Even when dealing with top-line challenges with help from the Printing Industry Financial Executives (PIFE) group and other professional resources, firms can still greatly improve profitability. How do you step up your game? In this article, adapted from “Boosting Your Bottom Line” by Dr. Ronnie H. Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Printing Industries of America, learn how to improve your financial performance from the bottom line up. How’s your company ranking on the profitability playing field? If you’re looking to boost your firm’s bottom line and gain competitive advantage, sales, cost, and pricing have the biggest impact on performance and profitability. The 2013 Ratios survey showed a major financial performance gap between profit leaders and the industry average. For you, this indicates there are many opportunities for increasing profits! So how do you bridge the gap from the “have-nots” to the “haves”? Step up your three key functions: sales, cost, and pricing. Here is some helpful advice you can apply to your firm: Increase sales: Add to your top line – Specialize by focusing on particular segments – Diversify by providing more value-added services – Gain process advantage using hybrid printing—its growing at a fast rate! – Offer ancillary services along with print, like Web-to-print and fulfillment Lower Your Costs: Benchmark – Benchmark costs with industry metrics – Shift fixed to variable costs by reducing overhead and using part-time and temporary employees – Substitute capital for labor by investing in employee development Improve Your Pricing: Compete for price, not on price – Specialize to reduce competition and allow pricing leverage – Develop strong branding and target customer awareness – Follow demand-driven rather than cost driven pricing – Provide sales comp incentives Want to learn more and connect with other printing industry financial leaders? Come to the 2014 PIFE Conference, March 30–April 1, 2014, at The Fairmont Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX. Information about the event will be available soon. Find the complete article from Dr. Davis in the October 2013 issue of from Printing Industries of America: The Magazine under Archives: The Magazine(Member login...

Even when dealing with top-line challenges with help from the Printing Industry Financial Executives (PIFE) group and other professional resources, firms can still greatly improve profitability. How do you step up your game? In this article, adapted from “Boosting Your Bottom Line” by Dr. Ronnie H. Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Printing Industries of America, learn how to improve your financial performance from the bottom line up. How’s your company ranking on the profitability playing field? If you’re looking to boost your firm’s bottom line and gain competitive advantage, sales, cost, and pricing have the biggest impact on performance and profitability. The 2013 Ratios survey showed a major financial performance gap between profit leaders and the industry average. For you, this indicates there are many opportunities for increasing profits! So how do you bridge the gap from the “have-nots” to the “haves”? Step up your three key functions: sales, cost, and pricing. Here is some helpful advice you can apply to your firm: Increase sales: Add to your top line – Specialize by focusing on particular segments – Diversify by providing more value-added services – Gain process advantage using hybrid printing—its growing at a fast rate! – Offer ancillary services along with print, like Web-to-print and fulfillment Lower Your Costs: Benchmark – Benchmark costs with industry metrics – Shift fixed to variable costs by reducing overhead and using part-time and temporary employees – Substitute capital for labor by investing in employee development Improve Your Pricing: Compete for price, not on price – Specialize to reduce competition and allow pricing leverage – Develop strong branding and target customer awareness – Follow demand-driven rather than cost driven pricing – Provide sales comp incentives Want to learn more and connect with other printing industry financial leaders? Come to the 2014 PIFE Conference, March 30–April 1, 2014, at The Fairmont Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX. Information about the event will be available soon. Find the complete article from Dr. Davis in the October 2013 issue of from Printing Industries of America: The Magazine under Archives: The Magazine(Member login...

The following is an interview with Dave Dezzutti, Technology and Research Analyst, Center for Technology and Research, at Printing Industries of America. How confident are you that every job your company produces will render spot-on color (if 1 is “not a chance!” and 10 is “we’re color masters!”)? If you’re like most companies, you’re probably somewhere in the middle. According to past customers, the solutions our expert consultants provide directly raise their confidence in producing predictable color. In addition to color management, more than a dozen full-time and external consultants serve members and the industry in a variety of areas. (Read the interview with digital and offset consultant Keith Whistler.) As a consultant with the Center for Technology and Research since 2011, Dave Dezzutti, who’s also a G7® Certified Expert and trainer, explains how he has helped many companies both on site and off with their color management issues.  Q: What is your background in this field that has enabled you to become a successful consultant? Dave: I have been very fortunate in my career to have worked in a production capacity with a wide variety of equipment and procedures. Ultimately this helps me assess a company’s current situation and provide them with a road map to follow in the future. This information will assist them in being more productive, with less waste, and gain a sense of predictability with regard to quality and consistency. Q: What is your current role with our consulting team? Dave: My focus is on color management. With hands-on experience with three different workflow systems, nine RIPs, two CTP systems, and a variety of digital equipment, my G7® Expert certification permits me to consult at printing companies and qualify them to become G7® Master facilities. Q: What are some of the highlights from your consulting experiences? Dave: I get a wide perspective on current issues our industry is facing. For instance, I am still somewhat surprised at the lack of process controls at some companies. Color management will only work continuously providing there is a process controls implementation in place. Q: How do you help companies find solutions? Dave: As a third-party observer, some problems are easily exposed. People, by nature, are so ingrained in what they are producing that they sometimes lose track of procedures, like those in process controls, which enable them to catch errors in the production stream. By methodically assessing each step of the process, issues will inevitably surface, and I can recommend a corrective action. Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job? Dave: There is no greater feeling than when an owner says at the end of a consulting assignment, that they have never had this...

The following is an interview with Dave Dezzutti, Technology and Research Analyst, Center for Technology and Research, at Printing Industries of America. How confident are you that every job your company produces will render spot-on color (if 1 is “not a chance!” and 10 is “we’re color masters!”)? If you’re like most companies, you’re probably somewhere in the middle. According to past customers, the solutions our expert consultants provide directly raise their confidence in producing predictable color. In addition to color management, more than a dozen full-time and external consultants serve members and the industry in a variety of areas. (Read the interview with digital and offset consultant Keith Whistler.) As a consultant with the Center for Technology and Research since 2011, Dave Dezzutti, who’s also a G7® Certified Expert and trainer, explains how he has helped many companies both on site and off with their color management issues.  Q: What is your background in this field that has enabled you to become a successful consultant? Dave: I have been very fortunate in my career to have worked in a production capacity with a wide variety of equipment and procedures. Ultimately this helps me assess a company’s current situation and provide them with a road map to follow in the future. This information will assist them in being more productive, with less waste, and gain a sense of predictability with regard to quality and consistency. Q: What is your current role with our consulting team? Dave: My focus is on color management. With hands-on experience with three different workflow systems, nine RIPs, two CTP systems, and a variety of digital equipment, my G7® Expert certification permits me to consult at printing companies and qualify them to become G7® Master facilities. Q: What are some of the highlights from your consulting experiences? Dave: I get a wide perspective on current issues our industry is facing. For instance, I am still somewhat surprised at the lack of process controls at some companies. Color management will only work continuously providing there is a process controls implementation in place. Q: How do you help companies find solutions? Dave: As a third-party observer, some problems are easily exposed. People, by nature, are so ingrained in what they are producing that they sometimes lose track of procedures, like those in process controls, which enable them to catch errors in the production stream. By methodically assessing each step of the process, issues will inevitably surface, and I can recommend a corrective action. Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job? Dave: There is no greater feeling than when an owner says at the end of a consulting assignment, that they have never had this...

This article was contributed by Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America, who is presenting “Jazzing Up Your Brand with Cool Varnishes, Inks, and Substrates” at the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10, in Phoenix, AZ. The communications industry today is highly competitive with different message forms used to communicate with customers from mass media and electronic communications to printed material. In recent years we’ve seen many new technological developments to enhance the impact of printed material visually, as well as addressing our other senses, like touch and smell.  These developments also allow print to interact with electronic devices. With these new approaches, brands and companies can differentiate their products to increase customer awareness and satisfaction. I have the great pleasure of witnessing many of these new technologies in product demonstrations, trade shows, open houses, and from visits to printers using the different solutions. I look forward to sharing these findings with you in this session at the 2013 Color Management Conference this December in Phoenix, AZ. Here is a list of ten different technologies* your company can use to differentiate your product: Raised coatingsProduced inline on an offset or digital printing press, raised coatings create textures that can be from one micron to well in excess 100. New solutions offline allow great register to the pre-printed product and can introduce secondary sparkling or metallic effects, for instance. Lenticular printingIntroduce depth and movement with images produced on lenticular lenses. Interlace the images and print using many different print processes. Metallic effectsMake the print shiny, be it through the use of metallic inks, substrates, or the introduction of foiling in the production. This can easily be designed and visualized to go mainstream. Scented coatingMimic the smell of the product or location with scents in either a coating or ink. Whatever your desire, there will be the scents available to use! 3D texture with inkjetBuild up a 3D image using flatbed inkjet, create a wood-paneling effect, reproduce an old master, or create highly personalized wall coverings. Reticulated coatingsCreate that special look by using coatings that do not fully flow on the substrate producing a textured feel to the coated area. Thermochromic inksThe temperature changes and so does the color—have your drink tell you when it’s ice cold! Laser diecuttingUsing lasers to create individualized patterns in printed sheets, these can vaporize the substrate to provide great detail and impact. Inks for thermoformingPrint it on a flat surface and then use thermoforming to create three-dimensional items in many different run lengths—personalize each of the items with digital. Fluorescent coatings and inksEither as a spot or flood, this will fluoresce under different lighting conditions; it could be for security...

This article was contributed by Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president, Technology and Research, Printing Industries of America, who is presenting “Jazzing Up Your Brand with Cool Varnishes, Inks, and Substrates” at the 2013 Color Management Conference, December 7–10, in Phoenix, AZ. The communications industry today is highly competitive with different message forms used to communicate with customers from mass media and electronic communications to printed material. In recent years we’ve seen many new technological developments to enhance the impact of printed material visually, as well as addressing our other senses, like touch and smell.  These developments also allow print to interact with electronic devices. With these new approaches, brands and companies can differentiate their products to increase customer awareness and satisfaction. I have the great pleasure of witnessing many of these new technologies in product demonstrations, trade shows, open houses, and from visits to printers using the different solutions. I look forward to sharing these findings with you in this session at the 2013 Color Management Conference this December in Phoenix, AZ. Here is a list of ten different technologies* your company can use to differentiate your product: Raised coatingsProduced inline on an offset or digital printing press, raised coatings create textures that can be from one micron to well in excess 100. New solutions offline allow great register to the pre-printed product and can introduce secondary sparkling or metallic effects, for instance. Lenticular printingIntroduce depth and movement with images produced on lenticular lenses. Interlace the images and print using many different print processes. Metallic effectsMake the print shiny, be it through the use of metallic inks, substrates, or the introduction of foiling in the production. This can easily be designed and visualized to go mainstream. Scented coatingMimic the smell of the product or location with scents in either a coating or ink. Whatever your desire, there will be the scents available to use! 3D texture with inkjetBuild up a 3D image using flatbed inkjet, create a wood-paneling effect, reproduce an old master, or create highly personalized wall coverings. Reticulated coatingsCreate that special look by using coatings that do not fully flow on the substrate producing a textured feel to the coated area. Thermochromic inksThe temperature changes and so does the color—have your drink tell you when it’s ice cold! Laser diecuttingUsing lasers to create individualized patterns in printed sheets, these can vaporize the substrate to provide great detail and impact. Inks for thermoformingPrint it on a flat surface and then use thermoforming to create three-dimensional items in many different run lengths—personalize each of the items with digital. Fluorescent coatings and inksEither as a spot or flood, this will fluoresce under different lighting conditions; it could be for security...