This post was contributed by Chris Webbert, president, Advantage Book Binding, Inc.  Are you attending the 2015 BIA Conference? If you haven’t yet registered for this excellent event, now is the time to do so!  Postpress companies are at a prime position right now. There a so many new technologies and ways we can apply them to our business—if we just know how to utilize them. From special effects printing to digital marketing, this year’s BIA Conference offers tons of learning opportunities so you can expand your business. It’s also THE networking forum of the year for postpress professionals and key vendors, so come prepared to meet new potential clients and partners too! Learn more below about this great opportunity to network with other postpress professionals, hear from industry experts, and connect with suppliers. Here is all you need to know—the Who, What, When, Where, and Why—about The 2015 BIA Conference Who Printing Industries of America What The 2015 Binding Industries Association Conference Where The Minneapolis Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When May 18-20, 2015 Why There are many great reasons to attend the 2015 BIA Conference: You’ll meet other professionals from trade binderies, graphic finishers, custom loose-leaf manufacturers, and information packagers. This is an ideal opportunity to exchange ideas that will help your company grow. You’ll meet the top suppliers to the postpress industry and have the opportunity to see the latest and greatest materials, services, and products. Plus have all of your questions answered by suppliers on site. You’ll hear from industry experts about new technologies that are transforming the industry and current market trends that you need to be aware of. This inside information will be invaluable to the future and success of your enterprise. You’ll have the opportunity to meet CEOs and top-level marketing and sales executives from the Print Leadership Summit, co-locating with this year’s BIA conference. For an additional fee, you can attend the BIA Plant Tour, when you’ll visit the Muscle Bound Bindery and Daily Printing Inc. Together these two businesses have more than 100 years of experience between them in the Minneapolis postpress industry. The tour concludes with a stop at the historic 612Brew, a landmark brewery in the historic Broadway building. How We hope you can join us for this exciting conference where you can definitely add a few more tools to your business-building toolbox. To learn more, visit the 2015 BIA Conference’s official website. Early-bird registration at a discount rate ends on Friday, March 27, so don’t delay!...

This post was contributed by Brian Regan, president, Semper International. Brian will present at the 2015 Print Leadership Summit, May 18–19, in Minneapolis, MN. Read his full article, “Introducing Techcreative: The Next Key Role in Hiring,” from the October 2014 issue of Printing Industries of America: The Magazine.  Have most of your recent hires been in the IT, marketing, or technology teams? As a job seeker, do you notice more companies requiring cutting-edge technical skills like CAD or Graphic Design, SEO or Social Media, or Variable Data or Web-to-Print? Today our industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in our internal rosters from production to technology centered. Brian Regan and his team at Semper International have coined this new role the “Techcreative.” Defined as intermediaries between the two worlds of creativity and technology—those with the technical expertise to make your ideas a reality, Techcreatives are an essential part of a successful team. They are out-of-the-box thinkers who can help you streamline production strategies and improve workplace efficiency. As an industry we need to be prepared to face this transformation. The question is not if business must adjust to new technology and new market dynamics, but what that shift will look like. This infographic gives you a snapshot of the technology and creativity skills that blend to form the Techcreative.  ...

This post was contributed by Brian Regan, president, Semper International. Brian will present at the 2015 Print Leadership Summit, May 18–19, in Minneapolis, MN. Read his full article, “Introducing Techcreative: The Next Key Role in Hiring,” from the October 2014 issue of Printing Industries of America: The Magazine.  Have most of your recent hires been in the IT, marketing, or technology teams? As a job seeker, do you notice more companies requiring cutting-edge technical skills like CAD or Graphic Design, SEO or Social Media, or Variable Data or Web-to-Print? Today our industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in our internal rosters from production to technology centered. Brian Regan and his team at Semper International have coined this new role the “Techcreative.” Defined as intermediaries between the two worlds of creativity and technology—those with the technical expertise to make your ideas a reality, Techcreatives are an essential part of a successful team. They are out-of-the-box thinkers who can help you streamline production strategies and improve workplace efficiency. As an industry we need to be prepared to face this transformation. The question is not if business must adjust to new technology and new market dynamics, but what that shift will look like. This infographic gives you a snapshot of the technology and creativity skills that blend to form the Techcreative.  ...

The following post is contributed by Jim Workman, Assistant Vice President, Center for Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. Lean is more than a business philosophy, it’s a way of life. It’s also simpler to implement than the consultants would have you believe. And respecting your employees by recognizing and developing their talents must be a central focus. Those are three principle messages from Paul Akers’ 2 Second Lean book. Akers credits Lean with propelling his woodworking supply business from a garage startup in 1997 to a multimillion dollar enterprise with distribution in 40 countries. In April 2015 Akers will be the opening speaker at the Continuous Improvement Conference in Minneapolis. Akers is a master carpenter, pilot, musician, and Eagle Scout, and was already oozing with confidence when he started FastCap, named after his initial invention, a self-adhesive cover for screw holes in cabinets.  His dose of reality came when he ran into inventory problems and was dissuaded of the notion that he knew how to how to manufacture. A consultant introduced him to the Toyota Production System (a.k.a. Lean Manufacturing) and Akers grew into a devout believer, eventually applying a customized version to his manufacturing business.   Akers learned to spot waste everywhere, traveled to Japan to tour companies modeling Lean behavior, devoured management books, and brought an air of efficiency and simplicity to FastCap, saving the company tens of thousands of dollars. He then hit the wall, exhausted, having reached the point that many give up on Lean—realizing that the minute he stepped away from the business, improvement stopped. 2 Second Lean recounts Akers’ struggle and discovery of how to build a culture at FastCap so that continual improvement was in its DNA. He established company goals, instituted staff-wide morning meetings and rotated leader duties, read aloud from his favorite business books, taught the eight wastes and other concepts, and set aside an hour a day for the 3Ss (sweep, sort, and standardize) so that everyone could identify a daily 2 second improvement. He adjusted as needed, hired people who were humble and curious, and documented company ingenuity with endless videos.    The essence of 2 Second Lean is about making small incremental improvements that accumulate into a significant advantage. Akers lays out a roadmap that has lessons for every leader. Paul Akers is a featured keynote at the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference. For more information and to register for the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 12–15, in Minneapolis, MN, visit...

The following post is contributed by Jim Workman, Assistant Vice President, Center for Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America. Lean is more than a business philosophy, it’s a way of life. It’s also simpler to implement than the consultants would have you believe. And respecting your employees by recognizing and developing their talents must be a central focus. Those are three principle messages from Paul Akers’ 2 Second Lean book. Akers credits Lean with propelling his woodworking supply business from a garage startup in 1997 to a multimillion dollar enterprise with distribution in 40 countries. In April 2015 Akers will be the opening speaker at the Continuous Improvement Conference in Minneapolis. Akers is a master carpenter, pilot, musician, and Eagle Scout, and was already oozing with confidence when he started FastCap, named after his initial invention, a self-adhesive cover for screw holes in cabinets.  His dose of reality came when he ran into inventory problems and was dissuaded of the notion that he knew how to how to manufacture. A consultant introduced him to the Toyota Production System (a.k.a. Lean Manufacturing) and Akers grew into a devout believer, eventually applying a customized version to his manufacturing business.   Akers learned to spot waste everywhere, traveled to Japan to tour companies modeling Lean behavior, devoured management books, and brought an air of efficiency and simplicity to FastCap, saving the company tens of thousands of dollars. He then hit the wall, exhausted, having reached the point that many give up on Lean—realizing that the minute he stepped away from the business, improvement stopped. 2 Second Lean recounts Akers’ struggle and discovery of how to build a culture at FastCap so that continual improvement was in its DNA. He established company goals, instituted staff-wide morning meetings and rotated leader duties, read aloud from his favorite business books, taught the eight wastes and other concepts, and set aside an hour a day for the 3Ss (sweep, sort, and standardize) so that everyone could identify a daily 2 second improvement. He adjusted as needed, hired people who were humble and curious, and documented company ingenuity with endless videos.    The essence of 2 Second Lean is about making small incremental improvements that accumulate into a significant advantage. Akers lays out a roadmap that has lessons for every leader. Paul Akers is a featured keynote at the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference. For more information and to register for the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 12–15, in Minneapolis, MN, visit...