What better way to create nice looking, efficient forms than by using Indesign. Today, the XML data available can be inserted with a script and creation, and printing and customizing can be controlled using Javascript.

Start with Master Pages. Create a master page for a docket, a packing slip or an invoice. Label it with a short description and you can have one template with all your required forms!

To apply a master using Javascript, use this code when running from the scripts menu in Indesign:

app.activeDocument.pages.item(0).appliedMaster = app.activeDocument.masterSpreads.item(templatename).

In the FullSWITCH or PowerSWITCH environment, the Indesign configuration uses $doc in place of app.activeDocument to refer to the template that SWITCH opens:

$doc.pages.item(0).appliedMaster = $doc.masterSpreads.item(templatename).

Start with this, and you can have one script that creates a completed form with the click of a mouse!

Javascript can apply a template to a page, and then fill in the blanks with XML data – shipping information, ordered items, item numbers, quantities. A single line to import the XML file from the Javascript is as follows:

app.activeDocument.importXML(File(thePathtotheXMLFile)).

$doc. is used again in the FullSWITCH and PowerSWITCH environments.

Importing XML can seem tricky, so for your first time, try manually importing a sample of the XML file you are using. For this to work, the file needs to be the same XML setup for all files being used.

Under the View menu, select Show Structure if it is not on the left of your screen. Under the drop down menu in the structure window, select Import XML and select your XML file.

The structure of the XML file can be dragged from the current window into a textbox on the page. Under View ->Structure, select Show Tagged Frames. When you drag an XML element into a textbox, it will appear highlighted with the colour of the elements tag. Select the data inside the frame, and delete it – the box should still show the tag colour. This means the next time an XML file with that element is imported, the data will go into that box.

Next, set up paragraph styles for your text so you can map the individual parts to the styles you want. In the structure window’s drop down menu, select Map Tags to Styles. You can select the element and specify the paragraph style you want.

Keep in mind, this works for a single element, such as an order date or order number, but if you want a group of items such as a shipping address, they will most likely be grouped into a higher level element.

In the structure window, you can select Show Text Snippets from the drop down window and the data inside the XML file appears next to each element.

You can add a complex element as well. For example, if you have an element named ShipTo, and attached to it is a complete name and address, you can drag the whole ShipTo element into a textbox. To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Select View->Structure->Show Tag Markers. Each element will have a set of coloured square parentheses around it.
2. Format the text and set it up the way you prefer.
3. Delete the text in the square parentheses, but leave the parentheses in place. Notice that when you do this, the data that was attached to the element in the structure window disappears when the text is deleted, leaving an empty element.

So far, we have been working with single occurring items, but if you have something that changes from job to job, like ordered items, you will want them to generate a line for each item.

Using the method above, drag an item that may contain things like quantity, description, code or price into a textbox. Format the line using a paragraph style with tabs, and add a hard return at the end of the line. Delete the text above it, leaving the coloured parentheses as placeholders.

Indesign will remember previous settings when importing the XML file. Make sure to check Mode: Merge Content and Clone when repeating text elements. When you run your script on the open template file, it will apply the master and import your data.

While Management Information System (MIS) has been around for over 20 years, if you asked 20 people to explain what an MIS was, you would likely get 20 different answers. Simply defined, MIS is a system for tracking information useful to managers. The information helps to plan for future work, to control the flow of work currently in process and to report on activities completed in the past.

Typically, MIS applications are divided into modules with different portions of the software supporting specific business processes. These modules may seem like stand-alone applications, but their true strength comes from their integration and the fact that they share data in a single database.

The standard modules in an MIS system are usually divided as follows:

Estimating
Defines the individual elements of a job, the processes and materials that will be used to produce them and the associated costs. This information is combined to create an estimate, which in turn is used to generate a quote, define many of the details of an order, inform production scheduling and relay materials requirements to purchasing. The estimating module is the core of MIS systems in the print industry.

Order Entry
This module is used by customer service to maintain customer information, enter orders and track in-process and completed jobs. Order details that are not usually defined in the estimating module (they may not be known at the time of the quote) are typically maintained in order entry, including production instructions and shipping information. Here quotes are converted to orders.

Scheduling
Once an order is received in the system, it must be produced. The scheduling module helps to plan production by determining when and where a job will be produced. Specific equipment, production centers and production steps are identified—and the job is assigned a time to begin activities in one or all of the production centers.

Shop Floor Data Collection
This module captures actual production information for a job. It acts as a record of time and materials, enabling managers to control those key aspects of cost and productivity. Historically, shop floor data collection (SFDC) has involved operators manually entering data against a job using a touch screen, mouse and keyboard to scan barcodes. More and more today, the most advanced implementations integrate with production equipment using a direct machine interface (DMI) so that the MIS system tracks, in real time, the number of units produced and materials used.

Inventory Management
This module tracks materials and other production consumables. Paper, ink, bindery components, plates, chemicals and other items can be defined in the system. Physical characteristics (size, paper caliper, ink mileage, etc.) are added to the item data to support the estimating process.

Items in inventory can be assigned lot numbers and warehouse locations. The quantity on hand in a location can be tracked providing a real time view of the warehouse. Additional information, such as preferred suppliers and desired on-hand quantities are assigned to specific inventory items.

Purchasing
In conjunction with the order entry and inventory modules, the purchasing module generates purchase orders for materials and outside services. An incoming order can automatically generate a requisition, identifying the material quantity required for a specific job. If the material cannot fulfill the required quantity on hand, many systems can convert a requisition to a purchase order. Purchase receipts can be matched with the PO and invoice to support accounts payable processing.

Shipping
This module manages the shipment of a job. Typical functions include generating packing slips, shipping documents and labels, and now include integration into the major online shipping systems available such as UPS®, FedEx® and Purolator®, to name a few, as well as storing tracking numbers, package weights and freight costs.

Accounting
Accounts payable (A/P), accounts receivable (A/R), and general ledger functions are located in this module. Connections to the other modules provide an integrated view of accounting information by customer, supplier and internal cost centre. Since accounting functions have tax and other legal implications, many systems also provide integration with third-party accounting applications.

Job Costing
Though not present in all systems, this module helps analyze the actual costs of specific jobs and the productivity of various resources. Employee, shift, plant, machine, department, etc. can often track productivity. Data from the shop floor data collection module is used to support the costing analysis. At the job level, this data can be compared with the original estimate to identify refinements that can help produce more accurate future estimates.

Executive Dashboards
Executive dashboards deliver a graphical view and real-time status of key performance indicators (KPI) impacting production, customer service, finance, sales and marketing–all with powerful filtering and online analytical capabilities to allow managers to drill down to get to the bottom of a problem or opportunity.

CRM
The promise of customer relationship management (CRM) is a single consistent real-time view of everything to do with a customer, accessible by everyone in the print shop. By bringing a customer-centric view to the job-centric production system, CRM helps enhance the print shop’s sales and marketing efforts by identifying the shop’s most profitable customers for targeted marketing campaigns, identifying “ideal” customers for targeting potential customers, managing and tracking the shop’s lead generation efforts and driving its sales effectiveness through accurate sales forecasting.

Reporting
While not necessarily a module in itself, most systems provide some standard (aka “canned”) reports within each of the other modules. No system provides a complete set of reports that can be used to manage every business, so most systems offer a third-party reporting tool such as Business Objects Crystal Report Writer to enable users to customize the built-in reports and create new reports.

What does an MIS do?
The power of MIS lies in its ability to help employees in performing business functions quickly and consistently. The collective knowledge of the organization is entered into the system; the resulting workflow ensures that the steps are performed in the proper sequence and that business rules are applied to each transaction. The integration between the various system modules enables every job to be tracked as a single entity.

The ability to implement business rules in the system is a key source of the value of MIS. When the application defines and enforces business rules, the organization saves both time and money. This is accomplished by reducing the amount of employee knowledge required to accomplish routine tasks and by reducing human errors that can produce costly mistakes absorbed by the business.

Estimating and quoting provide a prime example of this type of savings. Estimating is the heart of the system. The combination of a good estimator (or estimating department) and the structure provided by the application can avoid production problems, simplify production planning and ensure that the true cost of a job is factored into the price.

Detailed estimates can include specifying each piece of equipment and each manual step in the production process. Once the estimate is turned into an order, integration with the scheduling module enables production managers to see the impacts of incoming work in real time. Shop floor data collection and the reports that go with it enable the organization to see and understand how the performance of a job is impacted by run length, raw materials and other factors. The system’s ability to capture actual performance on previous jobs reduces the chances of repeat mistakes.

Many systems provide estimating templates, which can reduce the estimating department’s efforts in the quoting process. Common jobs can be estimated once and quoted to customers many times. Customer service representatives (CSRs) can use existing estimates to create properly priced bids in minutes. If a quote requires a different material, the system can update the cost based on the material price and automatically adjust the planned running speeds of presses and finishing equipment automatically. For example, a change from a 20lb. bond to an 80lb. cover involves more than a change in the cost of the paper.

Most systems also enable notes to be added to a job and carry those through to every step in the process. Bloated job folders with sticky notes, illegible handwriting and confusing instructions are replaced with standard messages and easy-to-understand work orders. Some systems can even provide electronic job tickets so that equipment operators can see instructions and make notes directly from the shop floor on their data collection workstations.

Technology and Connectivity
Some MIS applications offer limited connectivity to external applications and equipment. In small shops, this may not matter, as everyone will use the MIS for most of their job functions, with third-party applications limited to prepress and the office productivity suite. In these cases, it doesn’t matter if the MIS package has strong integration capabilities.

In larger environments, multiple applications and multiple vendors are a reality. Companies invest in best-in-class applications and equipment in design, prepress as well as in the pressroom and bindery. In this case, the MIS has an important role to play, acting as the information hub of the shop–automatically sending and receiving data from the different software applications and equipment throughout the shop (see figure below).

For several years now, the high-end systems have provided the ability to integrate MIS directly with production equipment. One of the first applications to integrate with MIS was shop floor data collection, using a direct machine interface (DMI). This technology simplifies SFDC by providing operation counts directly into the data collection system. The operator simply selects the activity to be performed, turns on the counter, and the technology records both the time and materials automatically.

MIS can extend the power of these manufacturer-driven applications by providing a point of integration. Job information entered into MIS can be passed automatically to multiple devices, benefitting the production floor staff.

Some MIS systems provide automated scheduling functions that can compare workload to capacity and graphically represent the schedule by week, day and hour. Schedules can be driven by start time, due date and customer priority. More advanced scheduling features can support “what if” analyses enabling the scheduler to compare different scenarios before committing to one schedule. Some applications even support dynamic task scheduling. If a job is moved ahead in the schedule for a press, the application can automatically move the job ahead in the prepress department. This ensures that the job will be ready for the press at the scheduled time.

The MIS can show all of these production impacts in real-time. An operator can view a change in a job schedule immediately, ensuring that the proper job is processed next. With shop floor data collection, the location and status of a job can be identified by anyone with access to the system. When system access is combined with DMI, managers even have the ability to see the percentage completed at any time. If a job is running long, schedule changes can be made right away, enabling the production team to quickly respond to unexpected events.

What is the role of JDF?
Job definition format (JDF) is a technology standard defined by the CIP4 organization and built upon the widely-used extensible markup language (XML). JDF provides a common language and vocabulary that enables applications from different manufactures to communicate with each other. This standard is being adopted by an increasing number of software and equipment manufacturers. Recent developments in defining interoperability standards have led to improved compatibility between vendors.

During the creative process, JDF can be used to communicate job specifications for the artwork. The MIS can combine this information with process-specific details contained in the estimate to determine exact production parameters required by JDF-enabled equipment. JDF messages (in job messaging format or JMF) are then sent to vendor applications, driving equipment configurations and run quantities. JMF also allows devices on the shop floor to communicate processing and production information to the MIS.

Before JDF was available, these types of communications were possible only if the software developers created a custom interface between two systems. As the number of systems in an environment increases, the number of interfaces has to grow with it. The interface development process is slow and expensive and has severely limited the number of applications that can interact. In the past, most of this integration was between products from a single vendor.

Now, a software developer has to implement a JDF interface only once. This interface can be reused to integrate with applications from multiple vendors, reducing development costs and increasing flexibility. The trend towards JDF integration continues to gain momentum and makes this technology an important capability for MIS.

How does MIS affect customer relationships?
Customer service is always a hot topic. Print shops are under a lot of competitive pressure and are constantly looking for ways to maintain profit margins and avoid bidding wars that shrink margins to near zero. Their ability to provide better service and faster job turnaround is a key component to this strategy.

Customer service reps can provide more information in less time by using MIS. Improving CSRs’ access to data and providing more information to customers can require changes to the way an organization does business; but, the result is improved speed, accuracy and extended customer service.

Most systems provide the ability to offer customer-specific products and pricing. This enables a company to offer tailored programs to each customer, while reducing the burden on staff. CSRs are no longer required to memorize the list of rules for each customer. They learn to access information in the system, and the system provides the rules, products and prices for each customer.

The Print Shop that never closes: the role of Web-to-Print
The leading providers of MIS solutions also offer Web-to-Print solutions. These solutions provide print shops with an effective way for customers to place and track orders “anytime from anywhere.” MIS plays a critical role in this process. As the repository of all the information about customers, pricing, jobs, products and inventory levels, the MIS system can share this data with internal and external users in real time (see figure below). This moves some of the cost of customer service to the customer in exchange for better and faster turnaround time on jobs.

How does MIS impact staff?
Some employees view technology as a threat to their jobs and a source of increased problems. Others become concerned that the system may expose and highlight performance problems that have been easy to hide. But star performers usually welcome the automation and assistance that MIS provides.

A forward-thinking organization will take advantage of the benefits of MIS to enable employees to spend time on value-added activities. Automating mundane and repetitive administrative tasks should give employees more time to provide improved customer service and focus on quality. Companies that embrace technology are more nimble and can more rapidly respond to their increasingly demanding customers.

Technology has long been an important factor in conducting business. As our reliance on technology increases, so does the pace of technology. Organizations that use technology to their advantage are more successful than those that don’t. The PIA has found that investing in technology is one of the primary differences between the 25% of printers who are profitable and the 75% who are not.

The annual Canadian Printing Industries Association senior management conference, Strategy 08, recently wrapped up. More than 100 industry executives and others traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to meet with peers, network and share insights with a range of speakers. Sub-titled “Protecting Your Profits,” much of the focus was on improving business operations, particularly through recruiting and retaining employees.

After a day of golf, which raised nearly $5,000 for the Canadian Printing Industries Scholarship Trust Fund, the two-day conference opened with a keynote from Gord Griffiths, president and CEO of Grafikom.

Griffiths provided the audience with a capsule of insights and lessons learned from more than 40 years in the industry at companies such as RBW, Lawson and Jones, Quebecor and Cenveo. He suggested that printers should be more innovative and be less modest about going to customers to promote ideas for new products or how to save money. Griffiths also encouraged printers to participate in associations to promote the industry, especially to young people – a theme that was echoed throughout the conference. He also recommended that printers should partner to compete against the “megaprinter” and go after a larger opportunity as well as to recognize that competition comes principally from outside the industry.

Louise Kralka, vice president of sales at Phipps Dickson Integria in Montreal and in-coming chair of the CPIA board, moderated a panel discussion that focused on the customer: “Do you really know your clients’ needs? What makes a print buyer tick?”

Margie Dana, founder of Print Buyers International, Jane Morrison of Colour in Halifax and Louise Marcil of Pulp and Paper Canada, via teleconference, shared their insights. All emphasized fast turnaround, different types of printing and the increasing importance of environmental factors, which developed into another key conference theme.

After lunch, motivational speaker Peter Davison energized and entertained the crowd with his talk on how to “Energize Employee Engagement.” Davison stressed the importance of promoting an emotional connection between the employee and his or her work and of treating each employee as an individual and important contributor to the whole.

The CPIA is a participant in the U.S.-based trade association Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation. Gary Jones, director of environmental, health and safety at PIA/GATF, spoke about the Sustainable Green Printer Partnership Program. Jones noted that the push for green printing is very much market driven. He discussed the various components of sustainability, including the product, the process and the envelope (the physical production environment). Jones then described the SGP program and how printers can participate. (More information is available at www.sgppartnership.org.)

The guiding principles of the SGP are aspirational; improvement is an on-going process. He stressed the need for both a systematic (step by step) and systemic (all aspects of the operation) approach. Green printing is very much about reducing waste – and therefore cost – and instituting lean manufacturing principles can be an important component of that.

However, it is not only environmental factors that lead printers toward lean manufacturing. With print under relentless margin pressure, the need for on-going process improvement is even more important.

Transcontinental has long been a leader in instituting lean manufacturing processes, and we were fortunate to have Transcontinental’s corporate vice president of efficiency and innovation, Réal Boulet, discuss the company’s approach and use of lean manufacturing techniques, including Kaizen.

Transcontinental’s operating philosophy focuses on five key elements: strong leadership, mobilizing and engaging employees, improving business processes, optimizing operational performance and customer focus. Boulet stated “In our industry, improving quality is reducing waste‚Ķor reducing lead time.” Lean is about eliminating sources of waste and shortening cycle time.

Day two opened with Marie Eveline discussing the Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council. The Council provides a national forum for collaboration, provides a leadership role in skills development and is working to improve the industry’s image as a career destination. Just two years old, the Council has already published a review of education and training programs, provided a needs assessment and is developing a skills and technology roadmap; the Council has also started developing skills standards for a variety of operations. Publication of a Labour Market Study has been postponed until after the election.

Following Eveline, Pascal Longpré of Mercer Consulting discussed how people issues can affect a merger or acquisition.

The highlight of the program was two panel discussions. After a brief presentation by PIA/GATF (and former CPIA) President Michael Makin on diversifying and moving into ancillary services, Jeff Eckstein of Willow Printing, Ruby Thomas from Harmony Printing and Jim Mayes of Colorcraft of Virginia discussed their move away from simple “ink on paper,” including digital print, special effects and mailing and fulfillment services.

The conference was attended by a number of students from Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management. Four of them discussed their passion for the industry as well as their hopes and aspirations. Not only was it an enjoyable hour, but it injected a healthy dose of youth, optimism and vigor. Indeed, printers of all sizes should be encouraged to participate in higher education internship programs and look to hire new grads.

Kevin Lanuke, founder and president of Blitzprint in Calgary, spoke of his journey from offset printer to digital printer to providing communication tools to help customers achieve their dreams. He spoke of the cost of opening niche markets and of the importance of a strong balance sheet – something that strikes close to home in the midst of the current credit meltdown.

The conference closed with an update on the current pulse of Canada, provided by John Wright from Ipso-Reid, a leading polling firm. Wright spoke both of Canadians’ attitudes and behaviour; he also provided an update and insight into the current election.

The final event was the Gala Awards Reception, where CPIA Awards of Merit were given to Mike McInnes (Transcontinental, Brampton) and Kris Bovay (Pacific Bindery Services, Vancouver). CPIA Supplier Award of Merit recipients were Cyndie Crysler of Muller Martini, Brian Ellis of Heidelberg and Graham Thompson of Vertex Graphic and Business Equipment in Vancouver. Dave Potje of Twin City Dwyer Printing in Kitchener received the Distinguished Service Award. The second annual Young Printer Award went to Todd Cober of Cober Printing in Kitchener. Don Gain of Harmony Printing and Rémi Marcoux, executive chairman of Transcontinental, received Honourary Life Member Awards. In his comments, Marcoux highlighted the two key trends of 1:1 and personalization and of developing a multi-channel platform.

Next year’s Strategy 09 Conference will be in Toronto, Nov. 10-12, 2009. For more information check out www.cpia-aci.ca.

John Zarwan is a PEI-based consultant focusing on business development and profit improvement. He provided drupa highlights at the Strategy 08 Conference.

Today’s business customers are looking for more than just a place to make photocopies – they’re looking for a dedicated partner that will help them take care of their business and handle all their printing needs. Whether it’s copies of blueprints, posters, displays, signs or banners, these busy customers need someone to provide the full solution.

As the use of office colour printing has increased, customer expectations have as well, and simple hand-lettered materials or cut-and-paste presentations are not acceptable anymore. Businesses are now expecting presentations, signs, banners and displays to be produced with full-colour graphics and photo-quality images. This trend is driving incredible growth in the large-format printing industry.

Also driven by the popularity of digital cameras, the large-format industry is increasing demand for large-format graphics for personal use, such as portraits, fine art, party banners, garage sale signs and much more.

And because large-format printing requires more skill and experience than desktop colour printing, customers are looking for professional help with these projects.

So, here’s the bottom line: large-format printing is a tremendous opportunity for you to grow your business because it’s a chance to offer your customers value and services that exceed what they can do at home or at the office. And, when you can do for your customers what they can’t do for themselves, you have the critical ingredient for a great business.

More than just making prints
When it comes to large-format printing, customers will look to you for a full range of services that begin with the creative concept, but also include prepping their files for output, and end with printing and finishing the graphics they want. Your ability to satisfy these needs is the foundation for a successful printing service. By offering your customers the full range of printing and related services, you will be able to generate additional sales revenue, keep your customers coming back and increase the profitability of your operation.

Creating value and selling solutions
The key to successfully creating value and selling solutions is learning to understand a customer’s needs and wants — then fulfilling them. If you can help your customers design and produce the large-format graphics they want, help them resolve issues with print files and make useful recommendations for media and finishing options, you’ll generate more sales revenue while increasing customer satisfaction. And satisfied customers are those who will keep coming back for more!

Asking the right questions
Delivering high-quality products means understanding exactly what customers require, and to understand this, we must learn to ask the right questions. By learning to listen to your customers, you’ll be able to make good recommendations that will help get the job done right –and might even help you increase the size of the sale with additional revenue-generating services!

• Consumers – weddings, birthdays, graduations, retirement parties, garage sales, etc.
• Education – classroom materials, student government, special projects, alumni events, etc.
• Sports – event posters, pep rally banners, summer camps and clinics, competitions, etc.
• Photography – family portraits, commemorative, restorations and reproductions, etc.
• Technical documents – building plans, landscape designs, elevations, GIS and CAD drawings, etc.
• Business – grand opening, sales events, menu boards, advertising specials, promotions, etc.
• And the list goes on and on‚Ķ

Keep them coming back for more
The hardest thing for just about any business is to find new customers. So, once you have established a relationship with a customer, you will want to keep him or her coming back to you. The best way to do this is to provide a quality service at a fair price, offer him or her sound advice, make good recommendations and be proactive in finding new ways to address his or her needs. As you learn about new products (for example, banner and display stands) bring it to your customer’s attention. Customers are always looking for new ways to improve their businesses and attract attention.

Why not offer business customers a bundle of services that includes the design, printing and finishing of their reoccurring projects? Consider including pick-up, delivery or on-site installation services. If possible, you may even want to set up an on-line ordering system so that they can send you their jobs without ever leaving their place of work. Anytime you can make their lives easier and get the job done quicker, you will be increasing your value to your customers, and at the same time, you will be increasing the likelihood that they will keep coming back to you for more.

A top thoroughbred racehorse will likely cost a small fortune as a foal. It will have impeccable bloodlines and stature, plus the benefits of an experienced trainer and jockey. But if the animal can’t finish a race, it’s game over.

The same is true in the print industry. You can have the most expensive, high-end equipment, best pre-press technology and most experienced press operators produce a virtually flawless job. But if the work isn’t finished properly, well, that customer will soon be finished‚Ķwith you!

In recent years, the speed of digital printing has skyrocketed. Bindery and finishing equipment and technology is trying to keep pace, and for the most part, is succeeding.
GBC, for example, recently set a Guinness World Record at drupa for the fastest lamination speed. The manufacturer’s well-named Cyclone 8500 one-sided, ultra-high-speed laminator, with a top speed of 500 ft. (150 m) per minute and a 44” (112 cm) width, set the record by laminating 102.2 sq. meters of paper in just 40.53 seconds.

Pre-setting technologies such as touch-screen and JDF compatibility are also becoming the norm, as are other options for coating, laminating, foil stamping and so on. In fact, Heidelberg and Manroland are currently promoting their newest cold foiling technology. Many of the major press manufacturers have added inline finishing equipment, complete with training videos and related educational presentations. But when should inline be used and is it more cost-efficient than outsourcing, especially when you factor in operator training time and production turnaround?

Bottom line: The new technology is eliminating the frustrating bottleneck often associated with traditional bindery and finishing. Most printers now realize that they can’t modernize their in-shop post-press and still continue to operate with older, traditional equipment and technology. They’re also discovering that a modern bindery and finishing shop, whether in-house or not, can actually boost revenues.

One shop that’s seen it all is Toronto’s own Hume Imaging Inc. (www.humeimaging.com). Founded in 1988 by John Hume, the company has grown from a one-room copy shop to an award-winning, multi-million-dollar operation with three locations in the GTA. Today, Hume handles web design, web-to-print, graphic design, desktop publishing, short and long-run digital colour printing, high-speed duplication, mailing and distribution, and of course, is an industry leader in bindery and finishing.

“Choosing the right finishing touches can make or break the useable effectiveness of your product,” says Hume. “So, we leave nothing to chance while offering a variety of in-house bindery and finishing solutions, suited to almost any print requirement.”

The company is constantly updating its finishing equipment and services. These include cutting and trimming, drilling, collating, insertion, laminating, folding, scoring, perforating, numbering, padding, shrink wrapping, cerlox, plasticoil, wiro binding, saddle stitching, perfect binding and assembly.

“Short-run digital colour, in particular, is becoming more sophisticated and has lately become the norm when reaching specific one-to-one target markets,” Hume says. “Given this trend, from a modern bindery point of view, the vast majority of my clients are focusing on shorter print runs using off-line finishing done by experts.”

He notes that longer runs using a press’s inline finishing system are still practical, but more often they involve situations where one single product is being mass produced.

“If utilizing inline bindery, but producing a variety of substrates and finished sizes, the producer is spending more time changing over and setting up, losing valuable production time on that oh-so-expensive digital print gear and creating print quality issues,” says Hume.

“The popularity of combining short-run digital with offline high-end finishing is definitely gaining momentum from what I can see,” he adds.

PUR: (Polyurethane Reactive)
As the digital market moves forward, we’re seeing a strong need for cut sheet coated book blocks and C2S covers that EVA conventional glue will never hold. With high-speed print engines and toner-based covers entering the market, the need for PUR is only becoming stronger. Its resistance to a wide variety of inks, varnishes, oils and solvents that migrate into the glue line and can cause some EVA adhesives to fail on certain substrates (such as coated stocks, photographic papers, recycled stocks, cross-grain stocks, acetates and digitally imaged stock) is a huge benefit. PUR is also more resistant to temperature extremes, which provides benefits during shipping and storage of the finished book and gives it exceptional aging stability.

PUR is ideal for lay-flat applications, software, educational, photographic applications, high-quality publications and environmentally-sensitive applications such as owner’s manuals, particularly for the automotive, marine and heavy equipment industries.

Blair C. Wilson, Partner, B.C.W. Bindery Services Ltd. in Markham (www.bcwbindery.com), a full-service trade bindery offering cutting, folding (maps/mini/glues), stitching, wiro/plasticoil bindings and perfect binding, has been in the business for 15 years and employees 60 people over two shifts.

“We’ve been PUR perfect binding since January of 2006 as a result of requests from high-end printers that experienced problems with traditional perfect-bound jobs, as well as with production bottlenecks at existing binderies providing PUR binding,” Wilson says.

“Our business has developed and grown over the years as other printers and designers have requested PUR binding for their projects. We find that more and more annual reports and books that were Smythe-sewn in the past, catalogues with heavy usage, and high-end magazines, require PUR binding.

With the introduction of a “closed” glue pot, setup times have decreased, which in turn, has lowered costs. At B.C.W., we see PUR as a mature business line, and though demand has leveled off in the last year, it remains an integral service we’re pleased to offer to our clients.”

If you want to see a good example of PUR technology, Robert E. Thistle Ltd. (distributor for C.P Bourg in Canada) will feature the C.P. Bourg BB3002 automated perfect binder released in a fully integrated PUR version at Graph Expo 2008. The PUR version allows the binding of more challenging, digitally produced jobs and difficult-to-bind stocks. The technology allows more precise gluing and better adherence while using less energy and glue. The system’s unique features include tool-less, automatic setup using an icon-driven touch screen.

The machine also measures book block thickness automatically and calculates the centerline of the cover to fasten the spine–to bind books of the same size and different thickness one after another, automatically, without operator intervention. The perfect binder is available with either the traditional EVA or the newest Nordson PUR glue system.

Intelligent post-press automation
Whether it’s a folder, saddle stitcher or a perfect binder, intelligent automation use an intuitive, icon-based colour touch screen that prompts the operator for sheet size and desired function. Using only this data, the operator can calculate all necessary setups and can perform fully automated changeovers in under 30 minutes. The CCD camera options verification reading from top to bottom, or both, ensures 100% integrity inside and out. Any double-pulls off the press that slip into the bindery can be caught during the run. This eliminates the possibility that sheets printed on one side only, end up as blank book pages. This level of quality check also assures ISO compliance.

Printers are looking for three features here: fast turnaround, quick changeover and the latest computer technology. More and more printers, offset and digital, are looking for simple-to-use automation, as highly skilled operators are not always an option in today’s environment. Easily programmed, computer driven products, eliminate the need for highly skilled labour and provide the printer with on-site bindery solutions, which can save money and time.

Variable data: saddle stitch books
Today’s saddle stitchers offer high-speed, offline feeding and flexibility for digital print environments. Sheet feeders are capable of handling mis-feeds and detecting page order from a mark sensor on the sheet, thus avoiding collation issues. Further, an optional cover feeder specifically eliminates the need for a collating tower, which is used for the purpose of feeding a hard cover. All soft-cover work can be produced in the high-speed feeder. Therefore, the optional cover feed tray can serve as a sheet feeder to perform side stitching and corner stitching. Given this additional flexibility, this eliminates the need for collation towers.

Variable data: perfect bound
As with saddle stitching, variable data in perfect bound books or anything short-run that requires 100% set security (as in a one-off book), readers are located at the feed end and in the book block clamp. The cover has to match the book block or there’s no book, which eliminates the possibility of someone else receiving your personal information–100% secure.

In-house versus outsourcing
Nothing new here! There has always been automated offset, which provided the in-house users the flexibility of producing work when and how they want it, very economically. However, cost is not the only thing that needs to be addressed. Turnaround, back-and-forth deliveries, gas and the limited supply of highly-skilled operators are also considerations. These factors have forced the printers to look for products (saddle stitch, perfect bound, creasers, numbering units and cutters) that provide automation and ease of use. Yes, the “technology” has become “skilled labour” because the machine operator functions more like a “computer operator” these days. So, knowledge of computer use is usurping the old must-have skills of old-style, non-programmable bindery equipment.

A glimpse of what’s out there
The list seems endless: binders, staplers, stitchers, collators, padders, inserters, trimmers, bookletmakers, kiss-and-die cutters, cornerounders, drills, hole punchers, folders, tabbers, joggers, tabletop, punch-and-bind equipment (plastic coil, comb, wire and velo), shrink wrap and packaging systems, perforators, scorers, slitters and numbering systems. Have I left anything out?

It would take just about every page of this magazine, and then some, to write about these products and choose a manufacturer to highlight. However, there are a few industry names that are leading the way.

During Graph Expo 2008 in Chicago, Muller Martini will showcase its fully automated Primera E140, a new generation of saddle stitcher, says the company, with revolutionary new feeders that will boost a printer’s bottom line, especially if you’re trying to cope with such things as smaller sizes, lightweight stocks and perforations.

The machine’s Magic Wheel feeder technology will hold signature tolerances better and provide inline adjustments that eliminate expensive stops. Large-size kits are built into the feeder to accommodate broader sizes. Job preparation is made even more efficient with enhanced Human Machine Interface (HMI) technology engineered into the stitchers, including controls at each pocket. New touch screens and an intuitive setup help guide the operator step-by-step through the phases of production preparation.

At drupa, Heidelberg promoted its stitching, binding, folding and cutting equipment, including the new Dymatrix 106 Pro CSB (cutting, stripping and blanking) die cutter that can be connected to the Preset Plus Feeder of Heidelberg’s Speedmaster XL105. It also boasts automatic format pre-setting, production stability at high speeds and can be integrated into the Prinect workflow.

C.P. Bourg has hailed BSTe, its new collator line planned for 2009, as the “future generation of collators.” The machines will provide the largest sheet size and the biggest bin capacity at previously unequalled production rates, says the company. Each machine is controlled by a single user-friendly Graphical User Interface to avoid programming the same data twice. It can be used as a sheet feeder for sequential feeding, or for programmed picking.

The future
When it comes to the pressroom and pre-press, most of today’s printers won’t hesitate to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in new, automated technology. But they’re also realizing that bindery and finishing operations that used to be mere afterthoughts, are just as important and worthy of a major financial investment. Other printers feel more comfortable outsourcing bindery and finishing to established shops that have both the expertise and the latest equipment. Whatever you choose, always remember our magnificent racehorse. The animal could be in front by a dozen lengths, looking unbeatable, but if it falls apart before the finish line, you’ve lost!

Just a short while ago, when I was asked to write an article about large-format finishing, I instantaneously regretted not having spent more time investigating it last drupa, despite Heidelberg making a remarkable impression with their new XXL sized products! However, as I’m not affiliated with any of the machinery manufacturers and earn my money teaching at a university, I will apply industrial engineering to the print industry. Perhaps, some of my thoughts will help you lay out your future factory or give some new perspectives.

Let’s take a look at some of the small issues in stretching sheets to XXL, seemingly not of a big interest to those making the business plans. While some ideas are applicable to bindery only, a lot is of interest for printers, too.

FORMAT CLASSES
Let’s start with gathering the constraints of XXL format offset litho. We can find the follwing standard press and/or sheet sizes around the globe above and including the popular 40”.

As there are many different press manufacturers, some even offering to build customized size presses, this list can by no means be exhaustive. It’s very complicated to draw the line because of the additional blur induced by “standard” paper formats differing in the world.

SIGNATURES
Now, a look into a common misconception: the larger sheet size of the press does not automatically imply a decision about increased page counts for bindery signatures. There are a lot more factors to be considered when choosing the page count per signature. A larger print area might come in handy when a large-format, large page count and short-run book is to be produced; a lot of companies around the world gain that little advantage over their competitors folding and binding large page counts.

Others, meanwhile, positioned for more complex, versatile products, will emphasize that the placement of inlays, stickers or other added value products may command some completely different signature schemes. Printers might still be able to reap the benefits of printing these smaller signatures on one sheet, but the processing must differ. Also, quality will inevitably be an issue as pages on signatures over 32 will have to be turned and nudged in prepress to accommodate for the twist and shove going on when folding.

On the other hand, binderies looking into this field will need to draw the line only at this point: the folded signatures – delivered in whatever fashion is preferred in the bindery – is the input component to the binder or stitcher. Not a plain sheet. So, if concerns should arise regarding the volume of paper to be processed, binderies already dealing with Web offset output will not be challenged in this area. It’s the way to get to these signatures that differs.

‚Ä¢Printing XXL, folding XXL. Sheetfed folders are currently offered up to 56” infeed width. So, sheets up to the 51” x 73” class and even a bit more wide can be folded in one piece without cutting before. Different folder configurations allow to fold either large page-count signatures or 2-signature sheets in double-stream fashion by cutting inline on the folder’s knife shafts. The caveat on these workflows: folding schemes might be very non-standard, and press sheet layouts need to accommodate for a series of small details. Planning will be complicated, especially if trade binders deal with print-only companies on projects possibly controlled by publishers. Many of these details are possible points of failure with a clear potential of turning profit to loss. The challenge will be to communicate efficiently, stringently covering all theses areas, while not dousing the creativity in planning for new formats and production workflows, which might just give the little advantage.

•Printing XXL, folding smaller size. The printed sheets will have to be cut before folding. This might be the easiest way for trade binderies to accommodate for the larger presses. Two options here: some presses can be fitted with slitters, so sheets will be cut inline when printing; this will keep the binder happy, as there will be small to no investment needed. Secondly, sheets might as well be cut on larger guillotines.

It’s all about logistics. There are a plethora of issues arising when sheetfed goes XXL, and the way a company adresses these issues will make the difference regarding an efficient production.

PALLETS AND PALLET SIZES
While the basic pallet size for these operations is obvious, you might also look into their weight. Stock measuring 46” x 64” has an M-weight between 250 – 1250 pounds. Standard pallet trucks will take up a load of roughly 5,500 pounds. Maximum pile heights on machines are also limited by approximately 40”.

So, depending on the stock used, a pallet can take up from 21,000 sheets down to just 2,000 sheets. Given an average press speed of 8000 sheets per hour, one shift’s work output and input each will be the equivalent of two to 32 pallets, respectively. The latter being an equivalent of four pallets out and four pallets in per hour – weighing in at roughly 5,500 pounds each. Adequate storage near each machine should take care of at least an hour’s worth of material (feeder and delivery) – the more the better, possibly limiting out at 3/4 of a shift’s amount of material. Take into account the time needed for bringing the material to and from this area. Stacking pallets in this area is out of the question, as this is the material immediately needed for the running of the machine or coming off the line.

If a workflow with inline slitter on the press is chosen, buying a pallet truck with long forks might be considered, so the delivery paper can be stacked on two pallets. Both can be picked up at the same time going in sideways with the pallet truck.

ALLEYS FOR TRANSPORTATION
Each pallet stored along an aisle beneath a machine can be accessed at all times; best to make sure the alleys will be wide enough for the pallets to be turned in the aisle (the diagonal size of paper being a rough first guess), ensuring you can use your pallet storage space optimally. Should powered trucks be used, the alleys might even need to be wider.

HANDLING PAPER
Given the arm’s reach of an average person, starting from a sheet size of 28√ó40, handling layers of sheets will get difficult. People won’t be able to reach both corners of the longer edge at the same time – not even speaking of controlled handling of heavier packs of sheets. Very large formats will be almost impossible to handle appropriately.

Even single sheets weigh in heavy (e.g. 46” x 64”); a sheet of 56-pound offset stock will weigh approximately a quarter of a pound, while a-230 pound offset will weigh just around a pound per sheet!

Given trained operators might be able to work five tonnes per shift, if worse hits bad, they’ll not even cope with one hour’s worth of presswork in one shift. So, manually re-stacking and turning piles will no loger be an option. When dealing in large-format, it isn’t a question of the economical trade-off: “cost of the press helper versus cost of pile-turners.” The sheer size and time neded to create an accurate press-ready stack of paper by hand simply makes this manual endeavour impossible. There are plenty of different pile-turners out there – the decision will be a fairly easy one. The pile-turner should be near the press to avoid wasting money on carting the pallets around too much.

Now, if the sheets need to be cut before folding, the choice of the correct sheet lay is essential, as some jogging tables might not be able to operate both sides.

GUILLOTINES
The size of the guillotine has to rise above the popular 115cm range; there will be an inevitable demand for pile-lifting equipment as well as a large-format jogging table. If handling XXL will be demanded more often, it might be worthwile to start talks with your equipment suppliers. There will be two general directions to go for:

‚Ä¢Gradually build up a large-format cutting line. Paper will be handled by an operator. Considering the weight of the single sheets and piles, workplace ergonomic aspects will make a large impact on operators’ performance and health, ultimately bringing up the lines’ productivity and profitability. The very minimum wishlist should include a pile-lifter, large air-cushioned transfer tables, an adequately-sized jogging table, at least one pile-lifter with stack guide rails to form folder stacks from cut sheets and a guillotine at the best coping with the diagonal measure of the maximum sheet size accepted. If possible, upgrade to automatic stackers for the output.
‚Ä¢Invest in a full-fledged automatic cutting line. This line will feature the same basic workstations as mentioned above, but the destacking and handling will be done by robotic arms and machines. These lines might cut a large hole in the budget, but above 40” they should bring an obvious advantage in productivity compared to the setup mentioned above. The downside: design might impose restrictions in the number of sheet parts buffered, restricting even smaller format sheets and signatures. There will always be a tradeoff between high productivity at a given point of operation and high flexibility at lower overall output.

FOLDERS
If the decision is made to invest in new, large-format folders, there won’t be a large number of manufacturers offering equipment. However, despite XXL presses existing for a time before, some finishing machinery manufacturers have gone out of their way to improve and evolve their high-tech. They’ve put a lot of effort into addressing the issues of ergonomics (e.g. access to knife shafts) and sheet handling (foul sheet detectors, automatic ejection of said misprint), decreasing makeready times and improving productivity.

Depending on the final destination of folded signatures, investments in stackers or log stackers might be considered; XL sheetfed might be competing with Web offset, so you want to make sure not to slow down certain binders/stitchers by not being able to fulfill the feeder logistics needs of downstream equipment.

When deciding to go large, there are a lot of small differences that make a big impact on the investments’ outcome. While I addressed a couple of them, there might be other completely different issues lurking around your shop.

When entering large-format, the sheer size and weight of entities handled will easily overwhelm the average worker’s powers. Companies should be concered with protecting their most valuable asset: skilled, flexible personnel operating the machines at an optimum speed throughout the year while sustaining high producivity. It’s in addressing these issues that companies will show their proficiency in industrial thinking and operations, thus creating a sustainable profit.

Short-run printing showcase Print World set for Nov 22 – 24 in Toronto

Print World, the only show in North America with an exclusive focus on shorter-run printing, will open Nov 22 – 24, 2008 in downtown Toronto. Now, the fourth largest trade show in North America, Print World will welcome all the major industry suppliers, including Heidelberg, Xerox, Canon, Presstek, KBA, Fuji, GBC, Hewlett-Packard, Konica Minolta, Gandinnovations, Oce, Ricoh, Xpedx, 3M and more.

Two attractions will make their debut this year: UPEX and an International Pavilion. UPEX is a worldwide marketplace for pre-owned printing equipment and comes to North America for the first time as a special show feature. It’s been a popular part of other international shows including IPEX in Birmingham, England; IPEX South Asia in New Delhi, India; and Gulf Print in Dubai, UAE.

England’s Nyland Graphics, SM Graphics and Atlas Machinery (UK) are already exhibiting, with more expected. The International Pavilion is a special marketplace showcasing manufacturers and suppliers from around the world. Many will be exhibiting for the first time in North America, including a prominent press manufacturer from China.

Print Software Theatre and Design City return

The Print Software Theatre and Design City will, once again, be two of the show’s major attractions.With state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment and 900 square feet of presentation space, the Theatre will feature the latest software tools for image editing, page layout, illustration, Web design, prepress production and estimating. Adobe returns as the main sponsor and will host several sessions each day. Launched in 2004, the Theatre’s hourly drop-in seminars are free to all visitors and run all three days.

Also returning is Design City, a special “show within a show” for graphic design tools, software and services. Industry-leading exhibitors include Cascades, Tembec, Pearson, APP Canada, QuarkXPress, FSC Canada, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, M-Real and Shutterstock.

Another special attraction is the Professional Seminar and Workshop Series, featuring some of North America’s top print experts. Sessions are geared to both large and small print shops and deliver practical information on management, sales and other critical areas.

More than 200 exhibitors expected

The show currently has over 200 exhibitors (300 companies) occupying 125,000 square feet of space at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Close to 10,000 industry representatives, printers and graphic arts professionals attended last year’s show. Thousands of quick printers, in-plant and corporate printers, print-on-demand shops, prepress shops, digital printers, print brokers and forms distributors are expected to attend this year, as well as larger printers interested in short-run work.
Show officials have limited the size of offset presses on exhibit to 29” (4-up to 6-up sheet size) and smaller.

More information: www.printworldshow.com. Tel: 905-625-7070. Fax: 905-625-4856. Email: info@printworldshow.com.

Late last month, the United States experienced the “week from hell” in their financial markets. There is something very wrong when U.S. taxpayers have to dump $700 billion of their hard-earned money into the market because of the greed of a few – especially when those few walked away making a fortune of their own in the process. What has this got to do with the printing industry?

Well, I expect that thousands of U.S. companies will be cutting costs to stay afloat. One of the first things they’ll examine is their advertising budget – including print! This could have a profoundly negative trickle-down effect for a printing industry that’s already operating on precariously thin margins.

Fortunately in Canada, our financial sector is more heavily regulated and partly because of this, our economy is in relatively good shape. Sure, there might be a bit of fallout, but I know from personal experience that Canadian printers are a proud, hard-working, resilient group and will be just fine. I also have all the confidence in the world that our close friends south of the border will emerge from this mess and once again assume their position of leadership.

In other news, congratulations to Louisa Kralka, V.P. of Sales at Phipps Dickson Integria, on her election to chairperson of the CPIA. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge regarding the industry.

In the midst of all the doom and gloom, it’s good to report that Vista Print in Windsor is adding more than 140,000 sq. ft. to its facility to enlarge it to 300,000 sq. ft. It’s also adding new equipment to its operation.

Showtime is upon us. We’re looking forward to our annual trip to Chicago for Graph Expo (Oct. 26 – 29). Chicago is a great city and Graph Expo is always a great show to meet people and discover new technology.

Then we’ll be returning to Toronto for Print World Nov. 22 – 24. We’ll be at booth 1132 – 1134. Check out more details on Print World in our November issue, the pre-show edition.

Until next time, stay focused and stay positive.

October is one heck of a month for our industry. As we start to wind down from all the glories of drupa, we are off to Graph Expo for new oohs and aahs closer to home.

I personally love trade shows and always go home carrying entirely too many brochures to read over my next morning’s coffee. And while we all like the new trendy double-sided pens/highlighters, what I really get from these shows is a sense of community and growth—a chance to see where we are headed and a chance to be impressed.

While studying Graphic Communications as a student, I noticed the underlying theme was that print is slow to change. I disagree in both theory and practice. Being at the show really gives you a sense that the industry is evolving.

This month’s issue takes a look at the changes that have taken place in both the most likely and least likely areas of print—MIS and bindery respectively.

We begin the month with the new world of bindery. Ken Harbin will take you through the advancements, looking primarily at how to link the short-run digital world with high-end profitable bindery solutions. Thomas Sprinzing addresses today’s bindery challenges with his article about bindery for large-format offset jobs. Read up on all the details you may not have considered, like width of alleyways, pile-turners and etc. Most importantly, you will get a sense for what’s to come in the new world of finishing from these thinkers—because it’s certainly not the “same old.”

We know that change is a key word when it comes to Management Information Systems (MIS). While many of us have invested in some sort of “calculator,” there are a far lower percentage of companies that successfully integrate all their processes into one whole system. Systems are most typically modular so that printers can pick and choose which components are important to them. While this is effective in the short-run, I imagine we would like to end up having real-time data for every “what-if” scenario under the sun—and we’ll get there.

On a more personal note, I’d like to thank our Editorial Board for a great meeting! I am very excited about what we have coming up for the magazine. Some items you can look forward to include regular columns on estimating, accounting and sales as well as more tips and tricks on how to help you get things done effectively. I invite you to submit questions to our new monthly help column entitled “My customer asked me‚Ķ” at mycustomeraskedme@graphicartsmag.com

We look forward to bringing you current information and being a resource for you.

Recently, the LPGA has stirred up a lot of controversy with its edict that all of its members must be able to speak “understandable” English by the end of the second year they’re on the tour. The LPGA claims they are taking this action in order for their members to communicate with the media and with the amateur participants in their pro-am tournaments.

It seems the LPGA has a communication problem itself since a number of the tour’s members who speak English as a first language were caught by surprise with the edict. They expressed their disagreement with this new rule.

Obviously, the LPGA management had not communicated with their members and won their support for such a move.

How does this situation relate to the everyday management of a business?

Many management teams fail to communicate regularly and competently with their employees. They’re disappointed and angry when the employee group does not support a new initiative or goal with enthusiasm.

Some management teams don’t communicate with their employee groups until a crisis arises; then they try to convince employees of the dire straits the company is in. Is it a surprise that employees are unconvinced in such situations?

Communicate clearly and understandably.

Whether an organization should make a full disclosure of its financial situation to employees on a regular basis is open for debate. The same can be said about divulging a company’s business strategy.

But, if an organization sets goals and objectives each year, it is important to communicate these with employees as soon as they have been set. Telling employees what the goals are for the coming year is not sufficient communication though. It is necessary to explain how the goals relate with the employee’s work and what contribution is expected from each person.

When introducing goals, it is essential that they be presented in a manner that is understandable to every employee. Expressing goals in management jargon that may not be understood by the broad employee base detracts from communicating in the first place.

Finally, the mere statement of goals is not as effective as when goals are communicated with an attached purpose. Management may take for granted why a goal has been set and easily understand its purpose. However, employees may not be able to grasp the purpose as easily. Getting the rationale across to the employees is particularly important if the goal is going to affect the current working conditions of the employees.

Don’t keep it a secret!

By now, many organizations have developed their business plans for 2009. Some companies’ plans will only be “more of the same.” The more successful organizations will have planned for new initiatives and better ways of operating their businesses.

As part of the planning exercise, develop a way of communicating effectively with your employees. In your plan, include what the goals are for 2009, why they have been developed, how they will be achieved with the support of employees and what success will mean to both the employees and the organization.

Does this sound familiar?

After dozens of phones calls and emails-as well as several face-to-face meetings—you finally reach an agreement with a prospect who is intent on buying your service, product or solution.

“Whew! Another sale done,” you think to yourself.

But, wait.

Before you start counting your commission, it is critical that you keep the sale. Just because a prospect has agreed to move forward doesn’t mean the sale will move forward, especially if you sell a complex system or solution. Dozens of things can happen to derail your efforts. Your key contact may change companies or positions; the person you are dealing with gets cold feet, loses interest, or decides to change vendors; the company may be acquired or sold; a competitor may approach your prospect with a better offer. Anything is possible.

There is no such thing as a guaranteed sale, even if you are holding a signed contract. That means you need to ensure that you keep the sale. Here are several strategies you can incorporate into your business that will help you achieve this:

1. Send some form of acknowledgement or thank-you. This sounds like an elementary concept, but many sales people don’t think of doing this. They take the sale and move on to the next prospect. However, if you send a thank-you card or postcard immediately after you confirm the sale, you differentiate yourself with your competition. The key is to show your new customers that you value their business, and thanking them is just one small way of doing so.

2. Keep your new customers updated. Make sure to inform them about things like delivery or shipment status, and installation dates and schedules. If you sell a highly customized product, make sure you advise your customer on the progress of the product. The frequency of updates will depend on a few factors:

‚Ä¢ What does your key decision-maker expect or want? If he or she is detail-oriented, you should update them frequently. To determine this, simply ask. An obvious question, but one that will give you tremendous insight into your customer’s expectations.

‚Ä¢ What is the timeframe between your agreement and when your services will be rendered or your product will be delivered? The more time that elapses between these two, the more important it is for you to update your customer. For example, in my particular business, it’s not uncommon for a company to book me for a keynote speech or training workshop up to a year in advance. During the year, I try to send some form of update so the company knows I haven’t forgotten their event.

3. Send your clients additional information of value. This includes articles, magazine and newspaper clippings, or other information that is relevant to their business. You could send an article that mentions a strategic move one of their competitors is about to make, or an article on a topic that relates to your key contact’s interests. You may come across a piece about their company—clip it and send it their way! Chances are they’ve read it, but your gesture shows that you’re paying attention to their business. Most sales people don’t put in this extra effort. One word of caution though: do NOT send information about your product! This is not about you; it’s about giving your new customers a reason to keep the sale with you.

4. Depending on the size of the sale, you could send a book that will help your clients with their business. There are a multitude of books on the market today, addressing virtually every business situation. If your client enjoys reading, then it makes good business sense to send them something that will help improve their results. I have sent books to my customers that focus on communication, leadership, sales and customer service. Remember to attach a brief note explaining why you sent the gift.

5. Reinforce their buying decision. The easiest way is to send your clients testimonials from satisfied customers. An even more effective approach is to ask one of your existing clients to call your new customer. People want reassurances that they have made a sound buying decision. Just imagine the impact if they hear a voicemail message from one of your existing clients stating how satisfied they were with your product, service or solution.

These may sound like simple concepts. However, I know from experience that very few sales people actually use them. Integrating these strategies into your routine will not only set you apart from your competition, you will increase your odds of keeping every sale you make.

Q. I am having trouble with Time Capsule, and I don’t think that it is backing up. I get an error saying that the backup disk image could not be mounted. How can I fix this?

A. Time Capsule, as you may know, is an additional tool to help users backup their Macs wirelessly over a local network. Users running Mac OS X 10.5, aka Leopard, can take advantage of the new easy-to-use backup feature, Time Machine. That way, they can protect their valuable data in case some disaster strikes their computer.

Time Machine and Time Capsule will backup data every hour that the Mac is running. Initially, it does a complete backup, and then tracks and backs up any changed files, so you can recover a file or the entire computer’s system and data if either is lost.

Some users have experienced similar problems with the initial versions of the Time Machine. For every Mac that it backs up, it creates an image of the hard drive in the form of a sparse disk image. A disk image is a file that behaves like a removable hard drive; a sparse one doesn’t have a fixed size so it can grow as required. For some reason, the sparse image may get damaged – afterwards it may not mount normally so that it can be written to or read from.

The fix for this is simple: your Time Capsule should appear in the Finder’s side bar. Open a new Finder window if one is not already open. If you don’t see the sidebar, click the white lozenge in the top right corner of the window. Open the Time Capsule’s drive where you will see one or more “sparsebundle” files. Look for the one that matches your computer’s name, along with a jumble of letters and numbers. My computer’s Time Machine file is named “macbook_001b639842a7.sparsebundle.” The jumble represents your ethernet address, which you can find under Network in System Preferences.

To fix the problem, simply rename the file by changing a few letters or numbers. The next time the Time Capsule backs up your Mac it will see the file is missing and automatically create a new one. After a few days of successful backup, you can delete the older backup file.

Q. Help! All my photos have disappeared since I installed iLife, and I cannot find them in iPhoto. If I search for them nothing shows up.

A. Your photos are probably safe and sound. As mentioned in a previous article, Apple has changed the way that photos or .jpg files are stored in iPhoto. iPhoto consists of a data base and a series of folders. Your images will be imported automatically, sorted by date and stored. You can then add information and edit a version of the files.

In the past, Apple created a folder called “iPhoto Library” inside your Photos folder. That folder contained all the information and files that iPhoto needs to function. To protect the files, Apple changed the folder format into a “package,” which is a special folder that appears to be a single file called “iPhoto Library” in your Photos folder. If you right click or hold down the Control key and click the file with the mouse, you can choose “Show Package Contents” and you will reveal the hidden folders and files.

If you search for a file called “iPhoto Library,” you will probably find two files; one in your Photos folder – which the iPhoto application created the last time you opened it – and another older, larger “iPhoto Library” file in another location. It was probably moved by misadventure or accident. You can verify this by “Showing Package Contents” on the older file. Rename the newer file – or it will be overwritten – and put the older file back in place, in Photos, and reopen iPhoto; your images should be restored.

Also note that if you are running Leopard, you will be able to search for your files inside the “iPhoto Library” package without opening it.

Whether you are a simple copy shop or the most sophisticated web printer in the world, all printing types have one thing in common – bindery or finishing. The finishing can be something as simple as putting sheets into a box, or as complex as a double perfect bound book with magnets used to hold the spines together (laugh if you want, but I actually quoted this at one point!).

Bindery is in a bit of a predicament though, as the world begins its gradual, yet eventual move from print-based media – bindery is becoming an afterthought.

Often, when I meet people new to the industry (and new to estimatation), they make the mistake of assuming that bindery departments or trade shops have the ability to work with whatever is given to them. Jobs are planned or estimated in a way that is most efficient for the plant, without much consideration for the bindery.

While sometimes this is the most cost effective way to do things, often it is not. Bindery has seen the least innovation of any section of print. The majority of the equipment has not seen a major change in decades, and handwork is still a staple for many complex projects. Having said that, this lack of innovation may actually be beneficial to the job market in Canada; the Bureau of Labour statistics projects the following through 2014:

5.6% growth in production jobs;
9.6% growth in supervisors and managers;
8.1% growth in job printers;
14.2% growth in bindery workers.

As you can see, print is the sector that will experience the most growth by a large margin over the next six years or so.

Because bindery is nearly forgotten, there are rarely a vast number of people applying for open positions. Not only are there few people applying, there are even fewer who have experience, especially to work on the more complex machinery.

This may eventually lead to a shortage of skilled workers in the field of bindery. If such a shortage occurs, trade binders will be inundated with orders due to shops being unable to finish products on their own premises. Skilled workers will command larger and larger salaries, and shops will be at wits end to keep workers who are headhunted by the top shops. In short, the bindery end of things will be a train wreck.

Okay, so after all the doom and gloom, let’s look at the positive side and evaluate what we can do to move forward. If the situation does become desperate, companies will be forced to hire workers and train them, bringing more people into our industry and reinvigorating the working pool. The attention may bring print into the spotlight again, and help us gain better training programs through the government and various other outlets of education.

We should begin the process now so that we are proactive. While the labour isn’t skilled, the machinery is. Now may be the best time to find a piece of bindery equipment on the cheap, and train some people in your plant on how to use it. While you may want to avoid training your workers on live jobs, training isn’t the worst thing to invest your money in, given the slow pace of the industry at the moment. For any enterprising bindery shops, or institutions of higher learning out there, starting a training program to supplement your income might not be the worst idea in the world. Simple workshops and various other short, low cost training programs might help those looking for work find something in our industry; this may also appeal to shops looking to train their own employees.

Regardless of the scenario we find ourselves in, the industry will adjust. But, it’s important to note what a vital part of our industry bindery is; not giving it the credit it deserves is a sure-fire way of compromising the strength of our industry as a whole.