How to Face Your Toughest EHS Challenges Head On in 2015: An Interview with Gary Jones
In what seems to be a forever-changing regulatory landscape, employers can only imagine what new EPA and OSHA requirements they will encounter in 2015. How can you avoid serious fines, negative publicity, and serious injuries from EHS violations? For managers, business owners, or anyone involved in EHS in the printing industry, those are just a few of the many concerns that can keep you up at night. But if there’s one thing we do know about your job going into 2015, it’s that the stakes are going to get higher and the rules more complicated. Gary Jones, Assistant Vice President of EHS Affairs at Printing Industries of America, has experienced his share of sleepless nights too, usually because he is traveling from state to state helping printers solve serious EHS challenges. We caught up with him in between a print consulting project and a key EPA meeting to talk about the crucial EHS issues facing industry companies today and important regulation changes they need to prepare for. You’ve led several significant EHS consulting and compliance auditing projects for printing operations this year. Can you tell us about some of the latest ones you’ve been working on? Gary Jones: Our team has been busy on a number of projects this year, both on the environmental and health and safety front. For many of the environmental projects, we’re helping operations with obtaining air permits as well as their compliance record keeping and reporting. Most printing companies don’t realize that if you purchase new equipment or if the regulations change, they may need to apply for an air permit—even small companies. While the thresholds vary from state to state, many of them have dropped to very low levels. In fact, in certain areas every piece of equipment that emits pollution must now have a permit. On the health and safety side, companies are concerned with the fallout of the printing industry being declared a high-hazard industry for amputations. OSHA has been targeting printing companies and focusing on how they are protecting employees from machine related hazards which include machine guarding and lockout/tagout procedures. In fact 78% of OSHA inspections in the printing industry for fiscal year 2014 were planned or targeted inspections. This shows that OSHA has clearly become very aggressive regarding inspections in the printing industry. Can you describe the top issues you see for members in the EHS field going into 2015? GJ: OSHA’s new reporting requirements, effective January 1, 2015, will be a game changer. Employers will be required to report any work-related incidents that result in an amputation, loss of an eye, or in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees within 24 hours to OSHA. Any fatality must still be reported within eight hours. How does this revised requirement differ from the current requirements? GJ: Before this revision, employers were only required to report a work-related injury hospitalization of three or more employees and did not even need to report an amputation or loss of an eye. Importantly after this revised requirement goes into effect, OSHA will act on the reports and they can and will most likely trigger an inspection. In addition, these reports will now be made publicly available by being posted on the OSHA website for customers, employees, and competitors to read. In what ways...
read moreHow to Face Your Toughest EHS Challenges Head On in 2015: An Interview with Gary Jones
In what seems to be a forever-changing regulatory landscape, employers can only imagine what new EPA and OSHA requirements they will encounter in 2015. How can you avoid serious fines, negative publicity, and serious injuries from EHS violations? For managers, business owners, or anyone involved in EHS in the printing industry, those are just a few of the many concerns that can keep you up at night. But if there’s one thing we do know about your job going into 2015, it’s that the stakes are going to get higher and the rules more complicated. Gary Jones, Assistant Vice President of EHS Affairs at Printing Industries of America, has experienced his share of sleepless nights too, usually because he is traveling from state to state helping printers solve serious EHS challenges. We caught up with him in between a print consulting project and a key EPA meeting to talk about the crucial EHS issues facing industry companies today and important regulation changes they need to prepare for. You’ve led several significant EHS consulting and compliance auditing projects for printing operations this year. Can you tell us about some of the latest ones you’ve been working on? Gary Jones: Our team has been busy on a number of projects this year, both on the environmental and health and safety front. For many of the environmental projects, we’re helping operations with obtaining air permits as well as their compliance record keeping and reporting. Most printing companies don’t realize that if you purchase new equipment or if the regulations change, they may need to apply for an air permit—even small companies. While the thresholds vary from state to state, many of them have dropped to very low levels. In fact, in certain areas every piece of equipment that emits pollution must now have a permit. On the health and safety side, companies are concerned with the fallout of the printing industry being declared a high-hazard industry for amputations. OSHA has been targeting printing companies and focusing on how they are protecting employees from machine related hazards which include machine guarding and lockout/tagout procedures. In fact 78% of OSHA inspections in the printing industry for fiscal year 2014 were planned or targeted inspections. This shows that OSHA has clearly become very aggressive regarding inspections in the printing industry. Can you describe the top issues you see for members in the EHS field going into 2015? GJ: OSHA’s new reporting requirements, effective January 1, 2015, will be a game changer. Employers will be required to report any work-related incidents that result in an amputation, loss of an eye, or in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees within 24 hours to OSHA. Any fatality must still be reported within eight hours. How does this revised requirement differ from the current requirements? GJ: Before this revision, employers were only required to report a work-related injury hospitalization of three or more employees and did not even need to report an amputation or loss of an eye. Importantly after this revised requirement goes into effect, OSHA will act on the reports and they can and will most likely trigger an inspection. In addition, these reports will now be made publicly available by being posted on the OSHA website for customers, employees, and competitors to read. In what ways...
read more3 Steps to Becoming a Lean Thinker
Looking for another great resource for Lean and continuous improvement solutions? We found a helpful tool at FastCap.com. Check out the variety of blogs, videos, and more from Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap and keynoter at the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference! Time and money—two things most of us don’t have in excess. And if you’re thinking of using a continuous improvement strategy to reduce costs and boost customer satisfaction, the task can feel like an overwhelming use of your resources! But as the experts know, your journey to operational excellence is not an all-at-once undertaking. Rather it is the accumulation of small improvements by many employees that add up to a strategic advantage for your company. When you can inspire workers to make small-yet-frequent improvements rather than just focus on a few big ones, you are ready to join the ranks of Lean thinkers. What is a Lean thinker? Someone who has been conditioned to look at processes, spot the waste (and teach others to do the same), and apply tools to make the processes more efficient. Lean thinkers can’t avoid thinking that way—that same mindset kicks in when examining processes at home, at restaurants, and when visiting other companies. Take it from Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap, an international woodworking supply company with distribution in 40 countries. As the “American Innovator,” he publishes a series of videos, blogs, and other resources on his website, including this one, “Becoming a Lean Thinker”. In this blog, Paul breaks down the continuous improvement nature of Lean into three steps, borrowing from the world-class concepts practiced by leading firms like Toyota, Harley-Davidson, and Porsche. Three steps to becoming a Lean thinker: 1. Learn the eight wastes and how to recognize them within your own facility. 2. Take small, consistent steps each day to removing the waste for good. 3. Network and share your company’s Lean journey. Document your improvements. FastCap documents many of them with short videos shared with employees. Continuous improvement is an ongoing process, so listen to the best practices of other companies and keep increasing your efficiency and profitability! Watch Paul Akers’ Video on Becoming a Lean Thinker. When you’re ready to learn new improvement strategies, start at the Continuous Improvement Conference. Here you can learn and network with some of the most innovative thinkers in the field. Paul Akers will also be there to dive deeper into this topic with his keynote presentation, Seeing Waste Like You’ve Never Seen It Before. Becoming a Lean thinker means that you can recognize the opportunities for improvement within your facility and be on your way to greater efficiency and profitability. For more information and to register for the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 12–15, in Minneapolis, MN, visit...
read more3 Steps to Becoming a Lean Thinker
Looking for another great resource for Lean and continuous improvement solutions? We found a helpful tool at FastCap.com. Check out the variety of blogs, videos, and more from Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap and keynoter at the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference! Time and money—two things most of us don’t have in excess. And if you’re thinking of using a continuous improvement strategy to reduce costs and boost customer satisfaction, the task can feel like an overwhelming use of your resources! But as the experts know, your journey to operational excellence is not an all-at-once undertaking. Rather it is the accumulation of small improvements by many employees that add up to a strategic advantage for your company. When you can inspire workers to make small-yet-frequent improvements rather than just focus on a few big ones, you are ready to join the ranks of Lean thinkers. What is a Lean thinker? Someone who has been conditioned to look at processes, spot the waste (and teach others to do the same), and apply tools to make the processes more efficient. Lean thinkers can’t avoid thinking that way—that same mindset kicks in when examining processes at home, at restaurants, and when visiting other companies. Take it from Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap, an international woodworking supply company with distribution in 40 countries. As the “American Innovator,” he publishes a series of videos, blogs, and other resources on his website, including this one, “Becoming a Lean Thinker”. In this blog, Paul breaks down the continuous improvement nature of Lean into three steps, borrowing from the world-class concepts practiced by leading firms like Toyota, Harley-Davidson, and Porsche. Three steps to becoming a Lean thinker: 1. Learn the eight wastes and how to recognize them within your own facility. 2. Take small, consistent steps each day to removing the waste for good. 3. Network and share your company’s Lean journey. Document your improvements. FastCap documents many of them with short videos shared with employees. Continuous improvement is an ongoing process, so listen to the best practices of other companies and keep increasing your efficiency and profitability! Watch Paul Akers’ Video on Becoming a Lean Thinker. When you’re ready to learn new improvement strategies, start at the Continuous Improvement Conference. Here you can learn and network with some of the most innovative thinkers in the field. Paul Akers will also be there to dive deeper into this topic with his keynote presentation, Seeing Waste Like You’ve Never Seen It Before. Becoming a Lean thinker means that you can recognize the opportunities for improvement within your facility and be on your way to greater efficiency and profitability. For more information and to register for the 2015 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 12–15, in Minneapolis, MN, visit...
read moreNew Ways to Cut a Profit in the Bindery
The following post was contributed by Rick Ciordia, Territory Sales Manager at Standard Finishing Systems and member of the BIA Board of Directors. Traditional diecutting in the bindery has been around for many years. There are many types of diecutting. In this case we are discussing diecutting for the commercial print and light packaging industry. Rotary diecutting is one of those processes that has always given a printed piece a look and vision of class, elegance, function, and, most importantly, higher profit margins for the manufacturer. Diecutting had traditionally been an area of high investment, complex die creation, highly trained operators, and long runs. Today diecutting is getting a makeover. With the advent of digital print devices, shorter runs, fewer skilled operators, tighter margins, and turn-around, diecutting is now entering a new phase of simplicity, with the same qualities of higher-end machines in a small package. New small-format rotary magnetic diecutting units from several manufacturers allow the customer to use magnetic dies from a plethora of sources around the world. Many of the die manufacturers have been making these types of rotary magnetic dies for the flexographic, forms, and packaging industries for years. The dies have been manufactured for runs of hundreds of thousands to millions, depending on the requirements of the run length and substrate. Typically the rotary diecutting was used for webs and flat bed for cut sheet. Cut sheet diecutters are for medium to long runs but are very high in price ($450,000 and up). Older flatbed letterpress devices are typically modified for diecutting but hold mediocre registration, are complex to set up, and many times are unsafe. The new family of rotary magnetic diecutters, such as the Standard Horizon RD-4055, allow an unskilled operator to produce a very short run or a longer run with ease and quality. Kiss cutting, embossing, scoring, perfing, and stripping are all available on some of these systems at a much lower cost than traditional diecutters, along with exact registration and even the ability to step and repeat in order to keep die costs low, which is important for a very short run. The ability to store jobs in memory and recall them at the touch of a button is also very useful when there are many jobs that rerun on a regular basis. This allows your customers to truly request diecut work on an on-demand basis, saving them storage space and allowing more scheduling flexibility. Diecutting also increases your opportunities to bring higher-end work to your facility, as many jobs that are diecut are usually done on higher-end substrates with high color. Discover more resources that come with a BIA Membership by visiting...
read moreNew Ways to Cut a Profit in the Bindery
The following post was contributed by Rick Ciordia, Territory Sales Manager at Standard Finishing Systems and member of the BIA Board of Directors. Traditional diecutting in the bindery has been around for many years. There are many types of diecutting. In this case we are discussing diecutting for the commercial print and light packaging industry. Rotary diecutting is one of those processes that has always given a printed piece a look and vision of class, elegance, function, and, most importantly, higher profit margins for the manufacturer. Diecutting had traditionally been an area of high investment, complex die creation, highly trained operators, and long runs. Today diecutting is getting a makeover. With the advent of digital print devices, shorter runs, fewer skilled operators, tighter margins, and turn-around, diecutting is now entering a new phase of simplicity, with the same qualities of higher-end machines in a small package. New small-format rotary magnetic diecutting units from several manufacturers allow the customer to use magnetic dies from a plethora of sources around the world. Many of the die manufacturers have been making these types of rotary magnetic dies for the flexographic, forms, and packaging industries for years. The dies have been manufactured for runs of hundreds of thousands to millions, depending on the requirements of the run length and substrate. Typically the rotary diecutting was used for webs and flat bed for cut sheet. Cut sheet diecutters are for medium to long runs but are very high in price ($450,000 and up). Older flatbed letterpress devices are typically modified for diecutting but hold mediocre registration, are complex to set up, and many times are unsafe. The new family of rotary magnetic diecutters, such as the Standard Horizon RD-4055, allow an unskilled operator to produce a very short run or a longer run with ease and quality. Kiss cutting, embossing, scoring, perfing, and stripping are all available on some of these systems at a much lower cost than traditional diecutters, along with exact registration and even the ability to step and repeat in order to keep die costs low, which is important for a very short run. The ability to store jobs in memory and recall them at the touch of a button is also very useful when there are many jobs that rerun on a regular basis. This allows your customers to truly request diecut work on an on-demand basis, saving them storage space and allowing more scheduling flexibility. Diecutting also increases your opportunities to bring higher-end work to your facility, as many jobs that are diecut are usually done on higher-end substrates with high color. Discover more resources that come with a BIA Membership by visiting...
read moreWhat You Need To Know About The NEW BIA
As members of the print and graphic arts industry, we’ve become experts at evolution. Re-inventors. We take high-quality original products and morph them to meet today’s ever-changing standards. The NEW BIA (formerly Binding Industries of America) is another example of reinvention. It reflects the changing needs of its postpress members, from cashing in on the hot packaging market to providing solutions for end clients. “The needs of the industry have changed,” said Chris Eckhart, President of Eckhart & Co. and member of the NEW BIA Board of Directors. “The fresh look of the NEW BIA reflects the refocus of the organization’s efforts to provide members with unparalleled networking opportunities, the latest information on technologies changing the industry, and educational resources to support and grow your business. The NEW BIA is providing postpress companies with the tools they need to evolve with the industry,” You may have seen the updated NEW BIA logo, but what benefits does the NEW BIA offer members? And how do these benefits directly impact postpress companies? We talked with Mike Packard about what members can expect. Can you give us more details on the transition to the NEW BIA and your new value proposition? Mike: Our special interest group has been going strong since 1955 because of our dedication to supporting our members. A lot of change has taken place in just the past few years with regard to technology, and we recognize that these changes have significant impacts on our finishing professionals and industry suppliers. We realized that we needed to grow with our members in order to truly meet their needs and provide solutions. The NEW BIA focuses on the finest networking, education, and our members’ ever-expanding opportunities, broadening our range of benefits to meet our members’ expanding needs. What additional benefits does the NEW BIA offer members going into 2015? Mike: We realize our members value learning and networking to help them grow their business. For one of the latest benefits, we are working with the Integrated Learning Center to develop market-specific online courses for finishing industry professionals. Members can also access Economic and Technology reports as well as get a free copy of the Ratios report when they participate in the survey*. Peer Groups are major benefits for professionals today, and BIA members now have access to several groups, including Virtual Peer Groups. You’ve looked closely at what benefits your members value most. What are some of the original benefits you still offer as the NEW BIA? Mike: Our members have relied on us for more than 60 years to give them the tools to grow successfully, so when we expanded our offerings, we made sure that we retained our core benefits. The first on that list is the BIA Annual Conference, for which members receive the maximum discount on their registration. For 2015 the conference [May 17-20, 2015, Minneapolis, MN] is co-located with the 2015 Print Leadership Summit. So attendees will be rubbing elbows, so to say, with Presidents, CEOs, and top-level executives of printing companies. They can really get in front of decision makers and have a conversation about how they can help their business. We also offer the BIA Members-only Listserv, listings on FindABindery.com, the Product of Excellence Awards, the e-newsletter Bound for Excellence, and more. How will...
read moreWhat You Need To Know About The NEW BIA
As members of the print and graphic arts industry, we’ve become experts at evolution. Re-inventors. We take high-quality original products and morph them to meet today’s ever-changing standards. The NEW BIA (formerly Binding Industries of America) is another example of reinvention. It reflects the changing needs of its postpress members, from cashing in on the hot packaging market to providing solutions for end clients. “The needs of the industry have changed,” said Chris Eckhart, President of Eckhart & Co. and member of the NEW BIA Board of Directors. “The fresh look of the NEW BIA reflects the refocus of the organization’s efforts to provide members with unparalleled networking opportunities, the latest information on technologies changing the industry, and educational resources to support and grow your business. The NEW BIA is providing postpress companies with the tools they need to evolve with the industry,” You may have seen the updated NEW BIA logo, but what benefits does the NEW BIA offer members? And how do these benefits directly impact postpress companies? We talked with Mike Packard about what members can expect. Can you give us more details on the transition to the NEW BIA and your new value proposition? Mike: Our special interest group has been going strong since 1955 because of our dedication to supporting our members. A lot of change has taken place in just the past few years with regard to technology, and we recognize that these changes have significant impacts on our finishing professionals and industry suppliers. We realized that we needed to grow with our members in order to truly meet their needs and provide solutions. The NEW BIA focuses on the finest networking, education, and our members’ ever-expanding opportunities, broadening our range of benefits to meet our members’ expanding needs. What additional benefits does the NEW BIA offer members going into 2015? Mike: We realize our members value learning and networking to help them grow their business. For one of the latest benefits, we are working with the Integrated Learning Center to develop market-specific online courses for finishing industry professionals. Members can also access Economic and Technology reports as well as get a free copy of the Ratios report when they participate in the survey*. Peer Groups are major benefits for professionals today, and BIA members now have access to several groups, including Virtual Peer Groups. You’ve looked closely at what benefits your members value most. What are some of the original benefits you still offer as the NEW BIA? Mike: Our members have relied on us for more than 60 years to give them the tools to grow successfully, so when we expanded our offerings, we made sure that we retained our core benefits. The first on that list is the BIA Annual Conference, for which members receive the maximum discount on their registration. For 2015 the conference [May 17-20, 2015, Minneapolis, MN] is co-located with the 2015 Print Leadership Summit. So attendees will be rubbing elbows, so to say, with Presidents, CEOs, and top-level executives of printing companies. They can really get in front of decision makers and have a conversation about how they can help their business. We also offer the BIA Members-only Listserv, listings on FindABindery.com, the Product of Excellence Awards, the e-newsletter Bound for Excellence, and more. How will...
read moreAn Inside Look at the Experts Driving the BIG Ideas for Print
Each year we search the globe to find outstanding keynote speakers for the Technical Association of the Graphics Art (TAGA) Annual Technical Conference. After all, the conference has a reputation of highlighting some of the most dynamic thought leaders in our industry. The print professionals, scientists, and researchers coming to the 67th TAGA Conference, March 22–25, 2015, in Albuquerque, NM, will hear thought-provoking keynote discussions on new print applications; print-centric, omni-channel marketing; national security innovations; and printed electronic opportunities. The headlining speakers bring a wide range of experience and expertise that drives the BIG ideas for the printing industry. Chris Travis, Director of Technology, KBA Chris Travis has been involved in the printing industry since he was 15 years old. From an apprentice at a U.K. printing company, Chris went full-steam ahead, landing high-profile positions, including Experimental Printing Manager of Global Research and Development for Flint Ink before he began with KBA as Director of Technology. Chris is a major player in the company’s new and future technologies as well as sales, marketing, and product management. He draws on this broad experience in his TAGA keynote session “Ink on Substrate—New Printing Processes and Applications that Can Expand the Positioning of Today’s Printer” where he explains how traditional printers can expand their portfolio by offering ancillary services to build new revenue streams using existing internal knowledge and processes. KBA, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is the oldest and second largest press manufacturer in the world and has a history of influence in the technology market. The company earned multiple InterTech™ Technology Awards, the latest for its Flying JobChange in 2011. Michael Van Haren, Postal Solutions Sales Manager, Quad/Graphics Mike Van Haren is a big believer in the power of print—especially when it is strategically linked and aligned with all other channels of marketing. For more than 25 years, he has dedicated his career to the print and media technology industry in a number of technical, marketing, business development, and operational management positions. He’s managed a variety of teams and worked with customers from around the globe. With more than seven years at one of the largest magazine, catalog, and direct marketing printers in the Western Hemisphere, Quad/Graphics’ Postal Solutions Sales Manager is all about marketing solutions. Mike leads a team of sales consultants who guide customers in strategy and development of targeted, measurable, multichannel marketing solutions and assists them with postal optimization through innovative data management and analytics. This evolving technology is the topic of Mike’s keynote session at the Annual TAGA Conference in March. He’ll present “Using Data and a Print-centric Strategy to Manage Relevant, Timely Omni-channel Marketing” and show how to successfully use customer and mail delivery data to make print the driver of timely, targeted and relevant omni-channel messaging that will help retain and grow market share. Patrick Younk, Staff Scientist, Los Alamos National Lab Before Dr. Younk’s research led him to astro-particle physics at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico (where he has published over 40 research articles), he worked for eight years as a research/design engineer in the printing industry. This experience in the printing industry, he says, has benefitted his work in experimental physics. A graduate of Michigan Technological University, Dr. Younk specializes in a broad range of machine (experiment) design, data analysis, and...
read moreAn Inside Look at the Experts Driving the BIG Ideas for Print
Each year we search the globe to find outstanding keynote speakers for the Technical Association of the Graphics Art (TAGA) Annual Technical Conference. After all, the conference has a reputation of highlighting some of the most dynamic thought leaders in our industry. The print professionals, scientists, and researchers coming to the 67th TAGA Conference, March 22–25, 2015, in Albuquerque, NM, will hear thought-provoking keynote discussions on new print applications; print-centric, omni-channel marketing; national security innovations; and printed electronic opportunities. The headlining speakers bring a wide range of experience and expertise that drives the BIG ideas for the printing industry. Chris Travis, Director of Technology, KBA Chris Travis has been involved in the printing industry since he was 15 years old. From an apprentice at a U.K. printing company, Chris went full-steam ahead, landing high-profile positions, including Experimental Printing Manager of Global Research and Development for Flint Ink before he began with KBA as Director of Technology. Chris is a major player in the company’s new and future technologies as well as sales, marketing, and product management. He draws on this broad experience in his TAGA keynote session “Ink on Substrate—New Printing Processes and Applications that Can Expand the Positioning of Today’s Printer” where he explains how traditional printers can expand their portfolio by offering ancillary services to build new revenue streams using existing internal knowledge and processes. KBA, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is the oldest and second largest press manufacturer in the world and has a history of influence in the technology market. The company earned multiple InterTech™ Technology Awards, the latest for its Flying JobChange in 2011. Michael Van Haren, Postal Solutions Sales Manager, Quad/Graphics Mike Van Haren is a big believer in the power of print—especially when it is strategically linked and aligned with all other channels of marketing. For more than 25 years, he has dedicated his career to the print and media technology industry in a number of technical, marketing, business development, and operational management positions. He’s managed a variety of teams and worked with customers from around the globe. With more than seven years at one of the largest magazine, catalog, and direct marketing printers in the Western Hemisphere, Quad/Graphics’ Postal Solutions Sales Manager is all about marketing solutions. Mike leads a team of sales consultants who guide customers in strategy and development of targeted, measurable, multichannel marketing solutions and assists them with postal optimization through innovative data management and analytics. This evolving technology is the topic of Mike’s keynote session at the Annual TAGA Conference in March. He’ll present “Using Data and a Print-centric Strategy to Manage Relevant, Timely Omni-channel Marketing” and show how to successfully use customer and mail delivery data to make print the driver of timely, targeted and relevant omni-channel messaging that will help retain and grow market share. Patrick Younk, Staff Scientist, Los Alamos National Lab Before Dr. Younk’s research led him to astro-particle physics at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico (where he has published over 40 research articles), he worked for eight years as a research/design engineer in the printing industry. This experience in the printing industry, he says, has benefitted his work in experimental physics. A graduate of Michigan Technological University, Dr. Younk specializes in a broad range of machine (experiment) design, data analysis, and...
read more