Print Solutions Magazine, January 2002 -- State of the Industry; Diverging Paths

any printing pros can relate to Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." The poem's reference to diverging roads is an accurate reflection of the document management industry today. With the continuing decline of traditional forms, many distributors and manufacturers must decide which paths to follow.

"We all started off selling traditional forms, but now we're less of a homogenous group," says Jim Riley, CFC, president of Riley Barnard & O'Connell Inc., a 17-year-old distributorship in St. Louis, and a member of DMIA's Board of Directors. According to preliminary figures from FORMTRAC 2002, DMIA's comprehensive study of the document management industry, the total retail value of conventional forms declined approximately 6.6 percent from 2000 to 2001. The estimated retail value of conventional forms sales last year was $7.1 billion. That value is projected to drop to $6.2 billion in 2005, according to preliminary FORMTRAC figures. (See bar graph on page 56.)

"As conventional forms decline, everybody's scrambling to replace the lost volume," says Ivars Sarkans, president of Sarkans and Associates, a document management consulting firm in Los Angeles. Some distributors are reacting by adding services such as document processing, graphic design and consulting. Others firms are focusing on specific vertical markets, adding in-house printing equipment or venturing into e-commerce.

At the same time, forms manufacturers are increasingly refocusing their companies on growth products such as commercial printing. But refocusing is difficult, Sarkans says, because most manufacturers have huge investments in forms equipment and now compete against distributorships with in-house operations.

"With the blurring of distribution, it has become even more evident that if one member of the channel falters, so does the entire channel," says Peter L. Colaianni, CAE, executive vice president of DMIA. "For our value chain to be effective, suppliers, manufacturers and distributors must all work together as a team to identify and meet the needs of end users."

Print Solutions talked to five successful document management pros who shared details about the successful paths they've taken. By embracing change, their companies blazed new trails to success.

Suncoast Marketing isn't a company that watches from the roadside as opportunities pass by. Flexibility has been a leading factor in the distributorship's success. When it opened its doors in 1977, Suncoast Marketing primarily sold cash register rolls and ribbons. When customers began asking about computer products, the company adapted and began selling computer paper, diskettes and magnetic tapes. Today, it sells traditional forms, labels, commercial printing, envelopes, plastic products, computer supplies and promotional items.

In 2000, Bill Smith, Eubank's long-time business friend and the owner of Smith & Associates, a computer programming consulting firm in Coconut Creek, Fla., approached Eubanks for help with a printing project. Smith was consulting with The Sports Authority on a new employee-discount program that would provide the store's nearly 12,000 employees with five personalized discount cards. During an employee-appreciation period, the cards would entitle employees and their friends and family to 25 percent discounts on store purchases.

Initially, Smith asked Eubanks if Suncoast Marketing could print business cards. "He told me about the application, and he had received some quotes from print shops," Eubanks says. "He couldn't believe how expensive it was going to be. I told him that you don't normally print five cards per person. That's a little unusual." After learning more about the application, Eubanks knew that digital printing was the solution. He and Smith decided to team up on the project.

Suncoast Marketing and Smith provided The Sports Authority with approximately 60,000 business card-sized, 4-color employee-discount cards printed on 100# white coated stock. Each card was personalized with the employee's name, ID number, store number and department. The cards were sorted by store and department, packed in small boxes, and distributed to The Sports Authority's 198 stores in 32 states. The project was completed in one week.

For the project, Eubanks determined how the variable information should be printed, what type of stock should be used, and how the cards would be sorted and distributed. Smith was responsible for the computer programming portion of the sale. He determined the graphics and information The Sports Authority needed on each card, then organized the data in a Microsoft(R) Excel file.

In order to succeed in today's market, distributors must play a variety of roles, Eubanks says. During the project, Eubanks never made a sales call to The Sports Authority or spoke to employees overseeing the project. "Not having control seemed awkward at first," says Eubanks. "But Bill's a very capable person. He never fails to cross a T or dot an I. I have an incredible comfort zone with this now--no concerns whatsoever."

Smith and Eubanks have completed five additional discount-card projects for The Sports Authority and may collaborate on projects for other firms. "With his technological expertise and my document expertise, we can really provide a customer with a turnkey package," Eubanks says.

"One thing that hasn't changed about being a salesperson is that you need to be a chameleon," Eubanks says. "You need to be able to be comfortable in a multitude of different roles, not only in front of your customers, but also in your account development and your account penetration."

Riley Barnard & O'Connell has succeeded by focusing on the health care market, which accounts for approximately 50 percent of its sales. Prior to starting the distributorship, Riley worked for Standard Register, where he called on health care accounts only. Riley's extensive background in the market made it a natural focus for the distributorship. Riley Barnard & O'Connell provides health care firms with traditional forms, labels, commercial printing, stationery and promotional products.

The distributorship has penetrated its health care accounts by introducing new products. Five years ago, the distributorship became a reseller for Colorflex™, a supplier of records management labeling technology, including software and hardware to produce color-coded strip labels. The labels can be printed with bar codes for tracking purposes. The distributorship has introduced Colorflex to other clients, including Boeing, which purchased five systems to track specification files for each plane it builds.

Riley Barnard & O'Connell is also a reseller for Spacesaver Corp., a Fort Atkinson, Wis., supplier of mobile, high-density shelving systems. The systems help its health care clients store large volumes of patient files. Designed for facilities with limited floor space, the shelves can be pushed together when they're not being used. The shelving systems are custom-made based on the size of the items stored and the storage area. Riley Barnard & O'Connell has sold approximately 50 shelving systems to health care, manufacturing and financial markets clients. Spacesaver high-density shelving units and Colorflex products account for 15 percent of the distributorship's sales, and that percentage is growing.