Who knew this time last year that 2007 was the year when sustainability and environmental sensitivity would become buzzwords. “Green” is in, and not just for St. Patrick’s day!

Big businesses obviously think being green is a good thing. In 2007, Xerox announced that it had reduced greenhouse emissions by 80% over 2002; HP projected that it would reach its goal of recycling 1 billion cumulative pounds of hardware and print cartridges globally by the end of the year; and Wal-Mart has launched a packaging initiative that will reduce carbon dioxide by 660,000 tons by 2013. By the end of 2006, recovery rates of paper increased to 53.4%.

The fortunes of the paper industry have not been positive in recent years. Most paper manufacturers note a steadily declining demand for printing papers in North America due to changing printing technology and decreasing demand for printed communications. New capabilities, such as colour digital and variable data printing, which have enabled on-demand and finely-targeted advertising, have siphoned off some of the volume of print runs in nearly all print markets. Print buyers order only the brochures or booklets or letterhead they need for this month—or even this week—and may be more willing to pay more per-unit for highly personalized direct mail pieces than for a million brochures that most recipients will never even open. In addition, electronic media, including all types of Internet-based communications, are providing a quicker, cheaper means for marketers to reach their customers. Even many newspapers are expanding their presence on the Internet as their hard-copy circulation decreases.

With these long-term shifts in demand, North American paper manufacturers have been selling assets and/or shutting down production capacity for both pulp and paper for at least a decade. Paper is a commodity sold chiefly on the basis of price, and the only way paper producers can remain profitable is to reach a balance between supply and demand. In current markets, this balance is often achieved by reducing supply.

As a hedge against tight supply and rising prices, paper merchants and distributors, and even some large printers, traditionally have built up inventories of the most popular paper grades. However, the paper mills have responded to this by tightening supplies to compel the consumption of inventories. Over last year, many paper manufacturers reached what they believed to be a supply-demand balance, which allowed them to increase prices. Though this was an unhappy development for print buyers, many—if not most—paper mills have reported financial losses for several years, which forced them to either close pulp and paper mills that were at best marginally profitable or to sell off their assets and exit the printing papers market.

Last year, many paper companies returned to profitability or at least improved their bottom lines, but they are unlikely to re-open shuttered facilities in North America, especially with paper production increasing in Asia. Many North American and even European paper makers have, in the past, minimized the threat of competition from Asian mills. The oft-repeated belief was that the printing industry, particularly in China, was growing alongside paper production capacity, and China itself would absorb all the paper its mills could produce. However, paper production has outstripped demand in China, and the paper made there increasingly has been channeled to North America and Europe.

Early in 2007, coated papers in particular were glutting the North American marketplace. These are grades used primarily in printing magazines and catalogs, direct mail advertising, and similar items. The result was that prices dropped dramatically, and both North American and European paper producers were forced to adjust. Paper industry sources report that something like 17% of the capacity for coated groundwood papers was shut down last year in Canada and the US.

These closures included some of the Canadian facilities owned by Finnish paper mills Stora Enso and UPM Kymenne. Stora Enso sold its entire North American operation to a US company, NewPage Corp., for less than half the amount that Stora paid for these holdings only a few years ago. UPM Kymenne, which idled its Miramichi mill in New Brunswick in August last year, has now permanently shut it down, putting about 600 employees out of work. But the fate of Miramichi came about not only because of a worldwide oversupply of coated papers, but also because of the robustness of the Canadian dollar, which had the effect of increasing UPM Kymenne’s operating costs and at the same time making the product less competitive in international markets.

A restructured paper industry

All of these changes have triggered shifts in the structure of the North American paper industry. Domtar has been a principal buyer of uncoated printing paper production capacity in the US, most notably from Georgia-Pacific and Weyerhaeuser, and has thus become one of the largest manufacturers of this grade of paper in the world. NewPage Corp, based in Ohio, is one of the largest producers of coated grades on the continent since its acquisition of Stora Enso’s North American business. A relatively new organization, Verso, bought International Paper’s coated paper production capacity. NewPage and Verso both are owned by investment companies, which are generally intolerant of slim profit margins.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that paper will be hard to come by, although the mills themselves are expected to tightly control production to maintain their prices. As mentioned above, Asian paper producers have been building new capacity, as well as expanding their market reach across the oceans. Brazil, too, is being developed as a source for both pulp and paper products.

These newer entries in the worldwide paper markets have been watching global developments. Their newly constructed facilities are built with modern innovations for efficiency and enhanced productivity. They have heard the claims—true or not—that their production procedures fall short of Canadian environmental standards, and they are acting on these criticisms. China recently announced that it will shut down its older, less environmentally-friendly mills, although the closures will mean a price increase for the paper it produces at newer facilities. Much Brazilian capacity was owned and developed by outside companies and can honestly claim that its forests have been “certified” for sound environmental stewardship.

In global markets, an important factor is currency exchange rates. The value of the Canadian dollar has been steadily increasing for almost two years, and at the time of writing, is just about equivalent to the US dollar. While this might signal a healthy national economy, it also plays havoc with international trade. The US is one of Canada’s largest customers for pulp and the raw materials for paper. If US mills are no longer able to buy pulp from Canada at bargain rates, they will pass along their cost increases to their buyers in the US, Canada, and everywhere else.

Domtar announced a price increase in December, and other mills and distributors are likely to follow suit. The appreciated loonie will buy more imported paper and this may soften the impact of rising prices, although it does little to improve potential reductions in Canadian paper production.

From another perspective

In Canada, paper and forestry products are a key industry, and Canada is an important supplier of the pulp that goes into paper making. While both US and European paper producers have domestic pulp capacity, they still buy Canadian pulp—though Brazil is emerging as another pulp supply source. Most Asian producers have little-to-no domestic pulp production, but buy primarily recycled pulp in the international marketplace. Asia is one of the world’s largest purchasers of postconsumer waste paper.

The worldwide pulp market has been on a downward spiral for more than ten years for several reasons: the increasing demand for recycled pulp to meet environmental standards; a market shift away from papers with high pulp content, such as newsprint, and towards lightweight coated grades; and a general decline in newspaper production. Like the paper industry, pulp has gone through cycles of consolidation and shut-down. The end result is a significant reduction in global pulp supplies.

This is good news for Canadian pulp manufacturers. In fact, a research group called the Conference Board is pinning its predictions for the economic recovery of the Canadian paper and forest products industry on an increasing global demand for pulp, along with corresponding higher prices. “Much of the industry’s profit will be generated by the pulp segment, boosted by strong demand in China and Western Europe,” says the report released by the Conference Board at the end of last year. However, the strength of the Canadian dollar may undo these benefits by making pulp so expensive to non-Canadian buyers that they seek other sources. In addition, as in the case with the Miramichi paper mill, at the current rate of exchange, it may become simply too costly to operate the pulp mills at all—Canadian pulp may be priced out of the market. And in the paper industry, it’s almost a rule of thumb: when the price of pulp goes up, the price of paper soon follows.

So, what can printers expect in the area of paper prices and availability in 2008? They are likely to see some increase in pricing, although this may be absorbed by the currency rate of exchange if the Canadian dollar remains strong. Some grades of paper, particularly coated groundwood, may be in tighter supply, even though this grade is available from manufacturers outside of North America. The Canadian paper industry itself is predicted to see some recovery, unless it is undone by an increase in the value of the Canadian dollar.

Finally, with so many variables at work, any prediction should be allowed a generous margin for error.

“We have to listen to our customers, to understand...it is you who are using the press.”

So said Paul Pirkle, MAN Roland’s Vice President of Commercial Web Sales, as he discussed their new Euroman press at an event in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Euroman has just had its North American premiere—the first installation is at Hi-Liter/Inland Graphics in Burlington, Wisconsin—and MAN Roland, together with Hi-Liter, MEGTEC, and QuadTech, hosted an event to celebrate and to educate press and purchasers about the Euroman and its features. Representatives from MEGTEC—showcasing their dryer—and QuadTech—showcasing their colour and registration-checking devices—were also on hand for the demonstration and festivities.

The Euroman was a press designed—as Pirkle’s comment indicates—with extensive feedback from customers about what they want from their web presses. Customers were expressing the need for a press that would accomodate shorter run lengths, limited space for expansion (especially as compared to 8-unit presses), and flexibility (in order to run a wide variety of projects on a single press). They also wanted simple operation, gains in makeready time, and an economically competitive product. As MAN Roland North America CEO Vince Lapinski said, and others echoed, too many printers were not using the full capacity of faster-running presses, such as the Lithoman, and were thus not getting the maximum competitive advantage from their press purchase.

The Euroman engineers took cues from the Roland Uniset, and also brought in elements from the Rotoman and Lithoman. The Euroman is about 20% cheaper than the Lithoman, according to Lapinski, and run speeds are correspondingly reduced, though the Euroman still clocks a respectible 35,000 rph. Georg Riescher, MAN Roland Worldwide Executive Vice President for Newspaper Production Systems, was also on hand for the festivities, and he emphasized the comprehensive packages and options—everything from Energy Reduction to Maintenance Plus to the Make Ready Package. Each package was described in detail by Euroman Project Manager Oliver Bleisch—check out http://www.manroland.com/PROD/prod1_01_04.htm for more details.

Coincidentally (or so they tell me), the word of the day was “flexibility”. Lapinski and Riescher spoke of being flexible to meet customer demands, and Hi-Liter’s Tom Sikora and Craig C. Faust repeatedly emphasized the gains in format flexibility that HiLiter made with the Euroman purchase. After they had made the purchase, but before the installation, Hi-Liter was already selling jobs for the Euroman, so they were able to run it at full capacity from the moment the installation was completed. The Euroman has also been an agent for growth for Hi-Liter—a company that has gone from 86 employees and $15 million in sales in 2004 to over $37 million in sales and 230+ employees currently.

Through judicious aquisitions on the part of CEO Faust, Hi-Liter has grown from its roots as a printer of coldset web-produced directories to a full-service web, sheetfed, and digital operation, with mailing and fulfillment capabilities in-house. The Euroman’s flexibility enabled VP Sales & Marketing Sikora to sell complete coverage to each of their clients. If they were already doing a directory, he could now suggest that they also do flyers and digests. The Euroman regularly runs formats from slim-jims to digests to catalogs, just to name a few. Sikora repeatedly dubbed himself “production’s worst nightmare”, because of his constant demands for new products and innovations, but if the scene at the factory in Burlington was any indication, production was more than up for the challenge. The pressmen I talked to spoke of under-six-minute plate changes and startup times under ten minutes—it was clear that they enjoyed working with the press.

The Euroman’s position in the middle—both in terms of run length and web size—of MAN Roland’s offerings makes it an excellent choice for the medium-sized printer looking for the ability to diversify offerings without having to purchase several different pieces of equipment. When coupled with offerings from MEGTEC and QuadTech, as well as the comprehensive packages available for those wishing to customize further, the Euroman could very well be the Everyman of the printing world.

Q. I recently upgraded my Macs to version 10.5 Leopard, and I cannot figure out how to connect to my computers for File Sharing. When I connect I only see a “Drop Box”. How can I access other files on the shared Macs?

A. The answer is simple—Apple has simplified File Sharing. You’re being confused by the simplicity‚Ķ read on:

The latest incarnation of Mac OS X 10.5—aka Leopard—has changed a few things about how we can connect to and collaborate with other computers. Before Mac OS X, there was a way to connect to another Macs and access “shared foders”—but it was only possible by using a File Server, installing a third party application such as “Share Points”, or by modifying the folder permissions on the remote Mac and possibly creating further problems. File permissions are set to protect our data from other users and ultimately from ourselves.

Mac OS X Leopard combines UNIX (POSIX) permissions and Access Control Lists (ACLs) in a way that has made it easy for almost anyone to manage—you don’t even have to understand this sentence. Leopard makes it possible to quickly and easily connect to our neighboring Macs. In one step, you open the “Sharing” pane in “System Preferences” and put a check mark next to “File Sharing”. Other Leopard Macs will immediately be able to see you in the “Side Bar” on any Finder window. They simply click on your Mac’s icon and they are connected as a “Guest” and have instant access to the “Public” folder in your home folder.

To connect as a specific user and access more files, they can press “Connect As” and they will get the familiar login prompt—where you enter a username and password. Then, depending on the permissions, they have access to virtually any files and folders on your Mac. A new feature is that from the File Sharing pane you can create a “Share Point” by clicking the “+” and choosing a folder and setting its sharing permissions.

If you have connected and opened a folder on a remote Mac as “Guest” and you want to access as another user, press the eject icon in the side bar, then click on the icon and choose “Connect As” to get back to the login prompt.

Another cool feature is that you can also use “Screen Sharing”, wherein another user can control your Mac’s screen with a remote computer. You can instantly collaborate or have someone manage your computer for training or support.

Q. I really like the weight and features of the new MacBook Air. Would you recommend it as replacement for my PC?

A. First of all you should ask yourself what services you need. If you want a computer primarily for access to the Internet and Email, there is no longer a compelling reason not to use a Mac. Macs are not susceptible to viruses and spyware, which detract from an enjoyable Internet experience. Macintosh web browsers are all 3.0 web browsers whether you use Safari or Firefox (I recommend you use both) and you can use Apple’s Mail application, Mozilla’s Thunderbird, or Microsoft’s Entourage, which is included with Office 2008.

If you want to play games then get a gaming console. Gaming systems include Internet access, HD and Blue Ray players, and gaming controllers. So why burden your PC with the increased need for hardware resources, incompatible software drivers and, oh yah, viruses and spy ware?

If you’re serious about a MacBook Air, you should keep in mind that it is part of a new paradigm. Apple’s push is towards wireless computing. In the US, you can rent movies through iTunes and move files around wirelessly between your iMac, Apple TV, iPod Touch and iPhone. The MacBook Air is the thinnest and lightest laptop with a full size keyboard and screen that can be used independently, but it lacks ports other than a single USB 2 port—it is intended for the true digital nomad. If you need access to a network or vast amounts of memory then the MacBook Air may be a better choice as a second computer. You could use an iMac as your desktop computer.

The goal of the proof is to represent the final destination. But what can you do if your proof keeps changing colour when it is viewed under various light sources? Not everyone has a 5000K viewing booth to evaluate the colour of their inkjet proofs, so they end up examining their proofs under daylight, fluorescent, or tungsten light sources. If you are serious about getting stable and accurate colour representation on your proof then you need to look into optical brightening agents (OBAs) and how they are creating chaos in the printing industry.

Why are Optical brighteners used?

The purpose of optical brighteners in inkjet papers and the printing industry is to remove the yellowish appearance of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of paper. Optical brighteners in paper increase the whiteness by converting Ultraviolet light energy to blue light—they’re a cheap way to brighten paper. Bright white paper sells better than a dull, yellow paper and it is for this reason we see a lot of OBA in inkjet papers. Paper manufacturers are being pushed to produce paper at the lowest possible cost and sell it at the lowest possible price. This means that they use more optical brighteners instead of bleaching, which is more costly.

How do I detect high levels of Optical Brighteners?

Their are three methods to detect if your paper has a high level of OBAs.

1) Examine your paper under a fluorescent, blue light—remember the one that made your Black Sabbath posters glow? A paper with high OBA will glow under blacklight. This test is good for making comparisons but not great for determining exact values.

2) Measure the paper using a device showing Lab values. If the b value exceeds -3 there are OBAs. A value of -2 to -3 is acceptable but if the values are higher than -4, I would seriously discount the paper for proofing. I have seen inkjet papers with values of -5 and -6 used in high-end printing facilities.

3) Visually compare your standard house stock used on press to your inkjet proofing paper under 5000K lighting. Do the papers match, or is your inkjet paper bluer?

Issues with Optical Brighteners Agents (OBA):

1) Increased colour shift when viewed under various lighting conditions.

2) Yellowing of paper over time and reduced longevity of print quality.

3) Colour measurement devices are wrongly influenced by OBAs—this problem is most apparent with inkjet inks because of their transparent nature.

4) OBAs are sensitive to environmental influences, particularly UV light. This means that high-OBA proofing media viewed under UV light (sunlight) will look more yellow than media with low OBA levels.

5) When creating a profile, the “white point” of your substrate is an integral component of the profile’s accuracy and high OBAs can trick measurement devices. The spectrophotometer used to create the profile sees the blueness of the paper so it adds more yellow to the profile. Our eyes do not see the optical brighteners as the spectrophotometer does, and the resulting profile has too much yellow. Some spectrophotometers offer a UV filter to combat this issue, but the best solution is to choose a proofing paper with low optical brightener levels.

A true test would be to profile two media: one with high degrees of OBA and another with low levels. Viewing both in natural daylight will reveal the high-OBA paper as more yellow. If you view the two proofs under non-daylight conditions, the proofs will look the same.

Many low-cost inkjet media will have higher degrees of OBA. Many of the “photo” papers also have more OBA. True proofing media often costs two or three times more because it is more expensive to whiten a paper using bleaching and dyes.

I’ll leave you with this interesting piece of information I came across in my research—apparently OBAs aren’t just for papers!

Optical brighteners are used in some washing detergents to make the whites whiter. Care should be taken that military uniforms are not washed with optical brighteners in your detergent, as these will make them more visible through Night Vision Devices or under low light conditions.

This year’s PMA trade show in Las Vegas saw another edition of the annual DIMA awards. The DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out was designed to test digital output devices and the consumables used with these devices using standardized conditions and procedures. Each participating company was given 5 business days to produce a print for entry into the shoot-out. The photo prints were then evaluated by a panel of expert judges, under a controlled lighting environment, who rated each print based on the criteria of neutral grey balance, saturation, shadow detail and quality, highlights, flesh tones, hue shift, and text resolution.

The following are the winners in the printer category, listed in alphabetical order.

Canon imagePROGRAF iPF9100

The Canon iPF9100 12-colour printer powered by the Ergosoft RIP, won best inkjet printer in the 50” wide and over inkjet category. This next generation of Canon inkjet printers includes a built-in colour calibration system and a new Lucia pigmented inkset, which provides durable, light-fast colour images which resist scratching and fading. Production mode print speeds produce a 44” x 60” print in 12 minutes. The Canon iPF5100 17” printer also won in the media category. For more info see www.canon.ca/largeformat

DNP Photo Imaging America’s DS-80 Printer

The DNP DS-80 Printer won the best 8-inch roll dye-sublimation category. The DS-80 is part of the DS Series of printers, designed for use in photo labs or in other commercial applications. DS-80 uses a powerful printer control engine designed to maximize image quality while printing at high speed. High-resolution printing produces rich photos that display full colour details and smooth gradation. It takes only 35 seconds to output one borderless 8 x 12 inch print. For more info see www.dnp-photomarketing.com

Epson Stylus Pro 9880

The Epson Stylus Pro 9880 8 colour printer powered by the ColorBurst RIP, won best inkjet printer in the 36” to 49” wide inkjet category. The new Epson printers feature the UltraChrome K3‚–¢ Ink Technology, with vivid magenta. Production mode print speeds produce a 44” x 60” print in 42 minutes. The Epson Stylus 7880 and 4880 also won in their respective categories. For more info see www.epson.ca

HP Indigo Digital Press 5500

The HP Indigo Digital Press 5500 won the best digital press category. Printing up to seven colours, the Indigo 5500 is ideal for high-volume production markets such as marketing collateral, direct mail, and books and manuals. For added value in the photo merchandise market, the press also supports new light cyan and light magenta inks for six-colour photo imaging. Featuring a 68 ppm full colour and 272 ppm mono print speed regardless of media type, the Indigo 550 can print support up to 13” x 19” media size. For more info see www.hp.ca

Poli-Pro Laserlab 50

The Poli-Pro Laserlab 50 won the best RA4 digital printer (13” to 29”) category. The Poli-Pro Laserlab 50 is a photographic colour laser printer designed as an integrated laboratory linked to an RA4 paper processor. The machine offers high performance output: the lasers print a 20”x32” in only 10 seconds. The computer monitor is calibrated to match the print. Any image file loaded into the computer is displayed and if necessary, adjusted (in real time) in colour, density and contrast. This system allows high quality and high productivity without paper waste. For more info see www.poli-pro-usa.com

Sony UP-DR150 Digital Photo Printer

The Sony UP-DR150 Digital Photo Printer won the best Dye Sublimation 6” category. This dye sublimation printer is extremely user friendly, portable, and designed for fast on-location printing of 3.5x5, 4x6, 5x7, and 6x8” prints. The unit is the fastest in its class, printing a 4x6” in only 8 seconds—that’s 420 4x6 prints an hour, while a 5x7” print requires only 15 seconds. The UP-DR150 unit is available in a stand-alone configuration for the studio/event photography market; it can also be integrated into Sony’s PictureStation digital photofinishing kiosks. For more info see – www.sony.ca

So, what is the best way for a designer to produce and proof their own press ready PDF files for short run digital printing?

Digital Colour printers use a “composite workflow”, and thus do not require separated files. We can follow different rules when sending files to these printers. Firstly, they can process RGB images nicely. They don’t require a “rich black” for large black areas, however, there can still be registration issues when white type knocks out of a 4 colour background. They do not print with spot colours, so don’t use them—make sure all of your swatches are process, not spot, especially when using transparency.

The programs you use will determine the method of creating PDF files. To use Adobe Creative Suites 2 and 3, follow the directions below.

Illustrator files can be saved as PDF. Set your bleed at .125” in the dialog and set the colour setting to “No Conversion”—the printer’s rip software will do the best conversion for you and will add marks to the file. Saving your Illustrator PDF using “Create Acrobat Layers from Top Level Layers” was the cause of the problem discussed in last month’s topic. After writing the article I discovered that it caused items to disappear from the page. This setting is on by default in Illustrator CS3, so beware and make sure you turn it off at the beginning.

To save a PDF from Photoshop, you will need to create your files with bleed and keep the layers to a minimum. Don’t attempt to place a lot of small text in Photoshop, use a layout program for that.

Indesign has an export setup for PDFs and your service provider will be happy to email you their job options. To set up your own, make sure the colour conversion is off, marks are off and bleed is on (.125”).

Quark versions 6.5 and under are usually not exported to PDF but printed to file first then distilled. Ask your printer about Quark 7. Some will accept an exported PDF and the same rules apply: No marks and bleed is on (.125”).

Avoid using the following items in your files as they cause trouble in PDFs: Monotones, Duotones, Word Art, Multiple Master (MM) fonts, Transparency with a combination of CMYK, RGB, and Spot Colours. or too many layers in Photoshop.

Setting up Acrobat for Proofing Press Ready PDFs

Proofing using Acrobat Professional version 6, 7, or 8 is easy with a few adjustments to preferences and viewing setup. Turn on “Display art, trim and bleed boxes”, and “Overprint Preview” in the Page Display. You should see a red or green border for the trim box. Turn on the rulers (cmd R) and you will see the size of your page. Page size will also be visible if you point to the bottom left corner of the window. Next you can set the Grid up for use as safety for text and images.

In preferences, go to Units and Guides. There is a section for Layout grid. To get a ¬º” safety from the trim set the width to 8, the height to 10.5, the left edge offset to .25” and the top edge to .25”. Now select OK and view your page. You can change the colour of the grid in the preferences as well. Flip through the pages of your PDF and you can proof the file with all important areas marked on the screen. Note that none of these lines print, they are for proofing on screen only.

To ensure your file is correct, select File ->Document Properties (cmd D). In the Description tab you will see the PDF Version. It should be 1.4 or 1.5. The newest versions, 1.6 and 1.7, may be too high for some printers.

The Page Size should equal your page size plus the 1/8” bleed on all sides.

Select the Fonts tab. All fonts that are used will be listed. Make sure they all have “Embedded” next to them, any fonts that don’t will cause a problem when printing. There are times when you will need to switch a font or create outlines because it won’t embed into a PDF.

With a little practice, saving your own press ready PDFs will save you time and money. Keeping files simple and knowing how to proof them is the key to success.

Recently we were introducing a new performance appraisal program that we had designed into a client’s organization. Part of our work entailed conducting training and orientation sessions for the total employee body.

We started our session by asking the question, “Who looks forward to their performance appraisal?”

When working with the management group we added the question, “Who looks forward to doing employee appraisals?”

Over 90% of those questioned responded in the negative. They did not like doing appraisals and they didn’t like being appraised.

In spite of this negative reaction to their current process, most if not all thought that a well-conducted process was desirable since they wanted to be appraised and know where they stood with the organization.

The above-described situation is common in many if not most organizations.

WHY ARE APPRAISALS DESPISED?

The negative reaction to performance employee programs is frequently centred on a few components of the program.

Management has no objectives for the program.

The program is subjective.

The purpose of the program is not made clear to employees.

It has a “report card” mentality

The terminology is emotionally charged

If an organization can address these issues it is well on its way to changing performance appraisal from a negative experience to a positive one.

Appraisal Programs are Costly

A couple of years ago we developed an appraisal audit program. Its objective was to audit organizations’ performance appraisal programs and determine their health. In preparation for the launch of this service we decided to do some research into the cost of the performance appraisal process.

Our research was very simple and limited in its scope. We surveyed a number of organizations in Canada and the USA, in both the for-profit and the not-for-profit sectors to find out how many hours per employee were spent on the Performance Appraisal Process each year.

Time spent on Performance Appraisals ranged from a low of 3 hours to a high of 30 hours per employee, with the average around 15 hours. When asked before learning of our results, a number of executives thought that 15 hours was too low a number.

Taking the average number of 15 hours, for each 125 employees an organization has, it expends one man-year of time doing employee appraisals.

I have always been a strong proponent of Performance Appraisal Programs. However, organizations will often be better served by not doing performance appraisals than by conducting them and getting such a negative response as described above.

Correcting the situation

Having worked with Performance Appraisal Programs on both sides of the Atlantic and in a wide variety of companies and cultures, I have concluded that there isn’t a perfect performance management process. However there are some programs that are better than others and that are perceived as being better by management and the employees.

To move from a despised and loathed program to one that is perceived as being constructive and beneficial does not require a major investment of money. It does however, cost work and perseverance on the part of management and employees.

The result of a well-designed and well-administered program is a more effective employee body with a more positive outlook on their jobs and on the organization for which they work.

What does it take to be successful in sales? Certainly effort, hard work, and dedication are important. An excellent understanding of the sales process is also essential. But success takes more than that. The most successful people I know have a slightly different outlook than their coworkers and associates.

I recently worked with a group of people who, collectively, had an extensive amount of sales experience. And, for the most part, they all boasted pretty successful careers. Of course they had frustrations, but they don’t complain about them. In fact, I didn’t hear a single complaint during the entire session. After more than a decade of conducting sales training workshops and programs, I can say that a complaint-free mentality is rare, even though such a winner’s attitude contributes to sales success.

A winner’s attitude is the ability to focus on your long- term goals even though your short-term results are not on track. Too many people take their eyes off their long-term goals when they experience a slow month or two, and focus instead on their lack of results. As a result, they get sidetracked and their sales continue to suffer. In the words of Earl Nightingale, “You become what you think about.”

A winner’s attitude means resisting the temptation to blame the economy, competition, or current market conditions when sales are soft. Winners focus on what they can control, unlike the average salesperson, who redirects the blame to take the heat off himself.

A winner’s attitude means exploring different options and approaches to selling. The best salespeople constantly hone their skills. They read books and articles. They listen to CDs or Podcasts. They take advantage of every training program they can, including webinars and tele-seminars. Winners know that business gets more competitive every day and they take action to improve their skills and incorporate new techniques.

A winner’s attitude means focusing on the value of your product or service. Unlike average salespeople, winners don’t focus on price. They know that most buyers and customers are more concerned with solving their problems and getting a complete solution rather than getting the cheapest or lowest price. While average salespeople are quick to offer a discount, winners concentrate on showing customers how their product is different than their competitors’.

A winner’s attitude is accepting that you won’t close every sale. Winners recognize that a series of ‘no’s’ brings them that much closer to a ‘yes’. Winners don’t beat themselves up when they lose a sale—providing, of course, that they did everything in their power to capture that business.

A winner’s attitude means learning from every sales interaction to improve your future results. A sales manager once told me that he evaluated every single sale when he first took on a new territory many years earlier. This brief analysis and self-critique helped him improve his performance and modify his approach so he didn’t repeat his mistakes. In a few short years, sales in his territory increased many times over.

A winner’s attitude is one of optimism and enthusiasm. The most successful people I know all have a great outlook. They know that every cloud has a silver lining, and when ‘stuff’ happens, they recover quickly. They look for ways to prevent ‘stuff’ from occurring because they learn from every situation. Winners don’t dwell on the past—they focus on the future because they realize that they can’t change what has already happened. However, they do know that they can influence what happens from that point forward.

Sales managers who possess a winner’s attitude work with their sales reps instead of chastising them for a lost sales opportunity. Winning sales managers coach their team, go on sales calls with their reps, and provide on-going training for their salespeople. They also go to bat for their team and support them in every way possible. Sales managers with a winner’s attitude celebrate individual and team results and they foster a strong sense of pride within the organization. Ultimately, they lead by example and create a team of winners.

What are you doing to develop a winner’s attitude?

As I write this, I am sitting at my desk. Looking at my paper Starbucks cup, I notice a printed message that says:

“So-called “global warning” is just a secret ploy by wacko tree huggers to make N. America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don’t let them get away with it!”

(Chip Giller, environmentalist, check out www.grist.org)

Sadly I know some folks who would actually take this tongue-in-cheek sentiment seriously…

Earth Day is next month, and April 20th will see Earth Day Canada’s annual free mega event at Downsview Park (check out www.earthday.ca/pub/events). Our planet has changed so much in the past year, which was the warmest year on record (just as the past 12 years have been). Our industry alone hungrily consumed 900 million trees for pulp and paper. Atmospheric carbon was the highest in 650,000 years. Forests disappeared at the rate of two acres per second and still do. We have all seen the pictures of drowning polar bears as the polar sea ice melted. There are droughts and wildfires, floods and species extinction on a massive scale—if all this did not change the global-warming-doubters’ views, then perhaps the destruction of a major American city by heat-driven hurricane forces may have. We should ask them to live near a bayou.

What we really need is more than one annual Earth Day event—we need to incorporate the essence of Earth Day into everyday life, at our businesses and homes. Our politicians do not have the will to do what is required; they have their own political agenda to worry about. In fact, our current federal government has actually closed down some significant environmental programs that helped support initiatives by our business community. Earth-saving lifestyle change must evidently be a grassroots, bottom-up movement, and a true lifestyle paradigm shift. It is down to you and me, and with a collective will to change, we can make a difference.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents the interests of small- and medium-sized privately-owned enterprises (SME’s) conducted a huge national environmental survey last year. This is true “grassroots” stuff. Over 10,826 respondees took up the call, including a number of printers. The published report states that there is a strong belief among most SME’s that it is possible to grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. The report is therefore called “Achieving Eco-prosperity”. It contains a lot of terrific examples, ideas, and suggestions of what the independent business community is doing or planning to do. The CFIB’s report also recommends convincing all levels of government to enhance communication about environmental opportunities, simplify regulations, and reduce the paper burden and bureaucracy inherent in many environmental initiatives. In other words, take a common sense approach and deal with the most urgent issues now.

But how do you sustain Earth Day every day? Following are ten suggestions, from various sources, in no particular order:

1I like the idea of having an Earth-Hour every day: turn off TVs and computers, all unnecessary lights, and reduce the heat to a degree below normal room temperature. Enjoy each other’s conversation, read, or take a walk. Open windows and shut off the A/C in the summer. Most of the 25 tons of CO2 that each Canadian generates annually comes from our homes.

2According to the U.S Department of Energy, 75% of all hydro consumed in the home is standby power, used to keep all those DVD players, sound systems, and computer monitors running. Did you know that the average desktop computer can consume up to 6 kWh of power per day, not including the monitor? (To put it in perspective, a fridge consumes about 12 kWh of power per day.) If you use it for four hours a day and then turn it off, you could save up to $80.00 per year and reduce your CO2 emissions by up to 83% for each computer.

3Plug all computer, printing, photocopiers and fax machines into a power bar with a surge protector for each work station. One switch turns them all off. Kill all the lights at quitting time.

4Many cities have anti idling by-laws, a 3 minute limit is usual. But don’t let your vehicles idle for more than 10 seconds, any longer and you are using more gas than necessary for restarting. Post “No Idling” signs at your loading docks. If every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by five minutes a day we collectively save 1.8 million litres of fuel per day, almost 4500 tonnes of GHG emissions, and $1.7 million in fuel costs each day (assuming fuel costs of $0.95/L).

5Avoid drive-through line ups, my pet peeve. All those cars spewing carbon monoxide, CO2, nitrous oxides and VOC’s just for a coffee! Is it really that hard to park, pop in, and pick up the coffee? You might actually talk to another human being, and you will probably save time. If you idle for ten minutes in the line up, your large double-double will cost a lot more than $1.38 in gas and wear on your car.

6Replace incandescent (regular) light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. which use 75% less energy. They last many years longer, too—but don’t put them in the regular garbage, as they contain mercury. You’ll need to recycle them at a white goods depot—look on your municipality’s website for further information.

7Promote and use paper with high recycled content. It uses 60% less energy to produce than virgin pulp paper. Each ton purchased saves 4,000 kWh of energy, 7,000 gallons of water, and 17 trees. Promoting FSC-certified papers helps protect our forests, and FSC-certified paper with post consumer recycled content is the best of both worlds.

8Do not to print out e-mails unless absolutely necessary.

9Install an Enerflow harmonic electrical balancer at your facility; it will result in 8%—10% more efficient use of electricity, potentially saving thousands of kWh and related greenhouse gas emissions.

10Practice P2—treat it on site. Solvent recyclers, UF membrane filters for treating waste liquids or recycling fountain solutions, pH neutralizers, and CTP developer recyclers are some of the pollution prevention (P2) options available that also save money.

Finally, get involved with your own Environmental Event in April, involve suppliers and clients, promote and talk it up on your web sites or newsletters. Do something green!

And have a great Earth Day, week, month, year…

Cleaning is a critical task within the entire printing process. Technology has resulted not only in new chemical products but new cleaning processes like solvent impregnated cloth. These changes are directed towards performance and controlling emissions during and after use.

Blankets, rollers and metering rollers must be in a condition to minimize any negative effects to the current and following printing jobs. Press components can be cleaned manually or through use of Automatic washing.

Manual cleaning has the potential to be the largest emitter of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). The inherent arbitrary nature of the process itself is a problem. Some press personnel might be frugal in their application of cleaning agent, where others may feel that more is better. An important issue is worker exposure to the cleaning agents. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, goggles, aprons and respirators, should be an important consideration for the pressroom manager. Each situation must be assessed individually.

Chemical resistant gloves and goggles are universally accepted. Contributing to the possibility of increased emissions is that during manual cleaning, the wash solvent might not be applied solely to the roller or blanket. Splashing during application or handling increases the amount of VOC generated due to non –cleaning activities. Soiled worker clothing or uniforms, used press rags and VOC in the working environment are other reasons why manual methods are problematic. Consideration of disposal procedures for rags or towels is critical because these items could be considered hazardous waste! Finally, solvent residue on the clothing of plant personnel could also be a source of concern.

Two of many approaches to minimizing the VOC generated during manual cleaning are to use a wash concentrate or a LOWVOC wash. A wash concentrate is designed to be diluted with water up to 50% by volume. This water-in-oil emulsion does an efficient job of cleaning of conventional ink along with paper lint and other water soluble contaminants that may build up on the rollers or blankets. Lower emissions result because there is less solvent involved in the cleaning process itself.

Some low-VOC wash products have vapor pressures (VP) often below 1 mmHg@20ºC and are simply not volatile. Simply put, low VP products do not evaporate. They are designed either as concentrates that can be cut with water or when used as-is, rinsed with water or cleaned/wiped up with a damp press towel or sponge. Whether diluted or used-as-is, low vapor pressure wash products emit zero to low-VOC!

The towels and sponges used for low vapor pressure wash products could be considered as non-hazardous chemical waste and present the user with a lower disposal cost. These wash products tend to have flashpoints higher than 142ºF and do not meet any other RCRA hazard class. Automatic Wash Systems have the potential of limiting VOC and over time providing a good return on investment due to the reduced amount of wash products used.

AUTOMATIC WASH UP SYSTEMS

The significance of using an Automatic wash up system is that it can approach the attributes of being a closed system. A properly adjusted unit can measure the amount of wash used for cleaning, recapture it and recycle most of it for reuse. The water component can be properly treated and discarded.

One critical aspect of an Automatic wash up system is that during the process, water is separated from the solvent, removing most of the water from the product.

This water, as is, is typically unacceptable for discharge into industrial or domestic sewerage systems. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether their discharge water is acceptable under local sewer regulations. Most municipal utility authorities require that a certified environmental lab check out discharge water on a monthly basis.

Accounting for VOC use should be easier since Automatic wash up systems either have or can be modified to have holding tanks or feed tanks that can be manually or electronically monitored for content or consumed quantity over time.

An Automatic wash up system unit is adjusted to deliver a specific amount of wash for each cleaning cycle. This removes the random element present in manual cleaning operations and will normally contribute to a lower quantity of solvent used. This control directly affects the VOC emitted when using a high vapor pressure material and the quality of water-wash generated in the process. The optimum means to control both wash waste and VOC emission is to use a low-VOC (low volatile) wash in an Automatic wash up system. A wash product with low to no volatility minimizes the VOC emitted during the cleaning process and the collected wash-water mix can be efficiently recovered. The volume of low-VOC washes recovered may be higher due to a lower loss rate during the cleaning process. Printers’ Service markets a recycling unit which can be used with most Automatic Wash Systems to increase the overall return on investment of a drum of wash. Accessories such as separation tanks round out the equipment required to put together a total system.

A uniform Automatic cleaning process that doesn’t rely on manual methods with their potential excess use of product, high-VOC emissions and potential solid waste issues, is clearly beneficial for any plant operation.

WASH PRODUCT SELECTION

The selection of wash products depends on several factors.

• Does the wash meet applicable VOC regulations?

• Will it be cost effective to purchase and properly dispose?

• Is the product approved by the press manufacturer?

• Is the product compatible with the Automatic wash up system unit itself?

• Can the product be recovered efficiently with current technology?

• Does the recovered product require additives?

• Is the product compatible with rollers and blankets?

There are significant differences between the composition of blankets, rollers and the components in Automatic wash up system so selecting a wash product is not a simple process. Wash selection requires either a knowledgeable supplier or reviewing the literature provided by the press, roller and blanket manufacturer.

Regulatory changes on the West Coast have resulted in wash manufacturers introducing a wide variety of low-VOC wash products. Past regulatory requirements hinged on vapor pressure alone but now in some air quality districts, the VOC content is the deciding factor. Testing methods have also changed and while Method 24 is still used, wash suppliers are using the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Method 313. The latter method involves the use of Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy.

The regulatory climate in California has prompted significant research into low and zero-VOC solvents. Printers’ Service, along with many other wash manufacturers, products that have a minimum environmental impact while providing reasonable cleaning performance. Advances in product reclamation technology, provide the opportunity for printers to recapture these materials when used in an Automatic Wash System applications and recover a significant portion of their wash product investment.

The ultimate goal is to operate your printing businesses profitably while meeting Federal, Provincial and Local air, water and disposal regulations. Suppliers of washes and cleaners to the printing industry are now required to consider many more factors in their product R&D. The simple goal of checking if a low priced solvent cleans the ink lies in the past. Now, relationships with the press manufacturer, roller manufacturer and blanket manufacturers have created an environment where the printer will have access to wash products that have been significantly screened for their application. In the end, this leads to products that are ready to use with significantly less potential for something to go amiss. This translates to printing jobs being completed on time and operating profitably without incident in our highly regulated industry.

Over the past several years, much has been written about Variable Printing. Many people believe it to be a fad that will eventually go the way of the hula hoop. They argue that the quality isn’t good enough, clients don’t have enough data, consumables are too expensive, size limitations and run lengths are prohibitive, and, well, “it’s just not printing! “ Others—myself included—believe that Variable Printing is the only way for our five-hundred-year-old industry to survive and thrive.

Much has changed since the time of Gutenberg, and the landscape is littered with casualties of this very unforgiving industry. Companies that were leaders in this business have failed and become distant memories. Many will say that the reason for these failures was poor management, difficult market conditions, etc. I believe there is a greater problem: conventional printing as we have known it decreasing in relevance, and may soon become obsolete. Now before you pick up the phone and tell me how misguided I am, let me explain.

Our world today is an instantaneous one. Anyone can go on-line and access virtually anything, anywhere, any time. You don’t have to wait for anything. If you want information on a new car, press the button and you’ve got it; coupons, no problem; the hardware store brochure—zap! You can’t run your business today without computers or e-mail. Clients want things faster and cheaper. Printing is less expensive today than it was twenty-five years ago! Your six colour 40” press is faster than before, and yet it still isn’t fast enough. Print runs are shrinking. Clients don’t want or need inventory.

I believe the solution is creating relevance and speed to market. If you look at what Variable Printing on demand can do, you will find the future of our industry. A person wanting information about a new car is a good illustration. Today the process is a time-consuming, expensive proposition. The car manufacturers receive the request for information electronically (auto show leads, web sites, e-mail, etc.). They forward that information to their fulfilment house who process it, pick and pack those pretty brochures, (talk about stale and costly inventory!), and mail it to the prospect. On average, this takes four to five weeks. The postage cost alone is around $2.50, and the product is totally generic. How relevant are these items to the prospect? How costly are they to produce? How many thousands of dollars of inventory is destroyed with each model change or product update? How many printers fight to print that generic brochure at below cost pricing?

For less than the cost of postage, this is how it would work in the variable on demand world. The lead is electronically transferred immediately upon receipt to a service bureau. The data is processed, composed based upon model type, options available, dealership, location, special offers, incentives and special features (such as test drive appointments, free car wash, etc.). Within twenty-four hours of the request, the customized and personalized brochure is in the mail, and received in most cases forty-eight to seventy-two hours after the initial inquiry. And all this with no inventory, current information, and exceptional quality, for less money than the current postage costs.

Relevant—Timely—Effective

It is important to consider what drives the technology, rather than thinking just about the technology itself. Having a digital printer does not qualify you to do variable imaging. You need to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in data programmers, forms composition specialists, and software. You also need to understand the nuances of the Post Office. You will need to train your people and invest heavily in market development. It is not easy and it is not cheap!

In the conventional world, equipment manufacturers are eager to put iron on the floor. Most people in the industry would agree that it is this over-capacity that has caused many of the problems in the industry today. The same trend of over-capacity occurs with the digital “boxes”. Only people, experience, and commitment will enable you to benefit from this exciting growth opportunity.

Despite my comments earlier, conventional printing will endure, and good companies will continue to grow. The future of the industry, however, lies in adapting to the realities of the marketplace. Variable Printing will continue to grow and printers that understand how to transition their traditional business will survive and prosper.

“Variable Data Printing is like high school sex. Everyone thinks everyone else is doing it. In fact, not that many people are doing it. And those who are, aren’t doing it very well.”

Bill Farquharson, Print Tec Network

Print service providers have been squeezed and commoditized to the point that they are frantic in their search for services that will add value and be profitable, and variable data printing is one of the top solutions printers consider as a value-added service. Equipment and software vendors are more than happy to help size the market, justify the purchase of their equipment/software, and build the supporting workflow and processes.

It may be, however, that Bill Farquharson was right in his contention that the perception and reality of variable are quite different. A Q3 2007 PIA/GATF survey indicated while 81% of the 252 respondents reported that they offer variable data printing1, there are few “customized customer communications” produced. Only 15% vary text and images, 4% produce transactional projects, and 2% implement digital images (like Direct Smile). The majority vary text only (55%) or overprint “shells” (22%).

This month we spoke to Julie Northrup, Director of Sales at Terminal Van Gogh in Toronto, about the planning process that should go on when preparing to launch new VDP products and services.

GAM: You’ve been in this business for a while and it’s pretty clear that buying the equipment, setting a sales target, and opening the door is not a business plan. Hoping for something to succeed is not a business plan! Where does one start?

Julie: You can’t go into this business without a plan. You must be proactive and thoughtful. Why do you want to add variable data printing? Have you identified areas where digital one-to-one will add value to what you offer your customer? Assess what your customers might buy in the future, but don’t expect them to be able to tell you.

There are no figures to estimate actual demand for your services. This is an entirely new space and you need to be prepared to put time and energy into it to be successful. Learn about the capabilities of the process so you can recognize an opportunity when it presents itself.

Get back to basics; carefully examine your strengths and weaknesses, look at opportunities and threats—will moving into variable data printing improve those weaknesses or simply make them worse? Do you clearly understand your customers and their needs? Are the opportunities real or seen through rose-colored glasses?

While every vendor out there will help with analysis, keep in mind their final goal is to sell you equipment and/or software; your goal is to make a profit from it.

GAM: Let’s talk about going to market and market development. How do you succeed when you’ve got something to sell that is difficult to describe and your customers don’t know what it is or if they even need it?

Julie: That is the million-dollar question; and I think that’s where people are floundering. I start by finding out what the prospect’s business issues are. I do a lot of market research upfront— thank goodness for the internet!

Look at your prospect’s website, see what they are doing. Read their annual reports; look at their press releases and their sales materials. Are they looking to increase sales? Do they want to improve efficiency? Are they hiring IT people? What about customer relationship management staff?

You can’t go in the door with a solution without working with your customer to define the problem. In the end the solution actually comes from them. I have to identify the business issues they are grappling with and then show how TVG’s data-driven solutions will solve their problems.

GAM: What about executing on the new business initiative; what processes need to be in place?

Julie: I believe the first thing you need to do is to build a cross-functional team to address issues and solve problems going forward; that means bringing together sales and marketing, prepress, database managers, production people, and the executive team.

This team needs to have the authority to look at existing processes and to adjust or maintain them as needed. They need to have the courage to challenge the status quo in their own organization and even in the customer’s.

Most importantly the team needs to have determination and commitment, and understand that it’s going to take longer than anyone anticipated to be successful. Ben Passmore, co-founder and President of TVG, uses the two and a half rule—it will take twice as long [as you think], cost [twice as much], [and bring in] half the return.

Next Month: The Business Of Variable Data Printing – Part Two

Next month we will talk to Kevin Lanuke, President & CEO of Blitzprint in Calgary. Kevin has offered variable data printing for nearly six years; we’ll find out why he’s shifting from relevance marketing to value-added publishing services that dovetail with his current short run digital book production offerings.

Specialty printing—with great service, complete in-house capabilities, and exceptional turnaround times—spells phenomenal growth for Mississauga trade printer.

Their motto has always been “we help you grow, and as a result, we will grow with you.”

Well, quite frankly, that’s an understatement, given that family-run Mississauga-based Print 44 has grown tenfold—in income, staff, capacity, and facility size—in only three years.

The company was initially founded with only 3 employees—brothers Alex and Mazyar Ekbatani, and a pressman with 17 years of experience.

Initially, Alex was responsible for graphics, prepress, and customer service, while Mazyar was in charge of sales, marketing, providing quotations, project management, and overall operations.

Two more Ekbatani brothers—Arash, now in charge of production and estimating, and Ashton, currently overseeing financial and public relations—later joined Print 44. All had previous experience in the advertising agency business.

“While working at our former jobs, we all encountered problems in dealing with different prepress and printing companies,” says Mazyar Ekbatani. “After comparing notes, we realized that we had many opportunities to explore by creating a different kind of trade printing company.”

‘Different’ is certainly the key word here, as the company is an industry leader on many fronts, , such as eco-friendly printing, specialty printing and finishing, mailing and fulfillment and fast turnaround times. . As an example of quick turn-around times, Print 44 recently received an order for 20,000 presentation folders that was due for distribution the next evening. All the steps required to complete this order and deliver the final product—from prepress to printing, die-cutting, gluing, and folding—were completed in less than 24 hours. Just another day at the office, I guess!

“On a regular basis we hear from our customers that, by the time our competitors got back to them with a complex quote, Print 44 had already printed and shipped the job” says Mazyar.

Specialty Finishing , Mailing and fulfillment

The company also has comprehensive in-house capabilities. These include prepress and printing, standard and specialty finishing (e.g. die-cutting, embossing, foil-stamping), poly-bagging, mail processing, assembly and distribution and/or mailing to U.S. as well as Canadian cities.

“In many cases, our clients rely on us to handle sensitive, security-oriented or time-sensitive material, since they know that everything stays within the same facility from start to finish,” Mazyar adds. The company performs complete mail processing, fulfillment and logistics on behalf of its customers for a fair volume of the material it prints. For its U.S.-based customers, Print 44 processes and mails the finished products from Buffalo, New York. By taking the extra effort and handling the logistics for this added step, clients can still benefit from the postage discounts they would get from a U.S.-based mailing house.

Their online quoting is also excellent—they have one of the most user-friendly and comprehensive online quoting systems in the industry. It enables customers to get a quote on the most complex projects instantly without contacting Print 44 directly. This has helped the company to secure more projects and close deals faster than most of their competitors.

Unsurprisingly, their solid and dependable service record has spawned a loyal, repeat-business customer base that is growing week by week.

Even their choice of name is a reflection of their creativity. The name Print 44 comes from the fact that most major metropolitan cities in Canada are on or around latitude north 44, and initially, the customers they wanted to serve across Canada were concentrated around this latitude. Today, of course, Print 44 has expanded its geographical reach of service and has many clients in the United States as well as in Canada.

“We now have 36 employees and are operating 24/7 from a 20,000-sq.-ft. facility. As a full-service printing and finishing company, we provide a completely integrated set of products and services. These range from magazines and catalogues, to more customized and unique pieces that require die-cutting, embossing, foil-stamping, special effects, gluing and assembly. In addition to specialty work, we also produce the standard brochures, pocket folders, newsletters, flyers, booklets and annual reports,” says Mazyar.

“Most of our customers are from print-management companies, publishing houses, or graphic design companies. The rest of our customers are either small printers that don’t have our capabilities, or mid-sized printers that send their work over-flow to us, especially when it comes to jobs that need a quick turnaround.”

Fulfilling Market Needs specific requests

Many printing companies just keep adding more equipment and facilities on a regular basis, hoping to bring in larger volumes or print projects. Print 44, on the other hand, has grown by fulfilling specific customer requests in niche markets. Since they always listen closely to their clients, all they really need to do is to add a new division or piece of equipment based on jobs that are already lined up for these new customers.

They believe that the old approach of ‘build it and they will come’ no longer holds true in an ultra-competitive and rapidly changing environment such as the printing industry. Fulfilling all their customers’ needs has fuelled Print 44’s rapid and profitable growth, but has also maintained customer loyalty, which is a rare commodity these days.

“We are continually investing in the latest in printing and finishing technology, not only to diversify and remain competitive, but also to help our customers increase their business in various markets,” says Mazyar.

“We indeed want them to grow as we have grown. That’s not just our motto, it’s our mission. For example, we ask our customers continually what challenges they’re encountering in the marketplace and then we become pro-active, creating solutions-based strategies to help them be more competitive and profitable.”

Environmentally-friendly printing at its best

One example of the company’s foresight is its commitment to the environment. Almost from the company’s inception, they recognized that the trend to eco-friendly products and practices was not only important to their immediate community and the environment as a whole, but crucial to many clients of the printers who use their services, especially government agencies. They kept on the cutting-edge of this trend, receiving FSC Certification just a few days after they applied for it. Today, the company practices what it preaches and has invested heavily in eco-friendlier products and equipment and practices shop-wide, including FSC-certified printing, recycling of plates, paper and other materials.

At our January meeting, the Digital Imaging Association featured FSC—Forest Stewardship Council—Certification. The presentation was lead by Vivian Peachey from SmartWood, a company that acts on behalf of the Rainforest Alliance’s forest division to certify companies as FSC compliant, and to police and approve the use of each and every FSC and AFF (Ancient Forest Friendly) logo. Attendees learned what is involved in the certification process, what are the costs and implications to a supplier of printing and related services, and what leads the charge to certification.

Rainforest Alliance’s mission is to protect ecosystems and the people and wildlife that live within them by transforming land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior. In Canada, a champion of the cause is Market Initiatives, a Vancouver-based Greenpeace-associated firm, that has endeavours to increase consumer awareness of the reduction in the critical Boreal Forest in North America. Their high impact is evident in their coup of getting JK Rowling to “green-up” the Harry Potter series and put pressure on the big five Canadian banks to lower their impact on the Boreal Forest and Ancient Forests by printing only on FSC certified stock—to name only two examples. The day following the DIA presentation, JK Rowling’s blog on Whattheythink.com stated that when it was found that FSC-certified stock was not available to the selected printer of the Finnish version, Rowling pulled the printing

It is consumer pressure that is driving corporations to make the statement that they are environmentally responsible. And you can make the statement of your environmental responsibility by choosing FSC-certified papers and emblazoning the FSC symbol on your printed materials. Print providers can be a part of the group that champions our environmental future by doing what it takes to achieve and retain FSC Certification.

What it is and how it works

FSC Certification’s Chain of Custody begins with forest management—a systematic and measurable process that is traceable and auditable. Chain of Custody further tracks the product from FSC-certified forests until the final finished product to keep intact the integrity of the FSC seal. Printers, said Peachy, can be assured that the paper supply chain is fairly contained and that most in the chain are certified. The FSC Canada web site—fsccanada.org—has an up-to-date list of FSC-certified papers and printers.

The print based chain of custody looks like this:

Forest—Pulp Mill—Paper Mill—Merchant—Printer

As you can see, FSC isn’t just about the paper. In order to be able to put an FSC symbol on printed materials, the printer must also hold FSC Certification. FSC requires each link to obtain certification to retain the credibility of the claim of FSC-certified forests as the source. No claim or label is allowed unless the chain is unbroken.

To obtain and retain certification requires a system-based approach which includes:

Assigning people to take responsibility

Developing procedures

Documenting your procedures

Training on procedures

Confirming that procedures are continually followed

Creating forms and records to demonstrate that only certified stock has been used throughout a press run. Procedurally, it is absolutely essential to develop a foolproof process so that certified and uncertified stocks are not mixed.

Be audited regularly by organizations like SmartWord

FSC actually has three different logos to be used for very specific printed product applications. The symbol that addresses intent fully is the one that shows the product has been printed on paper that can be traced to content from 100% well-managed forests. Another symbol states that the paper used is from mixed sources—a combination of well-managed forests, controlled sources, and recycled wood or post-consumer fiber. The third designates recycled content that supports the responsible use of forest resources. Each logo used has a number unique to the Auditing company and the Printer to enable tracking validity of its use (i.e. Smartwood, Chain of Custody, and the Printer’s own number).

Cost and ROI

Cost to printers of achieving and maintaining certification, advised Peachey, depends on complexity, size, and preparedness. It can range from $1500 to $5000, plus the annual Audit fee. Actively marketing your company as one that is an intrinsic part of the Chain of Custody can lead to the potential of more work from customers who recognize their own responsibility to our environmental future. On a broader scale, this also represents a catalyst for change. Operations are required to make changes to social, economic, and systems issues just as often as environmental issues. Certification also creates a discipline of process control, which assists with efficient production—the ultimate outcome translates to increased corporate pride and increased profits.