Imagine you are at a conference rubbing elbows with hundreds of people who have ideas and answers to make your business more profitable? Hundreds of industry executives and suppliers will be at the 2013 Binding Industries Association (BIA) Conference. The event is slated to be one of the most successful BIA conferences to date (find out why in the video below). We have a lineup of expert speakers from around the industry to provide how-to advice on creating leaner, more efficient operations, analyzing your customer, and improving your leadership strategies.   With a surge of new and returning attendees, along with more than 50 of the industry’s top suppliers, this is the place to be this April 8–10.  We’d recommend you get familiar with some of these suppliers before you arrive and get an idea of the resources they have to help your company. They’re here to answer your questions and show you their newest technologies and solutions. If you want to really “branch out,” at this year’s conference, take advantage of the unique networking events we have to offer: Tabletop Resource Lunches Spend one-on-one time with industry experts who can speak to innovative approaches and products specifically designed to help you achieve maximum efficiency. The companies represented are strong supporters of the BIA program, the association, and the industry, so please make it a point to visit with as many of the resource experts as you can. Customer Connections: Tabletop Reception Mingle and connect with the top suppliers for binding, graphic finishing, and loose-leaf manufacturing companies that will have solutions to help improve your business. “The BIA Annual Conference is the top event of the year for the graphic finishing and information packaging industry.  It’s the one event I always circle on my calendar as a must-attend.” Rick Ciordia, Standard Finishing,  Industry Supplier And if you still need a reason to come to the 2013 BIA Conference, we can give you five! In this video, Justin Goldstein, Director, Member Services, talks about what is in store for you at the conference. Find more information on the 2013 BIA Conference at www.printing.org/biaconference, and network anytime with top professionals on the Binding Industries Association LinkedIn...

In a Q&A with Julie Shaffer, Vice President, Digital Strategies, Printing Industries of America, we learn what to expect from the highly anticipated Integrated Print Forum 2013. Q. What sets the Integrated Print Forum 2013 apart from other conferences featuring the printing industry’s latest technologies? A. We’ve built the Integrated Print Forum to be different from other conferences, which often feature many breakout tracks and a wide swath of topics. For the Forum, we wanted all attendees to share the same experience so that they can better engage during networking times. That’s why we built a program with short back-to-back sessions, all (with the exception of a few hands-on labs) on the same stage. When a group stays together for two days, very often people develop camaraderie with each other and the presenters. While so many of the topics of this conference center around mobile and digital technologies, the event itself is very steeped in personal communication and learning. Q. Is there a session you’re looking forward to the most this year? A. No, I have to say what I’m most looking forward to watching the audience be blown away by the spectacular speaker lineup! Q. How do the speakers of the Integrated Print Forum set this conference apart? A. The Integrated Print Forum features a diverse group of speakers who all have tremendous credibility in marketing, business, and commerce—but they’re not the “usual suspects” who are often found on the podium of most other industry conferences. We have author and respected blogger Jason Falls, who’s a huge name in the social media circles—even some of the other speakers are pumped to be able to meet him! Our keynote, Andrew Davis, is a top name in brand marketing, and his book, Brandscaping, which all attendees will receive, is a must-read for anyone striving for success in the marketing services space. We’ll hear from entrepreneurs both in and out of the printing industry, people who know what it takes to start a business and offer solid practical advice to the audience. Of course, we’ve included a few respected and knowledgeable people well known to our members, including the incomparable Daniel Dejan of Sappi Fine Paper. I can say this; no one is going to be bored for a minute at the Forum. Q. What are some of the unexpected benefits of attending this conference? A. Since the Forum is right here at Printing Industries headquarters, attendees can tour our great facility and meet our staff—people they may have only talked to on the phone or followed through their articles and columns, like our lab manager, Brad Evans. Then there’s the fun dinner event we have planned for the evening of...

You have only to consider the smartphone in your pocket, the tablet device your kids are scrolling through, and the computer that sits ever at the ready on your desk to understand this fact: digital communication is here to stay. Can print remain an important part of the communication mix today? Of course! For example, did you know that one in ten magazine ads contained a mobile action code last year? Integrating print with digital is at the core of what we call “Integrated Print,” and it can represent significant business potential for print and marketing service providers. Sharing the insights of renowned brand and marketing leaders, social commerce experts, publishers, business entrepreneurs, and printers who are finding new successful business strategies is what the Integrated Print Forum 2013 is all about. Much like the popular “Ted Talks,” the sessions at Integrated Print Forum, May 14–15, will be presented in a clear, concise format. Our lineup of powerful and expert speakers will deliver their message on one main stage, getting right to the valuable material that attendees need to know—a new idea or technology, a fresh strategic direction, or realistic tactics for business growth. With the recent release of the lineup of presenters, people are already talking about these sessions that will be presented at the Forum: The Future of Print Is Digital—Andrew Davis, Monumental Shift Get inspired to re-think current print, digital, and mobile strategies and consider aligning them as a content continuum instead of unrelated initiatives. It’s Time for Direct Mail 2.0!—Joy Gendusa, PostcardMania The concept of Direct Mail 2.0 addresses all of the current issues that can plague direct mail marketing and replaces them with a modern, integrated program.  The Digital Frontier: What Social Media Means for YOUR Business, YOUR Customers—Jason Falls, Social Media Examiner                                                     Learn why social media is such a powerful sales and marketing force and how we can embrace it to drive offline revenues. Business Black Box: A Magazine Success Story—Jordana Megonigal, Editor-in-Chief Explore how a regional business magazine adopted a new way of doing business and, in doing do, is on the way to achieving the sought-after trifecta among publishers: journalistic integrity, full issues, and bottom-line profitability. Topics at Integrated Print Forum 2013 will include: Social Commerce, Integrated Media Marketing, Online Business Engagement, Business Transformation, and Sales Growth. You can’t miss this event! Visit www.printing.org/integratedprint to learn more about the speakers, read up on featured topics and stories in the blog, and most importantly, sign up to attend! Get Involved Before the Forum Have questions, comments, or suggestions about the event? Visit us at the following locations: Blog:               www.integratedprintforum.org/blog Twitter:          www.twitter.com/printind YouTube:       www.youtube.com/printingindustries Facebook:      prnt.in/integratedprintforumevent Hashtag:        ...

This blog was adapted from an article by Manoj Ramachandran, Operations Manager, Label World, who has more than a decade of experience as a lean operations practitioner. He has gained his insight through experience in many different industries, including printing, aviation, and health care. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and PMP. Mr. Ramachandran will present on Standard Work at the 2013 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 7–10, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Implementing a Lean manufacturing plan can be like composing a symphony: getting all of the intricate details working together harmoniously requires not only attention to minute detail, but also an overall vision of the project. However, you can lay an integral piece of a Lean foundation and put a Standard Work process in place. Standardizing your work methods will set you on a positively evolving pathway to better workflow and operational excellence. But you have to have the right plan supported and firmly in place. The method of Standard Workor “The documentation and application of the best practices of a manufacturing process,” can be focused to three parts: Creation, Implementation, and Sustenance. Find a glossary of Lean and related terms here. Create: Identifying where Standard Work Is Necessary Ask the question, “What processes would benefit most from standardization?” Take a look at your value stream map and confer with the team or department that performs the work and, therefore, owns the process. Be sure to review the process with the equipment operators—their input will help a great deal in ensuring buy-in and continually improving the process. Finally, analyze the process to identify waste sources using tools like takt time, sequence of activities, and inventory levels. Implement: Making the Process Known For your standard work process to be effective, make it available and understandable to all. Place images of the work sequences close to the work site in graphical, easy-to-follow terms. This will not only set the standard but also act as a grading tool as well as a training tool for new employees. Sustain: Ensuring Compliance The team performing the work should be responsible for auditing the standardized process once it is in place. Supervisors and operators will track and determine if the process is being followed and, if not, determine why. Perhaps someone has found a better way to perform the process and can make suggestions for change. The end goal is improvement, not strictly maintaining a stated process. Want to learn more about Standard Work and implementing a Lean manufacturing program? We have great resources for you! Complimentary Articles, Glossary of Lean and Related Terms,and the Lean Manufacturing Assessment Tool. CI resources page for valuable information like Article Collections, Books, andWebinars The 2013...

One of the biggest challenges we face in the print production environment is achieving accurate, consistent color. There are many factors that contribute to getting optimal color results, including proper digital file handling, calibration, profile creation, and more. Your solution? We have developed hands-on workshops that show you how to troubleshoot, manage, and print the best digital color. Our instructors are knowledgeable with years of field and training experience. Best of all, the techniques you learn here at our world-class training center can be applied back at your very own facility. Join us for a practical training workshop that covers the techniques you need to know to get the best color from your digital presses. Check out Optimizing Color from Your Digital Press, today! Take it from the expert: in this video Dave Dezzutti, Technology and Research Analyst at Printing Industries of America, and experienced workshop instructor, gives some insight into what you can learn about producing more consistent color. Discover how to optimize color output from your digital press in an in-depth, experiential workshop, Optimizing Color from Your Digital Press, May 21–22, 2013. You will leave knowing these essential skills and more: Digital printing and color management terms, techniques, and practices Standards and specifications—the best ones for digital and how to color manage                     your digital press to get there How to troubleshoot color and output-related issues using common desktop tools and how to diagnose digital file problems—hands on! How to get your digital press to print to G7® and ISO 12647-2 Don’t just take our word for it! Hear the comments from a few of our previous attendees: “I found the Optimizing Color from Your Digital Press workshop very helpful. My coworker and I learned a great deal of information on digital printing operations that we can apply to our unique situations here at our facility. Beginner or experienced, this course is extremely helpful and applicable!”—Steve Yoder, Prepress Manager, Schlabach Printers The information I received from attending Optimizing Color from Your Digital Press workshop will definitely help us achieve our color management goals as a company. I am a novice to digital printing, but our presenter spoke to us in easy-to-understand terms and made certain we would not leave the class without a complete understanding of the topic. I have recommended this workshop to my coworkers!”—Crystal Cole, Color Manager, Graphic Dimensions, Inc. This is the only Optimizing Color from Your Digital Press course offered in 2013. Due to the hands-on applications of this course, class sizes are kept small and fill quickly. Register you or your staff members today here. See all of our training workshops at www.printing.org/training under the “Public Workshops”...

The following is a guest post from Ken Macro, author of the February/March Book of the Month, The Future of Print Sales. Below, Ken recalls one company looked “outside of the box” to create a new product and grow their client base. I was contacted recently by a friend who works for a printing company that has expanded into the wide/grand-format market. As a result of product development, they were able to obtain a new client (a furniture manufacturer) by creating the “Good Award”—a small Grammy-like desktop award custom-printed for the company to distribute to employees who have gone above and beyond their assigned roles by helping out their colleagues. The awards were ganged up on a wide-format printer, mounted to foamcore, and then cut out using a Kongsberg cutting table. A crosspiece is slotted at the base of the award to allow it to stand on one’s desk, and it sports the face of the owner of the furniture company that says, “Thanks for being so Good.” As a result, the company is now exploring other printed matter for both their internal and external clientele. The printing company’s sales force has reportedly been able to leverage the “Good Award” into gaining access into other new businesses in their area.  The uniqueness of this particular product is that it challenges the traditional roles often stereotyped through the psyche of the potential print buyer. Instead of asking for big volume printing, the salesperson presents a new product idea that is potentially needed—and therefore deemed valuable—by the buyer. What makes this so interesting is that the buyer didn’t even know they needed this product. That is what we—in the industry—must now do, create products that people do not know they need. They know that they need marketing collateral and, as a result, seek to find the least expensive means in which to cast their message. What they didn’t know they needed was a product to assist them in enhancing the morale of their employees. For more fresh ideas and step-by-step guidance on launching new products within your organization, visit www.printing.org/bookofmonth. Enjoy a 15% discount when purchasing this title before 3/31/2013. Use the discount code MACRO at...