Print
Solutions July 2005
IN
BRIEF: Discussions at the
2005 Manufacturer & Supplier
Print Conference in Philadelphia
centered on how to evolve printing
companies into solution providers
and problem-solvers.
Positioning
Your Plant For the Future
BY
DENNIS MCGARRY, CDC
A
major theme underscored the 2005
Manufacturer & Supplier Print
Conference: The printing plant
of the future needs to be an information
factory. Successful printers today
are seen as solution providers
and problem-solvers, not simply
as manufacturers that put ink
and toner on paper.
The
event, held in Philadelphia in
May, allowed more than 60 manufacturers
and suppliers to attend On Demand
Expo, then meet with their DMIA
peers for two days of sharing
and learning. The Print Education
and Research Foundation sponsored
the DMIA event.
The
commodity position the printing
industry faces as a whole is common.
The challenge for manufacturers
is to grow when their markets
don’t. The conference program
focused on emerging products,
markets and distribution channels,
and it considered how manufacturers
should position their companies
for the future.
The
conference featured industry speakers
and a panel of DMIA manufacturers
who shared their experiences.
The panel discussion gave attendees
examples of how traditional manufacturers
evolved their product mix and
operations.
With
each speaker, the message was
loud and clear: Print buyers perceive
printing as a commodity industry.
Manufacturers must remove that
impression by showing they do
more than put ink on paper. They
must show how they solve customer
problems and deliver comprehensive
document management and delivery
systems.
Tomorrow’s
Products and Markets
Industry
consultant Noel Ward said many
of the products that printers
offer today may have one or more
of the following components associated
with the sale:
•
Printed documents
•
Document fulfillment
•
Document delivery
•
Electronic document delivery
•
Variable data printing
•
Web delivery
•
Web collaboration
•
Database and list management
•
Warehousing
•
Pick pack and ship
Gail
Nickel Kailing, senior editor
of Graphic Communications World,
listed growing markets for the
print industry as a whole. It’s
no surprise that health care is
on top of her list—distributors
often cite the niche as their
No. 1 growth segment. Other growing
markets for document and print
sales include the following:
•
Banking
•
Distribution/wholesale/transportation
•
Financial services (other than
banking)
•
Manufacturing
•
Security
•
Higher education
•
Leisure activity
•
Travel/hospitality
•
Entertainment
Pat
Veverica, a distribution channel
expert, looked at how other mature
industries have developed new
distribution channels to help
them grow and satisfy their distributor
customers. She used network software
pioneer Novell as an example.
Novell structures its dealer “levels”
based on the amount of sales those
dealers pass to Novell. Depending
on the dealer commitment, Novell
places the vendors in a hierarchical
system of silver, gold, platinum
and full “partner”
statuses. Constructing status
levels allows Novell to justify
lower margins for dealers that
don’t make major commitments
to selling Novell products.
One
channel message is evident with
the advent of buyer/seller models
such as eBay and warehouse clubs:
New models will be driven by the
way customers buy, not the way
that vendors sell.
A
Panel of Peers
DMIA
members Dale Dembski, CEO of Data
Management Center, Schaumburg,
Ill.; Tim Dust, president and
COO of The F.P. Horak Co., Bay
City, Mich.; George Phillips,
CEO of ProDocumentSolutions, Paso
Robles, Calif; and Linda Poole-Bova,
president of Primadata Inc., Green
Bay, Wis., told attendees how
their companies evolved while
facing a challenging document
market. Each poised their companies
in different areas of specialization.
Dembski
said documents and document fulfillment
go hand in hand, but due to the
ramp-up costs involved, document
printers should partner with a
mail-processing document fulfillment
company. Dembski shared important
criteria when choosing a document
fulfillment center.
Dust
explained how his company opened
a digital printing facility to
complement the work produced at
The F.P. Horak’s traditional
forms plant. Dust’s presentation
focused on workflow issues surrounding
the creation of the production
facility.
Phillips
explained how his company became
a full-service security document
provider. He described what’s
involved in making a printing
plant a “secure document
facility,” and said the
plant’s ability to commit
to knowledge, training and involvement
has yielded a secure plant environment
customers can trust.
Linda
Poole-Bova described how Primadata,
a mailing facility in Green Bay,
Wis., was purchased by Libman
Business Forms, a traditional
forms printer looking for ways
to get into the complex world
of variable data printing and
document fulfillment. Poole-Bova
announced that Libman Business
Forms would soon become Primagraphics
Inc.
Discussion
facilitator Frank Romano, director
and lead strategist for the Commercial
Printing Strategies Service of
InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, told
the audience it was one of the
best panel discussions he had
ever heard. “It’s
not often that you get such openness
and sharing among competitors,”
he said, “It’s obvious
that these four companies have
really tried to distinguish themselves
in the forms market.”
Initial
planning is underway for the May
2006 Manufacturer and Supplier
Conference. It tentatively will
be held in Philadelphia again,
with the On Demand show as a precursor.
Dennis
McGarry, CDC, is vice president
of manufacturer and technical
programs at DMIA. Email us your
comments at bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
