It was 2007 when “green” went mainstream; and in the past several years, it has captured the public consciousness. There were 2,400 trademark applications for terms and phrases with “green” in them and 900 more with “eco.” The number increased in 2008; there were 32 per cent more applications for trademarks containing “green” and 98 per cent more containing “eco.”

While many companies are touting their green credentials – in response to public pressure – some are venturing into “greenwashing” without true sustainable practices in place.

Pick up a Swiss Army knife and what do you have? A tool that will do just about anything you want. In addition to the main blade, you can get a smaller second blade, tweezers, a toothpick, a corkscrew, a can opener, a bottle opener, slotted/flat-head screwdriver(s), a Phillips-head screwdriver, a nail file, scissors, a saw, a file, a hook, a magnifying glass, a ballpoint pen, a fish scaler, a hex wrench with bits, pliers and a key chain. Recent additions include USB flash drives, a digital clock, a digital altimeter, an LED light, a laser pointer and an MP3 player. What else do you really need?

The Print Supply Chain

Designers and consumers are more aware of the environmental issues surrounding them. A survey of 326 graphic design, marketing and advertising professionals by Monadnock paper company, discovered that a very high majority (84%) felt that sustainability as a design factor is increasing. And, nearly the same number believe that sustainable choices have a direct positive impact on the environment. These are the folks who imagine, create and specify printed products.

To the trade only
What does the term “to the trade” mean to you? My first thought was the small sign I saw tucked into the corner of a furniture or fabric showroom in a merchandise mart signifying that business was conducted only with retailers and interior designers – not the end customer. It said “do not enter” to me, a consumer.

After speaking to a number of companies who consider themselves to be true trade printers, it was made clear to me that there is a sharp distinction between a trade printer – “to the trade only” – and a commercial printer who sells both to end users and to other commercial printers at the same time.

According to The New Business of Distributing Print, sponsored by Print Education & Research Foundation (PERF), an auxiliary foundation to Print Services Distribution Association (PSDA), the trade association for print distributors and trade manufacturers, nearly 2/3 of companies who describe themselves as trade printers also sell direct.

For purposes of this article, we are going to define a trade service provider as a printer, laminator, finisher or bindery that sells only to other commercial printers or channel partners such as brokers, distributors, agents or resellers.

Trade relationships
Relationships between trade service providers and their customers generally fall into two categories. The first, and probably most common, is a transaction relationship; you might call it job work or spot buy. For a commercial printer with an immediate project, a trade partner is there to fill in on short notice and at the right price. In this case, the relationship is based on price and ability to deliver, and the trade printer and commercial printer may work together only once or on an irregular basis.

The second type of relationship is built around a trade printer as a supply chain partner to a commercial printer or broker, distributor, reseller or agent. The term “partnership” is used here to mean a close working relationship; and the trade printer has a vested interest in the success of his commercial printer partner. The commercial customer might supply the paper, develop the specs, and their job planners will work closely with those of the trade printer. Both partners may even implement complex job engineering and logistics management on larger, more complicated projects.

Trade printers have invested in equipment that their commercial printer customers can’t easily buy, such as a 10-colour press. In essence, the trade printer is selling time on his 10-colour press to his commercial customers. As a result, the commercial printer can offer a much wider range of products without having to make a major – and potentially risky – investment.

Through these relationships, trade printers can offer their commercial print partners knowledge of production processes, better technology infrastructures and best of breed practices to deliver quality production needed within the time frames required.

Several trade printers I spoke to reiterated that while as much as half of their business comes from transaction customers, you can “only chase price for so long.” Long-term relationships are extremely important.

Technology integration
Close partnership between a trade printer and commercial printer or reseller can incorporate some pretty sophisticated integrated technology. Web-to-print and online estimation are two common “customer-facing” applications.

Online estimation
There are arguments for and against automated online estimation and pricing. I spoke to trade printers on both sides of the discussion and there are legitimate reasons for each approach.

Online estimation pushes a large part of the responsibility to understand the job and its specifications onto the channel partner. If the buyer is a commercial printer, an online estimating tool can be very effective; after all, who knows better about print processes than a commercial printer?

However, if the buyer is an agent, distributor or reseller, he/she may not be as knowledgeable about the processes and able to use an automated system as effectively. If the buyer makes a mistake, the end result may be a job that could have been produced less expensively when estimated by someone more knowledgeable or experienced.

Because small commercial or digital printers and copy shops now have the opportunity to bid on larger more complex jobs, their trade printer partner can provide a lot of knowledge and support to help deliver those projects.

Whether price quotes are delivered automatically or through a CSR, the key is to turn them quickly so that the commercial printer or reseller can respond to his customer faster. Speed is of the essence when bidding on print jobs; the project most often goes to the fastest respondents.

Web-to-print
Some trade printers who specialize in products such as business cards, greeting cards, photo books and other items that can be templated, will offer web-to-print solutions and branded storefronts.

Using these storefronts, quick printers and small commercial printers can offer a much wider range of products as resellers and take on limited risk. The end user selects, modifies and pays for the product online, and the reseller receives a portion of the sale.

Benefits of working with a trade service provider
Partnering with a trade service provider yields a number of benefits to both commercial printers and resellers stemming from the fact that you can deliver print projects produced on equipment you don’t own.

Job in hand – no capacity
More than half of the work flowing into trade printers’ plants comes from commercial printers who simply don’t have the capacity to produce the job in the time frame the customer requires. Outsourcing to a trade printer – as a spot buy – is a common tactic to satisfying a customer.

On the whole, overcapacity is a problem in the print industry, why buy more equipment and try to keep it running when you can partner with a trade printer and use his/her equipment when you need it?

Expanded product offering
Customers who have a wide range of needs may buy from a number of print service providers – they act as their own general contractor to meet their various print needs. A commercial print partner can extend their own product or service offering by partnering with a trade partner that has different capabilities, thus, generating more revenue from existing customers or adding new customers.

Testing new products
By partnering with a trade service provider, a channel partner can test new products and build a new base without the risk of investment in expensive equipment. A commercial offset printer can test new digital offerings, a small format digital printer can test wide-format products or a printer can expand a wide variety of finishing and binding options. Should one or more of the new products or services prove to be profitable, the commercial printer can then invest in the technology knowing that it will be successful.

Tap into knowledge and expertise
A trade laminator or finisher has a huge amount of expertise around his/her service, after all that’s what his operation does all day, every day. A commercial printer may have some finishing equipment, but trade finishers are often faster and less expensive than in-house solutions.

Why? They are experts; they understand the processes completely. Trade service providers use “production-level” equipment that is faster and more efficient, and they can buy supplies and consumables at better prices because they buy in volume.

A relationship built on trust
Working relationships between manufacturing partners are by nature a delicate balance. The working arrangements can range from “casual dates” or “going steady” to “long-term engagement” and in some cases even “marriage.” All of those relationships require some level of trust between the partners.

One of the major concerns that a printer who is considering a trade partner raises is this: “Will a trade printer ‘steal’ my customer, and use our relationship to identify new prospects and then go directly to my customer, cutting me out of the relationship?”

A print service provider who promotes his business “to the trade” only has his/her reputation to speak for the company. Channel relationships are built on a foundation of trust and doubt and skepticism can develop because people have not always honoured that trust.

There are three key elements to building a trusting relationship:

• Trust is built over time
• A trade printer must be “faithful” and not do business with any client’s customer
• A broker, distributor, agent or reseller can’t “bait-and-switch.”

Over and over again, I heard the same message: there must be trust between the trade service provider and his/her channel partners. That trust takes time to develop, and it can be lost quickly.

For a commercial printer working with a trade printer, there has to be a very high level of trust. Press checks, for example, mean that a print buyer will be in the trade operation. The trade partner must know that the trade supplier is not going to call on his/her customer.

A trade supplier who focuses on channel partners wants them to be his/her sales force; the trade supplier doesn’t have the feet on the street to sell direct, nor does he/she want to.

On the flip side, I’ve heard stories of brokers or distributors who work with trade suppliers to engineer complex jobs, even to the point of developing prototypes, and then give the job to someone else. Resellers who practise “bait and switch” tactics to simply get the lowest cost and highest margin are burning their own bridges.

No trade supplier is going to develop a long-term relationship with someone who is clearly taking advantage of his/her knowledge and expertise for short-term personal gain.

Over and over again, it was expressed to me that printers who print for end customers and other printers are not true trade printers. It may be hard for trade suppliers to stand their ground as a wholesaler and sell only to commercial printers and resellers – and not to end users – in these difficult economic times.

That said, to keep the balance of the market, and to maintain that trust, the trade printer should not reach out to the end customer. If that decision is made, the trade printer is no longer “to the trade only” but competes on the “commercial printer” playing field.

This month we peek inside six operations located across the country, from Montréal to Vancouver, that are producing projects on inkjet flatbed and flatbed/roll hybrid equipment. These digital printing companies are using printers from a wide range of manufacturers, including EFI VUTEk, Durst, Gandinnovations, HP Scitex, Inca Digital and Océ.

So exactly how big is the wide-format flatbed inkjet market? Considering that the technology is fairly young – and a number of the flatbed machines are hybrids that also produce roll-to-roll projects – it makes more sense to look at the overall market.

IT Strategies (www.it-strategies.com), specialists in the digital printing industry, estimate that the retail value of printed output from wide-format equipment is nearly $30 billion worldwide. Whether produced on roll-to-roll or flatbed printers – or hybrids that combine the capabilities of both – that’s a lot of substrate and gallons of inks, dyes, and solvents!

The “panel”
Let’s introduce our “panellists” beginning with our representative from Quebec: Lamcom Technologies in Montréal (www.lamcom.ca). In Ontario, we spoke to four companies, from east to west: SCL Imaging Group, Scarborough (www.sclimaging.com); ReproArt Imaging, Toronto (www.reproart.com); RP Graphics Group, Mississauga (www.rpgraphics.com); Global Imaging Inc., Mississauga (www.globalimaging.ca). And, last but not least, in British Columbia, we spoke to PacBlue Digital Imaging, Vancouver (www.pacblue.net).

Each of these companies has a unique combination of products and services. So what do they have in common? They use digital printing processes to produce everything from business cards to billboards, brochures to bus wraps. And, they have one or more flatbed printers in operation.

Next, let’s take a look at the equipment they’re using. From west to east:

1. Gandinnovations Jeti 3150 – prints substrates up to 120” x 60” x 2” thick.
2. Océ Arizona 250GT – prints substrates up to 98” x 49” x 1.89” thick.
3. Inca Spyder 320 – prints substrates up to 126” x 63” x 1.2” thick.
4. HP Scitex FB910 – prints substrates up to 98.4” x 80” x 2.75” thick.
5. Durst 800 – prints substrates up to 96” wide x unlimited length x 2.75” (industrial version, standard version: 1.58”). Note: the Durst 800 is a “continuous board printer.”
6. VUTEk QS2000 – prints substrates up to 80” wide x (no length given) x 2” thick.

The good news about flatbed printers is that you can run pretty much anything through them to be printed, with a few constraints. The substrate has to be – well – flat, and depending on the equipment, up to 2.75” thick. While you can print something of substantial thickness, these printers have inkjet heads that need good clearance over the substrate and something that is wavy, curvy, bumpy or twisted is going to be trouble.

Changing workflows
Just a little over two years ago, in October 2006, Web Consulting (a UK consulting firm with a North American office in Boston that specializes in the global inkjet printing industries) published a study that reported 70% of the shops producing wide-format inkjet graphics believe that volumes of mounting and laminating work will grow or stay the same for the next five years.
Why is this important? Such information shows how quickly changing technology can affect workflows. It turns out that flatbed inkjet printers are eliminating a huge percentage of the mounting and laminating work that printers have done in the past. It will be interesting to see what the next report shows.

Zohrab Tatikian, president of ReproArt Imaging, has been producing projects on a flatbed printer for the last several years. ReproArt used to print images on four smaller roll printers and then mount and laminate them. In fact, 95% of the images coming off those machines were mounted and laminated, only about 5% didn’t require finishing. According to Zohrab, “mounting and laminating has dropped drastically; now 80% of our jobs are printed direct to substrate on the Scitex FB910.”

Not only does the flatbed printer offer huge efficiency improvements for projects that would have been mounted on rigid substrates, its new capabilities also expand product offerings.

Peter Spring, president of SCL Imaging Group, found that even with multiple roll printers his company didn’t have the ability to produce the range of products his customers wanted; SCL was outsourcing more work than it produced internally.
“We made the decision then to buy a flatbed and sales boomed. We didn’t want to cannibalize our roll business,” says Peter, “instead, the flatbed bolstered it.” The strategy was so successful, that SCL invested in a hybrid Durst 800.

“We produce projects for a client who wants a die-cut standing piece,” says Brian Auty, CTO, RP Graphics Group, “and with the Inca Spyder 320 we can buy the corrugated cut-to-shape and then print on it. We print exactly what the customer orders – no overs, no waste.”

Changing product mix
Flatbeds are extremely efficient machines; eliminating mounting and laminating is just one advantage. Others include very quick make ready, the ability to print multiple panels at the same time and a wide substrate base. Face it; you’re not going to be able to put a door through a standard roll-to-roll printer!

True workflow efficiency comes from producing longer runs of standardized products fast, and this type of technology is butting heads with traditional screen-printing. All the contacts I spoke to agreed that for long runs, screen-printing is the best option; however, for shorter runs – 100, 500, or even higher – it’s possible to be very competitive. Throw in versioning or variable data and screen-printing can’t compete.

While François Boissonnault, Lamcom, who runs five VUTEk QS2000 machines, is busy printing election signs, it seems the most common substrates printed on are products like Coreplast, Fomecore, Sintra, Gator, and styrene or corrugated.

Peter Spring reminded me, “we are running a business and have to pay for this equipment.” He says, “to do that you need to drive a lot of volume, cut costs, and run it three shifts a day.”

He’s right, but what about the more unusual, and even exotic, substrates? There seems to be no end to creativity at this point, as long as the item is flat and of the right thickness – from 1.2” to 2.75” – someone, somewhere has printed on it!

We all have stars in our eyes and to print something for flagship retail stores, major development projects, high-profile tradeshow booths or even the Academy Awards or the Olympics brings pride to the producer.

Each company I spoke to had printed on wood panels or doors, but PacBlue didn’t just print a door here and there – they printed 537 of them! Paul Talbot, PacBlue, had the opportunity to print doors for a Vancouver developer.

“Originally, this was specified as a vinyl project by the designer, but we were concerned about how permanent vinyl would be for a high-end project like this,” says Talbot. “When we told them it was possible to print directly on the door, they were really excited, and when they saw the sample door they were blown away.”

The developer wanted to do something different to make its condo project stand out, so a juried design contest was held to find 10 images that would be offered to buyers for the front door of each unit. The entire run included more than 150 of one image, with the remainder spread across the other nine images.

Projects like this require a lot of coordination between the substrate supplier and the printer. For example, the priming and undercoating of the doors were critical; the door manufacturer had to take care not to leave fingerprints on the paint surface or they would show in the finished image.

Solid substrates like doors and glass are heavy. Each door PacBlue printed on weighed 90 pounds and it took two people to load each one on the flatbed. That’s a small crew compared to the four or five it took to load glass panels for a museum project at SCL.
Scott Saunders, Global Imaging, used his Arizona 250GT for a project that required an extremely high-quality image. Imagine printing on a high-definition TV screen for a promotion for HDTV. Not only was the client promoting the highest resolution available for television, they wanted the image on the screen to represent what their customer would see at home. The screen was part of an entire line of graphics Global Imaging printed for the project that included interior display panels and a vehicle wrap for two 36-foot mobile showrooms. No question that the viewer would be “up close and personal” looking at these images!

Each company I talked to had printed on a variety of substrates including carpet tiles, mirrors, ceramic tiles, glass and Plexiglas, rubber mats, brushed stainless steel, die-cut binder tabs – anything that lies flat. Some of the more unusual projects included metal video cases, an unassembled IKEA desk, an iPod and Velcro – both parts: the hook and the pile.

Let’s be careful out there
The inkjet heads on this equipment travel across the face of the substrate at an elevation that can be measured in hundredths or thousandths of an inch. Very small irregularities in the surface can cause a “catastrophic head strike”; a term that brings to mind the violence of a car crash. And the expense‚Ķ

The knurled edge on a piece of steel, a slightly raised area on a door, a miscalculation – any of these – can cause the moving head to come to a sudden stop. Unfortunately, a head strike falls under the category of “operator error” and is not covered by a warranty.

The Océ Arizona handles a head strike quite gracefully. The print heads are recessed inside a head unit, and when the unit hits the substrate the machine simply raises the gantry and parks the unit. No heart-rending crash‚Ķno expensive head replacement.

The future
Flatbed inkjet technology has changed rapidly over the last five years and is still maturing. Drupa 2008 was called “the inkjet drupa.” Equipment is getting bigger and faster, and hybrid machines offer the best of both roll-fed and flatbed production.
Users are discovering that the investment in either a flatbed or flatbed/roll hybrid can really pay off in terms of efficiency and flexibility. Commercial and digital printing service providers are using flatbed printers to move into territory that used to be claimed by screen-printing companies. Screen printers are finding they can’t ignore digital technology and are adopting flatbed inkjet.

The next few years will see wide-format output moving from screen and roll-to-roll inkjet to flatbed production – what share of that $30 billion market will be yours?

Coming off a season of mega trade events and facing drupa 2008, the biggest of all, the intimate setting of Western Grafik’Art, held April 11-13 at TRADEX in Abbotsford, BC, was a delight. The event’s debut attracted more than 1500 registrants.

For attendees, it was an opportunity to be “up close and personal” with the exhibitors and get the attention that can be lacking at a larger, more stressful event. For the exhibitors, it meant qualified—and committed—prospects, not waves of students attending on free “Student Day” passes.

To some, the drive to Abbotsford sounded like a trip to the end of the earth; however, one participant even trekked from southern Alaska to attend! Regardless of the distance travelled, it was a trip well worth making!

Anchoring the event was Konica Minolta, which displayed several pieces of equipment including the Digital Color Printer LD-6500, complete with online booklet making. The SD-501 saddle stitch booklet finisher can wrap preprinted covers around 50 sheets to create 200-page booklets. The fore-edge trimming function turns out nice smooth booklets regardless of the page count. (www.konicaminolta.ca)

The Xeikon/Punch Graphix booth, staffed by Guy Potvin and his team, was without equipment—British Columbia is a long way from all the excitement across the Atlantic. In post-event conversations, however, I heard that negotiations were already in place for a sale initiated by a new customer at the show.

The Xeikon 8000—which was launched at drupa 08 in Dusseldorf, Germany—was highlighted at this show as well. The roll-fed 8000 runs 230 A4 pages per minute and offers 5 colours—CMYK plus a range of specialty toners such as security toner, clear toner, UV curable toner, and MICR toner, as well as spot colours.

Most interesting is Xeikon’s development of white toner. Guy showed me samples of labels, printed in reverse with white overprint on plastic. They had great colour and really demonstrate the versatility of the machine. (www.punchgraphix.com)

A quick stop at International Binding and Laminating Systems’ booth meant a demonstration of binding both case bound and perfect bound soft cover books.

IBLS offers “one stop shopping” for anyone who wants to get into the business of very short run book production. Whether you are looking to produce very short runs of traditional books on demand or offering photo books, which are becoming more and more popular, the equipment is within the reach of print service providers of all sizes. With the wide range of solutions offered by IBLS, it’s possible to create very nice quality hard and soft cover books in cost-effective short runs. (www.bindingandlaminating.com)

Stretching across several spaces, All Graphic Supplies had both Roland wide format printers and the D.GEN Direct to Fabric Printer set up and running. An eye-catching display of fabrics—brilliantly colored images printed on each one—offered soft suede-like microfiber, meshes, poly-cotton blends, and more.

Cled DeSouza, VP Sales and Marketing for All Graphic Supplies is an expert in new and unusual substrates. Whether you want to produce banners, trade show displays, or prototype fashion fabrics, he can help you out.

After moving to Toronto just 20 years ago, the DeSouzas (Charles and Cled) launched a small sign company. In 1995, they sold their production company and focused on providing supplies and equipment to the industry they had grown to love. (www.allgraphicsupplies.com)

As I came around a corner, Pacific Studio Supplies caught my eye. Run by photographer and inventor Mike Lu, PSS provides supplies and tools for the professional photographer to market his or her work.

Modifying a traditional piece of laminating and dry mounting equipment, Mike has made it possible to attach images to boards of nearly any thickness—even several inches.

He has also invented a beautiful means for displaying photographs embedded in a block of polished crystal. They are perfect for wedding photographs, awards, retail applications, and more.

Mike told me that it was a steep learning curve and he spoiled a lot of expensive crystal before he got the process right! (www.pss2001.com)

Phoenix Media Direct, paper merchant and supplier of a wide range of HP printers, is staffed by photographers and colour experts. Who better to know what combination of paper, ink/toner, and equipment will produce the most beautiful photographs and fine art prints?

I picked up a flyer describing the company’s Green Planet Partner Program. Over the last 13 years, Phoenix Media Direct has had its own recycling program known as the “core pick up,” which has the company collecting empty paper cores and rewinding paper on them to reduce waste sent to landfills.

The company has expanded that service to include cardboard cores, plastic wrap from rolls of paper, end caps, and empty ink and toner cartridges; labeling it the “Green Planet Partner Program.” (www.phoenixmedia.ca)

Green themes also appeared in spaces manned—or shall we say “personned”?—by representatives of printing companies. Gord Kornelsen, owner of Fraser Valley Custom Printers, takes his commitment to the environment seriously saying, “the choice is clear—environmental responsibility without compromise.”

Proud owner of a 28-inch, five-colour press, Gord and his crew can print anything from business cards to books. If you run an Internet search for the company, you’ll find a lot of references to books that the company has printed. (www.fvcustomprinters.com)

Printer Gateway is more than a trade printer. Brian Armstrong, president of the company, clearly believes his job is to make his resellers and trade clients successful.

By using technology—hardware and software—that allows Printer Gateway to gang like jobs, Brian and his crew can eliminate waste and deliver products quickly and efficiently. (www.printergateway.com)

I was sure I was seeing double when Brad Wallans, of Trade Secret Printing, appeared in two places at once! Appropriately named, the company provides trade printing services across the country; pledging to use the latest technology to deliver jobs quickly, efficiently, and securely.

Using the “real time” online quotation system, buyers get instant quotes. At the same time, they are able to track the progress of their jobs, approve proofs online, and get notification of various events in the workflow. Especially good for a trade partner who needs to let their customer know “where is my job?” (www.tsprinting.ca)

Brad appeared—after a change of clothes—in the Intuitive Solutions Group booth. Intuitive Solutions offers software solutions for marketing executives, creative agencies, and print service providers.

Over the last 10 or so years, internet-enabled ordering of print—what we now call Web to Print—has matured and flourished.

What is web to print? It’s an online tool to create, modify, proof, approve, order, and pay for printed materials. On the back end, it provides workflow automation to simplify the production and delivery of those materials.

Printers today are finding that web to print is necessary for doing business.

Intuitive Solutions integrates solutions from companies such as Extensis, a digital asset manager; iP3, also provider of content management tools; iWay’s Press-sense, an automated workflow for web to print; and Quark’s QuarkXPress Server. (www.intuitivesg.com)

Software solutions can be pricey, but Pierre Fournier, of Printing e-Procurement, offers print e-pro, an online service that makes it possible for companies of any size to take advantage of the speed, accuracy, and sophistication of online printing procurement.

Pierre has more than a quarter century of experience buying and producing print, and he set out to develop an e-commerce solution that is easy to use and very reasonably priced—less than $10 a day.

At Western Grafik’Art, Pierre launched a new solution that should prove to be very successful, especially with the photographers who were both attending and manning booths. epro-ft is an inexpensive and secure application that allows the transfer of any size file without the use of an FTP site.

While most graphics companies offer FTP sites, it requires that the sender have additional software and knowledge of passwords and directory names in order to complete the transfer.

At the same time, designers often try to email files and meet size limitations of email servers or ISPs. With epro-ft there are no size limits, no special software to buy, and no need for passwords or folder names. (www.printe-pro.com or www.epro-ft.com)

BC to Host Western
Grafik’Art in 2010

Launching a trade event like this is like raising a child. It starts small and grows! This debut event offered a wide range of equipment, supplies, and technology to buyers who may not have a chance to go to major events like drupa, Graph Expo, or Print 09, the next edition of North America’s largest graphic arts event. It was clear there were attendees who clearly wanted to learn more, to talk about new products and services, and—in some cases—to buy!

In 2010, after the flurry of excitement from the Vancouver Winter Olympics has settled down, the city will host the second biannual Western Grafik’Art. Put it on your calendar now; it promises to be a terrific event!

You’ve done it! You’ve done your research, you’ve selected your technology, you’ve put down tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of dollars on a digital press, and you’re ready to launch your variable data printing business!

Congratulations!

Just a couple of quick questions: What if you need a little help with your go-to-market plan? Think some business development advice would be useful? Your sales staff aren’t really sure how to speak to those vertical markets you’ve selected to target?

If any of these questions sound like things you’ve been thinking, I have some good news for you: the company from which you bought your new hardware is here to help you!

“Post-sales support” comes in a number of different forms, each designed to give you a safety net to ensure your success. Kodak and HP have direct sales forces and branded market development programs in place. Canon Canada, a subsidiary of Canon USA, has a program currently being rolled out in the US and being tested in Canada. Fujifilm Canada (Graphic Systems) personalizes its support for each customer, rather than delivering a structured, packaged program.

While each company has their own way of delivering the services, the intent—and final result—is to give their customers a “leg up” on their business and market development. Their goal and yours are the same: a successful print service provider!

Regardless of your equipment vendor, the post-sales support programs provide generally similar services; let’s take a look at each program and what’s involved.

Kodak MARKETMOVER Business Development Services

Working through a direct sales force and official resellers, Kodak offers a robust business and market development program. According to Bob Barbera, Kodak’s Director of Business Development Services in their Graphic Communications Group, “The move from commercial printing to print on demand and variable data printing is a transformation. It’s an evolution to which the entire company needs to be committed and the payoff is huge. However, it is a process, and because it is a process, it takes time.”

Kodak’s MARKETMOVER program combines tools, services, and support for Kodak equipment buyers in four areas, Bob calls them the “four legs”:

• Expert Support—a team of geographically-assigned business development consultants in the field in Canada and the US work closely with Kodak customers, getting to know their businesses and acting as an extension to those businesses.
• Online Business Resources—rather than sending out a boxed business development kit, which could rapidly grow stale as resources change and are modified, an online resource centre is in place with hundreds of tools, case studies, application samples, white papers, and other support collateral for sales, marketing, and finance.
• Marketing Tools—launched in 2007, the Targeted Sales Module has complete vertical programs to identify vertical markets, provide strategies to sell into those markets, and deliver sales and market programs to reach those markets. Unique to this program are lists of trade shows and trade publications in the vertical markets and database acquisition programs to reach prospects in those segments.
• Online Community and Network—the MARKETMOVER Network links Nexpress users to allow them to extend their geographic reach, help provide load balancing, and to participate in a “distribute and print” network.

A base package is included with the purchase of a press, while the Targeted Sales Module is an additional purchase. Although the MARKETMOVER program is a mature program, Kodak continues to update it and add to it, with their focus always on creating successful users.

HP Graphic Arts Capture Program

By combining a structured business development program with the Digital Solutions Cooperative (Dscoop), HP helps Indigo users grow their businesses and move into new markets.

The Capture program provides business development tools, a wide range of training programs, and access to staff business consultants. “We have business consultants on staff that work with customers and prospects to explore what they’re doing, where they want to go, and what help might be required to get them there,” said Danny Ionescu, Vice President of Graphic Arts for HP Canada. “The business consultant essentially takes inventory of the prospect’s or customer’s capabilities and looks to find what can be leveraged from the current tools and processes. We don’t have proprietary solutions—we focus on an open architecture—and [we] have established a wide range of partnerships to ensure value to our customers; therefore we can find the solution that fits each customer’s individual need.”

HP’s staff business consultants dig deep into customers’ businesses with a one-on-one Agility Assessment Audit and market research. From the knowledge gained they can assist in marketing and business plan development, sales planning sessions, and sales training.

While the Capture program offers a wide range of marketing tools, one that is often used is an open house guide—a plan for developing and marketing a program to hosted print buyers. Open houses can be geared for specific applications or vertical segments; for example, a recent open house in Dallas brought a print service provider a number of prospects and customers who wanted to learn about short run—and economical—books on demand.

A component that makes Capture different from other business and market development programs is the addition of Dscoop (www.dscoop.org), a cooperative between Indigo users and HP that provides value to business owners, executives, and technical professionals. Found on the Dscoop webinar archive, for example, are a wide range of business webinars ranging from Selling Programs versus Projects to Make the Most of Plant Floor Space. Dscoop is promoted as more than a user group; HP sees it as a complete community.

Canon Canada Essential Business Builder Program

In June 2007, Canon USA launched a new program called the Essential Business Builder Program expressly to support buyers of its imagePRESS C7000VP digital press. Currently available only in the US, the program is being tested in Canada and will be rolled out in the near future.

This program combines internal analysis with external marketing and sales tools. A third element is an on-site mentoring component. The program offers a step-by-step approach to help printers develop the right go-to-market strategy.

“The Business Self-Assessment and the Gap Analysis tools are intended to be a presales program to ensure that there is a good match between the prospective customer and the technology,” said Mark Phillips, Product Marketing Manager at Canon Canada. “It is basically a way to measure organizational readiness to move into variable data printing. VDP technology is not particularly hard to use, but the workflow is more complex.”

As the printer walks through the self-assessment and gap analysis, he or she begins to think carefully about the business. Where are there weaknesses, what are the strengths, and is the company ready to move into a new business?

Once the printer and his or her management team have made the commitment to put the equipment in place, the program offers two “go to market” tool sets: the Application Tool Set and the Sales Strategies Tool Set.

To help the company market their new print on demand and variable data printing services, the Application Tool Set includes the full set of Marketing4Digital reports from the PIA/GATF’s Digital Printing Council, covering 24 key vertical markets.

From the perspective of each vertical market, the printer can propose market-specific services and has access to job samples, presentations, and “pitch” templates to use during the sales process.

The Sales Strategies Tool Set is designed to teach, enhance, and refine sales skills for approaching customers and prospects. Sales staff can show how the addition of variable data can measurably improve the value of the printed page, whether on simple static jobs or complex cross-media campaigns.

Fujifilm Canada Graphic Systems

Fujifilm Canada (Graphic Systems) takes a different approach to equipment sales and support because they are a reseller of products including consumables (such as plates, display graphics inks, and pressroom chemistry) and equipment (such as CtP systems, display graphics devices, and Xerox digital presses). The company provides professional services and consultation services from colour management to pressroom audits to commercial and digital printers.

“We are distributors of ‘best of breed’ graphic arts products as well as Xerox equipment and we are developing our own comprehensive business development program. We are also incorporating theories and philosophies from Xerox’s ProfitAccelerator Digital Business Resources program into our own structure,” said Carmen Chimenti, National Sales Specialist, Digital Printing, Fujifilm Canada (Graphic Systems). “For example, we have created a sales proposal using InDesign with variable elements that will merge text and images from our entire product line—CtP, plates, wide format devices, and digital printing equipment—into a personalized document. We are not only walking the talk, but we are learning how to do this in order to teach others.”

Maintaining the independence of a full-service distributor, Fujifilm Canada has the advantage of looking across the market to see what solutions—such as variable data printing and web to print—are available, and to discern what really fits into a customer’s environment. A financial application with a “closed community” requires a different solution from that implemented to open a site to a large geographic area with a web store.

“Each application requires a different type of VDP software, and we have the option to understand what it is the customer really wants to do,” said Dal Raimondi, National Technical Digital Graphics Specialist, Fujifilm Canada (Graphic Systems). “If our customer wants to implement a storefront, for example, we can suggest something that has been tested by Fujifilm Canada, and that will be a best fit for their requirements.”

In effect, Fujifilm Canada is applying personalization principals to business development programs. Rather than offering a pre-packaged solution, the sales and support teams consider the print service provider’s needs and wants, his or her hardware and software, and the company’s workflow to create a specialized solution.

While many business and market development programs are used to launch a company into a new business focus, they can also be used to help get a company back on track. For example, when Fujifilm Canada’s Graphic Systems team recognized a customer that was in trouble, they provided personalized service to help them out.

After integrating software and hardware into this particular company, it became clear that an operator was having trouble with the technology. Some additional technical training brought the operator up to speed, but the problem had caused the sales team to pull back. If a sales force perceives headaches from production, they aren’t going to be on board selling the solution. After correcting the production problem, tailored sales training, delivered with proper timing, got them over the hurdle and back to successfully selling.

By taking a “boutique” approach rather than a “big box retailer” approach to post-sales service and business development, the Fujifilm Canada team can develop the right solution for the right customer. The end result is personalization at work!

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%.

“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.