Feb. 23, 2009— We polled our Advisory Board to get answers to some of the questions our readers care about. Here is what Andy Fetherman, Muller Martini; Cindy Wollman, CRW Graphics; Nick Patrissi, Partner Providers; Rich Barbaria, Strategic Graphic Solutions; and Rich Schielke, Mohawk Paper, had to say about our economy, our industry, and everything in between.

1. The economy is at the top of everyone's mind these days. How is your company faring in this downturn, and what are you doing to mitigate the effects of the recession?

AF: Muller Martini, as with any company within the printing industry, is working hard to counter the effects of this on-going recession. During difficult times like these, you must carefully look at your operation and find ways to save costs throughout all of your divisions. We have implemented several initiatives to help us address our customers' needs and future opportunities in a more economical way. While our project activity has declined over the last several months, many of our projects are simply on hold rather than being completely cancelled. This makes us believe that our projects will come to a relatively quick close, once the economy begins its turnaround.

CW: At CRW Graphics, we are making sure we represent a diverse group of clients in various industries. I continue to focus on customer satisfaction and retaining current business.

RB: Like most companies, sales in general are down. I am approaching my prospects with ways to save them time and money. Although this may sound counterproductive, I don't try to "upsell." At this point I can get in the door and I can close the deal easier if I give them not only the "platinum" option but show them ways they can cut my fees and still get value out of my service. It's my way of sharing the pain. In most cases, once they see that the service is worth it, we wind up adding on and they do the 'upselling' for me.

RS: Business is considerably slower so we have increased marketing, sales and direct mail campaigns to carry the message that print delivers and quality print delivers more and better results. Like everyone, we've had to make unpleasant changes in the manufacturing schedule and back office staffing but now, more than ever, we as a company have continued to sharpened our sales and marketing skills and efforts to assist and educate customers in difficult months.

2. When it comes to profits, and not just survival, what can printers be doing to grow the business?

AF: Printers must look to new technologies to help streamline their operations especially in difficult times. The companies that try to simply wait out this downturn will find themselves considerably behind the companies that make strategic investments in new printing and finishing technologies. This in turn adds another barrier to their long-term survival, for they will have a hard time competing against the more efficient manufacturers that made the investments in new technology.

CW: We continue to offer more products and services to meet our clients needs. We are proud to be FSC certified and have found our sustainability practice to be very helpful to our existing clients and interesting to our prospects.

NP: Current economic conditions require printing and communications companies to rethink their pricing models to insure their own sustainable growth. To maximize profitability, printing companies must capture a reasonable portion of the value they create for customers. Old cost-plus pricing models ignore the value created for the buyer leading to overpricing some jobs and leave critical revenue dollars on the table for others. Although not for all jobs a switch to value-based pricing will reestablish the connection between value and price and is a very effective strategy for companies that offer complex variable data and Web to print applications. Printers should invest the time to train their sales team on this effective strategy.

RB: I am working harder than ever to find ways to assist my clients in lean practices. My company is a consulting firm that specializes in the graphics and printing industry. Our main focus has been sustainability and preparing shops for SGP registration. Many of the sustainability practices force leaner manufacturing. SGP makes a printer truly green from the front to back door. This will give them a competitive advantage, at least for a while. Sooner or later the regulators are going to force everyone in the industry to be green and those that adapt early will have the marketing advantage.

In another direction, building the loyalty of your current clients cannot be more important in this environment. Service, service, service!!! Talk to your employees, tell them how important it is. Go the extra mile.. no five miles, to make your customer happy. Your primary goal should be to make it easy for your clients to work with you. They are under the same economic pressures you are and if they consider you a partner that will share the pain, they are more likely to use you for their needs. Just make it easy for them to do it.

RS: Expand and go outside the usual places and associations—choose a few off beat target industries (retail, gift specialty, hardware, software, transportation, sports, and leisure) and research them while attending trade shows/conventions.

3. What new technologies should printers be looking at, either to add to their
production now, or to keep in mind for the future?

AF: Every book manufacturer should have an active digital book manufacturing initiative within their immediate or short-term plans. The emergence of higher speed and much better quality digital print engine technology in both toner-based and inkjet systems has made digital book manufacturing a vital addition to every manufacturing plant. The publishers are insisting on better inventory management and "greener" workflows to help them reduce their forecast risk and alleviate their obsolescence waste. These initiatives become even more important during difficult economic times, so printers must invest in technology that will enable them to meet these new requirements from their customers.

CW: Printers need to be looking at equipment that will help to minimize their carbon footprint and improve productivity. Carbon taxes will be upon us at some point, we need to be ready and start reducing emissions.

NP: There are no bad technologies, just bad applications. Printers should look to any technology that can make them effective not just efficient at their business. Companies should look to technologies that allow them to extend their workflow into their client operation, such as collaborative workflows and marketing automation tools. Printers can offer access to these tools to their customers to connect to marketing and brand managers who are more interested in outcome then price. Tools that link a printers workflow to their client's will go along way to changing the nature of the relationship and protect printers from price wars and low profits margins. Another good strategy in today's economy is to outsource what you need when you need it. There is plenty of capacity out there, and clients are no longer concerned over where the equipment is located. Use the digital network that exists to promote the distribute and print model which is a much more environmentally sustainable solution for clients.

RB: This answer is coming from someone that was a hard core traditional offset printer. I have seen the light. Digital print allows so many more options for you to offer. If you are not already looking into it you had better start soon. Conventional offset is not dead but it certainly is not what it was. Digital print is greener than offset and streamlines your workflow process.

RS: Digital production equipment—new cost-effective customer focused and targeted solutions for their customers. Be the marketing partners and creative solution providers customers need now.

4. What trade shows or industry events should printers be attending?
Who should they send?

AF: In the book side of the business, printers should attend events that highlight the digital trends in book manufacturing. The upcoming Digital Book Printing Forum in New York on March 24 and the OnDemand Expo in Philadelphia from March 30-April 2 are two examples of important events that will highlight the growing area of digital book manufacturing. The top managers should attend these events to analyze this very strategic initiative.

CW: Attend local shows and get a sense for what is happening in your area. There is enough to think about, this is the year to stay close to home.

RB: Trade organizations are constantly looking to put on timely and meaningful programs. Many are doing a great job. Even though these are really very good programs attendance is much lower than it should be. In these tough times, anything that you can pick up from the program that will help you in your business can't be bad. As far as who should go, I have always been a proponent of educating all of my employees. Don't underestimate the people who work for you. Some of my best ideas and best learned lessons have come from the shop floor.

RS: Like in question number two—Expand and go outside the usual places and associations—choose a few off beat target industries and research them while attending their trade shows/conventions.

5. What advice would you give to printers in general about running a business in this economy?

AF: Printers must streamline their operations during the "survival mode" of the current recession, cutting costs and overhead wherever possible to remain competitive. However, that does not mean that they should be stagnate about analyzing growth segments of the industry. They must take the opportunity to position themselves to be a leader in their field of expertise, so that they are in the best position to take on new business profitably when the economy comes back to life.
CW: Stay focused. There is a wonderful book I just read called Mastering the Rockefeller habits. It helps to keep you focused on what is really important at this point in time for your business and keeping everyone aligned.

RB: Pray! Play Lotto!... All kidding aside, the name of the game today is survival. More effort needs to be put into survival than ever before. Anyone who can say they are "even" today is really pretty healthy. I know I'm being redundant but share the pain with your customers and employees. Work as a team and help each other get past this terrible time. We were an industry that was once called "recession proof." We all know that's not the case this time. But.. we are an industry that has always survived and I have no doubt that we will this time as well.

RS: Pay significantly more attention to the details of your business, costs, processes and procedures—sharpen up every process and limit listening to all the bad press/news. Some businesses are doing well out there—be one of the proactive positive thinkers and winners.