“The world of shorter-run printing”  warrants its own show today, and especially in Canada, where, printers know, runs are getting shorter and margins are getting tighter all the time. Print World, held at the National Trade Centre in Toronto from November 18 to 20, brings vendors, printers, designers, agencies, publishers and more to find how to continue to make a profit in the world of shorter-runs.

Shorter run printing takes an increasing proportion of the total printing volume, and the show that features the world of shorter-run printing has grown as a result. This year’s model brings big-name exhibitors, a major event or two, seminars on sales, management and new graphics technology, some returning favourite features and a new feature, Design City, “a show within a show.”

The program
Seminars
Print World is running three seminars, each costing $75 per person, on Monday, November 20 starting at 11:00 a.m.
Bob Rosen, consultant to top graphic arts firms around the world, will present “The Eight Habits of Highly Successful Graphic Arts CEOs: What every printing company CEO needs to know.”

Sales and marketing consultant David Fellman will present “How to Become a Super Sales Person: 10 ways to push your sales off the chart.”
Bob Atkinson, author and consultant, will focus on how to get the maximum profit from prepress technology in “Making Money on Prepress: New technology — getting it right.”

Print Software Theatre
A visitor favourite at previous Print World shows, the Print Software Theatre gives software vendors 30 minutes each to show attendees their new products. Visitors can drop in to a comfortable education/theatre setting equipped with at 7 x 10-foot screen and the latest in audio-visual equipment. They’ll hear new software tools in image editing, page layout, illustration, Web design, prepress production and workflow.
Adobe is the key sponsor of the Print Software Theatre, and will present three sessions each day of the show.

Professional event: XPlor Canada
Jeff Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer and vice-president of Kodak Graphic Communications Group, will deliver the keynote address at a meeting of XPlor Canada to be held on Monday, November 20, during the show.

XPlor Canada is the Canadian chapter of XPlor International, a worldwide association of document management professionals and companies.

New feature: Design City
Print World has set up a “show within a show” specifically for graphic designers and the vendors who supply them. Design City is a part of the show floor set apart specifically for this market, at the back of the exhibition space.

Exhibitors in Design City include:
istockphoto.com – collection of royalty-free stock photography generated by members
M-Real – importer of printing paper stocks from Europe
Loop Enterprises – European-based communication design, production and consulting company
Marcam Printers – communications, prepress, printing and finishing firm based in Toronto
RGD – the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario

The exhibits
Print World 2006 has drawn an impressive list of major vendors to the graphic arts industry. The full list is available at their Web site, www.printworldshow.com, and will be available on the show floor, as well.
Rather than repeating that on scant paper pages, what we’re presenting here is a quick guide to some of the most important exhibits and some innovative sections that are well worth a visit. It’s not a comprehensive guide to the show, but rather a selection of booths that we think a graphic arts professional shouldn’t miss.

Heidelberg - Booth 400
Heidelberg will be showing a full range of solutions for commercial printers, from workflow to prepress to printing and print finishing, and material handling.

In prepress, Heidelberg will show off its Prinect print production and workflow system. Prinect Colour, Production and Management solutions handle workflow and reducing waste. Also, Heidelberg will show the Suprasetter A52/A74 thermal, daylight-operating CTP platesetter. This new machine has an innovative thermal laser and compact design for more flexibility and expandability.

Heidelberg Canada is also showing two presses at its booth. The Printmaster QM 46-2, which it describes as “the most successful press in the under-20 inch market since its introduction in 1994.” The press on the floor will show such standard features as automatic plate loading, ink fountain setting and automatic blanket washing.

Printmaster PM 74-4-P is a medium-format, 29-inch press with a compact design. Standard features include automatic blanket and impression cylinder washers, AutoPlate and remote ink console.

In print finishing, Heidelberg Canada will show the Stahlfolder B 20.4/4 for short to medium runs. With quick makeready, high production speed and easy operation, the B 20.4/4 comes with DCT 500 Digital Control and zero–makeready buckle plates as standard equipment.
The Polar 78 X cutter will be shown, with its standard 15-inch colour display control console and 75cm X 75cm packing tables on each side of the machine. Like the larger Polar cutters, this model is designed to be a workhorse with full network capability, allowing remote control.
Heidelberg Canada will also show a line of Heidelberg Consumables: plates, blankets, ink, pressroom chemistry and other supplies. 

Agfa - Booth 750
Agfa Canada will bring some of the “new experience” from its Graph Expo display in Chicago a month earlier. In addition to its products in computer-to-plate production, proofing, workflow and other software, the company will feature sessions on business development in the graphic arts. So instead of hearing sales pitches on products, visitors will have the chance to learn about client-printer collaboration, enterprise connectivity and other business topics.

Of course, the :Avalon family of platesetters will be shown, as well as :ApogeeX and :Delano software, plus wide-format colour printers, high quality colour proofing systems and other key graphic arts products.

Canon Canada - Booth 600
Canon will feature the new imagePRESS C1 as well as the brand-new  imageRUNNER C5180 series, which has four models: the C5180, the C4580 and the C4080.

All based on four-drum technology, the new series is meant to be an affordable family of printers for large and small offices.
All three have a resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi and come with a 100-sheet duplexing automatic document feeder (DADF), which has a top speed of 70 images per minute (ipm). They also can scan and send electronic documents directly from the printer.

These printers will be the first imageRUNNER models to  support the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol, an emerging industry standard for sharing and managing documents and printing through the Web. They’re also available with a choice of print controllers, including an external one.

The new printers use Canon’s colour imagePlatform system architecture, imageCHIP (Concurrent Hyper Intelligent Platform) for speed and reliable colour processing. The dual CPU structure with up to 1.5 GB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive efficiently processes scanned, copied or printed documents.

The Color imageRUNNER C5180 prints at 51 pages per minute (ppm) in black only or four colours; the C4580 at 45 ppm in black and 40 ppm in full colour; and the C4080 at 40 ppm in black only and 36 ppm in colour.

Robert E. Thistle, Ltd. - Booth 200
Longtime equipment maintenance professional and dealer Robert E. Thistle will show the line of c.p. Bourg collating and perfect binding equipment, as well as Challenge paper cutters and drills and the Smart Plate CTP systems for small offset presses.

Presstek - Booth 300
Presstek says it “anticipates a strong show and our Canadian sales team is truly excited about it.”
In booth 300, they’ll demonstrate the new Presstek 52DI digital offset direct imaging press, the same model that was first shown at Ipex in the U.K. last spring and featured at Presstek’s open house in September.

The 52DI is a 52-cm, landscape format device with a top running speed of 10,000 sheets per hour. Automation and on-press plate imaging allow a total job changeover time of just over 10 minutes.

Presstek will also show two chemistry-free computer-to-plate systems: the Dimension Excel imaging Anthem Pro and the Vector TX52 imaging Freedom.

Also on the booth will be the ABDick 9995 two-color press, and AB Dick’s DPM 34 polyester platesetter.

Hewlett-Packard - Booth 1200
HP will show its new Designjet Z2100, Designjet Z3100, Designjet 8000 and Designjet 10000 wide-format inkjet printers. HP will also show an HP Indigo 5000 digital press, and a Scitex-branded inkjet digital press.

Fujifilm - Booth 626
Print World 2006 will be the Canadian technology premier for Fujifilm’s V-6 violet platesetter running the brand-new Pro-V chemistry-free plate.

The company will demonstrate both its Pro-T, currently available processless plates, as well as its Pro-V technology. Still in development, the Pro-V plate is a UV-ink compatible plate, rated at 200,000 impressions, with a dynamic range of 2 to 98 percent at 200 lines.

The company will also demonstrate its current processless plates, the Pro-T, by imaging them on a Dart 4300-E thermal CTP platesetter, then taking them to K-North in the next booth, where they’ll be mounted on a Spica sheetfed press. The Pro-T plate has a dot size of 20 microns, and is capable of 300 line screens; rate run length is 100,000 impressions. The Spica will also be using Fujifilm’s Anchor pressroom chemicals.
Fujifilm Canada will also show some of the output technology that it sells, such as the Mutoh PJ-1946 solvent printer and the Inca Spyder 320 UV printer. Print World is also the Canadian premier for the Mutoh PJ-1946, which is available in 1.9 m, 2.6 m and 3.3 m wide models. This printer has a six-colour print head and images 216 square feet per hour. It uses Fujifilm’s Sericol inks on uncoated materials.

The Inca Spyder 320 is a six-colour flatbed printer that images 860 square feet per hour, edge-to-edge without any waste or margins.

Fujifilm will also show two Xerox digital presses: the 50 ppm DC5000 and the entry-level DC240.

On the software side, Fujifilm will show Trueflow, Adobe-based workflow technology, and the Rampage system, based on the Harlequin RIP.
In a rather enigmatic announcement, Fujifilm Canada has also stated that it’s planning three presentations (Saturday 3pm, Sunday 2pm, Monday 2pm) in the Print Software Theatre. It will show “an implementation of the Adobe PDF RIP engine technology,” which is still under development. “These presentations will serve to showcase what will be possible in a print production workflow once the Adobe PDF RIP Engine technology is fully implemented,” the company stated in a release.

MAN Roland - Booth 1226
At Print World 2006, MAN Roland Canada will show the new Ryobi 3302HA two-colour offset press and the MBO B21/4 folder.

Designed to meet the demands for digital compatibility, the RYOBI 3302HA makes printing faster and easier.
The Ryobi 3302HA is an A3-size, portrait format, two-colour offset press with a reputation for reliability and performance. Its satellite V-shaped, five-cylinder system ensures stable printing quality, and its SuperDampener continuous dampening system ensures a steady supply of dampening solution.

A spring-tension plate clamp system accommodates both metal and polyester plates from CTP systems.
The press also has Ryobi’s semi-automatic plate changer, lever-free operation and the optional RYOBI PCS-F Printing Control System for easy operation and short makeready time.

The new B21/4 folder from MBO has a number of innovative features that make it a productive, effective machine.
User-friendly technology simplifies operation. A frequency-controlled (AC) drive with micro adjustment adds flexibility and production-friendly set-up.

Maximum speed is 8000 feet/minute.
Options include edge trim, punch and multiple perforation, crimp-lock, gatefold, sheet return device, glue folding and various delivery systems.
Three types of feeders are available:
• a pile feeder
• a continuous feeder
• a palletized feeder.

Kodak Graphic Communication/Spicers  - Booth 322
Kodak Graphic Communications’ products are showing at the booths of its distributor, Spicers, owners of the PaperLinx paper distribution company. In addition to graphic arts papers and suppliers, Spicers will show a complement of Kodak Graphic Imaging digital copiers, wide-format printers and digital presses.

Konica Minolta - Booth 1014
Konica Minolta also didn’t tell us what their plans were for the show before press time. We hope they’ll show their new bizhub PROTM C6500 Digital Color Printing System, which received a “Must See ’em” award at Graph Expo. This printer features the EFI Fiery IC-303 Print Controller.

The bizhub PRO C6500 has a rated speed of 65 ppm in colour and black and white, with a 300,000-page monthly duty cycle. It can print on two sides on uncoated and coated stocks up to 10 point, and up to 14 point on a dedicated paper tray, to duplex print heavy and coated stocks - up to 256 gsm (10 point) through any tray - and 300 gsm (14 point) stock simplex prints through a dedicated paper tray. Finishing options include a saddle-stitch booklet maker for up to 200-page trimmed booklets, a multi-folding unit with post-inserter and hole punch, and a 5,000-sheet stacker unit for increased productivity and lower labor costs.

Gandinnovations - Booth 434
Super-wide printer manufacturer Gandinnovations of Mississauga will show its very wide, flatbed-format inkjet printers. They’ll have several models running, including: the JETi 3150 “True Flatbed” UV printer, and the brand-new JETi 3324 UV RTR printer.

This new flatbed printer has 24 print heads to lay down six colours of environmentally-friendly, UV-curable inks. It boasts the highest rated speed of any UV, roll-to-roll grand format printer. Substrates include fabric, canvas, vinyl, plastic film, paper and polyester. Resolution is true 1200 dpi, and speed is 40 square meters per hour (450 square feet per hour) in best-quality mode.

Other features include a take-up unit built into the printer, single-person operation, and automatic, software-driven detection of misfiring print nozzles. It also has an automatic head capping capability and automated air vacuum.

The Jeti 3150 UV has 24 Spectra print heads for high-speed output in six-colours at 1200 dpi; output speed is 450 square feet per hour in best-quality mode. Materials up to 5 cm (2 inches) thick.

Buskro - Booth 1222
Buskro Inc. of the U.K. will show its Apollo and Atlas lines of inkjet labeling systems for the direct mail industry.

Adobe Canada - Booth 741
Adobe will showcase the new Acrobat 8. The new version of the leading document sharing and print production software is a native to the Mac-Intel platform. It includes new tools for print preflighting, collaborating on the creation of documents, and for controlling output of PDF files. Support for PDF/X and JDF is built in.

Adobe will also hold workshops on migrating from QuarkXpress to InDesign, and demonstrate Illustrator and Photoshop.

Punch Graphix - Booth 426
Print World 2006 will be the first Canadian demonstration of the Xeikon 6000 digital colour press. Punch Graphix says it’s the fastest digital colour press on the market, with a top speed of 160 A4 pages per minute, and a duty cycle of 4 million pages per month. It includes an new digital front end, X-800, form adapted (FA) toner and a fifth colour capability.

Punch Graphix is also showing the basysPrint UV-Setters, CTP systems. These UV-sensitive platesetters are designed to help printers transition into the computer-to-plate technology, while using the same UV-sensitive plates they’re used to with a film-based workflow.

Ultima Displays - Booth 1137
Ultima is bringing its newest display product, including the Excalibur Elite, an upgrade to its previous Excalibur series; the Imagine, which replaces the Merlin line; the new and improved Barracuda series; and the new Blizzard and Victory lines.
The new Excalibur Elite series has telescopic bars, new foam-fit bars, new J-hook sliders built into the display to avoid the need for wires, and improved sliding drawers. Changing graphics is now easier on the new system.

Visit the booths and tell us what struck you as most impressive.

This year when I learned that SGIA 2006 would host over 598 exhibitors (the largest SGIA show ever), I had to find my cowboy hat and head on down to Las Vegas, Nevada. The SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association) is an international association for specialty imaging. Their mission is to provide imaging professionals with the tools and information needed to make the best possible business decisions. Besides the very informative conference sessions, we were allowed to explore the latest equipment, inks, media and applications for the digital and screen-printing applications.

The DPI (Digital Printing & Imaging Association) holds the DPI Product-of-the-Year competition in conjunction with the annual SGIA Trade Show. The competition honors those digital imaging products having a major and beneficial impact on the industry. The DPI Product-of-the-Year awards are some of the most prestigious awards in the industry. A panel of judges anonymously evaluates submissions based on criteria that include color, detail, and tonality. Here are the winners of the different categories in alphabetical order.

Canon – Best Poster Size Printer
Canon USA Inc. put the spotlight on its new imagePROGRAF 12 color wide-format printers, from the 17-inch imagePROGRAF iPF5000 up to Canon’s first 60-inch printer, the imagePROGRAF iPF9000. Canon USA was well represented with 6 new printers (Three 12 color graphic art printers and three 5 color CAD and general office printers) The Canon iPF9000 60” 12 color printer won “The DPI Product-of-the-Year award” for BEST poster size printer. The images were printed on the Canon Premium Bright Photo Gloss media using the Ergosoft PosterPrint software RIP. The iPF9000 printer also won the BEST fabric category, printing on 3P Universal canvas with the Ergosoft RIP.

The Canon iPF5000 17” 12 color printer also won “The DPI Product-of-the-Year award” for the BEST presentation size printer. The prize winning image from the iPF5000 17” imagePROGRAF printer was created with the new 12 color Lucia pigmented ink set, printed on Canon Premium Bright Photo Gloss media, and using the Ergosoft PosterPrint software RIP.

The Canon iPF9000 and 5000 12 color printers have set a new benchmark in aqueous printing and winning this competition validates their best-in-class performance and value. The iPF9000 printer provides one of the industry’s largest color gamuts with a 12-color ink set of Canon’s LUCIA pigment inks, allowing images to achieve image permanence and longevity. Coupled with a suite of innovative image processing software and a range of substrates, the iPF9000 printer is ideal for professionals looking to make a big impression with their work. (And this printer is fast- up to 355 square feet per hour)  The MSRP on the 60” iPF9000 will be $14,995 (US), the MSRP on the 44” iPF8000 will be $5999 (US) and the MSRP on the 17” iPF5000 will be $1999 (US)

Oc' Arizona 250 GT – UV Curable Vision Award category
Oc' Display Graphics Systems received the DPI Vision Award for its Arizona 250 GT. This award calls attention to new digital imaging product development which is most likely to have a profound and positive effect on the industry. The Oc' Arizona 250 GT printer uses UV curable inks and the Oc' VariaDot imaging technology to deliver near-photographic image quality. It also includes a true flatbed platform to print onto a wide variety of rigid substrates. It was designed to produce the best possible image quality ever achieved in a flatbed printer. It can print onto rigid media up to 49 inches wide by 98 inches long by 1.89 inches thick. It also has an optional roll-to-roll module which can print onto flexible media up to 87 inches. It delivers a true production print speed (sellable prints) of 172 square feet per hour and sells for around $160,000 (US)

MacDermid ColorSpan – Best UV Curable Rigid Substrate Printer
The ColorSpan 9840uv is an industrial-grade, high-speed, UV-curable flatbed printer designed for printing high quality graphics on inexpensive rigid or flexible roll materials. The ColorSpan 9840uv is a high-performance 98-inch (2.5m) production printer that produces extremely durable, high-quality output for outdoor and indoor applications on media up to 2.75 inches (70mm) thick. Its SolaChrome UV pigmented inks offers an exceptionally wide color gamut for reproducing bright vivid colors and excellent adhesion on the widest range of substrates. What’s more, ColorSpan 9840uv includes outstanding automated features to ensure print quality and enhance your productivity. The ColorSpan 9840uv  98” printer won “The DPI Product-of-the-Year award” for the BEST UV-curable printer. The prize winning image from ColorSpan 9840uv printer was created with its CMYK Solachrome UV ink set, printed on United Industry Ultraboard with the Kodiak software RIP. The ColorSpan 9840UV has a retail price in the USA of $149,995.

Mimaki GP 604D – Best Direct Inkjet to Garment Printer
The Mimaki GP-604D is an ink-jet printer that widens the design range by allowing users to easily print attractive images on dark-colored T-shirts. You can dramatically increase your profitability by the use of on-demand production techniques. The key advantage of the GP-604D is its digital on-demand production techniques, which enables a designer to profitably produce from single to variable lot orders. It creatively broadens business opportunities for printing not only excellent full-color T-shirts, but also on to novelty items, canvas bags, and the like. Although the use of discharge inks is not new in garment decorating, it is a unique feature to “digital on-demand garment decorating”. This allows the user to combine the effect of bleaching or whitening an area of a garment, and then in effect laying in a process color graphic using pigmented textile inkjet inks. The GP-604D, which is a 4-head flatbed printer, has an auto-adjusting head height feature that allows it to print objects up to 5” thick, according to the company. It can print on T-shirts, sweat shirts, tote bags and assorted cotton-blended items. The GP-604D 16” printer won “The DPI Product-of-the-Year award” for the Direct to Garment print category. The prize winning image from Mimaki GP 604D printer was created with its CMYK Miamki Textile Pigment ink set, printed on a Gildan Heavy Weight Cotton T-shirt with the Mimaki Rasterlink GP software.
 
Peter Dulis
Wide Format Printing Specialist
647-895-3315
pdulis@iprimus.ca

How can we use a colour measurement device to determine if a particular colour is an acceptable match? We all know that colour is extremely subjective and can look different when viewed under various lighting conditions. The good news is that we have a method to measure colour differences.

In many print shops you are given a proof or a previously printed sample and told to match it. Using the method outlined below we can produce a printed sample, measure it with our spectrophotometer and determine if the match is acceptable or if it requires more work before showing it to the customer.

The first thing we need to understand and probably already know is that what my eyes and your eyes see can be very different. To solve this problem we need to measure colour using a simple device that is not emotionally involved in the project. A spectrophotometer is the best tool to accomplish this task. These devices come in two flavours: a handheld, self-contained unit or a tethered unit that is connected to a computer via a USB connection. Both work equally well but the non-tethered unit is going to be more versatile in most print environments.

Properly making use of this device requires the understanding of a term called delta E (dE). Delta E, is a single number that represents the ‘distance’ between two colours. The idea is that a dE of 1.0 is the smallest colour difference the human eye can see. A dE less than 1.0 is considered imperceptible and it stands to reason that any dE greater than 1.0 is noticeable.

The measured number is used to determine how closely the two colours resemble or match each other. The lower the number the closer the match. As we learned, a value between 0-1 is considered a perfect match as our visual system cannot see any difference this small. Depending on your industry you will have varying differences or tolerances as to what is considered an acceptable match.

Without getting overly technical we need to understand that there are a few flavours of dE and each will interpret your measurements slightly differently.

Delta-Lab and Delta-LCH, CMC 2:1, dE94 & dE2000 are the main five flavours of dE. The ones that you need to be the most concerned with are: dE2000 (an updated version of dE94), CMC and Lab. On my trusted X-Rite 530 I default to CMC.

Delta E Measurement Guide:
0-1  Is considered a perfect match. Our eyes cannot see a colour difference less than a 1 Delta E. If you hit this range you can go home and put your feet up.

1-3 This would be considered a very acceptable match in the printing and prepress environment, but too tight a tolerance for most sign/large format printers.

4-6 This would be getting outside an acceptable match for most lithographic print but acceptable for many large or grand format sign printers.

6+  If you are into this category it is time to put on a pot of coffee because you are going to be around for a while more.

The reason that the tolerances are higher for the sign market is due to the reduced colour range available on many of the solvent and pigment ink-sets seen on these devices.

In the end measurements will help to support your belief that a colour is a close match but it is our eyes that have to be sold that a colour matches. dE is a starting point and there are instances where a colour will appear to be out of tolerance and still show as being an acceptable match in dE. Again use dE as a supporting tool but in the end confirm all measurements in a light booth with your eyes.

Next month we are going to look at how you can utilize a software program called Eye-One Share freeware to evaluate and compare colours.    

Angus Pady is the president of Digital Solutions. Complete colour control from desktop to press. T: 905-764-6003
Angus@ColourManagement.ca   www.colourmanagement.ca

Most managers have been challenged by an irresponsible employee with the statement “It’s not in my job description”. This could have occurred when the employee is being told off after messing up a job. On other occasions this excuse is heard is when an employee is asked to do something they don’t usually do or something they don’t like to do.

Over the years I have heard this excuse enough that I began to question the use of job descriptions. In my mind an employee was paid a certain amount and if the work they were being asked to perform was legal and safe, then the manager had every right to ask them to do it. If they refused to do it or performed it badly on the basis that it wasn’t in their job description, they should be subject to discipline.
Using the job description as an excuse was not acceptable. That practice led me to the point where I really didn’t see the value of having job descriptions.

Then management was faced with the issue of pay equity and equal pay for equal work. Job descriptions became an important element in these initiatives. They formed a basis upon which compensation decisions were made. However, the negative factors of job descriptions remained.

Job Descriptions can provide added value
After years of disillusionment with job descriptions, I encountered a different approach to the subject. The new concept brought meaning to the issue by focusing on two or three areas in the job description.

Purpose of the Job
Ask most employees what the purpose of their job is, and they give you a list of duties and activities. They have never thought of their job as having a purpose. In those few cases where an employee has recognized that their position has a purpose there is often a lack of an expected outcome when the purpose is achieved.

If employees understand that their job has purpose, it becomes a much more rewarding experience than when they are just “doing things”. Their sense of self-importance is raised. They gain an awareness of making a contribution to the organization.
On the surface this activity seems simplistic but it isn’t. Many employees have a difficult time arriving at what the purpose of their job really is. They have an even greater challenge determining what the outcome will be if they carry out their job successfully.

Key Result Areas
Many employees don’t discern between the making of strategic decisions and the need to sharpen pencils. In order to get them focused on the important aspects of their jobs, we ask them to identify what are the critical parts of their job function. They are asked to focus on up to half a dozen duties since beyond that number the duty is seldom of a critical nature.

We also ask that they identify what result will occur when they carry the function out successfully.
It is surprising how much difficulty some employees encounter when trying to identify what are the key result areas of their position. When they have successfully accomplished this task, they are better equipped to set priorities and accomplish those tasks and activities that will add the greatest value to the organization.

The Manager Doesn’t Agree
One of the challenges as well as opportunities inherent in this approach to job descriptions is the response of the employee’s manager.
The manager may not agree with the employee as to what the purpose of the job really is or the manager may not agree on the key result areas. In a positive environment this disagreement will provide a platform for the employee and manager to identify where they differ. It allows the manager to show the employee what management expects from the positive performance of the job.

The New Approach
In those cases where there is a long list of activities the employee tends to believe that the list covers everything they are expected to do. Any additional duties are viewed as not being part of the individual’s job description. The approach that is suggested in this article eliminates the litany of activities that occur in so many job descriptions.

It directs the employee to those facets of their work that should be given the greatest attention but it clearly sets out that the few Key Result Areas do not encompass all the tasks the employee is responsible for executing. The excuse, “It isn’t in my job description is no longer valid.”    
Fred Pamenter is managing partner of PPB&D Consulting Limited, a Toronto based Human Resource firm. T: 416-620-5980
E: ppbdconsulting@aol.com

The “Do It Yourself” Web to Proof and Web to Print workflows are closer than you think.  Software products are available that reduce the amount of work involved in creating Web Pages, Log Ins, File Checking & Routing, Email Notification and System Logging.
What do we need to successfully put our own system together?  Complete information from our clients, a set of rules to follow for accepting jobs, a job with all files and fonts zipped in a package, a method of notifying both parties when required and a way to receive and move files to their proper destination.

You can put a system together right now with these two products on the market: FlightCheck Online from Markzware and PowerSWITCH from Gradual Software.

FlightCheck Online from Markzware is a system that adds a new dimension to sending files via FTP.  If you are a customer submitting jobs to a service provider, you can download and set up the FlightCheck Online client for Mac or Windows.  Then drag and drop files on the icon and follow the instructions in the web browser.  Fill in the blanks to provide the data your service provider needs and check off the check boxes to determine the types of service and notification you want.

For example, you are sending a Letter sized, 4 colour, 2 sided flyer and you would like to make any changes required yourself.  You would also like to be notified by email when your job is proofed so you can rush over and pick it up (or view onscreen).

Now FlightCheck Online checks digital files against customized preflight rules sets defined by the service provider. You are automatically notified of required corrections before the job is transmitted and instantly receive confirmation when it is accepted.

When preflight is completed, FlightCheck Online will automatically collect all available necessary files including elements such as fonts and images. The collected job is then compressed and can be uploaded to the printer’s FTP server or can be saved onto your local machine to burn to DVD.

From here PowerSWITCH from Gradual Software picks up the file from the service providers FTP site and decompresses it.  FlightCheck Professional is used to preflight all incoming files a second time. The first preflight done by FlightCheck Online before submitting the files was a basic preflight. This second preflight goes more in depth and checks if a file should go to the prepress department first or not.

The preflight results are saved as a file and are only emailed if the customer chose this option in FlightCheck Online. The script in PowerSWITCH is set so that files are only allowed to trigger an email if the FlightCheck Online job ticket says so.

If a file fails on preflight, it is only sent to the prepress department if the customer chose the option on the FlightCheck Online form to allow corrections. Otherwise it can be sent back to the customer automatically by PowerSWITCH. It uses its XML Pickup tool to retrieve email information to send a notification to the customer to make changes.

That job ticket created through the FlightCheck Online client is also used by PowerSWITCH to route files to a particular workflow after passing. PowerSWITCH can pick up any information in the ticket and pass it along in the form of an email to production personnel. Files with a green light can also be distilled to PDF or dropped in the correct output folder: Black and white, Tabloid CMYK, Legal CMYK, Letter CMYK. Other formats are sent to the Prepress department. An email notifies the customer that the print is launched, but again only when this was requested when submitting the job.

For the service provider, the FlightCheck Online Kit provides flightchecking rules, customizable web templates, a customer login database, editable preflight messaging and transaction log.  The software can be purchased and set up on an in-house Web Server or it can be purchased as a hosted package for $400 US per month.  Annual contracts can also be set up as a “by the transaction” scheme.  You can get more information on FlightCheck Online at www.markzware.com.

PowerSWITCH supplies automation to service providers by creating easy to use workflows that handle XML, JDF and XMP data that is available in the products being used right now.  Get more information on PowerSWITCH at www.gradual.com and visit www.tribay.ca to view the latest prepress newsletter on PowerSWITCH.    

Andrea Mahoney
TriBay Enterprise  T: 416.72939687
E: andrea@autoflowforprepress.ca
www.tribay.ca

Few people really know the history of a business card.  As far back as the 17th century, business cards – or “Visiting Cards” as they were called at the time, were used by visitors who wrote messages and signatures on them.  They are said to have appeared first in France.  “Trade cards” were also major forms of communication in the seventeenth century, and often featured maps and directions to a merchant’s business as there was no street numbering system at the time.   The cards came to North America in the 1800s, and there remained a firm distinction between a visiting card and a business card – a visiting card was used for social obligations and a business card, if left at someone’s door, was often a notice that a bill was to be paid.

The old-fashioned “trade card” has evolved, and now features more brilliant colours than ever before. The printing techniques are more advanced than ever – and the growth of the business card itself is symbolic of how the entire business world has developed over the last few centuries.

You may only make a first impression once; but your business card will resurface time and time again.  When you give a prospective client your business card, you are saying: This is what I can do.  This is who I am.  Everyone’s business card provides a visual representation of what their company is all about – but when you are in the printing and graphic industry, the impact is even more so.  Not only are you conveying information about your company, but you are also showing an example of your work.

Business cards, like anything else, can either be very complicated, or very simple.  Each has its own benefits.  A simple card can be sleek and corporate, and without any clutter will give the user your information in an easy-to-read format.  It also shows that you are business oriented and able to produce printed materials that are straightforward and effective.  But you’re in the graphics industry!  Why not use your card as a way to show what you can really do.  Showcase your company’s skills – whether that is through high-impact graphics, vibrant colours, or a unique design.  

Some customers come into our print shop with no idea what they even need to put on their business card. Here is a basic check list:

The necessary items:

• Company name
• Personal name and title

Contact information:

• Business address
• Local phone number / 1-800 number,
•     Extension,
• Mobile number
• Fax number
• E-mail address and website
• Log

Other Possibilities to make your card stand out:

• A catchy slogan about what your
•     company does
• Images that represent your industry or organization
• Photos can offer a personal touch
• Special offers, incentives & coupons
•     (ie.15% with presentation of this card)
• Maps and or directions
• Specialty options such as textured
•     cardstock, magnets, etc.

Now that you have created a business card that truly reflects your business, it is time to allow it to become the powerful marketing vehicle that it can be.   It is no longer a simple means of showing someone that you called upon them.  

Although you may like to pass someone a business card as soon as you begin talking, there remains a delicate etiquette to the nature of exchanging cards – much like our ancestors experience in the 17th century!  Though not as formal today, there are still some general rules.  When someone passes you a card, take a moment to look at it carefully before tucking it away – simply stuffing it in your pocket without a glance conveys that you are note interested.  Be careful about when you give your card as well.  It may not be appropriate if you are not in a business. Of course – always bring cards along since you never know who you will meet, but practice discretion and sincerity.  

The business card has truly evolved over time, and will continue to do so. Like any other product, it is important to know its origins to truly understand it.  Take a moment to think about your business cards – perhaps it is time for a re-design.  Whether you are thinking of revamping your own cards, or need to explain to a client the importance of a business card, know that a professional card is an integral component in marketing your wares – it’s in the cards!    

MPR Communication is a design and print company located in Lachine, Quebec.  Jasmine Brooks is MPR’s Project Coordinator.
E: jbrooks@mprcommunication.com

We are living in a time where ‘Digital cameras’ are everywhere. Gone are the days when a camera was a camera, a MP3 player was an MP3 player, a phone was a phone...

These days, digital cameras are found in a variety of other gadgets, including cell phones. In fact, camera phones are one of the fastest growing segments of the digital camera market and with the improvements in the quality of what is being offered in some phones (higher megapixels, better lenses, high capacity storage) many believe that they are beginning to win market share away from the low end offerings of many digital camera manufacturers.

Following are a few tips to help camera phone owners to get the most from their cameras:

Light up the subjects
The better lit your subject is the clearer your image is likely to be. If possible, shoot outside or turn on lights when shooting inside. Be aware that different lights impact the color in your images differently. Experiment with White Balance to correct this. Some cameras come with a built in flash or light - this can really lift a shot and add clarity to it, even if you’re shooting outside. If your camera doesn’t have a flash or light you should avoid shooting into bright lights as you’ll end up with subjects that are silhouetted.

Closer is better
One of the most common mistakes with camera phone images is that their subject ends up being a tiny, unrecognizable object in the distance. Camera phone images tend to be smallish due to low resolution - so fill up your view finder with your subject to save having to zoom in on the subject when editing it later (which decreases quality even more). Having said this, getting too close on some model camera phones creates distortion, giving either a fisheye effect or a lack of focus due to poor macro ability.

Steady and still
As with all digital photography, the steadier your phone is when taking your shot the clearer your image will be. This is especially important in low light situations where the camera will use longer shutter speeds. I always try to lean my camera phone/hand against a solid object (like a tree, wall, ledge) when taking shots. Keep in mind that many camera phones also suffer from ’shutter lag’ (ie the second or two between when you press the shutter and when the camera takes the shot). This means you need to hold the camera still a little longer to ensure it doesn’t take a shot as you’re lowering it away from the subject.

Try not to use the digital zoom
As tempting as it might be to zoom in on your subject when taking your picture (if you have a zoom feature on your camera phone), it will actually decrease the quality of your shot. Plus you can always edit your shot later using photo editing software on your computer. Some camera phones are beginning to hit the market with ‘optical zooms’ - these are fine to use, as they don’t enlarge your subject by enlarging pixels.

Mistakes are valuable
Remember that the quality of your cell phone screen will not be as good as your computer’s screen. If possible, hang onto your shots until you can get them to your home computer. You might just find that they look better on a good quality monitor. You may also find that even ‘mistakes’ and blurred shots can actually be quite useable.

Final thought
Unfortunately many of the pictures being taken with camera phones are poor in quality. This might be partially due to lower quality cameras but it is also often a result of poor photographic technique. Hopefully these tips will help you improve your quality.   

Q. I recently imported a Word document into a QuarkXPress document but now I can’t save the file. QuarkXPress says that it can only save “single language files”. I don’t have a copy of Word so I can’t check the file, so how can I save the file?

A.  The Word file (.doc) you received may contain a stray character or may have been created on a computer set up with multiple languages. QuarkXPress is particular about the language settings on your computer. (In fact QuarkXPress won’t run on a PC unless all of the language settings are set to “US English”.) This is a problem for our computers in Canada because Microsoft and Apple think that we want to use “Canadian” language settings. I advise all of my clients to set up their computers to “US English” to avoid such problems.

That being said, the solution to your problem is simple. In order to clear the “mystery character” or encoding you need to resave the Word document. You can save it in “rich text format” (.rtf) to clear out the Microsoft Word encoding. Since you don’t have Word, you can open the document in “Text Edit” on Mac OS X and save the file. Then having saved the file in rich text format, import the file into QuarkXPress and you’ll find the problem will be gone.

Q. We don’t have a server and we share our files from our Drop Boxes. Sometimes we have a situation where we cannot save a file into a folder because we don’t have permission and lately some of our files say “End of File” after printing. What’s going on?

A. What is happening here is that you are running into a conflict with the Unix POSIX file permissions built into Mac OS X. In a nutshell, every user has an ID and belongs to a group (which also has group ID.) In addition, every file and folder on a Mac has an owner and belongs to a group. If I create a file, it is owned by me (or my user ID) and my group. If you belong to my group then you may be able to work with the file.

When you transfer a file from another Mac through the Drop Box by logging in as “Guest” you are granted access because of a special permission setting. The “Drop Box” in each user’s home folder has an open “Read and Write” setting for all users. However if a folder is moved or copied into the Drop Box, the “read and write” permission is not inherited by the files that are contained inside. Later when you are working on the files or if you try to save a file into the borrowed folder on your own Mac you may run into trouble.

Luckily, you can change the properties of ownership of a file or folder by selecting it in the Finder and choosing “Get Info”. Once the Get Info pane is open go down to the “Ownership & Permission” section. You should see if you can “Read and Write” to the folder. Click the disclosure triangle next to the “Details” to see the Owner, Group and Others permissions. You can click the lock next to the owner, and change the owner to your username. In the case of a folder you can also click the “Apply to enclosed items…” to have the permission inherited by all enclosed files. You will have to authenticate the change by entering your username and password to complete the action. Once you’ve fixed the permission you should have the ability to work with the files.

BTW, Never change the permissions of your hard drive, or the Library or System folders. These folders have special settings set up by Apple and changing them could be disastrous. You should also regularly run “Fix Permissions” from “Disk Utility” as a preventive maintenance. This will keep your Mac generally working well.

Another answer may to invest in a copy of Mac OS X Server, which allows for better collaboration in workgroups. Mac OS X Server incorporates the same POSIX permissions but also adds Access Control Lists (ACL) in a way similar to Windows Servers. In fact, many of our clients use Mac OS X Servers in multi-user and multiplatform environments. Since it is also UNIX based, it doesn’t suffer from the viruses and spy-ware that plague the PC world. With ACL’s you can also create nested groups and apply different levels of file and folder access based on your workflow.    

Timothy Mitra assists companies in mastering information technology in pre-press, print and web design.
Do you have a question you would like answered by the IT guy? Please contact him at: E: tim@it-guy.com C: 416-278-8609

If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.    Professor Irwin Corey
 
What’s the toughest thing you have to do each day as a business owner that separates you from success and failure? What is it that makes some business owners monumentally successful and keeps others only nibbling at survival? It’s your ability to make decisions! Success in business is based to a great extent on the business owner’s decision making abilities. That means you! Your ability to make decisions, to formulate ideas, to identify problems and to evaluate solutions, allows you to differentiate yourself, your company, and your reputation from the also-rans. It’s what makes you unique. How you decide what you do, how you determine the direction of your efforts and how you utilize your resources, will ensure your profitability and success. Or it will be the last gasp of life from a dying business entity. It’s up to you.
There are two ends of the spectrum as it relates to decision making. At one end sits Hamlet, vacillating, hoping for divine intervention to pick him up and point him in the right direction. At the other end is Alexander (the Great), charging forward filled with divine inspiration, without any other consideration but domination of the world. We all fit somewhere in between. In business, decisions are made based on imperfect information, that is to say that we never have all the data that we would like, and we’re generally under some time constraint. Add desperation to the mix, and I give you the recipe for high anxiety. Every business owner has felt it, probably does feel it routinely. For some it’s a great motivator, for others it’s a slow death. If you’re going to reach any measure of success in business, if you’re ever going to be happy doing what you do, you have got to learn to make good decisions based on less than perfect information, that’s the real world. And what’s the result of decision making: change! A decision is a call to action, that hopefully will lead to a positive result. It’s a change, and change is the second hardest thing to do in business. When is it a good time to change?

There are those who will counsel you to keep paddling if things look good, “Don’t try to do anything that will upset the canoe, things are good right now.” But “things” seldom stay static. Business is a series of boom and bust, so get used to your world being tipped every so often. The challenge for most business owners is how to manage during those tough times. The fact is, they didn’t make the changes necessary when times were good, to cushion themselves and their business during tough times. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, Pharaoh acted on it and stored grain to sustain the people during the coming years of famine. Although things in the land looked good, he decided to prepare for the worst, and in so doing ensured the survival of humanity at that ancient time. A monumentous decision based on analysis of a dream, not quite perfect information, but enough to save the day.

When do you make a change? Do you wait until your world is collapsing? Or do you jam your paddle in the water and change course in spite of apparent calm water ahead? Think about this for a moment: when is the best time to change? Is it when you are doing well, or when you are sinking?

I’d like to suggest to you that the best time to make a change, is precisely when everything is going well. Why is that? Well, when things are going down the toilet, you are under a serious time constraint to turn things around, strike one. Any idea, as good as it is, needs time in order to implement it properly; it needs time to take hold and germinate in your company and spread to your customers; it needs time to market, to get the idea out and to generate results.

Any good idea will need resources to make it happen, strike two. You need time and money to investigate, evaluate, design, and market the solution that you are proposing. When your ship is sinking, you have little time and usually less money. Any idea, no matter how great, just won’t get fair consideration, and may be discounted entirely in light of the financial and temporal constraints.

Change is costly, it may work, it may not. If it doesn’t work, you’ve stepped on the banana peel when your other foot is already in the grave (metaphorically speaking): strike three. Change, although good, can be for the worse when it comes at an inappropriate time. Changing the course of an aircraft descending into the ground is a very good thing, however making that change when the aircraft is a mere ten feet from the ground may be insufficient to prevent the inevitable. In retrospect, the action may be judged to be a good one, but it came too late to make a difference, and therefore will be judged to be a bad decision. In business you’ll encounter innumerable nay-sayers, who will rain on your ideas.
When you’ve made the decision to make a change, and given it the appropriate consideration, time and resources to implement properly, that change will generate benefits. Doing something is infinitely better than doing nothing.

Finally, change costs. If you make the change and you’re wrong, you’ve incurred costs which may not be recoverable. If you choose to change when things are not going well, all you’ll do is dig yourself into a deeper financial hole. The margin for error is much smaller during tough economic times, which means small miscalculations or poorly laid plans may become catastrophic. During good times, when you’ve got some staying power and time, you can afford to make mistakes and recover. Even if your change costs you money, you can use that expenditure to save on tax! In order to do that, you need to have taxable income, something in scarce supply when the world is caving in on you.

So when do you act? Sooner, rather than later, in my opinion. When do you make that change? When you can afford it, when you’re in good shape, when you can do it from a position of strength. We’ll all make mistakes, that’s human, but it’s ultimately our decision as to how significant or insignificant those mistakes will be. You can minimize your mistakes, you can minimize the costs of your mistakes, you can learn and recover, it’s up to you. Change is a good thing. Deciding to act, to change, is a better thing. Making the change when the factors for success are on your side, well, that’s the best thing. Once you decide where you want to be, change will get you there. This is especially true, I’ve found, in industries that are periodically transformed by technology, like say, the graphic arts business! Look at what technology has done to your business, everyone with a printer is a graphic artist! How do you differentiate yourself and compete with laser jet printers and pdf’s? Were you ahead of the curve, adding value and innovating, or are you still trying to make the payments on that old dinosaur in the back, you know, that old klunker that keeps breaking down in the middle of a rush job? Keep your eyes open and focus your determination, don’t be afraid to alter course based on new data. Learn as you go, and reap the rewards. It’s not that tough.   

Sid Karmazyn is a Chartered Accountant, author and speaker, who lives and works in York Region. Your comments are welcomed.
T: 905-771-3813  F: 905-771-3810

As an exhibit manager, you have a fiscal responsibility to allocate your resources properly and report results accurately to management. Without money nothing will happen. W. Somerset Maugham wrote “Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the five.” The bottom line for your entire exhibit program depends on harnessing the right amount of fiscal resources. However, we are in an age when marketers simply do not have unlimited budgets. Here are seven tips that will help trim a few dollars from your budget.

Display
First-time exhibitors may consider renting booth hardware before taking the plunge and committing to one system. Typical rental costs are about 20 percent of the retail value of the hardware, excluding signs and graphics. Another consideration is refurbishing an older booth rather than replacing it. If the structure is in good shape, then re-facing it can be cost effective.

First time exhibitors might also consider purchasing a used booth. Check with your display house for a good lead or look on one of the Internet resale sites such as www.eBay.com.

Transportation
Generally shows have an official freight forwarder. At first glance, it may seem more expensive, but the official freight forwarder will likely guarantee on-time delivery because it understands the show and often gets priority at the loading docks. Whenever possible, avoid last-minute shipments because charges can be exorbitant. If your event does not have a designated freight forwarder, consider forming a group with other exhibitors from your area to negotiate better rates collectively.

The cost of drayage—moving goods from the show’s receiving dock to your show floor space—is a reality in many exhibit facilities. Depending on the location, you may be able to move some things yourself, such as a booth that comes in a case on wheels, but before you move anything, check the local labor rules. Drayage is usually calculated on a cost per hundred weight basis (CWT). This means that if your shipment weighs 510 pounds (231 kilograms), you will be charged for 600 pounds (272 kilograms).

Labour
In certain jurisdictions you can provide your own labor, while in others you cannot. Be sure to read the show rules carefully. On-site labor charges can be minimized by ensuring that your display needs as little work as possible on-site. A pre-show checkup will eliminate a lot of last-minute structural problems.

Promotion
Planning early for the entire year is an easy way to stretch your promotion budget. It gives you the cost advantage of multiple-unit purchasing of advertising space, lower per-unit costs on premiums and printed material, as well as an opportunity to work collectively with other exhibitors.

Ensure that your boothers limit the use of give-away items to only serious visitors. Brochures, premiums, and other trade show tools are wasted when exhibit staff give them away rather than pack them up and ship them home for the next show.

Often exhibitors welcome the idea of cross-promotion. You can trade products in each other’s booth with a sign acknowledging where the attendee can learn more about a particular product. For example, if you sell computer hardware, find someone else at the show that sells computer furniture. If you sell flowers, find someone else who sells vases. You can also put links on each other’s web sites, conduct joint advertising programs, and participate in collective promotional techniques such as the use of a passport at the event.

The Media
If you cultivate your relationship carefully with members of the media, they can be terrific promotional partners. There is no guarantee that you will get what you want, but there is little cost and the potential reward, such as moving to the front of the line when it’s time for editorial coverage, is so high that it is worth the effort.

Show Services
The cost difference between ordering services within the show deadlines and at the last minute is substantial. Read your show manual carefully and ensure that you have ordered everything on time.
Land-line telephones are expensive to install and often redundant since most of your staff have their own cell phones or PDAs. Unless you need the landline for an Internet connection, this is one expense you can avoid.

Booth Staff
In some locations you can hire professional booth staff from a local agency rather than bringing your own. Often the cost of travel, accommodation, and the time away from the office makes bringing staff uneconomical.

Small ideas like these can provide big results without having to break the bank to get them.    

Barry Siskind is the foremost trade and consumer show expert, president of International Training and Management Company and author of several best-selling business books including Powerful Exhibit Marketing. siskindtraining.com

Scenario: You get up in the morning with the sniffles, grab a tissue and blow your nose. Before you go to work, you put some school supplies (pads, loose-leaf binder paper, markers, etc.) into a corrugated box, pack it with tape and mail it to your son who’s living on campus. You drive off to work and notice your neighbour “wrapping” his car for the winter.

When you arrive at work, you see a huge new sign in the company parking lot welcoming guests. You’re early, so you relax for 15 minutes with your favourite novel. As work begins, you first clean the presses, then wash your hands. It’s just another working day, right?

Question: What’s so unique about the above?

Consider this: Every product  that I mentioned, I mean everything, could have originated at Spicers – the tissue you used to blow your nose, the school supplies, cardboard box, packing tape, car wrap, parking lot sign, novel, press cleaner and hand wash. Fact is, we’d likely need dozens of more pages to detail all of Spicers’ product lines.

And you thought Spicers was just a paper company!

Well, if there was ever any lingering doubts as to this paper giant’s diversification and commitment to its Canadian clients and suppliers, they were quickly dispelled at two recent Open Houses Oct. 14 in Kitchener and Oct. 17 in Toronto. The events, which drew over 1,000 clients and suppliers, were themed “It’s a Jungle Out There” (i.e. paper jungle) and featured sprawling warehouses elaborately decorated in a jungle motif, complete with vegetation, rising mist, jungle animals (relax, they weren’t real) and even a well-physiqued Tarzan, Jane and Witch Doctor mingling with guests.

I was lucky enough to attend the Toronto Open House and I can tell you that the food was amazing and the band (The Detroit Women) was definitely high-energy. But more than that, the camaraderie was everywhere and very noticeable from the moment you stepped into the 100,000 square-foot warehouse.

Our guests distinguished by their flowery, multi-coloured “jungle” shirts and omni-present smiles, were more than accommodating. What I also liked was that virtually everyone was there – from vice presidents to salespeople to receptionists. It’s always nice to put a face to the people you talk with almost every week. This was a first-class event, to be sure – and one of the industry’s largest.

The new reality: Expertise, service and exceptional product range spell bottom-line success

“Gone are the days of just selling paper to printers  – it‘s simply not good enough in today’s market,” says Gary Pearson, Spicers Sales Manager. He should know, having seen technology grow by leaps and bounds in his 40-plus years in the printing industry.

“Today you have to be solutions-oriented. You must have expertise in more than just paper products. You need to go into a business and find out your client’s production needs, all of them, whether they be paper, imaging, packaging, graphic supplies or anything required for the facility. This service is not only essential, it’s expected.

We recognize a printer’s need to streamline procurement and trim waste, so we make available an unsurpassed and diverse range of products, supported by a team of knowledgeable technical specialists,” he adds.

That commitment to staff training is reflected in the fact that the company invests a minimum of 2% of its payroll back into employee education and development. The net result is a knowledgeable team of technical and business consultants offering innovative solutions to boost a printer’s bottom line.

As far as products, to say that Spicers local inventories are deep, is somewhat of an understaterment. In fact, the company has just been added to the PaperlinX family, a worldwide organization that employs over 10,000 people in 30 countries. This gives Spicers access to a tremendous range of exclusive products. So its slogan, “world of resources always within reach” is more apt today than it ever was.

What this means for printers is that you can place one order, receive one shipment, file one invoice and cut one cheque for virtually every product you use in your shop – not just the world’s finest papers, but business imaging products, graphics supplies, packaging systems, office products, maintenance and cleaning products, even personal care and health products. The byword here is definitely one-stop shopping.
Imagine it! A paper company that also sells cleaning products! Lucky for them – I couldn’t imagine cleaning up that massive warehouse after that wild party . . . oooops, Open House!

For more information, please visit www.spicers.ca.

This article expands last month’s discussion of “The Credible Resumé” with a summary of the crucial information a resumé should include:

1.    Candidate’s name, full postal address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address indicated clearly at the top. To find either the candidate’s contact information or geographic location, the reader should never have to hunt. We are especially attuned to this requirement at PrintLink because we serve two countries and often receive international submissions.

Additionally, since most of our resumé submissions are now electronic, reviewing them on a monitor makes it easier to skip over information that doesn’t stand out visually on the page.

2.     Next comes a concise summary statement describing the person’s main function in the workplace and his or her primary skills. In order to be most effective, this section of the resumé should constitute a marketing statement—or even a headline. It should highlight the person’s strongest selling points right away to give the reader a reason to look further—functioning almost like the tantalizing author-and-plot summaries on the back or inside panels of a book’s dust jacket. But although people are the lifeblood of our business at PrintLink, we don’t usually read a summary that is too long or too vague.

3.     Similarly, we are not looking for a candidate’s objectives, since these can be presumptuous, irrelevant, or add nothing further to the account of the person’s background. For example, candidates frequently set meaningless targets, such as “A position where I can utilize my skills and capabilities,” or aspirations that are inappropriate for their work history, such as “To work as an Operations Manager in a progressive organization” when the candidate’s actual work experience has been restricted to hands-on equipment operation only.

A further caveat against considering a candidate’s objectives is that they can pigeonhole that person incorrectly or too narrowly. Part of our responsibility as recruitment specialists is to assess which positions the candidate qualifies for. In this context, a candidate’s objectives might be relevant in discussing a pending career change from production to sales or from hands-on operator to supervisor or supervisor to manager.  But we prefer to consider such information in separate covering letters from candidates or else review it with them in conversation.

4.     Work history. We like to see work history next because it substantiates the summary. It should be outlined in descending chronological order, complete with job titles, company names, and start and end dates for each job. In some instances a short sentence defining the company’s business and location helps as well. For assessing the candidate’s experience and competencies, it also helps if the work history includes a point-form overview of activities and accomplishments associated with each job. This overview is important because job profiles differ from company to company, even though position titles may be the same.

Accomplishments are often the most difficult things for candidates to define, since they necessitate self-promotion. We look for realistic and substantiated accomplishments--not fabricated, superficial or statistical feats that are impossible to verify.

There is considerable debate about how much of a person’s job history should be included on a resumé. We encourage candidates to show all of it, thus allowing their resumé to tell the full story of their career evolution. Some, however, have reached a chronological stage where they do not need to detail every single job they have held. In such cases, just a simple summary suffices for the earliest stages of their career, in which they list under the heading “Previous Experience” only company names, position titles, and dates.

5.     Education, training, qualifications section. We like to see dates included here as well, particularly related to training, seminars and professional-development programs.

6.     We prefer that references are not listed on the resumé. We would rather discuss them with candidates relative to specific positions. “References available on request” is an unnecessary statement—because they had better be! We recognize that supplying certain reference contacts can be a special challenge for candidates in confidential situations, but we are usually able to work around that.

7.     Leisure activities or hobbies can sometimes be relevant, because they give us an idea of the candidate’s personality. For example, if they reveal a person who is community-minded, we might try to match the candidate with a community-minded company. There is a fine line, however, between relevant information and information that is excessive or too personal. We are very attuned to assessing whether the candidate can utilize the resumé’s length and format in a manner pertinent and appropriate to his or her career goals.     

 
Victoria Gaitskell is a placement specialist with PrintLink, a professional placement firm for the graphic communications industry.
T: 1 877 413-2600 E: vgaitskell@printlink.com