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Editor’s note: The following letters were part of a discussion that took place on DMIA’s members-only broadcast email system. The discussion centered on a report that predicted a slowdown in the printing industry.
Define the Term ‘Printer’
“The report is based on input from nearly 700 printers.” The members of DMIA are not printers. That’s why we will survive. This includes distributors and manufacturers, as well. Not one of us is actually a printer. The printer is the guy or gal who sets up the press, pushes the button and actually runs the press. The members of DMIA do all the work that is necessary before anything gets printed. Until we stop categorizing ourselves as printers we are not going to make the leap to the next level.
If we are printers, then tell me how. I have never set up a press in my life and don’t want to. That is a whole other profession, which by the way, I have complete respect for. Just as in the past, if we present ourselves as printers to our customers, we are doomed to the price issues. I have been hearing for the last 18 years of the demise of our industry. So far, we are still here going through changes and surviving.
Kathleen Brennan, CDC
CEO
Proforma Info Pros
Galveston Island, Texas
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Paul Harvey once told a story about a man who went into a bar and saw a paper headline that read “Hard Times are Coming.” He went back to his office and cancelled all his capital equipment orders. He ordered everyone to tighten their budgets and call all the vendors to tell them so. When the vendors heard the news, they did the same thing. Eventually the bad news trickled through the business community and his biggest customer called to cancel a big contract. In sadness, he went back to bar to wash his troubles away. The paper was still there on the floor where he saw it earlier. He picked it up and then saw the date. It was 5 years old.
Just a sober thought for those of you who are worried. I am going to ignore the “prepare for a slowdown” warning.
Robb Tipton
Owner
Star Business Products
Kemah, Texas
Catch Up With Technology
Many of us were in the “traditional” business in the ‘70s and ‘80s when it was hot and growing. Form design, construction and an understanding of the end user’s workflow made distributors and manufacturers successful. We are all still experts in information storage, transfer and retrieval. The printed system to do this is changing. Showing a cost justification for a form/label or pressure seal design is no different than showing ROI. Digital color, variable imaging, personalization, database acquisition, database intelligence and fulfillment is the next real growth area for all of us. I’m more excited about this industry today in terms of new opportunities than I’ve been in years.
Two challenges remain. Who will step up to the manufacturing side and who will be the distribution channel? Manufacturers investing literally millions of dollars in color, digital and web-to-print systems have to fill this equipment. Traditional plants must decide if they want to enter this new territory and how they will educate their sales channels. Distributors need to find new manufacturers if their current supplier does not make these moves. Will that be another DMIA member or a commercial supplier (which has another set of relationship challenges)?
Like the fellow from Clemson said at a DMIA meeting years back, “If the distributors don’t move fast enough to fill these investments, the manufacturers will have no choice but to find new channels to sell their products.” It will be a business decision. Maybe the answer is for distributors to hire young kids out of college to sell the new world who are not “fogged” by the past product lines and sales tactics.
Our association has to help all the membership (distributor, manufacturer and supplier) to understand the potentials, markets, new education required, and products, services and other profit avenues. My real concern is that we are not moving as fast as the technology.
It’s going to be a great ride in any case!
Roger Buck, CDC
National Sales Manager
Ward/Kraft Inc.
Fort Scott, Kan.
Show ROI to Avoid Price Wars
Don’t get sucked in by another “gloom and doom” NAPL report on the “printing” industry. Dr. Joe Webb has been blowing that horn about traditional print products for years. This is not ‘news.’
What is news is the innovative flow of products being introduced by many of the DMIA member manufacturers, the entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiasm of many of our DMIA distributor members, the exploding growth of digital print and web-to-print technology and the amazing excitement that was evidenced by the overwhelming success of the recent Graph Expo show in Chicago.
What our industry needs now is optimistic, creative, aggressive leadership dedicated to helping customers improve their business with innovative solutions that provide significant ROI, not just cheap prices. Professional DMIA companies have always thrived in times where the GDP has slipped because those have been the times when customers truly appreciate honest value and creativity.
Lead on by creating ROI for your customers.
Paul Edwards, CDC
President
FormStore Incorporated
Fenton, Mo.