The following is a guest blog post from Joe Marin, Sr. Instructor/Manager Training Programs, Printing Industries of America, encouraging graphic arts professionals and industry newcomers to attend Orientation to the Graphic Arts, April 15–18, 2013. The printing industry is complex and constantly changing. I’ve found that one of the biggest problems for those who are new to the industry—and even those who worked in the business for a while—is understanding terminology and workflow. Administrative, sales, and even production employees are often focused on their specific task without completely understanding how what they do impacts the job being produced. Add this to all of the industry terminology and jargon and the printing industry can quickly become a confusing place to work! The Orientation to the Graphic Arts workshop addresses all of these issues and so much more. During this class you won’t just see workflow, you’ll be immersed in a graphic arts workflow set in Printing Industries of America’s amazing production laboratories: Be a designer, and create a job to print on our digital press. Be the prepress operator, and understand digital file problems, create proofs and plates. Be the press operator, and print a job on our 6-color offset press. Be the bindery technician, and operate a cutter, folder, and saddle-stitcher. Check out the video above, which provides an overview of our amazing training facility. Also, check out some of the pictures below that illustrate the laboratories used in Orientation to the Graphic...

Many companies say they want to increase their company’s competitiveness and accumulate improvement goals more quickly. They want to maintain higher profits, increase production, and reduce waste. But where do you start? Lantech, a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of shrink wrap equipment used in the printing industry, turned to Lean Manufacturing over a decade ago in order to regain its competitive edge. It created a successful Lean environment and maintained it, becoming a benchmark for the application of Lean practices within U.S. manufacturing. Here is Lantech’s advice to other manufacturers: Implement Standard Work and Kaizen Lean Manufacturing is a management system born out of the philosophy and practices of the Toyota Production System—considered by many to be the world’s best manufacturing company—and have since been adopted by North American companies to systematically reduce waste, lead time, and achieve a better production flow. This is a proven model to implement a Lean system. Jim Lancaster of Lantech on the importance of Lean management Maintain Your Past Improvements After all of the effort you put into making your improvements, make sure they last. Stabilize your conditions and focus on continuing to improve. Do not concentrate only on the planning but rather more on the execution. This is done by relying on management to maintain quality as a key initiative. Each subsequent improvement should aim higher than the last, so that the pace of progress continues steadily. Practice PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act/Adjust) By applying PCDA principals throughout your operations, you repeat a cycle until you achieve sought-after results. Plan: Develop a way to effect improvement Do: Implement the plan on a small, manageable scale Check: Review for any variance between the predicted results and the actual conditions observed Act/Adjust: Take action or  modify based on your review By creating a standardized management system and a process to continuously make improvements, your company can reach goals and not just fall back into the same old processes that were setting you back. If you are interested and would like to learn more about creating and maintaining Lean Manufacturing practices, take a look at the video featuring Jim Lancaster, CEO and Owner, Lantech. Lancaster will also present Lean Management: Staying on Course with Improvement Goals at our annual Continuous Improvement Conference, April 7–10, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The conference also features a tour to one of Toyota’s largest plants in North...

“There are three kinds of leaders. Those that tell you what to do. Those that allow you to do what you want. And Lean leaders that come down to the work and help you figure it out.” – John Shook What do you think classifies a person as an exceptional leader? One measure is that a person provides the motivation, knowledge, and tools that result in a company’s operation constantly improving. These are the individuals we want to honor with the 2013 Managing for Improvement Award. This award recognizes managers who make quality and efficiency a top priority—they are the ones making sure their employees are productive and safe and that their customers are satisfied. They inspire people and ensure that these standards are sustained. Why should you nominate an outstanding manager for the Managing for Improvement Award? The winner is recognized at the 2013 Continuous Improvement Conference*—the conference that focuses on exploring the latest innovations in Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement In the ceremony the recipient receives an engraved award to display and complimentary attendance to the CI Conference as well as one night’s hotel stay A news release detailing the recipient and award will be sent to industry media, media in the recipient’s community, and to industry peers Recognition ad in Printing Industries of America: The Magazine A truly outstanding manager helps a company strive for operational excellence. You can give a deserving leader, and their company, the recognition they deserve. Read this article from David Harding’s blog, How to ID a True Leader, for more on what qualities comprise a leader. Harding is presenting “Sustaining an Empowering Culture in the Face of Personnel Changes and Acquisitions” at the 2013 Continuous Improvement Conference. Do you have someone in mind? If so, send us their information by February 15, 2013. Click on the image to view the details on how to enter your nomination. If you have any questions, please contact Jim Workman at jworkman@printing.org or visit www.printing.org/ciconference. You can attend the 2013 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 7–10, 2013, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and learn more about the skills needed to benefit from successful Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement strategies....

This article, contributed by John Compton, Master Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt, looks at the relationship between technology and the practice of continuous improvement. He demonstrates why, although technology drives your business, maintaining quality is essential to gaining a competitive edge. John is an independent consultant for Printing Industries of America, conference consultant for its Continuous Improvement Conference, industry veteran with executive-level experience, and professor emeritus of Rochester Institute of Technology. I learned early in my career a simple but important truth about the practice of quality: technology is the master and quality is the servant. By that I mean the goods and services we are able to provide to the marketplace are profoundly impacted by technology and its influence on our materials and equipment. It could be said that technology is what permits us to have a business. Our customers buy the printed products we produce and the benefits those products bring to their businesses. That’s why we call ourselves printing and or packaging companies, not quality companies.  On the other hand, quality is the servant in that there will always be a need to improve whatever systems that technology has allowed us to create. There will always be a need to produce products with fewer defects, shorter lead times, and fewer mistakes. And there will always be a need to deliver our services with fewer errors and in a more customer-friendly manner. All systems need improvement on a continual basis. None of our processes and operations—for as technologically advanced as they may be—are free from mistakes, errors, downtime, and other cost-generating problems. Yes, technology is the giant that drives our industry, but the practice of continual process improvement is what serves to achieve and sustain competitive position and profits. Quality improvement practices such as Lean manufacturing, six sigma, and ISO9000 bring needed discipline and structure to our businesses. Numerous presentations made at the recent Printing Industries of America Continuous Improvement Conference provided evidence of just how well they do apply to our industry. One case in particular involved a company that had recently moved to a new all-digital workflow. The new technology was providing benefits in time and cost reduction but was failing to achieve the levels they had originally targeted. The quality improvement manager and his staff diagramed the workflow, identified the critical control points, established measures of performance, and employed a PLAN-DO-STUDY-ACT approach to continually improve this state-of-the-art digital production process. Significant gains in productivity were attained and sustained. A simple example of how technology is the master and quality is the servant. Remember, any company can buy equipment and the technology that drives it. But without a strategy and structure to continually improve upon its...

Since 1978, the InterTech™ Technology Awards have proven that printing technology is alive and well and making an enormous impact on the industry to reduce costs, improve performance, and pursue new markets. Over the years, 273 technologies have been selected by the judges to receive this prestigious award. This year is no exception. We want to take this time to recognize the 12 innovative recipients of the 2012 InterTech Technology Award for their contributions to the performance of the graphic communication industry. They are truly “Stars” in the field of innovation. Take a Tour Through Innovation Excellence: To see each of the 12 new technologies that are predicted to change the graphic communication industry, watch this short video. And the 2012 Recipients are: In case you missed any, here are those technologies listed alphabetically by company, with the technology named first. Congratulations to the 2012 InterTech Technology Award recipients: Kodak NexPress Red Fluorescing SolutionEastman Kodak Company The Kodak NexPress Red Fluorescing Solution lets printers easily add security to printed documents, direct mail, and packaging. The virtually invisible dry ink fluoresces red when illuminated with ultraviolet light. The judges singled out the technology for its simple and low-cost approach to adding counterfeit protection. Enterworks® EnableEnterworks, Inc. Enterworks Enable allows a company to manage complex product information, associated images, and other marketing assets. The Web-based software then automates the delivery of this selling content through print and e-commerce channels. One judge commented: “This is robust enterprise-level product information management software that is extremely configurable.” i-cut SuiteEsko i-cut Suite is a collection of workflow software for users of large-format digital printers. It gives companies the essential tools to maintain efficiency and productivity. “This is complete workflow designed specifically for large format at a reasonable price,” noted a judge. Fujifilm J Press 720FUJIFILM North America Corporation The J Press 720 is the world’s first half-size sheetfed inkjet press. It produces accurate and consistent color work with virtually no makeready waste. The judges singled out the J Press for its pioneering role in what is expected to be a major pressroom shift to inkjet. Prinect Performance BenchmarkingHeidelberg USA Prinect Performance Benchmarking is a subscription-based application that lets companies compare the performance of their Speedmaster presses and operators with other printers. Said one InterTech judge: “No one else offers this … it is worth its weight in gold for the printer that takes true advantage of benchmarking.” Keen MIS and Web-to-PrintKeen Systems, Inc. Keen MIS and Web-to-Print software is a cloud-based platform that allows companies to pick a subscription plan and begin creating storefronts in minutes. The judges praised the cloud-based and SaaS approach, the additional functionality from plug-ins, and the easy-to-use interface. Color Control...

This article is written by Mark Bohan, Vice President, Technology and Research at Printing Industries of America. As has been true for some time, the printing industry is in the throes of changes. The business models are changing with transition of content between different media, while technology innovations are positively impacting the manner in which printed material is produced. It is critical to be aware of these technology changes and the ways in which they will impact your business. Here are my top picks on what technologies you need to be aware of: (watch for this year’s InterTechTM Technology Awards to highlight advances in these areas) Automated workflows Automated workflows are going through a new renaissance with the introduction of new specifications so files can handle complex variable data and then process them through the facility in the most efficient manner possible. This applies irrespective of the printing process. Increasingly, companies will try to “touch” a file as few times as possible. Production inkjet technology This technology is taking inkjet printing to a whole new marketplace, and we are seeing new capabilities monthly, if not weekly. Because this is so new, there will be many business and technical questions and challenges in its implementation. Wide format inkjet Wide format inkjet printing continues to expand in use, and is gradually eroding the use of screen printing for signage, point-of-purchase displays, and other uses. Single-pass ink jet is the most exciting development in this area, promising to revolutionize the speed and cost of producing wide-format graphics. Marketing metrics Marketing dollars are continually being challenged, and there is push to show value for the spend that occurs. To help with this there are many new technologies that can link print to other media, such as Web or mobile, including technologies such as QR codes and augmented reality. These can then be used to engage the consumer and provide hard analytics back about the effectiveness and touch points in campaigns. Paper and board packaging There will always be the need to have packaging material for the merchandise we buy! It continues to be a strong area in lithographic and flexo printing, both from the printer’s perspective, as well as those of the suppliers. There is also an increase in inkjet technologies for packaging. Color measurement and management Color science is continually developing to more accurately reflect what humans see. This is leading to the introduction of new color measurement instrumentation and management solutions to meet reproduction challenges. Solutions are continually made easier to use in order to broaden their application, and we are seeing the increased use of RGB workflows and Device Link Profiles to help with color management. Digital technologies The use of digital...