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The Right Side of Technology

I remember when I first started in this business in the late ’70s. It was a high growth industry. Information grew rapidly and became more important. The “form” was the most effective way to communicate and distribute that information. We solved problems because we could help customers format and distribute information. We had a natural alliance with technology providers because they needed our skill set. Innovations in fastenings, blown-on labels, program selling and forms management were viewed as innovative, and customers needed these solutions. We were in demand, and it was cool to be in the forms business.

As computers became more economical and plentiful, our industry grew rapidly to provide all the “output” and “input” documents to carry all that information. The industry continued to grow in the ’80s and into the ’90s. But then we started to notice the growth taper off. People used technology to better display information and communicate. The multi-part form faded as laser and thermal printers became more prevalent. In the latter part of the ’90s, with the sudden explosion of the internet, much better ways to display information made the forms business a slow-growth business, and for some products a declining business, despite information growing even more rapidly. With our core product areas declining in growth, we all shifted into providing other solutions and products in growth areas.

But we weren’t encouraged and hopeful. Our alliance with technology, which had been so profitable, seemed to have gone terribly wrong. Instead of creating growth, it was eliminating our products or simplifying them to the point where we could not add much value. Self-seal mailers and integrated products helped stem the tide, but it was clear that our run was at an end and technology had turned against us—or had it?

I remember reading about the coming convergence of print and technology, and we started to see it with desktop publishing and then all the rapid innovations at the front end. Things started to happen in unexpected ways. New companies emerged that had harnessed the power of technology to simplify the painful process of ordering custom print, managing and sorting information, and assuring accuracy and quality at the same time. We started to see that technology could be an ally to the print industry again by harnessing it to complete tasks faster and more economically. Yes, it was eliminating part of what we did, but it also opened up tremendous opportunities for us if we just got on the right side. I think many of us have!

Today, our fastest-growing segment is tied to online ordering because customers want and need it. Now with our movement into 1-to-1 marketing, we have again found another way to ally ourselves with technology and use it to grow our business.

Lately I’m feeling “cool” again. I feel like we do cool stuff, and customers want to talk to us about what we can do. Now I talk about all the cool stuff we do at cocktail parties. Our business feels cool, hip and even sexy because we are on the right side of technology again.

The upcoming Spring Management Conference in Palm Springs emphasizes technology. Take a look at the programming and you will want to be there, because you also want to be on the right side of technology. Come learn about and share with others the cool stuff going on in our industry. You will walk away feeling very hip and even a little sexy yourself.