Print is moving forward … and so are you with the Value of Print Mobile App
In a world where your clients are bombarded by popular media myths like, “Print is dead,” you choose to fight back because, let’s face it, the facts don’t lie. Print is not only an effective part of the marketing mix; it is an environmentally responsible product and a profitable industry. To help spread this message, we created The Value of Print Flip-Book, a resource full of facts and statistics to counteract common present beliefs that are simply not true. (Learn more at www.printing.org/valueofprint.) So what if you could take all of the information in the Flip-Book, combine it with searchable industry data and an updated RSS feed of industry news, and make it available anytime and anywhere? Well, you will be excited to hear that we have just unveiled a new FREE tool—the Value of Print Mobile App. Apple users: http://prnt.in/ZXq Android users: http://prnt.in/ZXf Apple and Android users can download by searching “Value of Print” in their mobile app store or by entering the respective link onto their mobile browser. Blackberry users: http://prnt.in/ZXP Blackberry users may enter the above link into their mobile browser. Now available on your mobile device, the Value of Print App features searchable industry reports from the 2011 Print Market Atlas. This feature allows users to look at print statistics by selecting a location—national, state, or region. They can then look at an overview of the chosen location with shipments, establishments, and employment. Each of these overviews will allow for filtering by market segment and printing process. The results are displayed in a chart or graph format—whichever the user prefers. Say you are working on a sale and want to know shipments by state in the general commercial printing market segment. Well, now there’s a print app for that! The app will also contain live a RSS feed with up-to-the-minute news and announcements as well as supported facts on print’s effectiveness and sustainability from the printed Flip-Book. Our members have told us they need a convenient way to respond to the negative comments often heard in the field about print. Well, did you know that 85% of consumers sort through and read selected pieces of mail every day? Or that Just 11% of the world’s forests are used for paper (25% for lumber; 53% for fuel)? This information and more is found on the app, available at your respective App stores. The printed Flip-Book you have on your desk or in your briefcase has already helped countless sales, marketing, and other print professionals promote the value of print. “I loved the Flip-Book and can’t wait to see the app. It will be a good complement to the hard copy. I Look forward to sharing it with all our salespeople.” —Aron Blume, Director, Global Operations, Lean Six Sigma MBB, HubCast Inc. “This is the best thing that anybody has thought of. I am excited that you are doing this. I commend PIA, and you to be heading this up and look forward to this App. Thanks again for all your support!” —Dave Boynton Jr., General Manager, Mac Papers The Value of Print Mobile App is another way to make your job a little easier. We look forward to helping you spread the true message about print in your sales efforts with current information and statistics. Promote your passion for...
read moreExtreme Offset Can Help You Print Better, Cheaper, and Faster
Getting hands-on training is important when trying to get your printing facility up to speed. With the upcoming workshop, Extreme Offset: Troubleshoot, Control, Optimize, attendees will get the proper training to keep their facility in top condition, while learning how to print higher quality pieces more efficiently. Extreme Offset will be the first workshop of 2013 for Printing Industries of America. Held March 19–21, 2013, this popular workshop will provide the essential training to save your business money and gain an aggressive edge against the competition. Attendees will participate in sessions in the areas of troubleshooting, controlling, and optimizing printing capabilities and activities in the pressroom environment. With this comes hands-on learning from Printing Industries of America’s experts—Lloyd DeJidas, Director, Graphic Services and Facility Manager, and Greg Workman, Pressroom and Bindery Supervisor. Printing Industries’ Test forms are just one resource that will be presented in the press laboratory. Learning their proper use will be part of day one at Extreme Offset. Test forms are comprehensive diagnostic and measurement tools designed to help printers achieve quality color printing with less waste and reduced makeready time. The instructors will demonstrate how you can use test forms to see if your printing presses are reproducing consistent color. Additionally, see how to use these forms as a benchmark, with the ability to put your own color management targets into the form to compare color and consistency from the original colors. To learn more about this informative event, visit www.printing.org/training and click on “Extreme Offset: Troubleshoot, Control, Optimize” under the “Public Workshops” heading. Don’t wait to register for Extreme Offset as this program is known to sell out quickly. If you want to attend Extreme Offset but March is not convenient for you, there are other options. This event is so popular, we are running two sessions in addition to the March event—July 23–25, 2013, and November 5–7, 2013. Choose the date most convenient to you and put it in your calendar...
read moreWhat Does the New National Buying Program with ASI Mean to You and Your Business?
Below, Michael Walters, Executive Director, Distributor Services, ASI, discusses how the newest National Buying Program will help your business. So what does the new National Buying Program with ASI mean to you and your business? More revenue! Distributors (like you) who sell promotional products find it very lucrative. Here’s a little background on this $18.5 billion industry and why it makes sense to offer a new service to your clients. What is a promotional product? Also known as ad specialties, promotional products are any item that can be imprinted with a company’s logo. Top Promotional Products in 2012 Shirts Bags Writing instruments Other apparel Caps/headwear Why would my customers want to use promotional products? Two main reasons: Exposure. Companies increase brand recognition with these products, because they are designed to be used or worn on a repetitive basis, constantly putting a company’s name and logo in front of potential buyers. Affordability. Promotional products are very affordable, with the cost per impression being less than other forms of popular media, including TV and radio. What kind of revenue can I expect? There’s a high profit margin on promotional products—up to 40%, and average yearly sales for a distributor are around $775,100. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Want to learn more? Offer customers a new service and gain new clients! Visit www.printing.org/asi to learn more about Printing Industries of America’s National Buying Program with...
read moreWhat Does the New National Buying Program with ASI Mean to You and Your Business?
Below, Michael Walters, Executive Director, Distributor Services, ASI, discusses how the newest National Buying Program will help your business. So what does the new National Buying Program with ASI mean to you and your business? More revenue! Distributors (like you) who sell promotional products find it very lucrative. Here’s a little background on this $18.5 billion industry and why it makes sense to offer a new service to your clients. What is a promotional product? Also known as ad specialties, promotional products are any item that can be imprinted with a company’s logo. Top Promotional Products in 2012 Shirts Bags Writing instruments Other apparel Caps/headwear Why would my customers want to use promotional products? Two main reasons: Exposure. Companies increase brand recognition with these products, because they are designed to be used or worn on a repetitive basis, constantly putting a company’s name and logo in front of potential buyers. Affordability. Promotional products are very affordable, with the cost per impression being less than other forms of popular media, including TV and radio. What kind of revenue can I expect? There’s a high profit margin on promotional products—up to 40%, and average yearly sales for a distributor are around $775,100. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Want to learn more? Offer customers a new service and gain new clients! Visit www.printing.org/asi to learn more about Printing Industries of America’s National Buying Program with...
read moreDigital Photography and Workflow: An Interview with Taz Tally
When it comes to image and color management, it’s best to look at the big picture—your whole workflow. When you capture a digital photograph, you are making essential decisions that impact your entire workflow. Some people are right-brain, and some are left-brain. But everyone can learn how to capture and process high-quality images by learning the fundamentals from image capture to output. Few professionals know this better than Dr. Taz Tally, Taz Tally Photography and Director of the Digital Print Production Program, Sessions.edu—The Online School of Design. He is leading “The Fine Art of Digital Photography and Workflow,” one of the most talked-about sessions of this conference. Now less than one month before he presents at the 2012 Color Management Conference, we have an exclusive interview with Dr. Tally on his much-anticipated session. See what you will experience during a day with this self-described adventure seeker! What makes you excited about your pre-conference session, and what makes this conference unique? This is an all-day, hands-on session that lets you capture and create color-managed images from start to finish. I take you through the whole color management workflow, from image capture to color correction to preparing your images for viewing and printing. You will see your finished product at the conclusion of the day. The Arizona landscape is spectacular with endless opportunities. If I am not a photographer, will this session be useful? Absolutely. We will be covering both the fundamentals of image composition as well as adjusting and managing files in a Photoshop-based workflow for creating high-quality images for viewing and printing. We will first focus on capturing well-composed images, which is the first step in a high-quality image and color management process. We will then apply Photoshop image correction and management fundamentals to our well-composed images. This information will result in having better composed and higher-quality images and better color—it also makes you a more valuable and/or marketable employee! For this session, I recommend having a basic knowledge of Photoshop. Have you created this session from a technical or creative perspective? Both, actually. Some people lean more toward the creative side, some the more technical, while others see the whole process. The information is developed and presented to include photographers and pre-media personnel, and anyone involved in the image and color management process, whether you are design, photography, or production oriented. I teach trainable skills—you learn the fundamentals to get you started and fill in any gaps in your workflow. Can you describe what attendees will experience? We will be shooting at a prime location in Scottsdale, not far from the conference venue, the Hotel Valley Ho. We will go through the entire process of capturing the image, evaluating and correcting images, and preparing our images for viewing and printing. There is so much beautiful landscape here. It is the perfect setting to practice capturing engaging photographs because of all the details in an urban scene. I follow my own rule: never be caught without your camera, because you never know where the next great shot will be. What are the top takeaways going to be? There are plenty of ideas and techniques you will learn and be able to apply back home, but the top three are: Composing high-quality images in order to produce well-composed images The...
read moreBeyond Standard Inkjet Printing
Professor Fritz Bircher, Printing Competence Center, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Fribourg, will present Beyond Standard Inkjet Printing at the TAGA 65th Annual Technical Conference, February 3–6, 2013, in Portland, Oregon. Below, Professor Bircher recalls his experience of learning about inkjet technology, a hot topic at this year’s conference. The range of standard inkjetInkjet technology nowadays is state-of-the-art for small office/home office printers, coding, large-format printing or as add-on units to provide flexible data within traditional printing processes. Drupa 2012 showed, that more and more application fields are being covered now, even if inkjet is not the only digital technology on the market. Commercially available inkjet printing systems and printheads provide a certain range of operating specifications and conditions. It is important to understand that for good printing results, printhead, ink, substrate, and drying principle or unit have to be well-adapted to each other. Motivation to break these limitsSome five years ago, with the increasing pressure in the industry to have to go digital with their processes, many companies realized that interesting fields of application appeared outside these known ranges. They promised attractive new markets besides the difficult traditional business. In their search of innovation, some companies increasingly began to go beyond the limits of the known and commercially available technologies. But they mostly failed or it took them much too long to succeed in a first step on their own. They underestimated the complexity of all involved parameters. Much more profound knowledge of all involved subsystems and their way of interaction was needed. This was why I was often asked about feasibility studies to support the breaking of these limits. Different applicationsMany different printing applications have been tackled to address different printing requirements, including large outside advertising on grass and concrete. Their JumboJET was designed and developed for commercial use in advertising and art applications, printing with a resolution of about 1 dpi (pixel diameter can be selected 20 or 40 mm) and a print width of 5 m. Every pixel is linked to his exact final position so that the software can control the print process by GPS. The driver then is independent of any given path, he only has to provide, that he covered every spot of the image at least once at the end. Learn about other applications including printing on snow and the challenges introduced by the low temperatures, the influence of particle size and viscosity on performance. For more information about the keynote presentations at the TAGA 65th Annual Technical Conference, or to register, visit...
read moreLithographic Printing : ‘Heavy Iron’ Comes Up Light
By Mark Michelson, Editor-in-Chief G one are the days where sheetfed offset presses dominate the show floor during a GRAPH EXPO exhibition, despite any machinery handling financial incentives created by show organizers to encourage bringing heavy iron. The high costs involved to…
read morePrinting Industries of America Celebrates a Milestone Year in 2012
The accomplishments and innovations of the printing industry are immeasurable. Printing Industries of America’s year-long celebration of its landmark 125th anniversary has the industry reflecting on its history, staying up-to-date with current trends, and feeling excitement for its future. The milestone we are celebrating once again reminds the printing industry of all that it has to offer. Stay Up-to-Date with Current Industry TrendsNot only is Printing Industries of America reflecting on the history of this exciting industry, but we are also looking to keep our members current in some of the top industry trends. The Center for Digital Printing Excellence at Printing Industries provides up-to-date information on digital printing business applications and technologies, cross-media marketing opportunities, emerging innovations, Web and eCommerce, and social media engagement. The Center for Technology and Research is at the forefront of technology for the printing industry and provides members with support for day-to-day operations and long-term product development. The Value of Print is another hot trend we are extolling to our members and the industry. Now more than ever, it is vital to communicate that printed products are both environmentally and socially responsible. To advance the core message that printing is vital and a sustainable form of communication, Printing Industries of America has provided information and developed resources to help increase awareness about print. Actively promote the value of print with The Value of Print Flip-Book. The new flip-book delivers facts and figures to support your sales efforts in the modern media mix. The Future of the IndustryPut the future of your business into your hands. Printing Industries of America members have the opportunity to take advantage of benefits that can save time and money and help improve profitability. As print advances, so will our place in the industry. Printing Industries of America will continue to be the leader for the graphic communications industry, providing printers with the latest in technology, education, and products and services. As we look to the future, we acknowledge that only a willingness to grow and evolve can help keep print valuable and relevant to...
read moreExperience to Solve Your Toughest Challenges
Is your operation in compliance with federal, state, and local environmental and safety regulations? Would you be ready if an EPA or OSHA inspector showed up at your door today? An inspection can happen at any time, and if you are not prepared, you could face thousands of dollars in fines for even minor infractions. The best way to solve a compliance issue is before an inspection occurs, and the Environmental, Health, and Safety experts at Printing Industries of America are here to help with all of your regulatory compliance needs. Our expert staff has the knowledge to provide you with timely and effective solutions for preventing and resolving compliance issues, responding to an enforcement action, or achieving sustainability certification to go beyond compliance. Customer demands for sustainability are increasing, and EHS compliance is a requirement of any credible sustainability program. Agency penalties for noncompliance can be severe and expensive, and safety violations can lead to serious injuries. The first place to start with achieving regulatory compliance is to know and understand what rules apply to your operation. This is done with a compliance audit that the EHS team can conduct to confirm compliance or uncover violations and help correct them in a reasonable fashion and without government penalty. If an inspection has already occurred, the EHS team can help mitigate any violations and penalties. When in Need, Turn to Printing Industries of America We know printing, inside and out.With nearly 50 years of combined printing industry experience, our EHS experts provide knowledgeable, effective, and professional service to printers across the nation. With our expertise, you eliminate the need to spend time and money educating other consultants about your business and the industry. We know the rules.Whether it’s compliance or sustainability, we have an extensive understanding of regulatory requirements and industry standards, and we can help you understand it all. We can save you money.Our EHS experts have saved clients thousands of dollars by being able to navigate the regulatory process, help develop cost effective compliance management, and negotiate with the appropriate agency in cases of citations and penalties. Learn more about our Environmental, Health, and Safety consulting services by visiting...
read moreEvaluate Your Industry Performance with 2012–2013 Ratios
Printing Industries of America has recently released the 2012–2013 Ratios volumes. The Ratios will help you and your company assess your performance compared to industry leaders, determine which aspects of your operations need improvement, and ultimately increase profits. The Ratios are an important tool for industry leaders. Printers use the Ratios reports to evaluate their performance against industry profit leaders. Specific reports are available for various firm profiles by size of firm, printing process, and print market segments. In all, there are 15 different volumes of the Ratios for you to choose which is best for your business. Here is a sample of what you can expect to find in the 2012–2013 Ratios: According to our 2012 survey results (2011 fiscal year-end numbers), materials accounted for the largest single cost category for the typical printer—approximately 35.5% of sales. Total materials expenses increased slightly in 2011 from their previous level of 35.2% in 2010. Paper alone consumed more than one-in-five sales dollars last year. Other major costs incurred by printers last year included factory payroll at 24.8% of sales (down from 24.9% in 2010), factory expenses of 17.6% of sales (down from 18.0% in 2010), and administrative and selling expenses at 19.6% of sales (up from 19.4% in 2010). Each Ratios volume includes a report on the following areas: Operations; Profitability and Sales Factors; Cost Drivers and Expenses; Balance Sheet Statistics; Basic Payroll Data and Employee Profiles; and Inventory Turnover and Billing Cycles. View a complete listing of the Ratios by visiting www.printing.org/2012ratios. If you have any questions, you may contact Ron Davis at 434-591-0527 or...
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