There are some amazing companies that have won Bennys at the Premier Print Awards! This post is part of a blog series profiling 2014 Premier Print Award Benny winners from small print shops to large corporations as well as universities. Check out how a company in your demographic used their 2014 Benny win to leverage more business. Something catches your eye. The striking color, beauty, and elegance—images flawlessly flowing together throughout each calendar, poster, book, and other printed pieces. The work produced by the illustrious Australian company Body of Work is a culmination of sharp talent in print, design, and photography. But the the team at Body of Work has gained exciting market success thanks to Bob Armstrong. No stranger to awards, Armstrong ascended the stage at the 2014 Premier Print Awards Gala last September to accept 17 total Bennys as well as the Best of Show first-place title on behalf of his comapny. Though they do their own promotions, Armstrong also credits their success to the unparalleled endorsement of their peers through the Premier Print Awards. Here he explains how they get some valuable exposure for their Body of Work and how you can “work it” for your brand as well. Q: First can you share what these awards mean to your company? A: Ours is a bespoke product to a small elite group. The success of all bespoke products, from Rolls Royce down, is totally reliant on brand reputation pedigree and above all brand endorsement. There is no [greater] credibility than endorsement from your peers, and in our industry there is no higher international endorsement than the Premier Print Awards Our focus is totally craft driven, and our driving ambition is to be the best in the world at what we do. To achieve this, everything we do is without compromise. [This means that our company] bans the word “cost” because that is the first step of compromise. If we create the perfect product, the financial rewards will follow—and they have thanks to the committed team of craftsmen that make up Body of Work. Q: How have you been able to leverage your Premier Print Award wins to further build your brand? A: We have been extremely successful in leveraging these awards because, in addition to being a designer and photographer, I am an advertising man of long standing. We totally understand who we are trying to impress, what reaction we are seeking, and how to get it. If it becomes an exercise in self-glorification to your peers, it may satisfy your ego but won’t work commercially, and we are too pragmatic to go down that path. We are skilled in creation of all media and use...

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...

You know who you are. You live for clean lines, square corners, exactness, and all the finer details of postpress work. Some people may call you a perfectionist. But why do you settle for only the highest quality product? Because you know that’s what sets you apart from competitors. Distinguishing your company can be difficult in our industry because, well, face it: marketing isn’t cheap! That’s why for years postpress companies have entered the BIA Product of Excellence Awards for their chance to be recognized as the “best of the best” in graphic finishing and loose-leaf products. Award winners illustrate that postpress work can be a true art form, displaying flawless craftsmanship, and catching the attention of the award judges—as well as the industry. Over the years Product of Excellence Award winners have displayed more high-impact pieces mixing new and traditional techniques giving products their own modern twist. (Check out the creative pieces of past winners.) For the 2015 competition, the stakes are even higher. So to any postpress professional looking to promote your company, why should you enter the 2015 Product of Excellence Awards? Earn Recognition for Your Work If there is one event that spotlights the best in the industry, it’s the Premier Print Awards Gala Featuring the InterTech™ Technology Awards. Beginning this year, Product of Excellence Award recipients are invited to attend the Gala, September 13, 2015, in conjunction with GRAPH EXPO 15. This is print’s star-studded evening, and now you can accept your award before an audience full of your peers and potential clients. Take Advantage of Free Publicity Award winners are included in national publications seen by the media and thousands of industry members. First, your company will be recognized in press releases announcing all winners to the media. Then the 14,000 readers of Post-Press Magazine will read about your company as well as top national printing executives in Printing Industries of America: The Magazine. Additionally your company’s name and link are posted on www.printing.org/poeawards. Expand Your Customer Base With widespread recognition for creating outstanding postpress work, customers are going to take notice! Customers recognize the Product of Excellence Award as a seal of approval that says, “You can rely on this company to deliver excellent work!” Companies that have earned this award can also proudly display their plaque so customers can see they are the Best of the Best. Think your company has what it takes to win a BIA Product of Excellence Award? Learn how to enter at...