and technology in one place,” said Julie Shaffer, Association for PRINT Technologies associate vice president, program and community development, and head of the RED HOT Technologies program. “This new program showcases the ‘what’s new’ without judgement, and through the Vanguard Awards, recognizes technology that breaks new ground, opening new markets and business opportunities within the industry.”

PrintingNews.com/12422705

Two Sides Releases New “Print and Paper Myths and Facts” Booklet for North America One of Two Sides’ key resources, the Print and Paper Myths and Facts booklet, has been updated with recent facts and references from the U.S. and Canada. Version 4 of the booklet includes six Myths and Facts related to the key environmental and social features of print and paper such as sustainable forest management, carbon footprint, electronic communications, recycling and more.

Here are a few key facts from the new booklet: • Net forest area in the U.S. has been stable since the early 1900s and has increased from 754 to 766 million acres between 2005 and 2015. Net volume of growing stock increased by over 10% between 2005 and 2015.

• Canada’s forest area of 857 million acres has been quite stable over the past 25 years.

• Globally, only about 10% of the world’s forests are certified – the majority of which are in North America.

By sourcing certified products from a variety of credible standards, buyers are sending a message that they support sound forestry.

Two Sides member companies can personalize and cobrand the booklet to describe their organization and approach to sustainability and the environment. For more information, please contact Two Sides North America at info@ twosidesna.org.

PrintingNews.com/12420212

Microsoft to Host Idealliance BrandQ Certification & Training at its Global Headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Idealliance, a global thought leader in the graphic communications industry and a non-profit organization with 11 strategically located offices around the world, has partnered with Microsoft to offer BrandQ Certification and Training on September 18-19 at the Microsoft Global Corporate Headquarters Visitors Center in Redmond, Wash. Registration is now open for this indepth training session at www.idealliance.org/brandq or https://tinyurl.com/y9lwkjlp.

Microsoft and Idealliance have built a global partnership to best serve the company’s global packaging supply chain through the BrandQ program by offering this training for brand managers and packaging supply chain experts and by aligning the company’s own print supply chain through the global Microsoft BrandQ Color Reproduction Certification program.

The September training will be led by Ron Ellis, a global brand expert and consultant specializing in brand quality, color management, automation and workflow integration. He is a BrandQ Expert Program Trainer, BrandQ Certified Supply Chain Expert, G7 Expert Program Trainer, Chair of Idealliance’s Print Properties and Colorimetric Working Group for innovation and standards development, ISO Standards expert, and global brand consultant.

PrintingNews.com/12420233

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Network Financial Printing

DIGITAL FINANCIAL PRINTERS

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For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10006866

Commercial Printers and Label Making

T

rends in labels come and go, and design trends, in particular, can change before printers can react to them. To keep pace with what’s happening and how you can best position your company and services, here are some of the trends in label production, both design and production, and how you can capitalize on them.

Simple Is the New Complex Designers are going minimal, while at the same time making a bigger statement with strong, bold colors.

Anne Carton, a designer working with Designhill, a custom design marketplace for sourcing design, puts it well: “It is seen many times that the buyer doesn’t remember the name or even the number of the product, but they remember the color of the product. It is taking the psychology of the buyer towards the product to a whole new level, and designers are taking it more seriously than ever.” (“9 Label Design Trends You Need To Be Aware Of In 2018”, Designhill blog, November 2017.)

Designers cannot create those eye-popping colors in a vacuum, however. Achieving them takes the right substrates, the right inks, and the right color management. It takes the right print partner to make those designs come to life, so give designers a peek at your workflow, and get the results of your work into their hands. Do plant tours, put on seminars, and create and mail samples.

It’s also a great time to upgrade your color management capabilities. “The ability to achieve the kind of colors that designers are looking for requires the fine tuning of color management,” says Donna Covannon, director of marketing NA, at Xeikon. “This is where tools like Xeikon’s X800 Color Management come in handy since they allow operators to fine-tune the color on the DFE.”

By Heidi Tolliver-Walker This is also a great time to invest Heidi Tolliver-Walker has been a in educating label designers about commercial and digital printing the capabilities of digital, includindustry analyst, feature writer, ing inkjet. “With HP Indigo and the columnist, editor, and author for seven-color machines, not only is more than 20 years. Her industry the color gamut wider than CMYK, commentary can be found in today’s national printing publibut it also includes spot colors and cations, top industry blogs, and special colors such as high-opacity behind the scenes in well-rewhite, fluorescents, and metallics,” spected industry and private notes Christian Menegon, worldnewsletters and marketing publications. wide business development man-

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ager, labels and packaging, HP Indigo. “The built-in color tools from Esko allow HP Indigo customers to obtain sharp color match and even completely out-of-gamut options.”

That Extra Something Another way to get colors to pop is using embellishments or varnish. Marsha Frydrychowski, director of marketing for Resource Label Group, a leader in label production with 13 production facilities across the country, sees strong growth in this area.

Resource Label Group has extensive embellishment capabilities, including foil accents, intricate embossing, and tactile varnishes, and Frydrychowski sees an increasing number of designers taking advantage of them.

“Using matte, gloss, and spot varnishes or some level of texture really allows the color to be enhanced,” she says, “and combining different varnishes and textures on one label can create a very unique and sleek effect. The ability to enhance simple designs with these techniques is something we see more and more.”

Because the options for digitally printed labels are less common, and because conventional embellishment tools can undermine the flexibility offered by digital printing, HP Indigo is releasing GEM, a “breakthrough” one-pass digital embellishments solution.

“When connected inline with the HP Indigo 6900 press, GEM enables digital varnish, foiling, and cast and cure in the same pass using the same workflow,” says Menegon. “Now designers can easily add variable varnish and variable foiling to their creative toolsets.”

Let the Substrate Do the Lifting As label designers go simpler, this also means that the substrate must do more of the heavy lifting. This is a great time to test new substrates and order samples of stocks in super bright shades.

Monadock Paper Mills’ MPM Envi96, for example, is a new super bright stock developed to make the most of bright, vivid colors. Lisa Berghaus, director of marketing communications for MPM, notes that uncoated brilliant white stocks like Envi96 are particularly appropriate for the craft and

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September 30 - October 2, 2018 McCormick Place | Chicago, IL USA

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REGISTER TODAY> PRINTevent.com You Know the Why. Weโ ll Show You the How. Owners and Producers of PRINT

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premium markets. “The fact that the ink is sitting on a brilliant white substrate gives the resulting colors more vibrancy and pop,” she says.

To capitalize, try using this time to get a sense for the full range of stocks that work well on your presses. Test, test, and test some more. It might also be time to invest in white ink to create pop on clear substrates if you have not already done so.

“Take vitamin waters, sports drink and juices,” notes Frydrychowski.

“Many beverage companies are using clear labels to showcase the product, so you have to back images and type in white to get the visual effect the brand is looking for. Designers should work with the pre-press /art department at the label manufacturer to ensure the desired effect carries through the way it was envisioned.”

Menegon notes that designers should be cautious when specing substrates simply for their beauty and aesthetics.

“When it comes to labels, the substrate still needs to have the necessary mechanical properties such as UV resistance, scratch, moisture, and adhesion,” he says.

Unique Elements Label designers are also moving toward the truly unique, they are creating their own fonts, mimicking hand-lettering, and bringing back vintage and nostalgic looks to tap into mood and create differentiation.

Along these lines, you are seeing a lot of new “earthy” feeling and environmentally friendly label stocks, even in areas you wouldn’t expect. Lecta, for example, has introduced Metalvac, a high-vacuum 100% recyclable metallized paper, and Monadock has introduced Kona, a line of label stock made from reclaimed coffee bean bags.

To produce Kona, Monadock is working with partners to reclaim burlap bags from roasters around the country (millions of them), shredding the bags, and putting them into label stocks.

“The sustainability component is a design element,” notes Berghaus. “This paper has been of particular interest to brands of beverages using caffeine or coffee.”

To tap into consumers’ affinity for doing good, Resource Label’s Ray Press in Alabama has developed a patented label stock with embedded seeds for consumers to plant the label and watch

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Printing News

the seeds grow. Seed labels consist of a top ply of paper, seeds, and ink that are affixed to a clear film base. The labels can be applied by hand or automatically in a high-speed application.

While not recyclable, the stock helps marketers promote environmental responsibility. “It can used as part of a ‘plant your garden’ campaign, for example,” notes Frydrychowski. “Or to promote a company’s focus on green or environmental issues.”

But you don’t need real seeds to create a similar look. HP Indigo owners can use software called Mosaic, which generates randomly millions of graphical files from a seed pattern.

Cut It Out! Part of the trend toward the unique is growth in die cutting. While many people think of die-cuts in terms of shapes cut out from the label, there is also growing interest in shaping the labels themselves.

Naples Print Source in Naples, FL, just invested in a Trotec Speedy 360, laser die cutting machine to do just this. After spending 18 months developing a business plan, Blase Ciabaton, owner of Naples Print Source, purchased the Trotec to meet the needs of the competitive highend invitations market his company serves, but he is discovering its use in labeling, as well.

“We purchased the Trotec for its ability to cut unusual shapes and patterns,” says Ciabaton, “but then asked, how else can we delight our customers? So I bought some label stock, tested it, and it opened a whole new market we hadn’t even conceived of.”

His first in-house project was cutting out a label in the shape of a client’s logo — a skeleton key. “That was a test to show them what it looks like,” he says. “It’s not something people would naturally think of.”

Resource Label Group sees growth in die cutting, as well. It maintains thousands of dies within its system, ranging from standard shapes to the truly unique. “In a category like this, you see some very interesting designs,” says Frydrychowski. “We had a die created for one customer that allowed the label to spiral up the length of the bottle.”

But designers should consult with their printers before coming up with something totally outside the norm

August 2018

since the label must be easily detachable from the liner and correctly applied to the container.

Expansion of Digital into Heat Transfer As digital production of labels continues to grow, there is a push to see digital make greater in-roads in markets such as heat transfer and in-mold. This has become a real focus for Xeikon North America.

“We don’t normally think of these as digital markets, but all of the value propositions of digital translate here, too,” says Covannon. She notes that Xeikon is putting a lot of effort into developing the prototype market, in particular. “We also see its value for short-run branded products,” she says. “For example, a paint company might want to have unique messaging on five-gallon paint buckets for a trade show.”

One of Xeikon’s customers, CDigital in Baltimore, MD, recently won an award for doing a heat transfer label on a fishing lure. The job was printed on the Xeikon 3030. By printing and colorizing the holographic foil with different images and getting the transferring and application chemistry right, the customer was simply able to hot stamp the foil onto the shape and add the finishing spray. This process replaces the time-consuming process of pad printing, followed by manual spray painting the shape.

“How else could they have done that but digitally?”, Covannon asks.

If you are a designer, HP Indigo’s Menegon emphasizes that you should be choosing your print partners carefully, especially if you will be printing on digital.

“Digital printing is intended for flat surfaces, so heat transfer to round surfaces requires an applicator (such as a blanket) that can be made to a shape and pass the heat on,” he explains. “There is a solution used by some HP Indigo press owners, but they keep their magic recipe for themselves. The same goes for in-mold labeling, where some HP Indigo users are fully dedicated to this application, but keep the process confidential.”

In all, whether it’s color or embellishments or pioneering for digital labels in markets like heat transfer or in-mold labeling, this is a great time to be in the label market. Set your customers’ creativity free. Set your expectations high. See where the combination of your craftsmanship and their ingenuity will take you.

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SUCCEEDING in Spite of Print Software’s Weaknesses This is so important.

Based on zero statistical studies and relying on just my own experience; more than half of all print software failures are due to the fact that the print business’ culture is setup to find reasons why software won’t work vs. finding ways to succeed in spite of software’s inherent weaknesses. This has nothing to do with the vendor.

This has nothing to do with the software. This is something that is 100% in the printer’s control.

How do you know if you have the culture of “ looking for reasons why it won’t work?”

There are obvious signs. Look for statements like, this won’t work with our workflow, our processes are unique, they don’t fit into the way this software works. This won’t work. The word “won’t” is a popular word to listen for. When print businesses are looking for ways to succeed despite the issues, they reach out to the vendor and say stuff like, “this is how we do this today, it doesn’t seem to be ideal in your software—how would you suggest we might change our processes to better optimize the software?” That is a real statement from a real printer about a real software product. This printer is constantly looking at how they might be able to change in order to better use the software solution. It is refreshing to hear, and I’ll share one other thing about that printer – they have been consistently growing 20%+ year over year for many years. I think there’s a correlation.

Software is tricky, especially if you’re replacing a manual, human driven process where

By Jennifer Matt you literally have the option Jennifer Matt has a passion for the of treating every situation difonline world and how print software ferently because humans can can be leveraged to both differentiate your print business and make it do that. The biggest challenge more data-driven. Jennifer writes, with software is that it forces speaks, and consults with printers you to define a process. The worldwide who realize their ability biggest advantage of software to leverage software is critical to their success in the information age. is that it forces you to define a

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Printing News

August 2018

Shutterstock.com

Y

ou purchased print software for your business; web-to-print, pre-press automation, Print MIS or maybe a CRM application and after the sale you discover it doesn’t work as you thought it would. There is this critical time in the life of a software solution where the culture of your organization is either going to look for ways to succeed in spite of the issues or look for reasons why it won’t work.

process. Humans resist this; yet it is the path to consistent execution and the ability to delegate repetitive tasks to software, so humans can do what they do best and you can profitably scale your business.

You (the leaders) can change your culture. When you are faced with a “this won’t work…” comment, respond with “how can we succeed in spite of this challenge?” What is your proposed workaround to this challenge? You have to direct your team to be solution focused rather than excuse focused. If you buy into the fact that software has to work exactly how you want it to work; you will spend a lot of time waiting on software changes or a lot of money paying for them.

Unless you have a truly differentiating workflow—you have to be willing to change to optimize the tool for you.

Workflow processes are easier and less expensive to change than software is. If you can mold your processes to optimize your software tools—you will use less labor, spend less on software, and be more efficient. I know this sounds funny—you paid for the software; shouldn’t it be flexible enough to work how you want it to? Ideally yes but it is very difficult to build software that is both super configurable and still easy to use. When software gets too flexible/configurable it can be too complex so most software vendors are balancing “ease-of-use” and configurability. A print business’ ability to optimize software tools is a great indicator of their ability to compete moving forward. Software must become your largest labor force; eating up all tasks that don’t require the unique skills of a human.

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Vintage Chic T

hroughout my career, I’ve toured many binderies. I’ve seen the latest and greatest in technology, and it’s always exciting and impressive. However, I can’t think of a single bindery I’ve toured where I didn’t, at some point, say “What’s THAT?!?” as I pointed at a weird, often dust-covered, contraption in the corner.

I love the history of the bindery, the craftsmanship, and the amazing machines that have been involved in the process—machines that are sometimes still in use today. So I decided to do something different. As a starting point, I reached out to 15 well-known trade binderies across the US and Canada, and asked them a question they were not expecting to hear: What is the most interesting piece of vintage equipment in your shop that is still actively in use?

I’m starting this series with four of the stories that came out of the survey, and I want to be clear that every bindery I reached out to also has modern bindery equipment in their shop. I’m finding that today’s trade bindery is a wonderful mix of olde world tradition and craftsmanship, and more current technology and efficiencies.

I hope you enjoy this trip back in time!

Diane Newel, Case Binding Specialist, On Line Bindery (Richmond, Calif.)

“The manual rounder, hydraulic backer, and sewing machine in this video were originally from Shuberth Bindery in San Francisco. The sewing machine was made by Muller-Martini, and I think it is from the 1950s. We use these machines for special editions, one-off books, and for small runs of books that need to be handfed or are impractical for the automated machine. The rounder is used primarily for large casebound law books that we produce.

In contrast, we have a stateof-the-art Muller Martini Ventura fully automated Smyth Sewer, which produces longer runs at impressive speeds. We really have the best of both worlds here.”

By Trish Witkowski Click here: https://youtu.be/ Trish specializes in creative solutions z259mOrWMBQ 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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Marty Anson, President, Bindagraphics (Baltimore)

occasionally used to make samples. It was made by Fifield Shoe Machine Company (1930?), and is foot-powered with a wooden base.”

Chad Dillon, Vice President of Operations and Sales, BindTech (Nashville) and Finish Line Binderies (Cleveland) “I have the perfect piece of equipment for you, and it lives at our BindTech facility in Nashville. Th is machine feels like something out of a Frankenstein movie—it’s called the Sheridan 4 Post Embossing Machine. We believe this was built in the 1950s or 60s, but we are not 100% sure about that. If you are looking for some of the highest quality in embossing, debossing, stamping, or die-cutting, this is your machine. We run it throughout the year because of the defi nition this machine can apply due to the amount of pressure it uses.

There is a place for the new, shiny toys and we have plenty of them. But, there is still a craft and an art that some of our legacy equipment provides us. We have found a way to melt the two together to be an industry leader in book manufacturing.”

Kevin Rickard, President, Rickard Bindery (Chicago) “Our 1940-something Christianson hand-fed saddle-stitcher will handle a 22-inch backbone and a 19-inch drop—which is 4 inches more backbone and 5 inches more drop than any modern machine. It was originally used for multiple-up stitching formats, before trimmers were introduced in-line with saddle-stitchers. These days, it is ideal for large format stitched books, such as real estate and corporate promotions, school booklets, rock band tour brochures, and other oversized products.”

What’s Hiding in Your Bindery?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first wave of vintage bindery chic.

If you’ve got something fun to share, I’d love to feature it on a future edition of this series. Please send me a note at trish@ whattheythink.com.

“This eyeletting machine is

August 2018

Printing News

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RISE OF THE MACHINES:

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How Workflow Automation Is TRANSFORMING PRINT

By Laurie Weller

F

or an industry that has been around since the days of Gutenberg, the future is finally here.

In fact, commercial printing processes are rapidly moving out of the hands of skilled artisans – and into the tech-driven world of workflow automation. And, those who embrace this new paradigm will reap the benefits for years to come.

“Integrated workflow solutions help eliminate manual repetition of basic tasks, freeing your staff up for more productive, revenue-producing activities,” said Tony Tarpey, chief operating officer for SmartSoft.

Stephanie Pieruccini, product marketing manager for Crawford Technologies, agrees, noting that workflow

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Printing News

automation solutions can dramatically improve the customer experience for print service providers (PSPs). “The more automation you have in place, the more services you can offer,” she said. “It is hard to have experts in many different areas of print. When you automate processes according to how individual communications need to be handled, that reduces the amount of on-staff expertise you need.”

According to Darrian Young, VP of product management, workflow for Aleyant, workflow automation solutions are also going mainstream because their costs are falling. “Workflow used to be an expensive system you had to install in-house,” he said. “Now there are more subscription and cloudbased options in the market, which are simplifying things and bringing down the costs. So, we are seeing the democ-

August 2018

ratization of workflow – it’s not only for the top 500 shops anymore. Anyone can get into workflow if they want to put the time and effort into it.”

And, doing so is rapidly becoming a must, says Joseph Rouhana, VP/GM, software business group, Xerox. “Print providers are producing more jobs at lower value with shorter turnaround times, so the managing and processing of jobs has to be automated to reduce costs and lead time,” he said.

Susan Cotter, analyst for Madison Advisors, adds, “Workflow automation solutions enable PSPs to manage the chaos. The solutions provide the capabilities needed to take advantage of the PSP’s entire fleet of printers and inserters by putting the right job on the right equipment at the right time.”

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Better Accuracy, Data Security While faster turnaround times and cost efficiencies are valuable benefits of workflow automation, Pitney Bowes VP of global production print, Kevin Marks, emphasizes that the technology is about more than saving time and money. It’s about quality control. “As it relates to critical client communications, we think about the consequences of an inefficient or leaky workflow,” he said.

“We think about regulatory imperatives like HIPAA. If I am in health insurance and, for example, information gets into the wrong document somehow, that can mean regulatory consequences,

Asking All the Right Questions

B

efore you make a purchasing decision on a new workflow automation product, you’ll have plenty to think about. Here are Tarpey’s top questions to ask both your own personnel and potential partners in this space: • Are you committed to making a change, and is your team willing to put in the time and effort required?

• Do you have an understanding of your current workflow, and of how you see it working with the software?

What are your core, must-have requirements?

• How much will it cost, including any modules you may need to purchase?

• What is the subscription model?

SaaS or purchased? Is it cloud or locally hosted?

• What are the costs of implementation and maintenance? Are there hardware costs?

• Training – how long does it take to get up and running? Is training included or extra?

• Technical resources – do you have the IT capacity to manage the hardware and software?

• What about integration with existing applications? Are there API and IT costs involved to use it?

• Is it a good fit for both your current and future needs?

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bad press in The Wall Street Journal, and heavy fines. For many companies, getting the flow of work right is absolutely critical.”

Pieruccini adds that the more handsoff a workflow is, the more accurate it tends to be. “When humans get involved, there tend to be issues,” she said. “When you automate the work, though, you can see who touched it and what processes it went through, and you are able to audit those processes.”

Also related to workflow, capability is also growing in importance as PSPs expand their production environments. “Different printing technologies, such as offset, digital, inkjet, and wide-format devices, all require a unique workflow process,” said Rouhana. “In addition, personalized communications and cross-media technologies, such as e-mail, SMS, and PURLs (personalized URLs), require highly sophisticated workflows. These changes warrant changes in the way print providers think about their workflow.”

Evaluating Solutions While many PSPs recognize the benefits of workflow automation, selecting the right solution comes with its challenges.

“In terms of what print providers need to do before installing a system, a lot of them don’t know what they need,” said Young. “They know they need to automate, but they haven’t done an analysis on what their limitations are and what they are looking to become.”

He adds that some customers have issues managing a large amount of customization, while others struggle with turnaround times. “For others, it is cost,” he said. “It is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. The solution itself will also depend on the personnel. If you don’t have a person who can be dedicated to running the system, that will determine which systems will work for you, and which won’t.”

Pieruccini advises PSPs to formulate a long-term strategy when looking for a workflow automation solution. “Often when service providers shop, they are shopping for something in reaction to a problem,” she said. “A customer got the wrong pages, and that was a huge issue for the customer, and a violation of regulations. So, the print provider

August 2018

reacts by looking for a tool for insertion management. Instead, they need to be proactive. They need to make their production environment more transparent overall, so they can prevent issues – not react to them.”

That requires an integrated, end-to-end solution, says Tarpey.

“Systems that include tools for online estimating and ordering, online proofing, order status, and shipping notifications help empower the customers, giving them more control over the whole print ordering process, and leading to greater satisfaction and increased loyalty,” he said.

Ayelet Szabo-Melamed, director of marketing for XMPie, agrees. “While workflow automation typically covers improving the workflow for processing the jobs once they’ve arrived, you must not overlook how critical it is to efficiently acquire the jobs in the first place. A web-to-print solution is important for automating job acquisition, and one that can connect to other tools, such as an MIS, is important.”

According to Rouhana, the ideal workflow solution should have the flexibility to address a breadth of resources and processes. “Specifications, such as JDF (Job Defi nition Format) and JMF (Job Messaging Format), support interoperability within a production workflow, making it possible to achieve unprecedented levels of automation in digital printing environments,” he said.

For many PSPs, the complexity of all this is nothing short of mind-boggling.

“We may go in and ask, ‘What kind of MIS system do you have?’” said Young.

“A lot of times, they don’t know.”

Marie-Pierre Belanger, VP of digital solutions for Pitney Bowes, advises PSPs to stay committed to automating their workflow, even with the technological headwinds involved.

“These tools can tell exactly how you are using the capacity you have,” she said. “You might be onboarding a lot of small jobs, but not running them on the right technology. Related to human resources, it is an environment and a market where it can be hard to find the best operators to run equipment. So, we have the ability now to measure operator performance. Are they making errors, are there redos, or are they stopping the

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machine to look for materials? You can see if they are setting up their workflow correctly.”

Marks adds, “Ultimately, we provide the ability to see where the time is lost and where lean manufacturing can be achieved over a 24-hour period.”

Operational Shifts While many productivity gains can be made through workflow automation, PSPs need to understand how these tools will impact them organizationally.

“Workflow automation is not about adding another tool to their toolbox,” said Young. “You need to do a process redesign in the company. Often this requires shift ing departments around – so automation becomes about restructuring your organization chart.”

The good news, he adds, is that the tasks being automated are typically those employees find boring. “Designers can be designers again, instead of adding cut lines and bleeds,” said Young. “You can also offer creative

services that you haven’t been able to support in the past, like 3D design. That is how we see it.”

That is not always how employees view the changes, though. “Anything having to do with automation of the everyday production work can be terrifying for them – they think automation is going to remove their jobs,” said Pieruccini. “So, make sure your employees understand that the goal isn’t to replace them; the goal is to make it easier for them, to change things a bit, and get work out the door more efficiently.”

To that end, Belanger notes the importance of employee training.

“We spend time on-site with clients, post-implementation to help them adopt the tool better. The companies with the best success have designated a champion – a person who is willing to adopt and use both the tool and the data it provides – and who has the willingness to push discipline within the factory.”

And, be ready, says Young, for success to come unevenly. “Automation isn’t a zero-sum game,” he said. “It’s a matter or reducing the number of manual interactions or touchpoints.

Sometimes it will allow 100 percent automation, and other times you will achieve a 40 or 60 percent reduction in manual tasks – and all of those are successes. Even if you save half an hour a day per employee, the incremental gains in productivity add up.”

For Marks, the true value these tools bring to PSPs is the ability to see what is working well, and what is not. “It is not enough to have a processing tool,” he said. “The question is ‘How can you use analytics to see what you should be doing this afternoon and tonight – instead of what you have always done?’”

Belanger adds, “And, if you don’t invest in workflow automation, how will you compete tomorrow against those who do?”

Automate Today, Grow Tomorrow ONLINE DESIGN & PERSONALIZATION

WEB-TO-PRINT B2B & B2C ECOMMERCE

ESTIMATING + PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

AUTOMATED PREPRESS WORKFLOW

To request a demo, visit aleyant.com or call 630.929.0104

Aleyant’s cloud-based software solutions can work together, separately or with 3rd party systems to create an efficient automated printing workflow, resulting in increased productivity and reduced costs and errors. ©2018 ALEYANT

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August 2018

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21

Taking Stock of

Industry Associations

F

rom an association perspective, our industry is pretty fragmented. There’s been some consolidation, of course, but for years both service providers and suppliers to the industry have complained that there are too many associations and too many events. Most printing companies are forced to choose one or two of each, or none … and many suppliers are putting more emphasis on their own events and organizations in the form of users’ groups and special customer events. Yet suppliers still feel they must be represented at key industry shows. Is that changing? Are association memberships holding steady, declining or growing? What kind of strategy changes can we expect moving forward? That’s what we set out to discover. It should be noted that we only spoke to associations and groups tied to the core commercial print market. When looking at the broader printing market, the industry is even more fragmented, with groups and events around packaging, textiles, functional print and more. As both commercial printing firms and suppliers branch out into these adjacencies, there are even more demands on their time and resources.

That being said, these organizations offer tremendous resources, critically important in a time of rapid technological and societal change such as we are seeing today. Being aware of what is available and carefully selecting the groups and events that will help printing businesses – and suppliers to the industry – continue to grow and thrive is a smart strategy. No one has the time to attend all of the events or the resources to join all of the associations, but by being aware of what is available and judiciously taking advantage of appropriate resources, businesses definitely benefit. Keeping up with trends, knowing about the latest solutions, finding new business opportunities, learning how to optimize business and production processes, networking with peers, employee education – all of these are benefits these organizations offer. And they need the support of the industry to continue offering them.

I encourage our readers to peruse the profiles here, as well as check out other associations such as FTA, AATCC, and others too numerous to mention. If you are not doing so already, you should also look at involvement with associations and events where your customers spend their time – the CMO Council, DMA, AMA, AdTech, and various industry-specific associations – again, too many to list here. Get involved. Learn. Stay current. And most importantly, network with your peers and your customers. I hope the information contained in the overviews below inspires you to take more action. You won’t regret it.

By Cary Sherburne 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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our readers about all of the great resources available to them through these organizations. Here’s who we spoke to, in alpha order:

Association for Print Technologies (APTech) The Association for Print Technologies (APTechSM), formerly NPES, has been on a journey of reinvention since Thayer Long came on board as President. At 85 years old, the organization is taking a broader and more inclusive approach to its mission in a rapidly changing world and industry. In addition to taking full ownership of the annual PRINT trade show (and sunsetting the GRAPH EXPO name), the Association has organized its headquarters team into “brand managers,” who are dedicated to such things as research and market data, industry advocacy, industry standards, education, value chain engagement, and events. These brand managers are responsible not only for maintaining, but also expanding upon the existing lineup of valuable products and services to drive the organization continuously forward as a relevant industry player. APTech’s 600 members, which include individuals among its member companies’ subsidiaries and divisions, are primarily suppliers to the industry. Part of the renaming from NPES to APTech was to differentiate the organization based on its primary goal—to foster greater engagement and alignment among all stakeholders within the printing value chain to drive sustained global growth for the industry. Membership is stable.

Interviews Conducted

Canon thINK

We conducted 16 separate interviews as background for this article. They are listed here, with a brief overview of each organization’s strategy and purpose. With the industry somewhat rebounding, it’s a good time to remind

This group has only been in existence for about three years and was formed as an independent user group for Canon customers using production inkjet technology. It was established to provide them with a deeper dive into the world of production inkjet, addressing not only technical and sales/marketing issues in that area but also broader industry realities that can help customers succeed. In addition to giving Canon production

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August 2018

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inkjet customers and prospects more ammunition to encourage growth, it is also designed to enable a deeper dive and more relevance than can typically be achieved at a generic trade show event. Membership is growing, as is its annual conference, which saw about 500 attendees in 2017, up from about 300 its first year.

The organization took member engagement to a new level in 2017, measuring 12,000 interactions between members using a low-range Bluetooth bracelet (opt in). When members wanted to connect, they each clicked the bracelet and information was automatically exchanged. The organization paid for the bracelets. They are a bit gimmicky (they light up) but are also a great ice breaker; attendees were more proactively looking to exchange information. Next year, the bracelet functionality will be increased to allow attendees to click the bracelet when they see a slide on the screen they are interested in, and it will be sent to them.

Dscoop

CIP4 CIP4, of course, took the lead on the development of JDF and continues to refine the standard and ensure interoperability. Its goal is to establish and maintain standards for the industry to use and to create a space for collaboration designed to continue evolving the industry standard (primarily JDF, Printtalk and XJDF).

A challenge for an organization like CIP4, which relies on volunteers to carry out its mission, is finding the volunteers who have the time, expertise and dedication to help get the work done.

Membership levels are also affected by industry consolidation, since primary members are corporations. One of the most popular destinations on its web site is the interoperability matrix, which is constantly being updated with information from customers and vendors.

Dscoop is arguably one of the industry’s biggest success stories, with more than 8,000 members worldwide. It was initially founded to support HP Indigo owners and is an independent organization whose by-laws protect the fact that it is basically an HP users group. Over the years, it has expanded to include educational information on other business areas relevant to HP, including wide format and production inkjet. There is no membership fee, but to qualify as a member, the business must own at least one piece of HP equipment from its graphic arts portfolio. The highlight of the organization is its conferences – the largest being in North America with annual conferences also held in Europe and Asia. After two years of holding the conference in convention centers, this year’s conference was back in a Gaylord property and featured about 90 exhibitor/sponsors as well as a robust educational schedule. The North Amer-

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ican conference is attended by more than 2,000 (including 500 creatives who obviously don’t need to own HP equipment), and about 1,500 each in Europe and Asia. But Dscoop is much more than conferences. It is a 365/24/7 resource for its members, through online discussion groups, webinars and more. The organization has just launched a new web platform that includes a member directory accessible to print buyers seeking firms that have HP equipment.

exchange graphic arts files for numerous applications. Its work is designed around building consensus on PDF creation and preflight settings; it provides a collaborative infrastructure for creating and testing international PDF specifications.

More recently, GWG turned its attention to communication beyond color to processing steps, such as embossing, die cutting, etc. They have created a number of specifications that are now standards and incorporated into vendor software.

In other words, the PDF metadata can now contain end-to-end non-proprietary production instructions.

EFI Connect EFI has taken a different approach with its annual users group gathering, EFI Connect. The conference, which is held in Las Vegas in January and attracts about 1,500 attendees, is wholly planned and executed by EFI staff, although it does include a range of external speakers. It was originally established

by PrintCafé as a users’ group for its MIS software, and over the years has grown to include EFI’s entire product portfolio, although there is still a significant emphasis on print software. It features a wealth of educational sessions across several tracks, plenty of time for networking, and an exhibit hall/lab that offers attendees the opportunity to dig into various software and hardware solutions from EFI and the 25 partners that participated in 2018. 2018 marked the 18th anniversary of the conference.

Attendance has been at about the same level for the past couple of years, and EFI is looking to make it a more social setting that facilitates even more networking and information sharing among attendees, partners and EFI staff in the coming years, hoping that will stimulate growth and add even more value to the event.

Ghent Workgroup (GWG) Founded in 2002, the Ghent Workgroup is an association operated by volunteers.

It is an international organization made up of graphic arts users, associations and hardware and software manufacturers, as well as educational institutions. Its mission is building best practices for publishing and packaging workflows.

The resulting recommendations and specifications make it easy for increasing numbers of professionals around the world to successfully create, process, and

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Idealliance Idealliance is best known for its training and certification programs, most notably G7. Over the past 18 years, eight different groups have been merged into Idealliance, most recently Epicomm. Current membership, equally weighted between legacy Epicomm and Idealliance, is over 2,500, with a stable and slightly growing membership including 13 global affiliates and 1/3 of its membership outside the U.S. Idealliance is heavily involved in standards efforts, and offers a wide range of training and certifications (many ISO compliant) for professionals, processes, and systems.

Just last week, the association announced that long-time CEO David Steinhardt will assume the role of President Emeritus, with the CEO role being taken over by Timothy Baechle, effective October 1, 2018. Steinhardt will continue to be involved. It remains to be seen what this leadership change will mean for the organization’s strategy.

Following the acquisition of Epicomm, the association worked to develop a more coherent and all-encompassing strategy that better melds together the value each of those separate organizations delivered. It is unclear at this time how that work will proceed under new leadership.

Part of the Epicomm package was the former MASA and MFSA, and Idealliance – which had key working groups, standards, and training programs in mail – has picked up the reins and expanded advocacy as it relates to the USPS, and mailing and fulfillment in general. Idealliance also continues its research initiatives from its historical predecessor NAPL, with hundreds of

August 2018

printers involved in a quarterly research program assessing financial positions.

A new Media Buying Trends report is in the works to move upstream in the graphic communications supply chain.

On the standards side, in addition to promoting the G7 method for achieving gray balance, Idealliance recently launched XCMYK, an expanded-gamut printing method that yields a much wider color gamut than regular 4-color printing, and is working within ISO on a series of color and packaging workflow standards. The organization also launched its BrandQ program to educate brand owners about how to optimize communication between the brand and the supply chain, teaching methods for controlling and monitoring print quality.

This program is available in an on-site, instructor-led model over several days, and Idealliance is also conducting a number of webinars to help spur interest in the brand owner community. The challenge for Idealliance lies in putting together coherent messaging around its core innovation and education offerings that positions and defines everything it does.

North American Publishing Company (NAPCO) While NAPCO Media is a for-profit operation and not an industry association, it has been a source of information for the printing community for the past 60 years and has broadened the scope of its publications over time to include a wide variety of industry segments. Print-oriented publications include Printing Impressions, In-Plant Graphics, Package Printing and more. Its publications are a combination of a printed magazine and a variety of digital resources, including online newsletters, videos and webinars.

These days, editorial coverage in the print segment is being redesigned to include more “online first” stories, more coverage of adjacent market opportunities, and nuts-and-bolts stories on how to run a printing business better, including a recent issue dedicated to big data.

NAPCO runs a number of events and has partnered with SGIA on the PRINTING United trade show which will replace SGIA’s Expo with its debut in October of 2019. Scheduled for the fall, it is in direct

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competition with APTech’s PRINT show from the perspective of many exhibitors and attendees. More on this show later in the article. In addition to publishing, NAPCO Media offers video services, custom content creation, custom research, video services, creative services, telemarketing and list services. Another extremely valuable NAPCO asset is Target Marketing, which has a larger subscriber base than all of its print publications combined, more than 300,000 active and engaged readers across its various channels. The one obvious area omitted from NAPCO’s portfolio, especially in light of its partnership with SGIA, is a publication dedicated to wide format; however, that omission is in the process of being corrected. Wide Format Impressions will be producing three print issues in the second half of 2018.

for discussion by the group. Since only owners are allowed on the Listserv, they can have more candid discussions than they would be able to if employees had access.

National Print Owners Association (NPOA) This organization is only open to owners of printing businesses – not general managers or sales managers. The organization has about 300 members and is chaired by a printing company owner for a 2-year term. NPOA hires support from PIA for some back-end operations in lieu of hiring an Executive Director but is independent from PIA. The goal is to boost membership to 500. NPOA identifies its core membership as any printing company up to about $3.5 million in annual revenues. These are the companies that are likely to get the most benefit from belonging, though larger companies can also join. The majority of members fall in the $750,000 to $1 million range, with one member having $5 million in annual revenues. For most members, this is the only association they belong to. It has a very active Listserv where members can post questions

PODi PODi, managed by consulting firm Caslon, was initially established to develop a variable data language for digital printing (Personalized Print Mark-Up Language/PPML). Once that standard was developed, about five years ago, the organization saw an educational need to help print service providers/marketing services providers more effectively use variable data in creative ways. Over the last several years, the organization has built an impressive library of more than 500 case studies accessible to members.

These demonstrate clever uses of variable data and web-to-print. In addition to its extensive library of detailed case studies, PODi also offers a series of

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August 2018

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sales tools and training focused on the solutions selling process. They also developed software (Zenarate) that allows sales professionals to practice their sales pitches. An example of what a good sales call would look like is posted. Users can view the clip and practice their own version of the pitch. When they are satisfied with it, they can share it with their manager or coach. PODi’s biggest challenge appears to be the ubiquity of personalized communications, the already well-underway transition of many companies from print service provider to marketing services provider, and the focus vendor user groups have placed on this topic. When companies must choose between PODi and other options using limited resources, they may be more likely to choose a vendor organization representing a key part of their production platforms; i.e., a shop that is primarily an HP shop might prefer Dscoop, while a Canon shop may prefer to invest resources in Canon thINK.

Printing Industries of America (PIA) plus Printing Industries of the South (PIS) and PPI (Pacific Northwest) PIA is the largest of the North American industry associations with about 6,000 members, rivaled only by Dscoop. PIA reports that membership is slightly declining, due to consolidation, and the affiliates we spoke to (who actually sign up the members) echoed the difficulty of achieving significant membership growth. From headquarters, PIA sees itself as the technology arm of the industry and ranks reliable and trustworthy information and data, as well as its lobbying efforts, as its key member benefits. PIA employs full-time lobbyists that work in Washington D.C. to protect the interests of the printing industry, especially with respect to regulations and taxation. Headquarters supports the affiliates as needed, with many of the affiliates turning to PIA for support in areas such as human resources, workplace safety and more. Until very recently, PIA was the parent organization of the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF). That group’s board decided to spin itself out from under PIA management in order to broaden its efforts to working with other organizations like EDSF. PIA is still the parent organization

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of TAGA (profile below). PIA also offers educational and certification opportunities through its revamped iLearning platform, which includes nearly 30 courses available at no cost to printer members. The association also runs a number of conferences including the Color Conference, Continuous Improvement, the Presidents Conference, Automation Ready!, and Inkjet Ready!, among others. While membership is on a slight downward decline, conference attendance is booming, with PIA reporting the best attendance in years at all of its conferences in 2017. PIA is collaborating with SGIA on a number of fronts, and it remains to be seen whether there will be even closer cooperation.

SGIA SGIA has just over 3,000 members and is growing; the organization added 380 members in 2017, partly due to the fact that it enabled individual memberships, where in the past there had only been organizational memberships. About 154 educator communities representing all educational levels are members. Last fall a student membership was instituted.

Any student that is matriculating at a member graphic arts program can be enrolled for free during school and for two years afterward; of the 380 new members last year, 200 were students who joined under this program. The rest was made up of 80+ individuals and about 100 new corporate members. Under the leadership of its current CEO, SGIA has expanded its partnering strategy with other organizations, such as PIA, so that members of either organization can participate in the other organization’s activities as though they were members.

SGIA is also talking to other associations (declined to name them) about similar arrangements. This is largely driven by the convergence underway in the industry, with wide format companies looking at commercial print and folding carton, and vice versa … once you put in digital printing technology, there is not a huge barrier to entering adjacent markets. SGIA dues are low relative to other organizations, making joining an easy decision. (All printer members pay $300/year, Supplier members are capped at $1,000/year.) SGIA’s stance is that it is difficult to build a body of knowledge for these adjacencies; and

August 2018

since the knowledge already exists, it makes sense to partner for the benefit of everyone. In partnership with NAPCO, SGIA is repositioning the SGIA Expo to cover all areas of print under the name PRINTING United, including its base of signs & display graphics, as well as commercial print, packaging, textiles and functional printing. The first edition of the joint show will be held in Dallas, October 23 to 25, 2019. It will have a heavy educational agenda with 80 educational sessions planned.

TAGA The Technical Association for the Graphic Arts (TAGA) was established in 1948 and serves CTO, CIO, and R&D management personnel of printers, publishers, and premedia companies, as well as engineers and scientists employed by graphic arts systems and equipment providers, ink manufacturers, and paper manufacturers. TAGA is now operated

by PIA due to financial difficulties in past years and is a relatively small sub-organization with only 110 members, down from 500+ pre-9/11. Its Board of Directors still operates autonomously.

TAGA plays an important role in the industry as a venue where future-facing technical papers are presented and discussed, and where students have an opportunity to interact with potential future employers and share their own research. There were only about 125 attendees at the last conference, a missed opportunity for those who did not attend, especially anyone interested in the future of the industry. The student aspect is an important part of TAGA’s contribution. Through TAGA Student Chapters and attendance at the conference, students can interact with peers and industry professionals. They have the opportunity to learn about emerging technologies from the presentations and papers presented there, and to compete for awards for their own technical research. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts for technical papers that showcase their abilities in technical writing, design and production.

It is an encouragement for the next generation of graphic arts professionals.

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WhatTheyThink WhatTheyThink is a for-profit operation and not an industry association.

It counts its subscribers as members; some pay a nominal annual fee to access premium content while others are covered under corporate subscriber and other agreements. Some members only have access to free content through a basic subscription (Freemium model). Educators and students are able to gain complimentary access to all content. The company continues to add areas of special interest, including most recently finishing and textiles, drawing on industry experts to manage those sections and contribute commentary and analysis.

Between basic and premium members, WhatTheyThink reaches more than 140,000 people around the globe, with about two-thirds being in North America. Its base includes printing and packaging companies, sign & display graphics businesses, digital textile printers, brands, vendors, consultants and educators. The company also offers video services, webinars, custom content and more.

WhatTheyThink partners with most of the industry trade and user groups.

These encompass a wide variety of activities, from content development to barter agreements at events that include video. Most recently, the print resources of SouthComm, including Printing News, Wide Format & Signage and Inkjet’sAge, partnered with WhatTheyThink. Under the agreement, Group Publisher Kelley Holmes will be joining the WhatTheyThink family as well. This combined operation blends WhatTheyThink’s extensive knowledge and experience in the online news and analysis world with the former SouthComm print publications covering the printing industry to form a unique organization dedicated to helping the industry thrive while also encouraging industry players to think out of the box as they ponder the future of their businesses.

Among other things, the newly enhanced WhatTheyThink plans to create an independent, multi-channel media platform for industry events, covering commercial printing, wide format, production inkjet, labels,

packaging, signage, speciality graphics, textiles and other industrial applications of print technology. The result will be a print magazine to be distributed at targeted trade shows and events. The editorial focus will be on educating the event audience about emerging technologies, critical trends, and key announcements during the event. Content will also be published digitally on

PrintingNews.com and WhatTheyThink.com. The first event magazine and show-specific digital content will be launched at the Association for Print Technologies produced PRINT® 18 in the fall and is expected to be available at other industry events, including larger trade shows as well as smaller user-group based events.

For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10005400

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August 2018

Printing News

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Canon Launches Océ LabelStream 4000 5-Color UV Inkjet and Flexo Hybrid Press

By David Zwang David Zwang, travels around the globe helping companies increase their productivity, margins and market reach. With over 40 years of industry experience, David specializes in process analysis, and strategic development of firms in the fields of publishing and packaging across the globe. His expertise in production optimization, strategic business planning, market analysis, and related and has transformed many businesses.

He is currently the Chairman of the GWG (Ghent Workgroup), and sits on many national and international standards bodies.

Please contact him at; david@ zwang.com

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Canon is not just entering the label and packaging press market, but challenging the current label press market with the new Océ LabelStream 4000, a 5-color inkjet hybrid UV press that continues to show their strengths in production inkjet.

Océ LabelStream 4000 As the global market leader in production inkjet, with over 1500 continuous web fed installations, we expected to see Canon entering the label and packaging market before long. That time has come with the introduction of the Océ LabelStream 4000 series, the first production inkjet device in this new market for Canon. Since it is the first, they wanted it to be more than a productive press but also a statement of their intent. In looking at the technologies used and the perfor-

Printing News

August 2018

mance design they seem to be on target.

The Océ LabelStream 4000 is a UV inkjet hybrid press that highlights their inkjet expertise with what they are calling their “Inkjet DNA”. To enable them to jump start the development, and take advantage of significant expertise in this new area, Océ selected two strong partners in the development of this new press: Edale Ltd. for the transport and FFEI for the imaging engine.

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Transport

Imaging Engine

UK based Edale Ltd. is a leading provider of narrow and mid web digital, flexographic presses and converting equipment. They have a long history of building modular inkjet presses going back to their partnership on the AGFA Dotrix, one of the fi rst production inkjet presses introduced at drupa 2000.

The LabelStream is built on the modular Edale FL3 flexo transport system as the base, which allows the base configuration to be extended to include the addition of inline flexo color, embellishment and additional fi nishing options.

Up to 10 flexo stations can be positioned pre-or-post digital to enable digital over printing as well as printing on the adhesive, laminating, foiling or varnishing combined with print in a single process. The finishing can include autoset sheer slitting, and back slitting from job data, as well as sheeting, delivery and a twin rewind.

The Océ LabelStream has a standard digital print speed of 48 m/min and a high-speed mode of 68 m/min, with two print web widths of 13” and 16”.

This provides an impressive productivity range of 950 – 1,672 sm/h. In flexo only mode it can print up to 200 m/min, although it is dependent on feature configuration. The LabelStream includes some very interesting functionality designed to reduce set up times throughout the process. It uses a single-point of operation servo-drive technology with auto-registration and impression setting, plus an AVT inspection system for quality control.

It has a unique hybrid semi-rotary and full rotary die cutting system, with automatic die loading and unloading that automatically synchronizes the die cutting to the digital print. It also includes a web cleaning and corona treatment station, and a delam/relam module with a turnbar that can be used for printing on the reverse side, especially for printing on adhesives such as in peel and reveal applications.

The press supports a wide range of standard label stocks including on a wide range of standard label stocks including coated/uncoated paper, film, PP, PE, PVC, BOPP and metallized film plus selected special substrates from 40 to 450 microns in the standard configuration and 20 to 600 in the extended configuration.

FFEI has also had a very impressive background dating back to their development efforts with Crosfield and Fujifilm on scanners, soft ware and imaging units. Additionally, they have experience in building production inkjet presses including the Graphium, although Canon is quick to point out that this is “not a Graphium”, and while there is some technology cross over, the press design specs prove that out.

The LabelStream includes digital CMYK and digital White as a part of the initial configuration. It uses the new Xaar 2001+GS6U printheads for CMYK and the Xaar 2001+GS12U for the digital White.

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This is an impressive introduction into the label and packaging market for Canon/Océ.

Especially with estimated 2X productivity and approximately 30% lower running costs compared with toner-based soultions.

These heads provide ink recirculation in the printhead and enables ink to flow past the back of the nozzle during drop ejection keeping the printhead primed for reliability. It prints variable dot sizes at HD mode at a resolution of 720 x 600 dpi with 4 grey levels, at standard graphics mode at 720 x 360 with 3 grey levels, and at high speed mode at 720 x 360 with 3 grey levels. This combination provides the speeds and ink control for a range of imaging requirements.

The use of the GS12U printhead provides the throughput necessary for the larger pigment and higher viscosity digital white ink, and unlike some of the current toner based label presses this provides an opacity > 80% on the Alpine digital white at the full standard speed of 48 m/min, or ~67% opacity on the True White.

In addition to manual cleaning, printhead maintenance is managed with a few different automated

cleaning systems, including suction, suction on specific head, wiping, and high voltage purge.

As is the case in many production inkjet systems today, the lightfast CMYK ink set has a wide gamut that can meet international color standards and reproduce a significant percentage of the Pantone library dependent on media. It uses inter-color UV pining to set the inks between colors with a final UV cure. The ink is provided by Canon under their services portfolio.

Workflow Control Jointly developed, it provides complete hybrid machine control and support.

It may start with the FFEI production workflow system or another of the established production workflow systems (such as ESKO) which supports a hybrid approach. LabelStream features include an inks database with ink aliasing & spot color matching tools, dynamic marks and inkjet barcode optimization.

It supports full end to end automation with intelligent job planning for labels and automatic matching of job to die tool inventory.

Applications Canon is positioning the Océ LabelStream 4000 for self-adhesive label converters who support pharmaceutical, personal care, beverages, industrial and other non-food contact uses. This positions it directly at the fastest growing label market. It may also have some limited use in select flexible packaging applications. This is an impressive introduction into the label and packaging market for Canon/Océ. Especially with estimated 2X productivity and approximately 30% lower running costs compared with toner-based solutions.

It will be very interesting to see where they go from here.

Pricing on the LabelStream starts at $760K and can go up to $1.75M. The LabelStream 4000 is expected to roll out to Europe in Q4 of 2018, with the US and other regions to follow. It will be supported by the global Canon/Océ service and support organizations.

August 2018

Printing News

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Network Financial Printing Continues to Secure its Place in the Print Industry The printing and security company, Network Financial Printing (NFP) has made it its mission since opening its doors in 1996 to provide error-proof services to its clients.

By Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

A

ttention to detail is pivotal when it comes to printing. A single misstep can sometimes ruin an entire print order, or worse a relationship with a client.The printing and security company, Network Financial Printing (NFP) has made it its mission since opening its doors in 1996 to provide error-proof services to its clients.

NFP—as its name suggests—supplies financial printing services, mainly to investment banks, law firms, private equity funds and financial advisors. Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, NFP has become New York City’s go-to financial printing provider—and it’s easy to see why. The company boasts a rapid delivery window of four to twelve hours for printed documents and is accessible 24/7 for a wide range of printing needs.

The company was started by President Chris Concannon with his brothers over 20 years ago, and is now being driven by his sons Jack and Thomas Concannon, who serve the company as a Sales Executive and Vice President of Marketing and Sales, respectively. Chris, Jack, and Thomas Concannon spoke with Printing News about their business and where they’d like to see it go next.

No Room For Error According to Chris, after the 2008 market crash a lot of printers disappeared and a void was left in the New York City financial printing industry that once swelled. This presented a unique opportunity for NFP who sought to become the onestop-shop for all of Wall Street’s financial printing needs.

NFP’s print shop is comprised of digital presses, binders, cutters, laminators, and wire punchers (most of which comes from Konica Minolta, according to Chris). In a Printing News profile of NFP published in 2009, it was revealed that all printing and book binding is done in-house.

“We have two of everything,” Chris said, emphasizing NFP’s preparedness. “There is no going down, even if it’s 4am. We have back up for all of our equipment, we even have three pieces of some equipment. Even if we don’t use it for a year, the equipment is here—most shops don’t have that.”

NFP has also invested $2 million on new equipment within past two years to ensure that everything in its print shop remains up to date. On average, NFP delivers anywhere from five to ten print jobs a week, typically for leverage, buyouts, and mergers and acquisitions for major banks. (Some of NFP’s most notable clients include JP Morgan, Capital One, Bank of America, and Barclays.)

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Printing News

August 2018

Chris, Thomas and Jack Concannon in NFP’s print shop.

In addition to distributing printed documents, NFP also electronically distributes many of its documents—accounting for a significant portion of its business.

Confidentiality & Information Security Because of the highly sensitive nature of the documents NFP works with and the caliber of their clients, security of information is of the utmost importance. NFP’s bread and butter comes from providing confidentiality and information security to banks and legal firms on Wall Street, according to Thomas.

“Securing information is a necessity at this point in time, whether you’re sending a personal email, or working with banks,” said Thomas.

To guarantee clients the highest level of security, NFP attained a ISO/IEC 27001 certification—the highest security certification a business can attain. According to Thomas, NFP currently has an impenetrable security system. Chris explained that in order to work with banks, NFP had to ensure that its level of security was up to the standard required of a third party data roaming company, opposed to third party vendors not supplying software such as Cisco (which has to have a slightly higher level of security).

The process of becoming ISO/IEC certified can take 9-11 months, but NFP was able to receive its certification in 6-9 months. Its networks were extremely secure before the process began, which helped speed things along.

Everything in the company needs to be catalogued and financial books need to be made every month during the certification process. And once the certification is received, the company continues to be tested every six months. The testing is relatively simple, and consists of seeing whether or not the system can be hacked, which ultimately benefits everyone.

Continued on page 37

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Digital Original:

When It’s Time to Hire a Graphic Designer P

By John Giles Senior Consultant for CPrint International John Giles is a consultant for the printing industry who welcomes questions from readers. John works with Tom Crouser and CPrint International to help printers prosper.

He is the author of The DTP PriceList that is included in the 2018 Crouser Pricing Guide found at www.cprint. com. If you have questions about making your printing company more profitable, contact John at (954) 224-1942, john@cprint.com or johng247@aol.com.

Find this article at PrintingNews.com/12421115

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rinters who are concerned with the difficulty in hiring a graphic designer may not really need one.

If you can only have one person in the prepress department, here’s why your best option may be a desktop publisher/prepress technician.

Printers are always complaining about how difficult it is to hire a graphic designer because they either want too much in wages or their portfolios aren’t that impressive. My advice is for print owners to stop wasting time looking for the perfect designer and concentrate on hiring a good press technician or desktop designer. Most small commercial and quick printers don’t have much original design work that requires a trained graphic designer. They need someone who can get customer originals ready for press.

Most originals are now submitted as digital files, so a prepress person’s job is to make sure the customer-created file will print properly. Most printers need a desktop publisher for changes, file corrections, or to have something replicated. Like the typesetter in years past, the desktop publisher’s job is to type or import text, choose the correct fonts, styles, justification, paragraph, line, word and letter spacing. They make sure illustrations and color meet specified criteria for printing. They also ensure good presentation, readability as well as proofread and check for consistency of style.

These are the tasks most small printers require.

The graphic designer’s role is to create the visual concept to communicate ideas that inspire, inform and captivate consumers. They also develop branding and advertising materials that integrate with a formalized marketing plan. The graphic designer comes up with the ideas and concepts, and the desktop publishers and prepress staff make it work. Most customers, particularly those with marketing projects, already have a designer and just need technical help with the printing.

If you can only have one person in the prepress department, hire a desktop publisher/prepress technician. Graphic designers quickly become bored with what they consider mundane, dayto-day prepress work that doesn’t require their design expertise. Having a graphic designer doing prepress and typesetting work is like having a full-color press operator run a duplicator press all day. They quickly miss the challenge.

If you think you do want to hire a graphic designer, make sure you can answer “yes” to the following questions: • Do you have enough design work to keep a graphic designer busy and cover their cost? If you are only billing a couple hours a week for true design work, you are better off using an outside contractor.

Printing News

August 2018

• Are you comfortable that you can sell your graphic design services based on value? It isn’t the amount of time used to create the work that sets the selling price. It is all about the perceived value for what the design will accomplish for the customer. Look at prices that graphic designers charge and determine if you are comfortable asking for that amount for your work.

• Do you have a proactive sales staff to sell the graphic designer’s services? This type of work doesn’t just walk in the door. It requires making sales calls to the promising prospects who already buy graphic design services. In many cases, it will also mean the salesperson will be taking the graphic designer on the call. Make sure the graphic designer is as good a “people person” as they are a graphic designer.

• Do you have prospects who use and buy graphic design services? Your best prospects will be your customers who are already buying graphic services from someone else. You don’t want to sell graphic design to customers who will get sticker shock when they see the price. You need to identify customers who consistently buy advertising and marketing material. Amateur graphic design buyers can waste your time. They often have unrealistic expectations of what the design will do.

• Are you comfortable charging premium prices for your graphic design services? Providing a customized, unique design concept that was developed specifically for a specific customer by your staff deserves a high price. If your first thought is “the customer won’t pay this price,” you probably shouldn’t be trying to sell graphic design.

• Are you ready to pay a higher wage for a graphic designer than a prepress technician or desktop publisher? The average wage for a graphic designer is just over $20 an hour. Expect to pay even more for one with more experience.

Graphic design services require a big commitment from a print owner. Before you hire a graphic designer, make sure you already have someone who can provide customers with the technical assistance to get the job printed right and on time.

The profitable print shops have a prepress staff who can work with graphic designers and guide them through the print process. Fill that position before you attempt to add a graphic designer and you will have the profits to expand the prepress department when you are ready.

PrintingNews com

Sales Clinic:

First Steps in Hiring Great Salespeople W

ith an expanding economy and rising optimism, many printing companies are adding new salespeople. There is no greater frustration for printing company owners and sales managers than to hire a new salesperson, only to see them quickly fail.

Since most printing companies have limited time and resources to manage the hiring process, there is little room for mistakes. Even with a robust web presence, e-commerce capabilities and a sophisticated digital marketing program, complex printing solutions do require direct salespeople.

Planning Must Come First

By Joe Rickard Founder of Intellective Solutions Joe Rickard is the founder of Intellective Solutions, (www.intellectives.com), a printing industry consulting and training company.

They work with digital printing organizations to improve their sales, marketing and operational effectiveness. Contact Joe at (845) 753-6156.

We find most hiring mistakes are caused by inadequate planning. Both small and large companies should begin the hiring process by completing the following steps:

What exactly is the job being offered?

Since there is no “one size fits all” salesperson, it is very important to determine the type of salesperson required and what specific role they will take.

Create a job description with as much detail as possible. Here are some questions that will help create a tailored job description: • Exactly what products and services will the salesperson be selling and who will they be calling on?

• Will the salesperson be responsible for new accounts, existing accounts, or generating leads through prospecting?

• Does the candidate need printing industry experience?

• How will the candidate be managed? What is expected on a day-to-day basis? Will they work under close supervision or be expected to work independently?

• How will the salesperson report their activities to management?

• Will the salesperson be involved with estimating, proposal development, pricing, project management, and customer service?

• How much new business and total revenue will be expected in the first three, six and twelve months?

Build the perfect salesperson prototype

Find this article at PrintingNews.com/12421110

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Listing the important skills, knowledge, attributes and traits of an ideal salesperson may be time-consuming, but will save time and energy when the recruiting process begins. List these attributes on a spreadsheet in four categories.

1. General Industry Knowledge. Record the product, industry, customer and technical knowledge necessary to do the job. For instance, does the salesperson need printing foundational

knowledge of file formats, applications, and substrates? Does the salesperson need to be knowledgeable about specific markets or customers?

2. Sales Skills Needed. Has the candidate been successful managing large and complex accounts? What prospecting or presenting skills are required? Does the salesperson need to write complex proposals?

3. Personal Attributes. Often overlooked, in the end, this may be the most important. Some key attributes to consider are honesty, work ethic, timeliness, creativity, confidence, follow-up and attention to detail.

4. Other Attributes That Will be Important.

These could include willingness to travel, social media literacy, education level, valid driver license and web researching skills.

Rank the attributes needed to be a high performer With the four job categories listed, rank each one as: essential, important or helpful. If the candidate does not have a specific essential skill, knowledge or personal attribute, is the company willing to provide the training or mentoring required? Too often employers settle, or discount essential or important job dimensions required, and make a bad hire.

Determine how the required attributes will be measured Perhaps the most difficult part of the process is determining and gaining agreement among those interviewing that the candidate does actually possess the required attributes. This is when candidates are asked probing questions by the interviewer(s) to determine if and how well they possess the required attributes. Using examples from their education or work history, candidates will need to skillfully and convincingly demonstrate that they possess the required skills and behaviors needed to be successful in the position.

Taking the time to execute these specific steps will help minimize the pain and expense of a poor hiring decision, save time since the employer will know exactly what they are looking for, and make the interview process more productive.

Every company, whether large or small, can move to a path of higher sales goals by managing these hiring steps successfully.

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Graphic Arts Companies

Feel the Pinch of Aluminum Tariffs I What started as a threat became a reality in June when the Trump Administration decided to levy a 10% tariff on imported aluminum and a 25% tariff on imported steel. The tariffs are having the biggest impact on manufacturers of aluminum plates—although that may be just the beginning.

“Aluminum is in excess of 50% of our overall manufacturing costs of litho plates and that would be consistent among all the manufacturers,” said Richard Rindo, General Manager, Offset Print, and Vice President, Print Systems Division, at Eastman Kodak.

For Agfa, the 10% tariff was just the start. “As part of this, there was also a change in the ‘preference status’ of a free trade zone that Agfa was operating, making aluminum imports now also subject to a 3% customs duty,” said Gunther Mertens, President, Region North America, Agfa Graphics. “The impact on Agfa is a 13% cost increase on our aluminum imports—aluminum is the single biggest cost element in manufacturing offset printing plates.”

The point of the tariff, it has been said, was to impel U.S. companies to switch to domestic sources of aluminum. Unfortunately, for the grade needed for plates, that’s not an option. “There is no manufacBy Richard Romano turer of lithographic aluminum Richard Romano has been writing in the United States,” said Rindo. about the graphic communications “Alcoa was the last one and even industry for 20 years. He is an industry analyst and author or co-author in one of their most recent SEC of more than half a dozen books. filings, said they had no intention His most recent book is The Home of being in that marketplace. So Office That Works! Make Working for all practical purposes, we at Home a Success—A Guide for Entrepreneurs and Telecommuters, have no choice but to import litho www.homeofficeworks.com. aluminum.”

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Shutterstock

n June, the Trump Administration levied a 10% tariff on imported aluminum and a 25% tariff on imported steel. At present, the tariffs are having the biggest impact on manufacturers of aluminum lithographic plates—although that may be just the beginning. Plate manufacturers are deciding how best to respond, while industry associations are helping to fight back.

There is an out, however. If there is no domestic source of aluminum, a company can apply for an exemption to the tariff, which both Kodak and Agfa have done, and both are awaiting a response. But: enter bureaucracy.

“The administration has provided a process through the Department of Commerce (DOC) whereby a company can make the case that there is no domestically available alternative source, and then they might be excluded from the imposition of tariffs,” said Mark Nuzzaco, Vice President, Government Affairs for the Association for Print Technologies (APTech). “There is an elaborate bureaucratic process set up to handle that and thousands of requests have come in.” According to APTech’s sleuthing, as of mid-July, there have been 2,166 exclusion requests, of which 113 have been granted and 110 denied, none of which have been from APTech members so far; 1,943 are still pending. “There’s clearly a fantastic mismatch of applications and resources to evaluate them and a long waiting line to get into,” said Nuzzaco.

Part of the problem is that a company can’t file a company-wide exemption; it has to file a separate exemption for each individual product they want to exclude. “So that means you have to give them a detailed laundry list of materials that you’re seeking,” said Nuzzaco. For some plate manufacturers that means dozens or more exclusion requests.

In mid-June Nuzzaco met and corresponded with DOC officials to clarify the exclusion process. The DOC confirmed that industry associations cannot file exemptions on behalf of an industry; they must be submitted by individual companies. Another sticking point is that even if an exemption is granted, it’s only in effect for 12 months, after which the application process needs to be repeated. APTech is continuing its dialogue with the

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Commerce Department seeking answers to additional questions like: • Is there an appeal from a denied exclusion request?

• How much detail will the Commerce Department provide for a denied or accepted exclusion request?

• How will customs handle the importation of materials if a company is only granted partial exclusion of their materials, and what reporting requirements will there be?

APTech will report answers to these questions on its “Tariff Portal” that it is launching on its website to bring all the government, media, and industry information together in one easily accessible place for its members. “This is intended to be a two-way interactive site,” said Nuzzaco. “We want our members to keep pace with the frequent developments of this evolving tariff landscape, find the information they need to navigate the complex exclusion process and give us feedback on how they are being impacted.”

(In early June, APTech President Thayer Long wrote to the Administration about the problems the tariff would pose for the industry, available online here: https://www.printtechnologies.org/ IndustryAdvocacy/letter-to-the-president-aluminum-tariff/ The Printing Industries of America has also launched a grassroots call to action regarding the tariffs. From PIA’s press release: “If your company is impacted by Section 232 tariffs, sharing your tangible example with lawmakers is vital to help the Trump Administration and Congress understand the real-life impact of trade policy on the printing and graphic communications industry,” said [Michael Makin, President and CEO of PIA.] “PIA stands ready to work with Congress to advocate solutions that both combat unfair trade practices and avoid harming printing companies.”

And it’s not just the litho plate manufacturers. Companies in the signmaking industry also use a lot of aluminum and steel for signs and extrusions.

“We’re starting to see that the industry is having to pay higher prices for these materials,” said David Hickey, Vice President of Advocacy for the International Sign Association (ISA). “It can be really difficult when suppliers or sign companies are locked into jobs that were quoted prior to the tariffs being put in place, and they don’t have the ability to renegotiate their selling price. We’re

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also hearing that sheet suppliers can’t consider holding prices beyond the current month, or even shorter than that, making quoting future jobs and large programs very difficult.”

The Law of Unintended Consequences has led to some high-profile abandonment of some U.S. manufacturing, such as by Harley-Davidson. That’s not a scenario any plate manufacturer—or any company really—wants to consider... unless it becomes the only viable option. “We have over 200 employees in the United States that are involved in the direct manufacture of litho plates in Columbus, Georgia,” said Rindo.

“You certainly don’t want to jeopardize U.S. jobs because of a tariff—and we’re not saying that we have any plans on doing anything like that. We’re very happy with our Columbus manufacturing plant.”

Still it’s a cost that adds up and companies aren’t able to just eat the extra cost, especially the way the offset printing market has been going.

“Based on the current importation volume of lithographic grade aluminum for plate production in the U.S., we estimate that the total impact of this cost increase is in excess of $20 million annually for all companies who manufacture in the U.S.,” said Mertens, clarifying, “this is not the impact for Agfa, but for the entire plate market.”

At present—or until an exemption is granted—there are two options.

“It is something that we really have to figure out how to address,” said Rindo.

“In the past, we have done everything we can do with productivity increases in our plants, looking for every efficiency we possibly can.”

Both Kodak and Agfa are working to improve production efficiencies so as to absorb cost increases, but there is only so much a manufacturer can do that it hasn’t already done. The only other option is to, as they say, pass the cost onto the consumer.

“We want to make it as financially viable as possible for our customers because controlling their costs is very important to still have print as a viable medium when you look at all the communication choices that people have,” said Rindo. “And it’s very important that we try to keep our customers as cost competitive as possible.”

“If the tariffs remain in effect and if no exclusions are granted, the impact of this cost increase will cascade through

the entire value chain and ultimately increase the cost of print,” said Mertens.

“We feel that the best mechanism to address this would be a surcharge as it is very measureable and can easily be rescinded should tariffs be revoked or exclusions granted.”

Although Agfa, as of post time, has not pulled the trigger on a surcharge or cost increase, since I spoke with Kodak, the company released this statement: Despite internal cost reductions and improved operational productivity, the additional cost from these new US tariffs cannot be sustained by Kodak alone. As such, Kodak is compelled to utilize to institute a tariff surcharge for U.S. plates customers.

Separate from any costs or profits associated with providing Kodak products to customers, the tariff surcharge will be treated exclusively as a pass-through. Our intent is to keep this surcharge separate from product billing, and transparent to our customers. As such, the surcharge will be removed if Kodak receives a positive ruling on the exclusion from the Department of Commerce—or if the tariff itself is lifted. If the company is reimbursed for the additional 10% in aluminum tariffs it has paid, these monies will be turned around as a refund to customers who helped bear the burden of these additional costs.

The other major plate supplier to the industry, Fujifilm, sent this statement: Fujifilm is fully engaged in the administrative process for the review of the proposed tariffs and is working diligently on behalf of its customers to ensure our top quality products can continue to be supplied at competitive prices.

“The bottom line is, it’s bad trade policy,” said Nuzzaco. “It doesn’t help the industry, especially when combined with other tariffs. It just makes it that much worse.” Speaking to this bigger picture, APTech has allied itself with the Alliance for Competitive Steel and Aluminum Trade, a multi-industry coalition managed by the National Foreign Trade Council, another coalition opposing the 301 Chinese tariffs, and the STOPP coalition fighting anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Canadian UGW paper.

“APTech is working to persuade the President to moderate his stance on these troubling tariffs,” said Nuzzaco, “but we are prepared to help our members weather this trade storm for however long it lasts.”

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New

Products Arrow Systems, Inc. 15” Tabletop Slitter Arrow Systems, Inc. is releasing a tabletop slitting unit that will feature a 15” web width. The Arrow Slitter 1500 will allow users to slit media up to 15” using 7 slitting blades. The slitter will also feature matrix removal and dual rewinders making it an all-in-one unit for label converters and sign shops alike. The Arrow Slitter 1500 supports all media types, including most Edge Ready materials, which makes it ideal for customers using Gerber Edge systems to print. It can also be used in conjunction with die-cutters to allow for an easier transition to finished labels. “We found that the industry was lacking a slitter for wider media that is both compact and efficient,” said Shaan Patel of Arrow Systems, Inc. “We believe that the Arrow Slitter 1500 fills that void. The 15” web width allows it to be used with almost any digital printer and finisher, and should help make printers’ lives much easier and free up some capacity on their finishers.”

PrintingNews.com/12418514

GMG ProofControl 2.4 Color management expert GMG is making its proof control software for digital printing future-proof with version 2.4.

Product manager Jens Bloeck explained, “We are meeting industry demands with the support of the digital standard Fogra PSD (process standard for digital production): process stability and quality assurance are playing an increasingly important role in digital printing.”

GMG ProofControl can be used to import and verify control strips for print standards. If the proof corresponds to the target values, then a label is printed out as a seal of approval and is attached to the proof. This is how proofs can be objectively measured and serve as a legally binding basis for an order.

PrintingNews.com/12416905

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Feldmuehle MOB-Liner With its barrier papers Feldmuehle Uetersen GmbH offers food producers the possibility to protect their products effectively against pollutants by mineral oil residues. Peter Kolln GmbH und Co. KGaA relies on this solution and uses the material in the packaging of its oat flakes without any visible changes to the classic paper bag.

The MOB-Liner is a flexible packaging paper made of virgin fibre material that has been specially developed for the requirements of paper-based packaging solutions. Feldmuehle showed that effective protection against mineral oil migration can be integrated into food packaging without the use of film and composite materials. “Brand owners that want to make further progress in the area of food safety have an effective and well-proven product available in the form of the mineral oil barrier paper from Feldmuehle,” said Eckhard Kallies, who is responsible for the company’s Packaging Solutions business area.

PrintingNews.com/12417017

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New

Products X-Rite and Pantone Digital Maturity Model X-Rite Incorporated and its subsidiary Pantone, along with MediaBeacon, Esko and AVT released a new white paper, “The Digital Maturity Model for Brand Packaging,” highlighting the levels of digitization within the brand packaging process.

Consumer packaged goods companies experience continued pressure to produce new and more products quickly. This forces them to assess the current capacity and capabilities of their consumer packaging processes, including packaging workflow, color management, digital printing and coding. Senior leadership at many CPGs are adopting digital technologies and implementing digital automation to cultivate packaging as a core business capability.

“Brands understand the benefits of streamlining processes in order to increase speed to market for their products,” says Cindy Cooperman, Global Director, Brand and Packaging at X-Rite. “Our digital maturity model allows CPG brands to identify their current capability level in developing packaging. It’s also a valuable framework for defining the future strategies, processes, and digital tools required to more effectively address color requirements, drive revenue and improve operational efficiencies across the packaging value chain.”

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GSE Ink Manager Software Plus Efficient Flexo/ o/ Gravure Dispensing and Proofing GSE Ink manager is a comprehensive ink management solution that eliminates es ink-related waste and provides enhanced reporting, for improved business planlanning and batch traceability.

The new software solution offers optimized ink yields through recycling press ress returns, as well as improved connectivity, mobility and reporting capabilities. s.

Its modern user interface offers easy use and extensive search functionalities, s, a job list separating work preparation and ink production, and a modern web interface for seamless integration with other applications, like ink formulation, n, management information and cloud software. With Wifi connection to the dispenser, GSE Ink manager is supported by mobile apps allowing remote da-ta-entry and access to real-time information. GSE Ink manager also facilitatess collection, analysis and presentation of ink-related business information. The operator can view recipe data and ink costings related to each job, store new color specifications for easy recall when jobs are repeated. The software also facilitates ates ingredient tracking through the supply chain, by storing ink batch data about every job.

PrintingNews.com/12416901

Continued from page 30

All of NFP’s documents go through multiple levels of encryption, achieved with different software and hardware before any information or data is transferred—NFP declined to share the services they use, for security reasons.

Data Roaming is a Young Man’s Game Jack and Thomas are making efforts to dominate the financial data roaming market, which as Chris says is a “young man’s game.”

The idea is to focus specifically on cloud-based data-storage

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for mergers and acquisitions, according to Thomas.

NFP has begun the process of looking for the exclusive rights of rights of vendors to do data roaming in the US, but has already begun to do so in Europe. Both Jack and Thomas boast fluency in other languages (Spanish for Jack, Chinese for Thomas) and have hopes to use their language skills to tap into other global markets.

“It’s a natural step for us because all of our clients do data roaming now,” said Chris. “It’s a billion dollar market and it’s growing fast.”

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