Perhaps it is a sign of the times. Or, maybe I have not paid attention in the past, but it seems like I am reading about more and more corruption in our industry than ever before. Yes, business is business, and some people are corrupt – period. However new articles are appearing on a regular basis in the trade journals about indictments, arrests, prison sentences handed down. All of these happening in the industry I have been associated with for 35 years, and cannot remember this many illegal activities. For example, just today I read:
“Newton man is sentenced to 3 years in prison for stealing more than $100K from business”
Published: Friday, September 10, 2010, 1:38 PM
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (Somerset) — A Newton man today was sentenced to three years in prison for taking more than $100,000 from a Somerset County printing business where he worked as the controller. David Hathaway, 51, apologized for his actions and defense lawyer asked Judge Paul Armstrong to give him a suspended sentence for the theft from Toppan Printing Co., a firm located in Franklin Township.
Attorney Drew Hurley insisted his client didn’t take the money for a lavish lifestyle, but to help support his family. They were struggling under debts that mounted when Hathaway was unemployed. “He did so to pay bills, not to go to Atlantic City, not to buy drugs,” Hurley said, adding that his client is bankrupt. “It was aberrant behavior.”

This was on the same page as:
Charges say Frank Russo traded printing business for political contributions
Updated: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 8:28 PM The Plain Dealer
The scheme: Russo traded public business for political contributions, according to prosecutors.
Russo is accused of using his official position, between 2005 and 2007, to funnel nearly $450,000 in county work to a printing company. Damir Blecic is not named, but matches the description of Public Employee 53, an employee in the auditor’s office with an interest in Business 34, described as a printing company located in Garfield Heights.
Critics of the printing transactions have said the work was done at inflated rates, and also noted that the county has its own printing operation. In exchange for the work from the county, according to the charges against Russo, the auditor’s employee contributed an unspecified sum to Russo’s political campaign. The charges also say Russo hired relatives of Public Employee 53 and “made personnel decisions” that benefited them. Those decisions are not spelled out. In addition, the charges say that, on or about May 5, 2006, Russo “caused to be paid” an invoice from the printing company to the auditor’s office for about $10,786.40. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed the printing records in November as part of the public corruption investigation.

I tend to believe we live in times where some will act out of desperation. In the meantime, our industry is getting a tarnished reputation which has nothing to do with us being “tree killers” or “environmental polluters”. We can’t afford this kind of bad press, especially right now…

In my opinion, the Personal Selling model (traditional print sales) does not work for digital. In spite of wanting to be “one stop shopping”, can you or any company afford to have you chasing and handling the details of a digital job that pays you $15-30 in commission? One Trip to a client will burn that in gas money…not to mention phone calls, proof reviews, RFQ, a lunch, etc.

The digital model, in my opinion, only works when it is a direct Internet sale with no human intervention. As a Salesperson, you could
direct them to the web, and then collect the equivalent of a referral fee without intervening; but you would have to be excluded from the rest of the production process and concentrate on non-digital. And, as you can read below, Salespeople are not very pleased when their company buys digital and expects them to sell it…for pennies in their pockets. This is an article excerpt I recently came across, and I couldn’t agree more…

Why Sales People HATE Selling Digital Printing
August 4, 2010       By Bill Farquharson

Sometimes, I don’t get what people don’t get about digital printing and VDP. Like when it first came out and Charlie Pesko et.al. ran around the continent yelling their “Emperor’s New Clothes” message, challenging anyone who didn’t see that vision. Now that those pie charts and graphs of yesterday have been downsized to reflect reality, we are faced with another “Don’t get it” moment: I don’t get why no one else but me sees why their sales reps won’t sell digital printing and VDP.

Imagine being in a sales meeting and the owner walks in. He’s jacked up and wears a smile from ear to ear. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he begins, “This is a big day in the history of our company. Today, we install the new Xerodigomapress 3000, a device that will put us in the race to capture digital and variable data print. Here to describe what your sales future looks like is our new digital sales savant, Bill Nevergonnahappen. Bill?”

“Thanks, Dick. Sales reps, this new device is going to push you from your comfort zone. You will no longer be calling on buyers, but instead, a whole new breed of potential clients. These people are in Marketing and Product Management. They’re owners and C levels. So, immediately, you are going to feel discomfort. Eventually, you will come across the IT Department. They know a lot more than you do, so prepare to feel stupid. Also, selling digital and VDP takes time. In fact, know that if the selling cycle for traditional print is 3-6 months, the selling cycle for digital and VDP is twice that. Plus, you can expect the average order size to be in the hundreds of dollars, meaning that according to Dick’s current sales compensation plan, you will see commissions in the tens of dollars (pause for dramatic affect).
“Thus, you can expect a solutions-driven sale made to someone who is smarter than you. It will take longer. You will sell less dollars for more work and make far less than you are used to. Remember, this is a team effort. My door is always open. Best of luck,” concludes Bill.

Not a day goes by without hearing the familiar phrase “when the economy recovers….”. Quite honestly, I think people that use that phrase are badly misinformed. There is no “when the economy recovers”, there is only “when the economic restructuring is more complete”. We are not in a recession alone, but in the midst of a restructuring of the business world we live in. Many market sectors will never “go back to the way business was in pre-recession periods”.  Real estate, banking, automotive and  media markets are only a few of the industries that will never be the same.

Even before the recession hit, these markets were under pressure to restructure (cognizant or not) and re-invent their business models. It was only a matter of time before high/uncompetitive costs caught up with GM. Likewise, cable and legacy TV networks have been under attack since the first video was streamed online; real estate prices were so out of touch with what the average person could actually afford for at least the last 10 years, the resultant unscrupulous lending practices (under pressure from the Federal Government) were always a recipe for disaster.

So – don’t “wait for the recovery” – learn what needs to change in your business or daily practices in order to survive in a new world. Those that wait for recovery will be waiting a very,very long time…

Today, yet another mill, Suzano Mills announced a price INCREASE effective August 15, 2010 of $2/cwt. The letter merely states there is an increase, and gives absolutely no explanation. Keep in mind that many economists would agree that we are in a deflationary mode (prices should be going DOWN, not up. Allow me to quote one of them:
“Four major considerations suggest that the past several quarters may be nothing more than an interlude in a more sustained economic downturn, with further negative quarters still ahead. Such an outcome will suppress inflation further and quite possibly lead to deflation. ” (http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article21046.html – 7/10/2010)
This increase is on the heels of many other mills increasing prices as well. I wish the Department of Commerce and Justice would worry more about paper mills engaging in collusion than worrying about taxing foreign imports and protecting their antiquated pricing models.

Nittany Valley Offset is proud to be a certified G7™ Master Printer. Here are some of the benefits for our customers:

• The assurance that your proof represents your file and that the press sheets will match your proof
• Costly travel for on-site press checks can be eliminated
• Faster make ready time results in less paper waste
• Color consistency is maintained throughout the press run

The International Digital Enterprise Alliance G7™ Master qualification program permits certifying only those printing companies who have been trained to proof and print using the new G7™ methodology. The qualification mark means that the printer uses the most modern technology, techniques and process controls and standards required to produce high-quality commercial printing. To continue Master Printer status, NVO will go through a yearly re-certification to assure we maintain IDEAlliance calibration and processes.

What exactly is G7?
G7® is both a definition of grayscale appearance, and a calibration method for adjusting any CMYK imaging device to simulate the G7 grayscale definition. G7 yields a visual match between different imaging systems using simple 1-dimensional curves, and enables shared appearance between different printing devices or specifications when additional color management is not available.  A key benefit of G7 is that it is device independent. The G7 neutral print density curve (NPDC), gray balance definitions and calibration methodology are the same for any imaging technology, regardless of substrate, colorants, screening technologies, etc. The NPDC at the heart of the G7 grayscale definition was derived by analyzing the neutral tonality of typical ISO Standard commercial offset printing using computer-to-plate technology.  This is the logo that will appear on all customer proofs:

I am very weary of hearing “experts” tout the global environmental damage done by print media. This issue is so emotionally charged that reason, logic and facts are ignored for the convenience of appearing to be “green” and pushing a political cause. Here are a few FACTS that should not be ignored:

• 4,000,000 trees are planted daily in the U.S. – 4 Million per day! (1) More than 1.5 billion trees are planted in the U.S. each year, almost half of them by the forest community. (2)

• 57% of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling in 2008. (3) Compare that to the 18% of the three million tons of electronic waste in the U.S. being recycled. (4)

• 48% of the energy used in New Page mills (largest domestic mill) comes from renewable bio-fuels. (5)

• 24% Annual Growth of energy consumption at U.S. data centers – servers use lots of energy! (6)

• 42% reduction in energy use per product unit by the U.S. pulp and paper industry in 25 years. (7)

• 12% of all CO2 emissions in the U.S. come from aircraft. (8)

• 62 Trillion Spam emails are sent every year, contributing greenhouse gases equivalent to two billion gallons of gasoline. (9)

(Spam also clogs the internet’s arteries, it takes energy to generate, screen and delete spam. Tough to measure, but it stands to reason. Think of the sheer volume worldwide. 186 million web sites, 1.3 billion e-mail users, 24 hours a day. Every day. Do the math. The energy that Spam email generates annually has the carbon footprint of driving a car around the globe 1.6 million times. {9})

• We have 12 Million more acres of U.S. forestland today than 20 years ago (10).

• Over 200 million items of e-waste are thrown away every year in the U.S.: Monitors, printers, computers (4).

• 70% of toxic waste in U.S. landfills comes from e-waste. (4)

• Burning a CD produces 4 times as much CO2 as printing a single annual report. (11 & 12)

  More than ever, it’s important to find the right balance between the environment and your communications budget. And please consider the facts the next time you engage in dialogue about the “evils” of print media.

Footnotes
1. Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program
2. Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association
3. Environmental Defense Paper Calculator
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
5. NewPage Corporation, Miamisburg, OH
6. www.uptimeinstitute.org
7. www.need.org
8. www.biologicaldiversity.org
9. McAfee, The Carbon Footprint of Email Spam Report
10. Forest Landowners Association
11. www.finsbury.com.au/NewsDetail.aspx?p=15&id=64
12. www.printnet.com.au/verve/_resources/AP_NOV_p42.pdf

Given the number of projects that are now proofed online (“soft proofed”), there is an additional risk that some error  will be missed by the client, designer, agency or printer. Regardless of whether paper proofs are created or online proofs are reviewed, there are some basic guidelines that should always be followed. These include:

1. Verifying the trim size.
2. Checking for correct pagination in a magazine / publication.
3. Checking that bleeds, borders are positioned and will be produced as designed.
4. Questioning whether shingling, or creep has been allowed for, if the spine is over 1/8″.
5. Approving an ink drawdown of any PMS colors, on the stock it will be printed on.
6. Approving/verifying the process color reproduction fidelity of any images or graphics.
7. Checking folding sequence, when the product (tri-folds, accordian, etc) dictates folding only, without any other spine binding method.
8. Checking to insure that any previously requested corrections were made on the current proof.
9. Lastly, verify the quantity and paper stock specs prior to signing off for press.

If every client followed these simple steps, errors would be drastically reduced.

As mentioned in the last article, most certification programs focus on the adherence to a codified standard, without really benefiting the printing industry or the clients we serve. This may be about to change. The newest standard, SGP is a combination of continuous improvement programs and socially responsible printing. According to the SGP’s web site:

“The mission of the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership is to encourage and promote participation in the worldwide movement to reduce environmental impact and increase social responsibility of the print and graphic communications industry through sustainable green printing practices…

The SGP Partnership recognizes the following sustainable business practices as guiding principles to ensure continued viability and growth:

• Employ, wherever and whenever possible, materials derived from renewable resources or with low environmental impact, maximizing recycling and recovery efforts with efficient utilization of renewable energy.
• Encourage the adoption of changes within the supply chain by strongly recommending the use of raw materials that do not threaten or harm future generations.
• Educate the customer and ultimate consumer regarding the benefits of a restorative economy.

Printers can be listed as a certified SGP Printer by meeting a set of criteria to establish performance standards.”

So, on a practical basis, if I develop an internal program to use less proofing paper and replace them with soft proofs displayed on a color calibrated monitor at the press, I have a qualified SGP project. The net result is that I save money by using less materials, and the environmental impact of our operations is lessened as well. That’s a definite win-win ! Now’s there’s a certification I can embrace, that can have a real impact on operations of printers everywhere.

If you step back in time and look at the evolution of the industry in the last 30 years, it’s somewhat revealing. It demonstrates an industry rocked by technology changes, realigned by mergers and acquisitions, and shaken by various new forms of media and content distribution.

But there is still one theme that all surviving companies seem to have in common: they listen to their customers and provide value beyond a commodity price. These same customers have experienced, with us, what I call the “craze of the day”. Sometimes they are even a part of the “craze creation”. Whether it is a designer wanting 3 varnishes and 2 coatings on a cover, or a paper buyer wanting recycled paper with those
“tiny specks” or a certain certification that they feel will guarantee a certain quality level, clients have helped to form the latest trends in the industry. However, what did all of this do for the health of the industry? What did this do for lessening the environmental impact of print?
Did the quality level in the industry really improve because of ISO 9000 programs? I would argue that none of these programs accomplished very much by themselves.

For the most part, ninety percent of Customers never cared about ISO 9000 certification. If you matched the proofs on press and shipped them a good product that matched their needs, they could care less about SOP’s, Corrective Action Requests or any of the elements of ISO standard. FSC certification will probably become generic: everyone will have it, most papers will be it, and clients will care less. It will become an assumption of the way business is done in a new “green world”. Recycled papers were a fad somewhat, that has died down dramatically, because clients did not want to pay more for their project or a printer educated them in the use of chemicals required to create recycled stocks.

However, there is a new certification/standard that is on the rise that may actually be beneficial to the printer, the customer and the world at large. It is called Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP). How is it beneficial? Well,  in my opinion any new technology, certification or initiative a business undertakes should accomplish one of these (otherwise it is not worth doing):

1. Lower material costs – use less waste and /or  lower priced materials without affecting quality.
2. Lower labor costs – more efficient employees, faster equipment
3. Less environmental impact at the same net cost – the Social Responsibility of every business
4. Provide for a safer work environment
5. Enhance quality at the same net cost (“Quality is Free” concept)

The newest certification, SGP can actually pay for itself if implemented properly, unlike any other certification that I have seen.

More to come tomorrow…

WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) is levying dumping duties against certain coated paper imports from China and Indonesia. The preliminary tariffs range from 30.92 percent to 89.71 percent for China, with an all-China rate of 135.80 percent. A single rate of 10.62 percent is being applied to all Indonesian coated paper producers. These margins would be in addition to the countervailing duties applied in March, which would make the overall duties 43.65 percent for China and 28.1 percent for Indonesia.

A final resolution on the unfair trade cases is expected later in the year.

“Once all of the evidence has been reviewed, the facts of the market will show that APP has not illegally dumped paper in the United States,” said Terry Hunley, acting president, Asia Pulp and Paper Americas (APP). “We have seen unfavorable preliminary rulings in the past only to have them rejected in the final analysis because a complete review of the paper market confirms the U.S. industry has not been injured and duties are unwarranted. That will be the end result here, too.”

U.S. paper companies NewPage Corp., Sappi Fine Paper and Appleton Coated Papers, along with the United Steelworkers, filed unfair trade cases on Sept. 23, 2009, with the DOC and the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging that certain coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized, resulting in injury to the domestic industry and its employees. The paper products covered by the petitions include coated paper in sheet form used in high-quality writing, printing and other graphic applications, with a GE brightness rating of 80 or higher and weighing up to 340 grams per square meter.

“Commerce’s recognition of the impact that dumped coated paper products have had sends a message that our government is interested in restoring a competitive market in coated paper,” said Mark Gardner, president and CEO of Sappi Fine Paper North America. “From day one, our goal has been to restore a level playing field and that’s what our case is all about. Dumping has had a dramatic adverse impact on our industry and our economy as a whole and Commerce’s decision opens the door to addressing this unfair practice.”