Long gone are the days when employees of one national fast-food chain used time cards to punch in for work. Now employees log time using 30 mil plastic cards with magnetic stripes. And even that application has changed, thanks to CMFI Group, a distributorship in Peoria, Ill.
Mike O'Brien, a sales rep with CMFI, has served the fast-food chain since the mid-1990s, when his company established a distribution program for the chain's 400 restaurants. CMFI provides 300 products, including employment applications, cash register rolls and lapel pins for employee uniforms. The fast-food chain worked with a software company to obtain software and equipment to track employee work time electronically. But the cards it originally received were plain plastic cards, adorned only with mag stripes and consecutive numbers.
The fast-food chain had a couple problems with the cards. First, they were bland, and the chain wanted cards to reflect its colorful image. Second, stores ordered the cards from approximately 20 different vendors. For simplicity and cost savings, the chain's corporate headquarters wanted all the cards ordered from one vendor.
Enter CMFI. Four years ago, the distributorship began supplying several thousand cards monthly with the restaurant's black-and-white logo on the front. The cards also include hole punches, so employees can slip lanyards through the cards and wear them around their necks. In addition to tracking their work time, employees use the cards to log in and out when working on cash registers.
CMFI stores products for the
fast-food chain, including the cards,
in two rows in its warehouse. The
distributorship receives 25 to 40 orders daily from the restaurant's 400 locations and runs a pick-and-pack operation to fill the orders.
The account is lucrative, but not without challenges. For example, the magnetic stripes occasionally have defects. O'Brien says tracking down all the defective cards can be difficult. Individual stores fax requisitions to CMFI, which may ship a handful of cards to the stores as needed. CMFI sends the cards in consecutive order, based on human-readable numbers printed on the backs of the cards. If the distributorship discovers errors in 1,000 cards, it's not cost-effective to pay freight to return the problem cards to the manufacturer: Those cards may be scattered at 40 or so different stores. "The key is to just take care of the customer," says O'Brien, who ships replacement cards to stores when defects exist.
From Cards to Key Chains
Georgee Wismar provides two different 30 mil cards to a national homebuilder. The 4-color cards act as incentives to potential homebuyers, luring them with home-related discounts. One card offers $2,500 in upgrades for custom home features, while the other offers $10,000 in furnishings and accessories. Wismar, a sales rep with Houston distributorship BMP Inc., supplied the homebuilder with 10,000 of each card.
Products with Pizzazz
From understated 4-color cards to flashy promotional products,
plastics are in high demand.
BY SUSAN KEEN FLYNN
Plastic product distributors who match customer needs with creative items can flourish. Popular plastic applications include magnets, tags, cards and collectible promotional items.
Samples courtesy of Travel Tags, Inver Grove Heights, Minn.
Plastic Playmates
Whatever plastic product you sell--from cards to promotional products--you have plenty of options for adding to the sale. Consider marketing these companion products:
Plastic Product: Key Cards
Its Playmate: Key-card folders. Many hotels place plastic key cards inside 80# stock folders. The folders include die cuts on the inside to hold key cards. They typically include welcome messages from hotels and spaces for guests' room numbers as well.
Plastic Product: Credit Cards
Its Playmate: Credit-card sleeves. These sleeves, usually constructed of Tyvek, protect the magnetic stripes on plastic cards. Customers can personalize the sleeves with company logos and messages.
Plastic Product: Prepaid Phone Cards
Its Playmate: Direct mail piece. Many companies mail prepaid phone cards to end users. Options range from a paper piece, with the card affixed to it, to a full-color, plastic direct mail piece, with the mailer and card created from the same piece of plastic.
Plastic Product: Imprinted Toothbrushes
Its Playmate: Toothbrush carriers. Clients ranging from dentists to elementary schools may order personalized toothbrushes. Why not suggest plastic toothbrush carriers or toothbrush travelers (which fit around the head of toothbrushes) as well?
PLASTICS FAST FACT:
In 2000, 88 percent of U.S. adults used credit cards, 60 percent used ATM cards and 58 percent used membership cards. Source: Standard Register's 2000 National
Consumer Survey of Plastic Card Usage
The fronts of both cards include a
4-color image of a home elevation, the national homebuilder's logo and the
monetary value of the card. The backs include three signature panels: one for
the customer, one for the homebuilder's sales consultant and another for the new
home center's representative. In addition, the cards include usage instructions,
such as time limits on discounts. "These cards are a wonderful way for the
homebuilder to attract new business," Wismar says.
Wismar provided another homebuilder with
plastic products to help it boost business. When the company built a new
subdivision, it wanted to invite potential buyers to a grand-opening
celebration. All the homes featured swimming pools, so the homebuilder opted for
a beach-party theme. Wismar and her client devised an innovative way to attract
attendees.
BMP supplied the homebuilder with 1,300
deflated miniature plastic beach balls. The distributorship placed the beach
balls, along with rolled-up, grand-opening invitations, inside clear plastic
mailing tubes. Wismar and other employees, who fulfilled the job by hand,
inserted yellow strips of crinkled paper into the tubes and placed red plastic
caps on the ends. The colorful tube invitations were approximately eight inches
long and an inch and a half in diameter.
Such creative plastic promotions are
nothing new for Wismar. She has supplied clients with a range of products, from
plastic kites, Frisbees® and sun visors imprinted with company logos to
run-of-the-mill key chains for trade-show giveaways. "It's all about going to
the drawing board and figuring out what the customer might need next--what might
catch the customer's eye," she says.
Tips for Selling Plastic Products
Catching the customer's eye is certainly important. But so are a few other things, say distributors who sell plastic products. Here are five tips:
3 Convert paper to plastic. Paper-based products may be the heart and soul of your business, but in some cases, plastic may be a better option because of its durability and security. Grace Gushue, president and CEO of Performance Printing Inc., a distributorship in Columbus, Ohio, recently switched a retail account from paper gift certificates to plastic gift cards. The retailer, which operates approximately 160 stores in the Midwest, will debut its 4-color gift cards during the holiday season. The thin-gauge cards, which include the retailer's logo, are part of hang tags the stores will display at point-of-sale locations. Gushue says the store chain converted to plastic cards because they're easier to track, less likely to be redeemed for cash and harder to counterfeit.
3 Think beyond one application. Just because a customer has ordered one plastic card doesn't mean you've exhausted all plastic card possibilities. In addition to opting for gift cards, Gushue's retail account abandoned traditional layaway forms for thin-gauge, plastic layaway cards with bar coding and magnetic stripes to track customer payments. Other ideas for card applications include ID badges, customer loyalty cards and membership cards.
3 Sell security. The use of plastic ID cards, driver's licenses and high-security employee badges is on the rise. And new security-enhancing technologies exist to provide companies with tamper-evident cards. For example, laser engraving allows card issuers to permanently engrave cards with 1,600 d.p.i. text, microprinting, bar codes, logos, signatures, fingerprints and photos. Laser-engraved systems usually rely on a diode-pumped laser to permeate the surface of polycarbonate, PVC and other plastic cards and engrave images at the substrate level. The images are very durable, resist chemicals and withstand physical contact. Alteration is almost impossible without destroying the cards. Laser-engraved cards, which have been widely used in Europe, are gaining popularity in the United States.
3 Use creativity. "Get out of the bubble," Gushue says. "There are lots of ways to do a card." For instance, many distributors automatically envision 30 mil cards when they think of plastic. But for many applications, a less expensive, 10 mil card will work fine. In addition, consider various options for encoding information, such as bar codes, smart card chips or magnetic stripes. Finally, cards now can be personalized on digital presses. Perhaps your customer would prefer highly personalized cards rather than generic ones. Plastic product manufacturers can help you with all these choices.
3 Team up with customers. Aside from working with a reliable manufacturer, be sure to work hand in hand with your client. Together, you can create an ideal product. For example, when Wismar worked on the grand-opening invitation with the homebuilder, the client proposed the beach-ball idea while Wismar suggested the plastic mailing tube.
Susan Keen Flynn, a freelance writer based in Cleveland, is a frequent contributor to Print Solutions. Email us your comments at bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
Thanks to Card Personalization Solutions Co. LLC, Allentown, Pa., and Teraco Inc., Midland, Texas, for assistance.
