Quick Printing

I just finished my 2009 travel with a two-day trip to Los Angeles. As is often the case, the trip included an unscheduled hotel night in Atlanta due to a late arriving return flight. When you have a fully booked 767 that gets delayed at LAX for six hours, you’re sure to create some pretty testy reactions. This was certainly the case on this trip.

Despite being told that the delay was necessary in order to fix the airplane so it wouldn’t fall out of the sky, some folks seemed to take it personal. They griped, they argued, they insisted, they called for supervisors, and all too often, they shouted and screamed at the gate agents. None of which did squat to change the situation. Meanwhile, scattered throughout the gate area were individuals who seemed calm and contained. They had the right attitude—Zen, que sera sera, roll with the punches, don’t sweat the small stuff—whatever.

The importance of attitude cannot be overstated. I wonder if those folks who were screaming and swearing would want to hire, associate with, or date somebody who consistently behaved like they were behaving? QP columnist Deb Thompson preaches that we should hire attitude and teach skills. I don’t care how skilled those obnoxious passengers might be, I wouldn’t hire them. I would, however, look for the kind of attitude displayed by those who kept their cool in a bad situation.

This is my last blog for 2009, so I’ll leave you and the year with a quote from Carlos Castaneda: “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.”

Best wishes for the New Year from all of us at Quick Printing.

It was only a matter of time before somebody suggested that perhaps Graph Expo/Print should not be an every year event. I couldn’t disagree more. Despite recent drops in attendance, the annual Graph Expo and its four-year rotation with the Print offer a valuable and necessary resource for the entire printing industry.

Not that long ago there were a number of regional printing trade shows serving the industry, but they have fallen by the wayside. Aside from Graph Expo/Print there are only two remaining shows that could be considered major events—Graphics of the Americas and On Demand. Both of these events have also suffered from attendance declines. GOA has become more and more oriented toward the Latin market and is no longer the major draw for North American printers it once was. On Demand is a digital-only show with no offset component, meaning it only represents one segment of the evolving printing industry.

Graph Expo/Print is the only show with offerings for all industry segments and it has continued to expand its coverage into areas such as wide-format, mailing services, newspapers, etc. It has attempted to change as the industry changes and has, for the most part, been fairly successful. As far as attendance goes, an improving economy might help some, but there needs to be an emphasis on attendee quality as opposed to attendee quantity. Sure, it’s nice for students to attend the show and learn about the industry. It’s also a perk for non-management employees to attend, but neither of these segments buy or recommend purchases.

Vendors have always had a love/hate relationship with trade shows and the recent economic turmoil hasn’t helped things but until there is an effective and efficient alternative to a well-run and comprehensive printing trade show Graph Expo/Print will remain a valuable and viable venue.

I have often said that I really like editing a magazine for the quick and small commercial printing industry. Quick Printing readers are mostly small business people with great entrepreneurial spirit and strong opinions, which they are not afraid to express. I don’t always agree with some of the opinions, but I never find them dull or boring. Not to disparage other industries, but I doubt it would be anywhere near as much fun to put out a magazine for accountants, concrete finishers, or proctologists. I doubt their conventions would be as much fun either.

Now I’m involved as executive editor with two other magazines, Printing News and Wide-Format Imaging. Are those industry segments as much fun as the quick and small commercial segment? Well, it’s really too early to tell, but there are certainly many similarities among the readership of the three publications. For one thing, they are all print service providers, or PSPs in the current jargon. For another, they all are finding that being just PSPs is not going to be enough to grow and prosper in the future.

Readers of all three publications are dealing with digital workflows, competition from electronic media, environmental concerns, business efficiencies, employee retention, equipment acquisitions, regulatory considerations, and a host of other common concerns. Sure, many readers of Printing News are larger commercial printers who also print in larger formats and most readers of Wide-Format Imaging often print even larger stuff on a wider variety of substrates, but the similarities outweigh the differences.

As we move into 2010, you can look for a more consistent exploration of these similarities across the three titles in both print and in our growing electronic media capabilities. Also look for more coverage of the capabilities, concerns, and opinions of their readers. In the meantime, you might want to take a look at the other two websites, www.Wide-FormatImaging.com and www.PrintingNews.com to see what their industry segments are dealing with as we all look to the future.

I’m a print addict, but I am under no illusion that I can improve the health of the printing industry by simply upping my dosage. That’s just too simple. We can’t just urge people to buy more print, we have to get them to buy print differently—as a vital part of the whole communications process.

Those who both predict and lament the decline and possible demise of print are part of a long line of folks who got this technology evolution thing wrong. Television did not kill the movies, as many predicted. In fact, it now provides an even more diverse outlet for films. TV didn’t kill radio either, partly because TV does not offer a drive-time audience. These three communications technologies co-exist quite nicely.

The same will be true with print and electronic communications, although just where and how that balance will be struck remains to be seen. Newspapers are now allowed to count certain online readers in their circulation audit. We put out 43,000 printed copies of our magazine, but we also have a wide variety of electronic products that are increasingly important profit centers. Most studies now show that print can effectively drive traffic to the Web and vice versa. That’s where the future of print lies—as an effective and integrated communications tool.

It should come as no surprise that J.C. Penny will stop printing its “Big Book” catalogue. The company says it is part of an effort to reduce paper usage, but in fact it is a recognition of the reality that giant catalogues covering everything from A to Z are no longer effective. Sears discontinued its general merchandising catalogue in 1993 in favor of niche catalogues such as the one for its Craftsmen tool line. Meanwhile, the public was searching more and more online for products and services.

Print promoters insist that print is a great way to drive people to websites, and it is. However, print needs to be more specifically targeted in order to accomplish this. Gone are the days when the cutting edge of marketing was the 400-page catalogue covering everything from guns to butter churns to complete houses.

That said, nostalgia buffs probably know that at one time folks could order a complete house kit from the catalogue and Sears would deliver instructions and two boxcar loads of materials to build a house. The shipment included 30,000 separate pieces, including 750 pounds of nails, 22 gallons of paint and varnish, and 20,000 shingles. The company estimated that a carpenter would charge $450 to put it all together. I’m told that some of these catalogue houses are still standing, long after the catalogues themselves have ceased to exist.

A little while back, the rumored on-again, off-again merger discussions between Heidelberg and manroland were the talk of the industry. Right now, they are off again, but stay tuned. The latest speculation has the two German press manufacturers, along with the other major German player, Koenig & Bauer, talking to each other about survival strategies.

Monday, we heard that Agfa has agreed to buy the assets of Gandi Innovations, a Canadian maker of large-format printers currently “trading in creditor protection.” We also learned that Canon will make an offer to buy Océ, Europe’s largest printer manufacturer. None of this is too surprising considering the state of the worldwide economy and the sea changes in the printing and graphic arts industries.

What did catch me a bit off guard Monday was the announcement that the three major U.S. printing trade associations plan to consolidate their separate industry leadership conferences (NAPL Top Management Conference, PIA President’s Conference, and NPES Spring Conference) into one major “industry-wide management conference” starting in 2011. Some folks have been agitating for PIA and NAPL to merge and might look at this as a first step, but I tend to doubt it.

It is, however, a smart move considering lagging attendance at the three separate events. After all, the three associations already cooperate in putting on Graph Expo and Print under the auspices of the jointly-owned Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), which will also honcho the combined leadership event. The three will also cooperate in a united campaign promoting print, which is well and good.

The only worry I have with this association event consolidation is the fate of the NAQP Owners Conference, which is the only industry event specifically aimed at quick and small commercial printers—who happen to be the backbone of the industry. It would be a major mistake to abandon this industry event.

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall came down. I was living in Florida and had just recently taken over as editor of Quick Printing when the wall fell. That was a particularly emotional moment for me because I had lived several years in what had been dubbed the world’s largest ready-made prison camp. I’ll freely admit that I got a lump in my throat while watching the telecast of the wall being torn apart by joyous Berliners. I had walked along that wall which divided the city on countless occasions and had driven to and from work every day along the perimeter wire fence with its plowed death strip. I was living there when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia and frightened Berliners emptied store shelves while American and British tanks rushed to the city’s perimeters just in case.

I didn’t know it 20 years ago, but the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. It was a monumental moment I will always remember.

Why write about this sort of stuff in a printing-oriented blog? Because sometimes we need to remind ourselves that there are many monumental and mundane things that take place outside of our own industry and our own businesses that can affect us.

PS: This week we also celebrate Veterans Day. Be sure to thank any veterans you know for their service to our country. They richly deserve it.

Just got back from the NAQP Owners Conference in Austin, TX. Good turnout, good vibes, and lots of good information. As usual, I thought that the highlight of the event was the presentation by NAPL economist Andy Paparozzi on the “New Normal” for our industry. Now let me be perfectly clear, I have heard the term “New Normal” to the point that I am heartily sick and tired of it. However, I forgave the title of the session and paid attention to the contents.

Along with lots of numbers—including some pretty depressing ones on industry sales over the last year or so—Andy offered some solid advice on how to get ready for systemic changes our industry will face as we emerge from the recession. (Notice I refrained from using the term “paradigm shift.” That’s so last decade.) I hope to get him to reprise some of his findings in a future edition of QP, but in the meantime I thought I would share what he called “The Right Questions” that quick and small commercial printers should ask themselves in preparation for the pending economic recovery:

• “What are we doing better today than we did two years ago?”
• “What will we be doing better in two years than we are today?”
• “How are we becoming more valuable to our customers?”

I heartily agree with Andy that if you answer “I don’t know” or “I don’t have time; I’m too busy with the day-to-day operations,” then you have problems that the recovery ahead is not going to fix. That is some serious food for thought.

In a past life I worked for a couple of years as editor of the United Mine Workers Journal. It was a very instructive gig that exposed me to a gritty industry and tough people who risked their lives on a fairly regular basis. I visited many coal mines, both under and above ground, and got a pretty good picture of the dangers involved—both to the miners and to the environment. I bring this up because I recently ran across the term “Coal-powered Internet.” It was used in reference to the ongoing argument about whether printing is more or less environmentally friendly than electronic media.

One side of the argument maintains that print destroys forests and wastes energy because all that paper has to be transported from one place to another. Therefore, electronic media is better for the environment. Aside from ignoring the issue of reforestation and recycling, this argument falls flat when one considers that electronic media require electricity—54% of which comes from coal-fired power plants that are the single largest source of air pollution in the U.S. Add to that the environmental impact of the actual mining process on land and streams—especially with the hideous practice of mountain top removal—and the case for the environmental friendliness of electronic media becomes less obvious.

The fact is that printing and electronic media both have their environmental strengths and drawbacks. They will also to continue to co-exist for the foreseeable future. Only when alternate sources of electricity production replace the burning of coal will electronic media have an environmental edge on print.

It’s the old “good news, bad news” deal. First the good news. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced it won’t increase rates on “market dominant products for 2010.” Those products include First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, periodicals, and single piece Parcel Post. It also includes nonprofit mail. According to the USPS, “This is the right decision at the right time for the right reason. Promoting the value of mail and encouraging its continued use is essential for jobs, the economy, and the future of both the Postal Service and the mailing industry.” This should please printers who are also in the mailing services business.

The bad news, however, is that the USPS is projected to lose more than $7 billion in this fiscal year. That’s the 11th net loss in the last 12 fiscal quarters. Most of that can be blamed on the enormous decline in mail volume—down 20 billion pieces in the first three quarters of 2009. The decline will certainly continue as electronic alternatives to mail put more pressure on mail volumes.

Once again, the losses have prompted calls for privatization, which is an old idea I doubt will soon come to pass. Interestingly, USPS is looking at raising rates on Priority Mail and Express Mail, which are under-priced compared to the private sector competition from outfits such as FedEx and UPS. Meanwhile, 44 cents will get your letter to where it is supposed to go—usually.