We’ve been working hard with the Print and Graphic Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) to make the scholarship application process as streamlined as possible. We know prospective college students are busy people so the easier the better, right? With that in mind, you’ll be pleased to know that the PGSF application is completely online and a breeze to fill out! The new application process is pretty slick.  Once you log into printing.org, you’ll be able to save a draft of your application as you complete the steps. Need to take a break to walk the dogs? Need to check a few facts before moving on with your essay? No problem whatsoever. You can start or stop the application whenever you’d like. Obtaining a referral from a professor or mentor has also been improved. Once the  primary application is finished, you’ll receive a URL to send to your referral. All they’ll need to do is click the link and they’ll be taken to a page asking them for the applicant’s name, email address, and the usual referral questions. Once they’ve finished filling out the referral form, an email will be sent to us with the information as well as the applicant to let them know that their referral came through. One thing that hasn’t changed is that transcripts must still be mailed in. With privacy concerns there’s no great way to transfer that data digitally. We’re excited to offer a streamlined process and we hope prospective students in the graphic communication field take advantage of this new feature. If you have any questions about the application, you can leave a comment on this blog post or email Bernie Eckert, PGSF Administrator at beckert@printing.org. The application can be found here and applicants have until April 1, 2012 to apply for a...

The following report was compiled and written by MargolisBecker and Printing Industries of America’s Ratios Study Program. The Great Recession of 2007–2009 was a dramatic departure from the relatively mild recessions of the past two decades. The sluggish economy and slowing print markets picked up steam and reversed their trends in 2010. As reported, the industry incurred an average profit for 2010 of 1.4% for all printers participating the in the 2011–12 Ratios Survey. This is an increase of 2.8% from last year’s average loss of 1.4% and ends the three prior years of consecutive decreases. Looking back over the last 90 year history of the Ratio Studies, an astute business person could predict the reversal of the industries recessionary trends, as it has always happened. But with the ever changing environment, even the veteran industry leaders have expressed concern over the recovery. The Ratios report should start to alleviate some of their concerns. At this rate, the industry showed approximately $2.1 billion in total profits over the course of the year, quite the opposite from 2009’s approximate $1.9 billion in total losses. In 2010 38% of printers participating in the Ratio Study posted a financial loss for the year, down from the 55% who reported losses in 2009. The industry’s profit leaders, printers in the top 25% of profitability, saw their profits also rise significantly over the year, increasing to 9.5% from 7.0% the previous year. Considering the conditions of the economy and the overall industry results, these top performers should consider themselves fortunate. For more information on the Ratios and to order the volume that best matches your company’s business go to www.printing.org/page/6529. For further information or questions please contact Ed Gleeson at egleeson@printing.org or leave a comment on this...

Training your employees and having them leave your company is a pretty scary thought… But, not training your employees and having them stay with your company is much, much scarier!!! Don’t make 2012 a spooky year for your company; be sure your staff is well-trained. Check out all of the workshops Printing Industries of America has lined up for the upcoming year at...

If you’ve been browsing printing.org lately, you may have seen a button asking to “Become an Ambassador for Printing Industries of America.”  By signing up to become an ambassador, you’ll receive email notifications when there’s a new blog post or important news. Then, from that email you can choose to share our information on your social channels.  It’s a neat innovation in the social media realm and makes sharing content as simple as clicking a button! We’re just testing out this application, so if you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to add a comment on this post. We deal with a lot of interesting topics in the printing industry and this is just another tool to spread our message and keep printers...

Since Sustainability Studies in Print: Five Printers Discuss Their Journeys to SGP Certification, is the book of the month, we interviewed the author, Joe Deemer, about the content of the books and some of the methodology behind it.  What level of understanding/commitment is Sustainability Studies in Print aimed toward? Is it for someone curious about embracing bits and pieces of sustainability? Or someone who wants to go all the way toward SGP Certification? On its most basic level, Sustainability Studies in Print is aimed at the curious with the hopes that they will be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Alcom, Global Packaging, Monroe Litho, SunDance Marketing Solutions, and T-Formation. If a printer reads this book and decides to pursue certification with the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership, then that’s a great thing. Certainly, many companies decide to make “green” claims in terms of promotion, and an SGP certification adds a solid level of credibility to such claims. But just like the whole “all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares” notion, you don’t need to be SGP-certified to actually be a sustainable printer. So, if a printer reads this book and decides to simply employ a more aggressive recycling program or maybe try out more eco-friendly materials because of the contents of Sustainability Studies in Print, I would still be thrilled with that result—and hopefully that hypothetical printer will be as well.     What are some of the common pitfalls that the printers in Sustainability Studies in Print stumbled upon? At some point nearly all of the printers mentioned that they were unsure of how to proceed in the face of the documentation and criteria supplied by the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership. Many of these issues, on their surface, were purely semantic, but in some cases, a slight miscommunication can have time-consuming ramifications in future.   It’s important to note that continuous improvement is one of the main tenets of SGP certification, and that the SGP Partnership holds itself to the same high standards it asks of applicants. So, with that in mind—and taking the concerns of early adopters into consideration—at the beginning of 2011, the SGP rewrote and clarified its certification criteria. The newly adopted criteria can be found in the first appendix of Sustainability Studies in Print.    What was main difference between the five printers? What is so unique about their journeys? The main differences between the printers are the primary processes they use. Our membership is mainly lithographers, and three litho printers are featured here, including sheetfed and web as well as integration with digital presses. There is also a flexo printer and a screen printer. The main idea here was to show...