Part Two Part Two

REPRO REPORT
SPECIAL REPORT
Flatbed Printers
Part Two
Volume 23
Number Five
2004
MADE YOU LOOK.
Top-quality printing solutions as diverse as your
including POP substrates, plastics, metal…even garage doors!
customers’ imaginations. These days, your customers want
And since the images are printed directly on the material, you
to print on almost anything. Fortunately, you can deliver with
can eliminate workflow steps, saving time and money. To learn
the Océ Arizona T220 or Océ Arizona T220UV. Providing
more about these affordable printing solutions,
affordable digital flatbed capabilities using either solvent-based
including full support, financing and
or UV-curable ink technology, these printers let you print onto
supplies, call Océ at 800-714-4427 or
virtually any rigid or flexible material up to two inches thick,
visit www.oceusa.com/arizonat220
Océ Arizona T220UV
now with UV-curable ink technology
© 2004 Océ
Features
6
REPRO REPORT
Special Report:
Flatbed Printers Part Two
Vol. 23 • No. 5 • 2004
By Scott Cullen
Part two looks at the key players,
recent product introductions, UVcurable technology, possible future
direction and the impressions of
reprographers currently implementing
flatbed printing technology.
The bimonthly news magazine of the
International Reprographic Association
401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2200
Chicago, IL 60611
Tel: 312/245-1026; Fax: 312/527-6705
http://www.irga.com
Amy Carlton: Managing Editor
Lynn Valastyan: Interim Managing Editor
William Wargo: Design/Production
Editorial Committee
12
25
Using Overtime Without
Going Overboard
Reg Garner
ReproMAX
Clayton, MO
By Navina Waterman
Overtime must be closely monitored
and managed to both control costs
and keep customers satisfied. Read
about how IRgA members tackle this
tough issue.
Chuck Gremillion
A&E – The Graphics Complex
Houston, TX
Bill Schaberg
American Reprographics Company
Fairfield, CT
Dan Stephens
Georgia Blueprint Co., LLC
Atlanta, GA
Navina Waterman
ReproScene
Myrtle Point, OR
A Bit of Reprographic
History…
Gary Wilbur
R.S. Knapp/Napco
West Lyndhurst, NJ
By K. Schipper
California reprographer’s collection of
Dietzgen Corp. equipment provides
history of diazo. The showcase item is a
cylindrical electric blueprint machine
dating back to the late 1920s.
28
IRgA Board of Directors
Chuck Gremillion, President
A&E – The Graphics Complex
Houston, TX
Michael Shaw, Vice President
Central Blueprint Corp.
Great Neck, NY
Michael Carter, Secretary/Treasurer
Lynn Imaging
Lexington, KY
Some of YOUR Cash Is
Squirreled Away in
Inventory! (How to Get
Your Hands on It)
Robert Margolis, Immediate Past President
Crest Graphics
Farmington, CT
Bryan Thomas, Director-at-Large
Thomas Reprographics, Inc.
Richardson, TX
By Bill Schaberg
This is the second article in a series
on utilizing key financial ratios to
successfully run your business. This
issue, we look at measuring and
managing inventory.
Malkon Baboyian
Océ Digital Document Systems
Boca Raton, FL
Mike Cully
AIR Graphics
North Quincy, MA
Betsy Kahn
Copycat Print Shop Inc.
Wilmington, NC
Sherman Sawtelle
KIP America, Inc.
Novi, MI
In This Issue
Mark Sipes
Consolidated Reprographics
Costa Mesa, CA
4
President’s Perspective
22
In the News
16
NEW! Opinion Leaders
24
Association Highlights
19
Human Resources
32
Product Innovations
20
Repronomics
37
Classified Ads
21
Insurance Primer
38
End of the Roll
Write US
Send mail to: The Editor
REPRO REPORT
401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2200
Chicago, IL 60611, or to [email protected]
Dan Stephens
Georgia Blueprint Co., LLC
Atlanta, GA
Gary Wilbur
R.S. Knapp/Napco
West Lyndhurst, NJ
Steve Bova, CAE, Executive Director
IRgA
Chicago, IL
© 2004 The International Reprographic Association
Any statement of fact or opinion is the responsibility of the author alone and does not imply an opinion of the board
of directors, staff, or members of the International Reprographic Association (IRgA). Subscriptions are free to IRgA
member contacts; additional subscriptions are available at the cost of $30/year for members and $150/year for non-members
(international subscribers; please add $20 per subscription). No part of this publication may be reprinted without the
written permission of the editor. Send reprint and subscription inquiries c/o the IRgA.
PRESIDENT’SPERSPECTIVE
The Need for a Strong, Healthy
and Vibrant IRgA
Chuck Gremillion
President
2004-05
The following is the text of the speech that
I gave at the President’s Dinner Dance at
the IRgA 78th Annual Convention and
Trade Show in Hollywood, Fla., in May.
This critical message contains the direction
that the IRgA will be taking and the role
that it must fulfill within our industry.
I hope that our readers agree.
Good Evening! I’m Chuck Gremillion,
president of A&E – The Graphics
Complex in Houston, Texas, and I have
the distinct honor and privilege of
becoming your 73rd IRgA president. As
I was preparing these remarks, I opened
my dictionary to see how Webster
defined the word “change.” Not
surprisingly, it said, “see reprographics.”
All kidding aside, is there another
industry experiencing as much change
as ours? But with change comes
challenge, and the digital age, fed by
the World Wide Web, has and is
presenting all of us new challenges.
However, I fervently believe that with
challenge comes opportunity, and we
as an industry and as an industry
association must and are seizing these
opportunities in order to remain
strong and vibrant. While we may be
experiencing new and different
competition on different fronts, we are
also diversifying our businesses by
pursuing new markets. We have
leveraged technology and the Internet
and enhanced our service offerings to
architects, engineers and contractors.
But we are no longer solely dependent
upon the AEC market for our
livelihood. Instead, many of us now
also call restaurants, retail stores,
hospitals, universities and real estate
firms our customers. For that matter,
any enterprise could be our customer
today. We have responded to these
new challenges and turned them into
new business opportunities.
Similarly, during the past five years
this industry association has also been
a party to significant change. Because
4
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
of industry consolidation and changes
in technology, we have seen our
vendor membership and reprographer
membership, and hence our trade
show participation, decline. And with
the success of ARC and groups such as
Firepower, PEiR, RSA, ReproMAX
and US Reprographics Network, along
with the perception that IRgA
management had lost touch with its
members, some of our membership
may have drawn the conclusion that
the IRgA, our industry association,
was no longer relevant or necessary.
However, I beg to differ. I passionately
assert that there has never been a
greater need for a strong, healthy and
vibrant IRgA – an IRgA that once
again recognizes that its members are
its customers. An IRgA staff led by
Steve Bova, our executive director,
that is here to support this association,
its members and further the success of
our industry.
As one of my predecessors and good
friend, Mohan, said in his speech upon
accepting this position as president of
the IRgA in Minneapolis in 2001,
“You cannot be a successful company
in an unsuccessful industry.” I assert
that a successful industry must have a
strong industry association. For a
strong industry association keeps its
member companies and affinity groups
from becoming inbred. For a strong
industry association opens lines of
communication, enables the sharing of
ideas, speaks with a loud, unified
voice, and carries clout from strength
in numbers. United, we really can
achieve more.
I know from personal experience that
membership in the IRgA has helped
my family’s firm grow our sales and
become much more profitable. If it
wasn’t from REPRO REPORT, or the
educational programs, or the IRgA
Forum, or the Financial Ratio Study, it
was from networking with many of you
at these conventions who unselfishly
shared ideas with us that not only
helped us grow our sales and profits but
also helped us run a better company. I
am certain that almost all of you can
point to some of the same experiences.
There are many, many incredibly
bright entrepreneurs in this room,
almost all of who are here for the same
reason – to learn – and to enjoy
ourselves while doing so. Isn’t that the
purpose of an industry association?
It is imperative that we continue these
traditions so that we keep open the
lines of communication. We may be
competitors but we must be healthy
competitors. We must not let our
competitive nature, fed by the
existence of the aforementioned
affinity groups, create cracks in the
reprographics industry and the IRgA.
A healthy industry needs a neutral
industry association for it enables
communication and furthers healthy
competition which breeds innovation
and success. Therefore, if you believe
like I do that a successful industry
needs a strong, neutral industry
association, please work with me to
reverse this trend of shrinking
membership in the IRgA, and let’s
work together to grow its membership.
Last January 31, your industry peers
serving on the Long-Range Planning
Committee agreed that it is time to
reinvent the IRgA and give it purpose
and identity. That day, we made a very
important strategic decision – to
extend the IRgA’s focus to represent
and serve the entire reprographics
industry. You’ve heard Bob Margolis
say, during his year as president, it is
time to rebuild, re-brand and
reconnect the IRgA.
If the IRgA is to succeed as an
organization, it needs to succeed first
as a business. It needs to earn the trust
and respect of all industry members
including its vendors. The IRgA must
continued on page 36
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Flatbed Printers
Part Two
SPECIAL REPORT
By Scott Cullen
I
n the first part of our two-part
special report on large-format
flatbed printers, we covered the
technology, applications and benefits.
In this installment, we look at the
players in the market, key
introductions, UV-curable technology,
the future of flatbed and how
reprographers are reaping their return
on investment and ways they can
address the effects of a rising flatbed
printer market on what is currently a
great price center – mounting.
The Players
An array of players are jockeying for
position in the large format flatbed
printing space, including Digital Jet
Technologies, Durst, Leggett & Platt,
Mimaki, NUR Macroprinters, Océ
Display Graphics, Roland, Scitex
Vision, Sericol with its Inca line of
printers, VUTEk and Zund.
These manufacturers are joined by a
host of Asian manufacturers, although
the latter have a long way to go from a
distribution and service standpoint in
the U.S. One Asian vendor to watch
is Chinese manufacturer Azero, who
offers the CreonJet 8250, a UVcurable flatbed hybrid. Tim Green,
associate director of CAP Ventures
Visual Communications Technology
Consulting Service calls Azero’s
CreonJet “The first of what is
expected to be a number of UVcurable flatbed inkjet printers from
Chinese manufacturers, such as
Runjiang, Yaselan and Infiniti.”
When one considers the leading
players in the large format flatbed
arena, look no further than Zund. The
Switzerland-based manufacturer has
placed more than 350 large format
flatbed inkjet systems around the
world and holds the distinction of
being the first manufacturer to
introduce a mid-range UV-curable
inkjet system with its UVjet 215C at a
cost of $125,000. Another major
player, Durst, introduced its UVcurable Rho 160 in late 2001 and now
has more than 100 installations
worldwide. Recently the company
introduced an upgraded version of the
160 that produces 850 square feet an
hour along with the Rho 205, a midrange system that outputs at 215
square feet per hour at up to 62 inches
wide. Ink supplier Sericol distributes a
line of products from Inca Digital
Printers, Ltd., including the Columbia,
a UV-curable flatbed that prints on
substrates up to 1.5 inches thick.
Mimaki offers the UJV-110 and UJF605C. Fran Gardino, Boston branch
manager for Mimaki USA, notes that
Mimaki’s two new flatbed systems are
just now hitting the United States but
have had tremendous success in Japan
in the industrial and automotive
markets as well as for some specialty
applications.
“Their biggest selling point is the
ability to do white ink with no
opaquing,” says Gardino.
Last fall, Mutoh rolled out a flatbed
solvent device based on its roll-to-roll
Toucan 64. By tweaking the Toucan’s
heating apparatus, the device can now
handle materials up to 7.5 cm thick.
The addition of an infrared lamp for
heating uncoated rigid materials
allows for enhanced adhesion of
solvent inks. But the big news is that
the Toucan flatbed solvent device will
be priced much lower than a
competitive product, Océ’s Arizona
T220, and will appeal to customers
wanting to enter the solvent flatbed
market at a lower price point.
Other players and their representative
models include NUR Macroprinters
and its Temp UV-curable flatbed
inkjet, Scitex Vision and its VEjet,
VUTEk with its PressVu UV600 and
In part two of a two-part special report, we look at the key players,
recent product introductions, UV-curable technology, the future
direction of flatbed printing technology and impressions of
reprographers currently implementing this technology. Part one was
featured in REPRO REPORT, issue four, pages 6-10.
Océ Display Graphics with its
aforementioned Arizona T220 and the
new 60UV.
Océ’s Arizona 60UV represents an
entry into wide-format flatbed printing
for the reprographic community.
Announced by Océ in March of this
year and shipping during the third
quarter of 2004, the 60UV sets new
price standards in the large format
flatbed market with a suggested list
price of $39,995. That’s a significant
achievement within this category for a
hybrid model that handles both rigid
and roll-based media and uses UV
curable ink technology. The difference
between this device and other hybrids
at similar price ranges is that other
models use aqueous or solvent inks
while prices of similar UV-based
models are nearly four times more.
The $39,995 price includes the
printer, delivery, installation, starter
supply kit with one set of inks and one
roll of media, software, printer driver,
training and a one-year warranty.
Océ is targeting reprographic shops,
sign shops and franchise operations
with the Arizona 60UV.
“We wanted to bring flatbeds to the
masses and take away any issues, such
as concerns about solvent fumes,”
notes Océ’s Sal Sheikh, director of
marketing for Océ North America.
“UV technology means we can place
the device in any close environment.
If you look at the print for pay
companies, they’re not looking to
revolutionize their business or
reinvent it, but evolve their business,
and they’re looking for a technology
to do that.”
With that in mind, Sheikh describes
entry-level products such as the
Arizona 60UV as a low-risk
investment that will help those in the
repro arena evolve their businesses.
UV-Curable is the Cure
At this point the number of large
format flatbeds available is still modest
despite the dearth of manufacturers.
With prices for high-end products
around a half-million dollars, market
opportunities are clearly limited. In
addition, many of these models are
targeted at industrial printing
applications.
But the large-format flatbed market
seems to be opening up thanks to new
UV-curable devices. Industry observers
such as Grey Held, principal analyst
for Lyra Research’s Wide-Format
Production Printing Advisory Service
(WFS) and CAP’s Green agree that
UV-curable represents the future of
flatbed printing. A recent CAP
Ventures report reveals that UVcurable inkjet technology has
surpassed early expectations and that
some 700 machines have been placed
since the technology was first used in
production units in the late 1990s.
UV-curable inkjet systems provide all
the advantages of digital printing
systems – cost-effective short-run
printing, streamlined work processes
with lower labor costs and faster total
production time – compared to
systems that require a master or
printing plate. Added advantages of
UV-curable systems include instant
drying, which takes place during the
ink curing or polymerization step.
Often this takes as little as 0.2 seconds
and is independent of the printing
speed, enabling faster job turnaround.
UV inks are also better suited for a
wider variety of media than solvent
inks, broadening the range of media
that can be used without
pretreatment. Untreated media is also
less expensive than coated media or
substrates requiring a conditioning
step. Outdoor durability for cured
prints is approximately two to three
years, according to some
manufacturers.
When repro shops start toying
with the idea of adding a flatbed
to the mix, return on investment
is always a concern.
Scott Schinlever, vice president of
marketing for VUTEk, sees huge
potential for UV curable systems.
“One of the limitations of solvent is
that it’s difficult to print on a wide
variety of rigid substrates,” says
Schinlever. “UV curable has a distinct
advantage because the ink layer stays
completely on top of the material.
With solvent printing, the solvent ink
actually becomes part of the material.”
He adds that UV-curable inks have
few limitations in the types of material
they can print on. The most
significant is printing directly to
untreated glass.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
7
Advantages of UV-Curable
Systems
• Instant drying
• Use on a wider range of substrates
• Reduced media costs
• Less use of lamination step
• Print and color quality consistency on
different media
• No VOC emissions
• Higher system reliability
Source: Cap Ventures
“Maybe one of the most compelling
things about UV curable is that it can
be used to produce large format
graphics as well as in more industrial
applications, such as textiles and
packaging,” adds Green.
He notes the ability of the new
Mimaki machine to print white.
“That’s very compelling if you’re
printing corrugated boards for
packaging,” says Green. “The ability
to use white ink is a nice feature and
is one of those things that along with
speed and more flexible solutions that
can handle rigid substrates and roll to
roll will contribute to the 40% CAGR
of UV-curable systems over the next
few years.”
Green also cites the growing number
of low-end solutions coming to
market, such as the Arizona 60UV, as
contributing to the growth of UV
curable placements.
Held believes manufacturers
marketing solvent-based flatbeds must
still address adherence and heating
issues before this technology is truly
accepted in the marketplace. Another
issue surrounding solvent systems is
emissions.
“UV curable doesn’t have any of that
compared to solvent,” notes
Schinlever. “It’s more environmentally
friendly.”
Despite the interest in UV curable,
solvent remains a viable flatbed
printing solution as well.
“Solvent is still growing very strong
and will continue to grow very strong
through [CAP Ventures’] forecast
period,” notes Green.
He explains that this trend is being
driven by more environmental
solutions, such as eco-solvent inks.
“Those kind of solutions have a very
good place in the sign printing market,”
observes Green, who cites a new ecosolvent flatbed system from Roland,
which was recently rolled out at the
DRUPA show in Germany this spring.
Obstacle Course
The wide-format flatbed market is ripe
with challenges.
“The biggest challenges are mainly
related to the material handling of the
rigid media and the ability to
combine both rigid printing and rollto-roll printing in one machine,” says
Itay Shalit, director of marketing for
NUR Macroprinters Ltd. “Looking at
the flatbeds available today we can see
many approaches to this problem,
each with its own set of advantages
and pitfalls. The systems based on
conveying the media tend to be less
accurate especially if a belt is used;
the accuracy tends to deteriorate
with time. The solutions based on
moving vacuum beds are much more
accurate and robust, allowing for
higher media weight but on the other
hand, they tend to be more
expensive. We believe that for the
industrial strength machines, the
vacuum bed is the only way of
meeting the rigid media handling
challenge. Printing roll-to-roll with
this particular get-up requires a
creative solution and with the NUR
Tempo, we actually combined a
second level printing plate to allow for
a roll-to-roll operating mode.”
Meanwhile in the UV segment, the
biggest obstacles are scratch resistance
and color gamut. Consider that with
UV curable, the ink sits on top of the
material and doesn’t penetrate into it.
CAP’s Green explains that with some
materials produced for outdoor
graphics, ink can be scratched off
with a fingernail.
“That’s going to be an issue when you
print on flexible substrates,” says Green.
While UV-curable inks offer a host
of advantages, ink manufacturers are
still working on issues regarding white
inks that allow people to print on
translucent materials and non-white
materials.
“The particles in white ink are heavy
and tend to settle,” notes Held. He
notes that some white ink cartridges
include a stirring device to deal with
this issue.
The Inca Columbia
flatbed printer from Sericol.
8
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
Also important are developing inks
that can adhere to glass and metals.
Ultimately, Held says, the challenge
faced by manufacturers is coming up
But the large-format
with the right combination of inks
that are flexible and adhere well.
When asked what enhancements he
would like to see in future flatbed
products, Bryan Thomas, president of
Thomas Reprographics in Richardson,
TX, quips, “White ink and a better
ability to handle uneven surfaces.”
From a marketing perspective,
targeting the right applications
remains a challenge for vendors and
print providers, opines Held.
“Most of what’s being done now is
point-of-purchase displays, which is an
outgrowth of the wide-format market,”
he says.
Held identifies opportunities in the
manufacturing arena, printing on
ceramic tiles, decorative laminates for
interior furnishings and other new
categories outside of traditional
graphic arts markets as being more
difficult to capture.
“From a selling standpoint,
manufacturers still have to overcome
the issue that production costs are
much higher than screen printing,”
adds CAP’s Green. “They really have
to sell it as a short-run printing
solution.”
Winning customers, particularly in the
outdoor graphics market where
competition is intense is a concern of
Mike Tackett, president of FXWB
Reprographics in Vernon Hills, Ill.
Pricing is an issue for FXWB,
particularly on short runs. Tackett says
that he finds himself competing with
screen printers whose systems are
already bought and paid for and who
can charge $1 to $1.50 for a poster on
vinyl board.
“We charge $10 to $12,” reports
Tackett.
While Tackett says he can compete
with the screen printers on larger runs,
he’s not sure if he can guarantee the
same turnaround time.
Reaping ROI
flatbed market seems
When repro shops start toying with
the idea of adding a flatbed to the
mix, return on investment is always a
concern.
to be opening up thanks
“It’s fairly easy to gauge for a print
provider who has a good handle on
their business,” contends Schinlever.
“It’s very straightforward because you
can track the output to the machine
and [print providers] usually know the
fixed and variable costs. Traditionally,
on one of our super-wide products, the
payoff is usually 18 to 24 months.”
“It is important for people to
understand that all new technologies
have a learning curve associated with
them,” says Thomas. “Also, sales
ramp-up time is always longer than
your projections. However, while I do
not take the following into account on
my sales projections, we have always
found that new products added to our
sales mix will inevitably increase sales
on related products. Related products
receive this boost simply from our
sales team getting back in the door at
accounts and talking about the ‘new’
services.”
Guy Ladd, president of Reprographic
Technologies in Milwaukee, Wis., says
that equipment manufacturers often
give ROI spreadsheets based on ‘ideal
conditions’ and ‘rated speeds.’
“These spreadsheets would lead you to
believe that this decision is a no
brainer,” says Ladd. “Buyer beware
because your results may vary,” he
cautions. “Success in this market is
dependent on a number of factors. Do
you have skilled production employees
that understand color, color
management and the programs used by
the graphics industry? Do you have
the space available and the material
handling equipment necessary? Do you
know of customers that would use
to new UV-curable devices.
these services, or how long would it
take to find customers?”
Ladd reports that his company has yet
to reap a return on its investment of
its flatbed after the first year, but that’s
because Ladd didn’t want to take work
from another device already in house
just so he could say their flatbed was
profitable.
Meanwhile, FXWB’s Tackett offers an
additional word of caution to
reprographic shops looking to bring in
a flatbed.
“The unit and its peripherals take up a
fair amount of space,” notes Tackett.
“You also need space to store the large
substrates.”
Because of these issues FXWB had to
lease another 2,500 square feet of
space.
“It doesn’t need all that space but it
needs most of it,” reports Tackett. “All
this adds to the cost.”
Future Focus
As low-end flatbed systems evolve,
Océ’s Sheikh expects to see devices
come to market that offer faster print
speeds, printing at higher resolutions
and enhanced print quality.
“That’s the challenge for us as a
manufacturer to deliver better, faster,
higher quality machines within a
certain budget,” says Sheikh. “How do
you bring that technology to market?
That’s the challenge and a challenge
that can be applied to every segment
of the flatbed market.”
“If I can run my system 10 hours a day
for three to four weeks, I can win the
pricing game but I’m still not sure if I
can win the turnaround game,”
Tackett says.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
9
printheads are the ones who make
major advancements. If they can
double the nozzles or really increase
the speed based on a wider array or
different array, then that’s where we
see the big advancement in the
technology.”
While large-format flatbed technology
continues to evolve, it remains an
opportunity worth considering for the
reprographic community.
The Rho 205 from Durst.
VUTEk’s Schinlever anticipates
overall increases in price performance.
“As happens with any high-tech
product, at a certain price point, the
price might be the same but the
performance is higher,” says
Schinlever.
Lyra’s Held expects to see more
manufacturers offer spot-color
capability on their devices, primarily
for manufacturing and point-ofpurchase displays.
“We believe that flatbed printers will
continue developing in directions that
will promote them towards a higher
breakeven point with conventional
printing, evolving from
complementary tools to actual
replacements,” notes NUR’s Shalit.
“Features that will continue to
improve are printer productivity, a
streamlined workflow, image quality,
color matching capabilities and the
entire printer cost-effectiveness.”
CAP’s Green believes future UVcurable technology improvements will
not all be dependent on hardware
manufacturers.
“A lot of technology developments
depend on the printhead
manufacturers,” explains Green. “It’s
not unlike the aqueous inkjet market.
The companies who own the
“We view the whole reprographic
space as a real growth segment for us
because they’re print providers that
are already servicing the same set of
customers who buy this type of
output,” notes VUTEk’s Schinlever.
Reprographic shops VUTEk is selling
too are looking at these devices as a
way to grow their business. “They’ve
already got the customer.” ●
Scott Cullen is a freelance writer and editor
who has been writing on imaging technologies
and office equipment trends and issues since
1986. You can reach Cullen at
[email protected].
Flatbeds vs. Mounting
Historically, mounting has been a strong profit center for
reprographers. With the advent of flatbed printers, how do
reprographic shops reconcile the fact that they’ve invested
money in mounting equipment and are doing a pretty darn
good business with it? After making this investment, should
they branch out into flatbed technology? Won’t this affect their
mounting business?
What about pricing strategies for mounting versus flatbed printing?
For Mike Tackett of FXWB Reprographics in Vernon Hills, Ill.,
bringing in a flatbed hasn’t affected its mounting business.
That’s because the company didn’t move previous mounting
work to the flatbed and has only been targeting new business
opportunities with the flatbed. That work has primarily been
lower cost signage, direct to board or outdoor specific work.
The bottom line is that reprographers can still make money in
mounting even after they’ve acquired a flatbed. Tackett reports
that mounting hasn’t been affected by the flatbed once FXWB
properly educated its sales reps.
“We still do lightjet and inkjet prints that need to be
mounted,” explains Tackett. “Quality and use determine which
device is best suited to printing the finished piece.”
10
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
“In a perfect world we would charge about 20% less than an
inkjet mounted for a flatbed print,” notes Tackett. “But again it
comes down to usage. Certain jobs cannot be done any other
way and they should pay a premium. Market pricing affects
what we would like to charge versus what we can charge.”
“Initially they tried to sell the flatbed for everything because it
was cheaper, not based on matching the technology to the
need,” says Tackett. “The question is can you make money with
a flatbed versus those that discount and print the usual way,
and that is print it and mount it with paid-for technology or
silk screeners who don’t want to lose their customer?”
USING
OVERTIME
WITHOUT
GOING
OVERBOARD
By Navina Waterman
A
ll companies are looking for
better ways to control costs.
Since payroll is a primary
operating expense, gaining control of
overtime is not optional in a wellmanaged reprographic company.
Steve Gustafson, regional ARC
manager based in Chicago, states,
“Overtime is neither good nor bad. It
is simply a part of doing business.
Certain instances require it, but you
can also burn up lots of money if it’s
left uncontrolled.”
On the other hand, because of the
daily variability and unpredictability
of when jobs will arrive and how large
they will be, “if you never have
overtime, you are clearly overstaffed,”
Gustafson noted.
Greg Howard of Lawton
Reprographics in Dallas concurs, “We
try to keep overtime to a minimum,
but it is simply inherent in our
business.” Mark Langdon of Eastern
Engineering Supply/Reprographics in
Indiana adds that, “Keeping a
customer happy is the most important
thing.”
Tracking Overtime
Just how do they track overtime to tell
if it might be getting out of hand?
Each uses a slightly different
methodology. Gustafson uses payroll as
a percentage of sales as a first
indicator. He annualizes weekly or
monthly numbers and compares them
to a benchmark to see if that number
is getting too far out of line. In a
simplified example, for instance, if
your goal is to have a benchmark of
$10,000 in gross sales per employee
per month, then if your actual number
is $5,000 you should be looking at
ways to increase productivity or you
may simply be overstaffed. On the
other hand, he points out that too
high a number can be just as bad,
because it will inevitably lead to a
breakdown in quality and customer
service.
Howard tracks overtime as an overall
percentage of payroll costs on a weekly
basis. He also looks at the overall cost
of production labor as a percentage of
sales, aiming to keep this number less
than 15%, and uses industry guides to
make sure his company’s numbers are
within reasonable ranges.
Langdon compares square foot output
versus overtime as a way to measure
profitability of overtime. He also
probably uses a longer timeframe than
do others in the industry. Accurate
forecasting is made more possible
because a large proportion of his
company’s business depends on a
handful of clients, with whom they are
in close contact. This makes it
possible to get a reasonable forecast six
to nine months out. He can tolerate
more overtime on a short-term basis if
Because of the accelerating
expenses of adding new
employees, managing human
capital investment can be as
important as managing
equipment purchases and
expenditures.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
13
Warning! The Laws Have Changed!
Do you meet the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new Fair Standards
Labor Act (FSLA) requirements? At the time of this writing, new
requirements were due to go into effect August 23, 2004. The
requirements would update criteria for overtime exemption for first
time in 50 years and update corresponding salary requirements for
first time since 1976.
Why do you care? What happens if an employer is ‘found guilty’ of
violating these provisions? In addition to fines (and legal fees), it is
possible to lose even valid exemptions in the future. This is an area
where disgruntled employees can wreak havoc if you are not meeting
the letter of the law. The number of overtime cases has nearly tripled
in the past five years. They now exceed employment-discrimination
cases. The fines are not insubstantial. For instance, Starbucks paid
$18 million, RadioShack $29.9 million, T-Mobile USA $4.8 million
and Big Lots $10 million in recent years to settle overtime violations.
Among the Changes
All employees earning less than $455 per week ($23,660/year) must
now be paid overtime regardless of duties.
FSLA exempts from standard overtime any employee who makes at
least $455/week and meets specific tests and is “employed in a
bonafide executive, administrative, or professional capacity”
(including outside sales people). DOL released updated definitions of
these roles in April.
To meet the exemption qualification:
• An executive employee must have hiring/firing authority and
regularly direct the work of at least two other full-time employees.
• An administrative employee’s primary duty must include the
exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to
matters of significance; and his/her primary duty must be the
performance of office or non-manual work directly related to
management or general business operations.
• A professional employee’s primary duty must be the performance of
work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or
learning, customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized
intellectual instruction.
the extended outlook indicates no
need for additional hires. For instance,
a recent week showed almost 8%
overtime. If continued over a longer
period of time, this would necessitate
changes, but it is acceptable as a shortterm occurrence.
Managing Human
Capital Investment
Because of the accelerating expenses
of adding new employees, managing
human capital investment can be as
important as managing equipment
purchases and expenditures. Adding
14
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
• A ‘creative professional’ employee may also be exempt if his/her
primary duty is the performance of work requiring invention,
imagination, originality or talent in a recognized field of artistic or
creative endeavor.
• A special caveat in the ‘computer professional’ classification means
that an employee in this field making at least $27/hour does not
need to meet the ‘consistently exercise discretion and independent
judgment’ requirement.
The outside sales exemption has been simplified, which means that
more employees may fall into the exempted category. They have no
salary requirement, but must be customarily engaged away from the
employer’s place of business and making sales or obtaining orders.
Highly compensated employees are also exempt from overtime, but
the minimum annual salary has been raised from $65,000 to
$100,000. They must also meet the requirement that they
“customarily and regularly perform at least one of the duties from the
executive, administrative or professional duties test.”
Some members of Congress were vigorously opposing certain aspects
of the new regulations, but at REPRO REPORT press time, it still
appeared the regulations would be implemented on schedule in
August. In general, the new regulations are considered to be proemployer.
Act Now
You should have a written policy accessible to your employees which
spells out your overtime policy (and which obviously must coincide
with the FSLA regulations. This is considered a way to show that you
are attempting to comply if you are ever audited for violations, and
may ameliorate any legal actions taken against you.
There may also be more stringent state or local laws to which you
must adhere. This is just a summary and is not intended to be legal
advice. You can get details at
www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/overtimepay.htm. Some interpretations
from the legal profession are at www.elinfonet.com/fedarticles/9/4. If
you have questions about whether or not certain employees are
exempt under the new regulations, please contact your legal advisor.
another employee can no longer be
undertaken lightly. Estimates about
the non-wage additional cost for a
new hire ranged from 30-50%,
depending on a number of factors
including what the hourly wage
would be. Most of the benefit costs,
such as healthcare, are fixed regardless
of wages.
In addition to costs, productivity can
be a factor. A 121-week academic
study of labor productivity sponsored
by the Construction Industry Institute
[1] found that 50- and 60-hour work
weeks show losses of efficiency of
10-15% in productivity. The report
stated “There is little doubt that
scheduled overtime results in a loss
of productivity. While it is possible
to perform some limited scope of
work for a few weeks with no loss of
productivity, the likelihood of doing
so is small. Consecutive overtime
schedules lasting longer than three
to four weeks will also lead to
productivity losses from fatigue.”
Likewise Alex Kerin, author of a
report titled “Overtime in Extended
Hours Operations: Benefits, Costs,
Risks and Liabilities” [2] states,
“Excessive overtime ultimately results
in lower productivity, more fatiguerelated accidents and injuries, costly
increases in absenteeism and turnover,
and higher employer medical costs.
There is a tipping point where
productivity suffers. Companies
already have all the information they
need…they just need to develop a
spreadsheet and make a cost analysis
to see where the tipping point is.”
Kerin concludes that most employees
can work about 12% overtime, or
about five hours per week, before
productivity is adversely affected.
Options to Overtime
Our industry also sees seasonal
variations that directly affect labor
needs. For instance, in December,
there may be no overtime, while June
is typically much busier. Gustafson
considers overtime in excess of 5% of
payroll as an indicator to consider
hiring. Many shops have turned to
running second or even third shifts as
a way to better accommodate
customers, as well as reduce overtime.
Starting a second shift can be
challenging on a variety of fronts,
especially for a small company. If all
your managers leave at 5 p.m., control
can be an issue. Everyone agrees that
it is necessary to keep a close eye on
what is being accomplished during the
later shifts.
In the beginning, it’s also very difficult
to predict how heavy the workload
will be for a second shift. How do you
keep your staff busy when times are
slow? Langdon’s company has come up
with a good solution. Eastern does a
considerable amount of scanning and
archiving. To encourage customers to
be patient, they have implemented
different pricing for this work
depending on the required
turnaround. As a result, whenever
employees in the late shift are not
busy doing daily work, they scan and
archive. These are huge jobs, which
may take months or even years to
complete, but which work perfectly to
fill in the variability of production
needs during a second shift.
As an alternative to typical shifts,
Howard is considering starting an
extended shift by having staggered
start times, with a few employees
starting early and a few staying late.
All who are running shifts say that
eventually the most OT occurs in the
late shift, which sometimes run over
in order to complete jobs that must go
out early the next day.
Gustafson aims to staff at 85% of
capacity. If more is needed, then
overtime is used and/or supervisors
help out in production.
“The number one thing in controlling
overtime is flexibility,” he says.
And this is where the importance of
extensive cross training becomes
apparent. Employees can easily be
temporarily moved from a slower
department to one that is over-loaded.
Gustafson is also on the lookout for
what he terms ‘structural’ overtime, or
overtime scheduled simply for the sake
of overtime. He believes that with
close observation over a month long
period, any overtime abuse will
become apparent. His policy is that all
overtime must be pre-approved and
the only type of overtime allowed is
on billable jobs.
“Having a Friday afternoon or a
Monday morning off is pretty
appealing to many employees,”
Lawton said.
Many shops have turned to
running second or even third
shifts as a way to better
accommodate customers, as well
as reduce overtime.
Landon believes that good management
creating good morale is a key to
having a work environment in which
employees want to be productive and
work to the best of their abilities.
Happy employees help keep
productivity up and overtime under
control. All agree that overtime must
be closely monitored and managed
to ensure the proper balance – one
that both controls costs and keeps
customers satisfied. ●
References
All look for ways to discourage abuse.
For instance, Langdon found that a
very cheap technology investment
using wireless tracking GPS has made
delivery drivers more accountable.
[1] “Scheduled Overtime and Labor
Productivity: Quantitative Analysis,”
H. Randolph Thomas and Karl A.
Raynar, Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, Vol. 123,
No. 2, June 1997.
Educating Employees
[2] www.circadian.com/
media/2003_press_overtime.htm
All of these owners and managers
sometimes have to explain to
employees that the company has
committed to pay them for a 40-hour
week and that they cannot ‘expect’ or
depend on overtime on a regular basis.
In slow times, most companies look
for volunteers to leave early, but don’t
force their employees to work less
than a full 40-hour week. Lawton also
encourages comp time if possible to
help even out the payroll expense.
He gets fairly good participation in
this program.
Navina Waterman managed a reprographic
shop for several years in the 1980s, held various technology and marketing positions with
ReproCAD for 10 years and has been an independent reprographic consultant for the past
four years. She can be reached at
[email protected].
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
15
OPINIONLEADERS
If It Worked For Me....
Why is it that we all flock to educational events, join a professional association or pick
up a phone to ask a fellow member questions such as “how did you…?” or “what is
the best…?” It is because we value the lessons learned from others in our business.
REPRO REPORT has created this question and answer column to facilitate sharing
the intellectual capital among IRgA members.
This inaugural column features Chuck Hayes, CEO of OCB
Reprographics in Irvine, Calif. Hayes started in the reprographics
industry in 1974 and has been with OCB for 30 years. A believer
in helping others to succeed, Hayes has been a member of the
IRgA since 1975.
REPRO REPORT (RR): What new
direction(s) do you see for your
business in the next 12 months?
Chuck Hayes (CH): I have always
been interested in color technology,
and we do a lot of volume in that area
now. I like the diversity of industries it
allows me to do work for, and it has
been very profitable for our company
(I do about $700,000 a month in total
color revenue). I see many new
opportunities in this industry–i.e.,
inkjet flatbed plotting directly onto
substrates, faster plotters, improved
high-speed color copiers, etc.
Other areas:
• I see black-and-white scanning and
storage as another huge opportunity
as a new source of revenue. The time
has come for reprographers to sell as
a standard service to all of our
customers.
• Document management fees for
indexing and managing digital files
for our online plan rooms are already
a big source of new revenue for
OCB.
• The PlanWell department is growing
by leaps and bounds which is a new
method of revenue for high volume
large and small format printing.
• Facilities management (FM)
continues to be a big part of our
16
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
business (we currently have 200
installations).
• Color technology as a whole.
RR: Do you think you will always be
in the printing business, or do you
see your business going in some
substantially different direction in the
next 10 to 20 years?
CH: I think that the “paperless
society” that we have heard about for
the last 10 years still will not happen
in my lifetime. I believe there will
always be a need for paper.
I think that FMs will continue to grow
and only the largest jobs will be done
off-site at the repro house. Our clients
through the FMs will also have the
capability of pulling tiff files from the
online plan room and printing directly
onto the on-site plotter/copiers. This
will then create a need for more
document handling through our digital
networks, which will result in
additional document management and
document information fees.
Again, color has become a more
important part of my in-shop revenue.
It will continue to require output on
many different types of papers and
substrates for many more years to
come. This has not necessarily been a
part of the smaller to mid-size
reprographers day-to-day printing
business (reprographers need to invest
in this technology; it is very
profitable).
RR: With all the new technology in
our business, how do you go about
finding competent people to help you
run it?
CH: Good help is always hard to find,
but I try to promote from within. I
have a continuing education program
always in session at our corporate
office. I have 450 employees and some
people will say they can’t relate to our
company due to its size, but everything
we do can be implemented into any
shop. We were once a very small
company too.
I have “help wanted” on my delivery
cars, and I get a lot of applicants by
word of mouth. I have found the old
adage is usually true – birds of a feather
flock together – so I have implemented
an incentive program that pays $100
for any employee who refers another
employee who lasts six months. I also
place ads in local publications and
place help wanted flyers in the work
program offices of local colleges.
RR: How has the shift to digital
technology impacted your labor costs
in the past five years?
CH: Good employees are good
employees regardless of their technical
OPINIONLEADERS
knowledge. I do have to pay more for
knowledge, but if they’re not pulling
their weight, they won’t make any
more money than other positions in
production. The black-and-white
technology does not require any
more intelligence than before but
the color does (this cost is passed
on to the client).
My labor costs have not changed
significantly in the last five years.
RR: What’s the best change that
you’ve made in your business in the
past five years?
CH: There are three:
• Aggressive FM program.
• A more aggressive color program.
• A transition to wide-width plain
paper copies.
I had to create new positions within
the company that specialize in the
new services we now offer. These
specialists are responsible for
educating and training our customers
on how to utilize the many benefits
our new technologies offer for black
and white and color.
RR: What one business problem
would you like to discover the
solution for in the next three
months?
CH: Hiring issues. I have no problem
keeping good employees; it’s finding
them that has become the problem.
OCB Reprographics, Irvine, Calif.
RR: What is the most important new
thing that you have learned about
running your business in the past 12
months?
CH: Two things stick out.
• It is imperative that we as an
industry charge for new services
such as document management, file
transfers, CDs, etc. These new
services require a lot of labor and if
we don’t start charging now, we will
be sorry in a very short time.
• The company will still be there if I
leave for more than three days.
RR: How has your management
style changed in the past five years?
Why?
CH: My management style has really
not changed in the past five years. I
have always been open to change and
new technologies. I have always put
my employees first and by doing that,
they put the clients first. I make my
employees very aware of the
importance of their jobs and that they
are every bit as professional as the
clients we work for. All of the
continuing new technology confirms
my beliefs that the repro industry must
be proactive in educating our clients
(and our employees). This can be
done through on-site seminars and
hands-on training in our client’s
offices on the new procedures
necessary to work with us in
networking, managing and distributing
digital files. We must also keep them
abreast of all of the new technologies
in color and, of course, the
partnerships we promote through FMs.
RR: What is the single greatest
challenge that you have faced in
running a family business? Have you
been able to resolve that family
business issue? If so, how?
CH: The single BIGGEST issue I had
to deal with was expectations. I have
seen this in a number of family-run
businesses. It can damage a good
family bond. I have told all of my
children (five) that they should find
their own purpose in life and that
OCB should be the last option. I do
not want to take even a remote
chance of our relationship suffering as
a result of a difference of opinion on
new technology or the fear of change
or the value of an employee, etc.
Overall OCB is a very successful
company and any internal problems
we were having were transparent to
the clients. OCB made it through
three generations and it came to an
end when the company was put up for
public sale. Fortunately with the help
of two partners, we made the highest
offer against two other active buyers.
The company was doing $11,000,000
when this sale was pending, and I
thought I had just put in 20 years only
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
17
OPINIONLEADERS
to see it sold to an outside interest. In
the end, the new partnership worked
out to be a great business relationship
and a great learning experience for me.
Eventually after a few more years,
OCB became one of the original
companies that formed ARC. This,
too, has been a decision I have
never regretted.
RR: It’s 2010. Describe a typical day
in your shop.
Ex than to try and find 200
reprographers with this technology).
We are doing this all in-house;
otherwise we would send files to every
city for local printing.
The third client is actually a teacher
from a local college who is waiting for
his 20 students of architecture who we
will be touring through the shop and
given a basic “repro-101” class to keep
our future clients educated on the many
tools that they will be using in the real
world. We let the students know that
we are one of the most important subs
they will be dealing with day to day.
We do a lot of these “repro-101” classes
through the course of a year.
A Typical Job
CH: I see three people in my front lobby.
One of these clients is at a kiosk
ordering sets of prints from an
architect’s online plan room. We can
run one set while he waits, another set
will be delivered locally here in
Orange County and the third set will
be printed by our sister company in
Los Angeles and delivered to a local
subcontractor in Pasadena.
The second client is a graphic artist
from a local ad company that is here to
check one proof of a “3 for 1 taco sale”
poster for a large fast food chain. The
total order is for 200 inkjet prints
printed directly onto gator board and
then shipped to 200 different stores in
the U.S. (since it is less costly to print
directly onto the board and ship Fed
18
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
The production flow of the shop is now
completely digitally networked from
large and small format black and white
printers to large and small format
color…and every printer in between. A
typical job might be the reproduction
of one large Environmental Impact
Report. The report consists of 250
8.5x11 black and white originals, 10
11x17 color originals, 15 24x36 color
maps and 25 8.5x11 original tabs. All
of the 11x17 color copies need to be
folded to 8.5x11 and all of the 24x36
maps need to be folded to 8.5x11 and
inserted into map pockets. Every book
will be perfect bound using 100-pound
cover stock.
This entire job is managed out of one
department, with every printer
networked in-house using digital files.
All color equipment is color calibrated
to ensure correct color on both the
small and large maps since some are the
same file printed on different printers at
different sizes and it is important that
the colors match. This job will be
tracked through the shop on special
software that will allow any employee
in any department to be able to take a
call from the client and know exactly
where the job is at any time. All tabs
and covers can be printed in-house on
high-speed color copiers, which can
handle any stock requirements and
color tabs. The final product was 100
printed copies and 95 CDs. It was
almost an even split on what the buyers
wanted, i.e.: hard copy or CD.
Shop Hours
The shop is open 24 hours to meet the
high demands of the “distribute and
print” method rather than the
standard “print and distribute” model.
Many of the local projects we do are
coming from architects from other
cities or it is local architects and
engineers doing work for their clients
in other cities. In fact, the workflow
has become much more global with
this new way of communicating.
Delivery Fleet
We are almost finished with the
process of converting the delivery fleet
to low gas “hybrid” cars. Also the fleet
is two-thirds of the size it used to be
due to remote printing.
Outside Services
I now have an outside services
department that manages drafting
services and raster to vector services
and other tasks utilizing third-party
services usually out of other countries
where the labor is much cheaper
(doesn’t sound very American, but this
is where a lot of our clients are
dictating us to go). We are actually
already doing this service.
Finally, all statements are sent to our
clients digitally and we have a program
where they can log on to their account
at any time and view and print copies
of the invoice at any time.
Most of this is being done now, but
I still see this same technology
being utilized for the next five
years along with many enhancements,
additional services and, of course,
new technology. ●
HUMANRESOURCES
Personalities Can Make or Break
Your Business
By Debra Thompson
A
ttention reprographics
business owners: you can have
a great product or service, but
if you don’t have the right people
creating, producing, selling and
servicing, you will not be able to
compete in the marketplace.
Today’s customers demand and expect
top quality, the best service and a
competitive price. The only way to
produce these results is through your
people. Your competitive advantage
depends on having a competent,
stable, well-led workforce. It is the
people internally that sell the products
to your customers and it is also your
people working together who provide
the service before and after a customer
buys from you. Your people have a
major role in whether you are
competitive in the pricing arena or
not. The bottom line – with the right
people in your business, you can
become a market leader. With the
wrong mix of people, you will not.
When I talk about mix, I am talking
not only about having the different
skills that are needed throughout the
business, but more importantly having
the right personalities in each position.
It is a proven fact that certain
personality types fit certain job
requirements better than others. In our
benchmarking studies, we have shown
that certain personalities consistently
perform better in certain positions. It
is the case of putting the square peg in
the square hole and the round peg in
the round hole.
Your hiring processes need to include a
proper evaluation of every candidate.
That includes a rigid interviewing and
reference checking process along with
a thorough testing program. First, I
recommend the use of the Wonderlic©
test to determine basic competency.
There are recommended minimum
scores for the various positions in the
reprographics field that should be
achieved by your applicant. I
recommend on-equipment testing and
the use of www.staffingtools.com for
evaluating skills with the software
tools used in our industry and, of
course, I strongly recommend
personality profiling.
Personality profiling will give you
insights into behaviors before you
make the offer. The profile will also
make sure that you have the right fit
for the position and the right
personality for building the team.
There are many different profiling
systems in use today and most of them
provide valuable insights into people
and how to deal with them. I like the
DISC system (www.discprofile.com)
because it is accurate and the results
are easy to understand. Each
personality has its own points of
reference, its own value and behavior
patterns. These are defined in terms of
four main characteristics: Dominance,
Influence, Steadiness and Compliance.
Individuals possess a combination of
all of these characteristics, but in
different values. Usually one of the
characteristics is more dominant than
the others. This is then referred to as
the high characteristic, e.g., high S.
In our consulting and staffing services,
my company uses a profile system that
is Internet accessible, takes about 15
minutes to complete and provides a
comprehensive report that describes
the candidate’s primary personality and
also their behavior in the work
environment. It identifies their
strengths for the team as well as for the
position they will fill. It also provides
guidelines for enhancing performance,
motivating, effective communication
and growth builders.
When hiring, it is critical to make sure
that you set up the employee for
success by matching their personality
to the position. If you are looking for a
customer service representative to up
sell and get the details of the order,
you will want to see I and C as
dominant in their profile. If you want
a production worker who will stay
focused, be steady and reliable and also
provide great quality, you will look for
high S and C.
All too often we hire people for their
skills and then end up firing them for
their behavior. It wasn’t that they did
not know their job; they just didn’t
have the personality to fit in and enjoy
what they did.
The bottom line is that the right
profile is crucial for successful hiring
Personality profiling will give you
insights into behaviors before
you make the offer.
and for building a high performance
team. The profile doesn’t in itself
guarantee a great hire, but it certainly
improves the odds for getting a good
one. The ultimate goal of a
hardworking harmonious team can
best be achieved when there is
understanding of their profiles, the
mixes and the resulting behaviors.
When all the members of the work
team understand each other, there is a
positive influence on teamwork and
productivity and the recognition of
other employees as important internal
customers. Once they learn to value
each other as customers needing
proper service, the workflow and
team harmony improves. The end
result is a better product or service
and you gain the competitive
advantage that you need. ●
Debra Thompson, president of TG &
Associates, is a speaker and consultant specializing in human resources in the graphics industry. You can reach Thompson toll-free at
877/842-7762 or [email protected].
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
19
REPRONOMICS
Increase Revenue: Open a New Shop
By Brett Scully
O
ver the last three years, all I
could think about is how to
mitigate the compression of
revenue taken by the hard blow from
the long-awaited crash of the 10-year
bull market. The defense playbook was
constantly out, and it seemed like the
offense was hardly ever on the field.
However, with a slow recovery taking
shape in construction, it is time to
take out the offensive plan and head
down the field once again, even if we
only gain four yards a down.
Avenues for growth include building
the sales force, offering new
products/services or purchasing a
competitor. Another might be to open
If a blueprinter wants to expand,
opening a new shop is a great,
low-risk investment.
a new shop in your region. I consider
this an almost risk-free investment if a
blueprinter does it with proper
planning and thorough execution.
The obvious goal is to increase
revenue and market share, and the
key is to leverage existing business
in the general area where the shop
is to be located.
Consider SampleCo with $2 millionplus in revenue and about 18
employees. Statistically, a company
like this is fertile for growth by
opening a strategically located new
shop. The first due diligence study that
the firm should do is put up a large
map of the firm’s total metro coverage.
Next, study an Excel file uploaded
from the accounting system, which
20
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
contains client names and monthly
average revenue sorted by zip code. Do
sub-sorts to effectively identify
geographic sweet spots of your current
customer base. Put different colored
pins on the map to identify current
activity and graphically pinpoint the
zip code concentrations.
Ideally, you want a new shop at least
12-15 miles away from the main shop,
but not more than 30 miles from the
mother ship. This may differ by city,
depending on traffic patterns and
highways around the metro area. The
combination of distance and customer
concentration can ballpark a new
location for the shop, but cannot be
finalized until a further study of
potential business is completed.
This is actually the fun
part…visualization. Let’s say
SampleCo is located on the west side
of Cleveland. The most natural first
guess on a new shop would be on the
east side of Cleveland, about 20 or so
miles from the main shop. SampleCo
may also find that they can chip off
around 20-25% of their monthly
business already being done in east side
zip codes from the customer/zip code
study. The printer might even have
found a particular zip code on the east
side that does 12% alone, bluntly
telling SampleCo the best east side
location. If you can open a shop and
have $35,000 per month in revenue to
start, break-even is only 20-30 new
customers away.
One more study should be done before
actually picking the city to open the
new shop. Dun and Bradstreet’s
www.zapdata.com is an excellent tool
for studying potential growth areas by
sorting and sifting the mounds of data
on almost all companies in America.
At zapdata.com, first pick the SIC
codes of the architect, engineer and
contractor prospects. Then sort by zip
code, and further sub-sort by trade, and
finally sort by the number of
employees. Plot this new data on your
wall map, maybe highlighting large
architectural prospects with one color
and large engineering or contracting
firms with other colors.
By now the map on the wall has
gotten pretty busy, between the
existing customers and the potential
prospects being pinned next to them.
By this point, it should almost be
logical where the new shop should be
located. Drill down further by driving
around the prospective city to get a
feel for what space is available. Write
down the phone numbers and
addresses of potential shop locations,
and then call the owners/brokers of
these sites.
Shopping for a shop lease is kind of
like shopping for a used car, or going
to the dentist. Lessors love to break
your chops with things like triple net
or extraneous hidden fees and costs
associated with renting a property.
Location is the most important
decision for the new shop. Being in a
grade-A strip mall is nice but at $17
per square foot triple net, the price of
3,000 square feet gets pretty rich. This
is especially true when very good midrange properties are available one or
two blocks away for gross prices
ranging in the $8 - $12 per square foot.
Get to know the new market area
lease pricing when searching for the
shop. Find at least two to three
suitable options before sitting down
with the potential landlords/brokers;
otherwise the negotiating power is
left with the lessor.
If a blueprinter wants to expand,
opening a new shop is a great, low-risk
investment. However, due diligence
planning is essential for success. Next
issue, we will dig into signing the lease,
budgeting for equipment, shop staffing
and investment return. ●
Brett Scully is CEO of eBlueprint Holdings of
Cleveland, Ohio. You can reach Scully at
[email protected].
INSURANCEPRIMER
The Importance of Employee Handbooks
I
n our last article we discussed
employment practices and how to
prevent employee practices liability
insurance (EPLI) claims. One of our
recommendations included producing
a comprehensive employee handbook.
Employers who institute specific
policies and rules for the workplace
may be bound by them. Employee
handbooks can constitute employment
contracts, and failure to adhere to
these handbooks can lead to an
employment practices claim.
Therefore, it is important to place a
prominent disclaimer that explains
the handbook is not a contract, or a
promise to employ. This disclaimer
should state that the handbook could
be changed at any time by company
management. It is a good practice to
disclaim each benefit that is offered in
the handbook. The reason for this:
What if you decide to stop offering a
benefit and forget to change the
handbook? A correctly written
handbook can protect an employer –
but an improperly written handbook
can lead to lawsuits.
Following are some items that should
be addressed in the handbook:
1. The forward should welcome the
employee and briefly describe the
company and its values and beliefs.
Advise employees you are an equal
opportunity employer.
2. Establish your policy on sexual and
other harassment activity. Typically,
a policy will state that “in
accordance with federal and state
discrimination laws it is a violation
of company policy for any employee
to sexually harass or discriminate in
any manner against a fellow
employee.” The handbook should
provide specific procedures for
employees to follow if they believe
they are being subjected to
harassment or discrimination.
The policy should provide
alternative channels for the
employee to follow in the event
the harasser is a supervisor. This
may not prevent an employee from
making a claim to the EEOC, but it
is good protection if it happens.
3. Policies regarding disclosure of
confidential information. This
ranges from giving out information
about past and present employees to
disclosure of information that may
be deemed confidential to the
company. Depending on the degree
of responsibility an employee holds,
you may want to consider
employment contracts and noncompete agreements.
4. Be careful when listing types of
misconduct that warrant
termination. This could imply that
these are the only types of
misconduct that could result in
termination. If you are located in an
“at will” state, this should be
addressed in this section. Make sure
the handbook states that the
employer retains the discretion to
interpret and apply procedures for
discipline and termination.
5. Special dress requirements, safety
equipment or other dress codes
should be addressed in the
handbook. Non-smoking
environments should be stated.
6. Drug and alcohol abuse and the
testing for these abuses should be
addressed. Remember if you do
drug testing, it must be fair and
non-discriminatory.
7. Outline expectations for
employee attendance and
vacation and sick days.
Have you reviewed the IRgA Employee Handbook Sample
Guide sent recently to member company contacts? The guide
includes handbooks from five IRgA member companies
demonstrating industry best practices. You can order
additional copies at www.irga.com. Member cost is $49.
8. Outline any features of
retirement or savings plans.
9. Reference insurance benefits
and have your benefits
handbook available.
10. Advise employees that they are
subject to workers’ compensation
state mandates and you have this
coverage available for them.
The above recommendations are a
good foundation for setting up the
employee handbook. However, you
should incorporate any other pertinent
information that you want the new
employee to know. It would also be a
good idea for an attorney to review
the handbook. Though there is legal
expense involved, it would be worth
the investment to make sure you are
complying with standard procedures
and law. Attorneys can also give you
advice on complying with COBRA,
FMLA, ADA and other federal and
state laws.
Each new employee should read
the handbook and a signed
acknowledgement form kept in the
employee file. Employees should also
acknowledge any changes to the
handbook. It is the employee’s
responsibility to read and understand
the company’s policies. However, the
handbook should use simple and
understandable language.
If you include job descriptions in the
handbook, reserve the right to change
the job description if a situation
should arise where it becomes
necessary to do so. ●
The St. Paul Travelers Companies and
Acordia of Indiana are respectively the
insurance carrier and agent for IRgA.
IRgA members are invited to contact Patty
Sears at Acordia to discuss how this program
can benefit your company. She can be reached
at 866/441-3936, ext. 7640.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
21
IN THE NEWS
Solvent-based
Printers Surpassing
Aqueous, Group
Finds
QUICK VIEW
Companies in
the News:
Drytac
Graphics of the
Americas
HP
InfoTrends/CAP
Ventures
Océ
Quark
Queen City
Reprographics
Specialty
Toner Corp.
Web Consulting
Web Consulting, Ltd., has
documented a trend in the
wide-format printer purchases—
solvent- and eco-solvent-based
printers have become the
fastest-growing segment of the
market, and the installed base of
aqueous printers is decreasing.
In its report, “2004 U.S.
Wide-Format Inkjet Printer &
RIP Trends,” Web Consulting
found that only 57% of shops
planning to buy a wide-format
printer this year will buy an
aqueous printer; 33% plan to
purchase solvent or eco-solvent
printers, followed by 9% for
flatbed inkjets and 1% for oil-based
wide-format printers. Aqueous
printers now comprise 81% of
the installed base, down from
89% in 2003.
Web Consulting asserts more
shops are seeking out specialty
printers for specific applications
instead of general-purpose models.
The survey covers 342 print shops
and 615 wide- and grand-format
inkjet printer installations. The
complete report is available for
purchase at www.web-na.com.
Océ Wins Two BERTL’s Best Awards
Océ received two BERTL’s Best 2004 Spring awards: Best Wide Format Printer
Range, for the five Océ Technical Document Systems and Technical Color
Systems products, and Best High-End Print Shop Spot-Color Device, for the
Océ VarioPrint 5160. This is the second year in a row that the Océ wide-format
printer range has won this award.
BERTL, an independent, U.S.-based publisher of news, research and critical
analysis covering digital imaging systems, has been recognizing the best in
digital imaging technology and innovation for the past nine years. BERTL
analysts review every major new corporate-level copier, printer, color,
production and multifunctional device introduced to the market. In addition
to its own research, BERTL takes into consideration feedback from users,
product resellers and in-depth competitive studies.
BERTL recognized several product line additions and functionality enhancements
that Océ made to its award-winning monochrome wide-format printer range.
The new Océ TCS400 provides wide-format color printing, copying and
scanning for CAD and GIS-related applications. Small departments and
workgroups benefit from fast, easy and economical walk-up digital copying with
the new Océ TDS300.With the addition of these new products, BERTL reports,
“Océ has reaffirmed its position as the pacesetter” in both the print for pay and
corporate/ government markets, from centralized high-volume applications to
departmental walk-up systems. The quality and durability of Océ products
receives praise in this year’s award citation: “In a world increasingly dominated
by disposable electronics, it’s good to know that there are still some companies
who’d rather build a machine to last a decade than churn out a series of flimsy
devices with built-in obsolescence.”
Reference is made to the Océ reputation for customer care. “Océ’s customer
service is also exceptional. The company is known for its quick resolution of
problems, as well as its exceptionally high customer satisfaction ratings.”
Concluding its review of the Océ wide format products, BERTL states that while
each particular model may have a different target market, “what each of these
machines has in common is its overall reliability and valuable contribution to a
print shop, CRD or department user.” According to BERTL, the Océ VarioPrint
5160 received this award for “its combination of versatility, functionality and a build
sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of heavy-duty production. The Océ VarioPrint
5160 is an exceptional print system for high-level print-for-pay operations, boasting
several features that are not available anywhere else in the market.”
Specialty Toner Closes
Specialty Toner Corporation (STC),
makers of toners and applications for
electrostatic printers, has ceased
operations after 18 years.
Romit Bhattacharya, Giovanni
Perotta and Jack Keller founded the
Fairfield, N.J.-based company in 1986
and, with Harry Bowers, established
the Cactus wide-format digital
22
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
printing system in 1989. The
company created the first dyesublimation electrostatic toners
and the first UV digital graphics
toners. STC also received a patent
in 1998 for its Digital Varnish
product, which protected prints
against the elements for a fraction
of the cost of laminating.
3M bought Cactus in 1996 and sold
STC to a group of investors. STC
and 3M joined forces again in 2002
to promote dye-sub technology to
a wider market, but the strategy did
not pan out as hoped, and STC
chose to close its doors, according
to a statement from President and
CEO Bhattacharya.
IN THE NEWS
Image Capture and Content Management Gaining Popularity
Most print service providers expect to
double their revenues in image
capture and content management
services in the next two years,
according to a survey from
InfoTrends/CAP Ventures.
In “Profile of Image Capture and
Content Management Services
Offered by Print Providers in the
United States,” 60% of shop owners
expected high growth in this area, as
they offer more value-added services
to lower costs and make up for
reduced print demand. More than
75% of print customers use image
capture services, and more than 40%
use basic content management, but
these services now make up only
6-17% of total revenue for print
shops. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures
suggests print service providers
capitalize on this growing market
by forming partnerships with
imaging service bureaus.
customer service to their clients,”
says Holly Muscolino, director at
InfoTrends/CAP Ventures.
To buy a copy of the report, contact
Alison Hipp at 781/616-2100, ext.
126, or [email protected].
“Service providers that offer imaging
and content services, either on their
own or in partnership with other
service providers, will provide
innovation, cost savings, a broader
range of services and superior
NEWS BITS
Quark, HP Form
Alliance
HP and Quark have joined forces
with an agreement designed to
simplify the creation and printing
process for customized marketing
communications. Quark’s new
QuarkXClusive software module,
available to QuarkXPress 6 users,
optimizes variable data publishing
capabilities for HP printers.
Additionally, Quark will provide
exclusive certification for the print
performance of HP graphic arts
output devices. The two companies
also plan to work together on color
management, custom solutions and
joint technical support.
Graphics of the
Americas Adds
Wide-Format for 2005
Declaring wide-format imaging “hot,”
organizers of the Graphics of the
Americas trade show will add a Wide
Format/Sign & Banner hall to its
2005 event. The show has featured
wide-format digital printing since
1997, but next year’s event will mark
the first time organizers have
dedicated a separate venue for wideformat vendors.
The Graphics of the Americas show
will occur February 4-6, 2005, at the
Miami Beach (Fla.) Convention
Center. For more information, visit
www.graphicsoftheamericas.com.
displays. In addition, the offices are
equipped with a state-of-the-art
training center. The new facilities
will provide easier access to hands-on
technical resources for operators
seeking practical instruction in
mounting and finishing skills.
The office is located at 10600
Shoemaker Avenue, Suite D, Santa
Fe Springs, CA 90670. Phone:
562/941-9630, fax: 562/941-2927
Drytac Moves to Larger
Quarters
Drytac Corporation has announced
the opening of a larger warehouse,
customer service and training facility
in. The new offices provide
additional warehouse space and are
only minutes from the company’s
previous location. The expanded
product-stocking capabilities will
expedite the company’s commitment
to greater inventory levels and faster
shipping turnaround in the
Southwest region.
Correction
In REPRO REPORT Issue 4,
we misidentified a shop’s
location. The 2004
Reprographics Shop of the
Year winner, Queen City
Reprographics, is located
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The new offices also include a
showroom for Drytac’s extensive line
of banner stands and portable
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
23
ASSOCIATIONHIGHLIGHTS
In Memorium:
John Deermount
John Deermount, 89, died July 13 after
suffering complications from a hip
fracture. Deermount retired as the
owner and president of The Blue Print
Company in New York City. He was
an industry leader, serving as president
of both the New York Blue Print Club
and the Eastern Regional
Reprographic Association. He also
served on the IRgA board and as
convention chairman.
He loved boating at Lake Hopatcong,
New Jersey. Deermount was a member
in both the Lake Hopatcong Yacht
Club and the New York Athletic Club
Yacht Club. He was a Life Member of
the NYAC and served as Commodore
of its Yacht Club at Travers Island in
New Rochelle. He volunteered as an
instructor for the U.S. Power
Squadron and was an active
participant in Predicted Log Racing.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy
Virginia; a son, John Jr. of Upper
Montclair, New Jersey; and five
grandchildren, Cory C. Deermount of
Tampa, Fla.; Kathleen Muzyl of
Clarksville, Ind.; John A. Deermount
of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and Michael I.
Deermount and Amy R. Deermount of
Upper Montclair. He was buried in a
private ceremony on July 16.
Donations can be made to your local
hospice center.
Attract Top-Notch
Employees
As reprographic shops continue to
diversify and find alternative avenues
for profitability, print-related jobs will
become increasingly diverse and
technologically demanding. In order to
ensure the best staff at your disposal,
you’ll need to know how to advertise
job openings appropriately. To that
end, the IRgA is offering a tool that
belongs on the shelf of every human
resources department.
The IRgA Job Description Sample
Guide consists of more than 350 pages
of employee job descriptions. The
guide supplies a variety of samples for
many reprographic job titles and is
intended to be an aid in customizing
your own job descriptions for hiring
and promotional purposes.
For quick reference, the publication is
divided into several categories:
administration, accounting, customer
service, human resource, IT/IS,
production, sales and marketing,
Upcoming Regional Reprographic Conventions
24
Central Reprographic
Association
September 30 - October 2, 2004
Marriott Hotel, Dallas, TX
Contact: Phil Hudson
940/723-0591
Southeastern Reprographic
Association
October 13-16, 2004
Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Contact: Dan Floyd
404/256-0112
Eastern Regional
Reprographic Association
October 21-24, 2004
Hilton Mystic, Mystic, CT
Contact: Joan Rowley
860/444-9627
Check out the ERRA’s new Web site at
www.erra.org
Western Regional
Reprographic Association
September 16-19, 2004
Resort at the Mountain
Welches (Mt. Hood), OR
Contact: Monica Estrada
323/728-9500
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
service and maintenance, and
warehouse and delivery. Order a copy
online at www.irga.com, or call the
IRgA at 800/833-4742.
ERRA Convention
Heads to Mystic
The Eastern Regional
Reprographics Association
will be holding its 56th annual
Conference and Trade Show
in scenic Mystic, Conn.,
Oct. 22-24.
The conference’s first day
includes ERRA’s annual golf
tournament, teeing off at 6:30
a.m. at Elmridge Golf Course,
followed by the afternoon
opening of the trade show at
the Hilton Mystic. The
following day’s events include
an educational seminar on
variable data printing, presented
by ERRA’s Vice President and
Program Chairman, Kim
Clements. The day wraps up
with the President’s
Reception and Dinner at
the Mystic Aquarium.
For information on registration
and membership, contact
Craig Perry, ERRA treasurer,
at 860/296-2500. To learn
more about the golf outing
and trade show, contact Al
Rizzo, assistant treasurer and
secretary, 617/471-3373,
ext. 232.
A Bit of Reprographic History…
History…
By K. Schipper
C
alvin Ehler doesn’t look much
like a treasure hunter, but he’s
found a reprographics industry
gold mine of sorts, and now he’d like
to ensure his treasures a good,
appreciative home.
Ehler is himself a link to the industry’s
past. After selling his own
reprographic shop some years ago, his
Corona, Calif.-based J.C.B.A. Imaging
Co. remains one of the few
manufacturers of diazo paper left in
the reprographics industry. At 63, he
can see a time in the not-too-distant
future when he retires.
“Everything now is digital, but there
are still a lot of people who have the
old ammonia blueline machines
that are still running our products,”
Ehler says.
However, Ehler is quick to compare
his situation with the makers of blackand-white televisions.
“It’s just technology,” he says. “Forty
years ago, it was hard to buy a color
TV. Now, you can’t find a black-andwhite set. They don’t make them any
more because people aren’t going to
buy them.”
Appreciating the Past
The future may be in CAD, electronic
plan rooms and white-paper prints, but
Ehler has enough experience in the
industry to appreciate its past, which is
what convinced him he’d found a
treasure trove when he began
liquidating the Southern California
assets of one of his competitors two
years ago.
Ehler was asked by a Chicago bank to
help liquidate the assets of Dietzgen
Corp., Gardena, Calif., in 2002.
Dietzgen is a well-known name in the
reprographics industry, having begun
life in Chicago in 1885 as the Eugene
Dietzgen Co., an engineering supply
house. In the years that followed, the
company invented Van Dyke paper,
began manufacturing a line of drawing
and surveying instruments, and
acquired a German-based drafting
instrument factory.
More significantly, in 1920 Dietzgen
became the exclusive U.S. marketer
of a German dry diazo process.
Later, anticipating World War II,
the company began developing its
own technology for the dry diazo
process. The post-war years saw
Dietzgen open branch sales offices
throughout the United States, and
later, regional coating plants were
combined with distribution centers.
In 1971, the company was restructured
as Dietzgen Corp.
Dietzgen is recognized as the first to
market commercially viable polyester
drafting films. It continued to refine
them while adding large document
copier technology to its product line,
but in early 2002 the owners walked
away from the business after selling
certain assets, including the name, to
Nashua Corp. of Nashua, N.H.
(Editor’s note: Find out more about
the Dietzgen Division of Nashua at
www.dietzgen.com.)
The Dietzgen Collection
Ehler has subsequently moved
everything from the plant that wasn’t
carried away by neighbors. He says in
going through the myriad boxes he
acquired, he’s found “basically the
history of diazo from start to finish.”
Among the finds that are now filling
the conference table of his own office
are surveying equipment and drafting
instruments ranging from transits and
levels to a transparent amber triangle at
least 100 years old. Other items include
ledgers and catalogs dating back to at
least 1896. The ledgers represent not
only a time when bookkeeping
involved carefully recorded hand
entries, but lists of companies no
longer in existence and an era when
a train car load of chemical could be
bought for less than $20.
Dietzgen marketed heavily by catalog.
By the time the company observed its
silver anniversary in 1910, that year’s
edition was as thick as a novel and
cost 50 cents. Even in the Depression,
the 1931 edition ran to more than 500
pages. In later years, the company
produced different catalogs for its
school and drafting and surveying
customers. At a time when most
women aspired to being wives and
mothers, the slogan on the school
catalog claimed, “Products of
reputation for the men of tomorrow.”
Whether directed at those already
working or those aspiring to be
draftsmen, surveyors or engineers,
Dietzgen instruments could be serious
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
25
investments. A drawing kit with a
selection of compasses and bow
dividers in a leatherette case sold for
as much as $20 at the end of World
War II.
Along with the ledgers, other items
are more closely associated with the
business itself. They include a
microscope and two micrometers used
in Dietzgen’s coating operation,
company photos, a 1943 roster of
employees who had at least 25 years of
service with Dietzgen and invitations
and the program for an awards
ceremony organized to present the
firm with a prestigious defense award
during World War II.
Still other items are of a more
general nature, such as the 1904
edition of Technic of Mechanical
Drafting, sample books of paper, slide
rules, drawing curves and plastic
triangles ready for sale under the
Dietzgen name.
Ehler’s pride-and-joy, however, is safely
stored at his home. The cylindrical
electric blueprint machine dates to
approximately 1928 and Ehler believes
it was one of the first in a family of
machines developed by Dietzgen to
make blueline prints.
“They made them for their own use
and for resale to other companies
that would do their printing in-house,”
he says.
Seeking a
Permanent Home
Ehler is still exploring the extent of
his find, unpacking boxes as time
permits. However, he’s certain that his
office shouldn’t be the final resting
place for this slice of reprographic
history. He admits to not having had
time to try to locate a permanent
home for key pieces of the collection,
but he’s hoping someone within the
industry will volunteer a space in
which to preserve and display it.
REPRO REPORT readers interested in
showcasing the historical collection
are invited to contact Ehler at
805/377-9999 or 909/272-8672. ●
K. Schipper is a freelance writer specializing in
the reprographics industry. She can be reached
at [email protected].
“My hope would be to find somebody
who has a corporate office with a
waiting room or a showroom,
something of that nature,” Ehler
concludes. “Things like the ledgers,
the photographs, the old triangle
should be preserved. This is a lot of
interesting stuff.”
When paper is your specialty, a good
micrometer is a must. A later version has
more stainless steel and a more detailed
gauge, but the idea is the same as with this
model, which Ehler dates to 1911 or 1912.
Dietzgen was known for several things, including manufacturing
surveying instruments. When this oil leveler was produced, Dietzgen may
have been the better-known company name on it. Today, the company
for whom it was made is probably more widely recognized thanks to its
former CEO, Vice President Dick Cheney, and its contracts with the
federal government.
26
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
The pride-and-joy of Ehler’s collection is a 1928 machine
described in a catalog as a “cylindrical electric blueprint
machine with patent roller curtain.” One of the first
machines developed by Dietzgen to manufacture the product
called diazo, it would have been marketed to other
companies and also used in-house for creating the standard
project plans the company sold. Photo by Jim McAfee.
Unless specified otherwise, photos
are by Emerson Schwartzkopf.
In the days when bulk chemicals
weren’t rigorously sold by size, a
good microscope was important.
Ehler says Dietzgen would have had
paddle machines to break down its
chemicals to the proper fineness
needed for each coating, and
someone on the staff would have the
job of determining when the particles
had achieved their proper dimensions.
Pre-computer mechanical drawing and drafting required a different set of skills. Ehler’s collection includes a 1904
copy of Technic of Mechanical Drafting, with plates showing the correct way to draw a wide number of
engineering features. The book, by the chief draftsman for Engineering News, billed itself as “a practical guide to
neat, correct and legible drawing.”
Dietzgen offered a wide range of
transits and levels for engineers of all
sorts, including those working in the
mining, road construction and building
industries. The company also sold
more mundane surveying supplies such
as plumb bobs, tapes, chains and
marking pins.
When you make a good product, customers
are satisfied. This triangle, returned to
Dietzgen in 1992, may have been one of
the first manufactured by the firm, which
started making drawing and surveying
instruments in 1893.
Eugene Dietzgen Co. loved
producing catalogs, and in the
early years they were hefty
tomes. The 1910 edition cost
50 cents. Even during the
Depression, the 1931 edition
ran more than 500 pages.
In later years, the company published
separate catalogs for its school and
drafting and surveying markets. The
school catalogs featured colorful covers
representative of the time, and the
slogan, “Products of reputation for the
men of tomorrow.” Those selling
drafting and surveying supplies had a
more serious look.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
27
This is the second REPRO REPORT
KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS
article on key financial ratios for
successfully running your business.
The first article can be found in
issue four 2004, pages 26-29.
Some of YOUR Cash Is Squirreled Away in
Inventory! (How to Get Your Hands on It)
By Bill Schaberg
L
ast issue, we looked at how a
large part of the elusive profits
from a family business could be
hidden away in accounts receivable
(AR), and I suggested a few systematic
steps to liberate some of that cash so
that it ended up in your own
checkbook.
Cash Sitting on
the Floor
But AR is only part of the problem.
During the annual financial review of
our company, the accountant would
also talk to my dad, my brother and
me about how our inventory numbers
had gone up and point out that some
of our hard-earned cash was sitting
right there on the floor in our shop.
(He knew this because he had finally
convinced us that we should, at least,
take an annual inventory count of
everything in the company.)
As with his comments on accounts
receivable, my reaction was basically
negative. “Doesn’t this guy know that
we need all of this stuff just to keep
our business up and running? How can
we properly service our customers if
we don’t keep enough supplies ready
and available?” In general, this
inventory issue really annoyed me, and
I couldn’t understand why the
accountant considered it so important.
He obviously didn’t understand how
the reprographics business worked!
Then, in 1993, we purchased the MV
accounting package for our company. I
remember the trainer coming out to
help us install the software and the
valiant effort that he made to
convince me of the benefits of the
inventory module. I listened with
barely concealed irritation and then
explained that not only didn’t we need
the extra expense of buying the
inventory module, we certainly didn’t
need all of that on-going extra work
and aggravation “just to keep track
of every pencil and rubber band in
the shop.”
The trainer couldn’t believe I was
rejecting his arguments – but I did –
and we never installed the inventory
module. My entrenched position was
that “all that extra work would do
nothing but confirm something that
we already know – we NEED all of
this stuff that we are buying!”
Wrong! I now know that we were
simply squirreling away a fair amount
of our own cash in unnecessary
inventory. If I had been more open
and willing to consider some sort of
inventory controls, there is no doubt
in my mind that this new-found
attitude would have resulted in a
significant amount of cash
materializing in our company
checkbook.
Plan? Or Overstock?
Here’s a typical story that perhaps
some of you can identify with.
A really big color job came into the
shop late one Friday afternoon that we
had promised to deliver early on
Monday morning. We worked Friday
night, all day Saturday and most of the
day Sunday – right up until the time
that we ran out of yellow toner! All
our usual emergency sources were
closed on Sunday so there was nothing
we could do but shut down the job
and deal with a very unhappy client
on Monday morning.
But on Monday, I had to deal with an
even unhappier sales person – who
happened to be my brother John. We
exchanged words over who was
responsible for this disaster and his
parting comment was “From now on, I
want to see at least 10 cartons of each
color of toner sitting next to those
copiers in the color department!”
I now know that we were
simply squirreling away a fair
amount of our own cash in
unnecessary inventory.
That sounded like a reasonable
solution to me too, so from that day
forward we made sure that we had at
least 10 cartridges of black, yellow,
cyan and magenta toner sitting next
to our two (toner incompatible)
color copiers.
Let’s see… if I remember correctly we
were paying something like $165 for
each cartridge of toner in those days,
so now we had $13,200 (!!!) worth of
toner [$165 x 4 x 10 x 2] constantly
sitting on the floor in the color
department. And I thought this was
OK because we never ran out of
yellow toner again!
It never occurred to me that perhaps
the solution to this problem was in
proper planning rather than in
overstocking. If we were truly in touch
with what was going on in our
customer’s offices, we could have
already stocked up for this big job. Or,
if we had properly calculated our usage
once we got the job, we certainly could
have begged, borrowed or bought some
extra toner to cover our needs.
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
29
A more general way of responding to
the problem would have been to track
the daily meter readings on our
machines so that we knew what the
maximum output was per machine,
per day. Adding that information to
the maximum yield per toner cartridge
(which the manufacturer could have
easily supplied us with) would have
told us how much toner we needed
to keep on hand in order to have a
three-day or a four-day supply
readily available.
It never occurred to me that
perhaps the solution to this
problem was in proper planning
rather than in overstocking.
Instead, we took the easier, softer way
and just significantly overstocked on
toner. What I didn’t realize was that
we had to suffer the consequences
that this (and other bad inventory
decisions) caused us. Once again,
we had profits on the books but
no corresponding cash in our
company checkbook.
The Answer is Clear
But even if we had properly planned
and calculated in the short term, the
true, long-term solution to this kind
of problem had to be much more
comprehensive. It had to begin with
me changing my mind about the
necessity and central importance of
good accounting practices. I had to
accept and believe in the mantra:
If you don’t measure it, you
can’t manage it.
In this case, it meant that we had to
start regularly counting and carefully
tracking everything in the shop so
that we had a REAL number that we
could use to base our buying decisions
on in the future. The easiest way to do
this is with the capabilities in the
accounting software package.
30
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
Once we had a real number for the
inventory in our shop, we could then
take that information and turn it into
a financial ratio called “days sales in
inventory” (DSI). This ratio is the key
to managing your inventory so that it
is as lean as possible.
Now, 29 days isn’t such a bad DSI
number if you sell a lot of supplies and
equipment. But if your company only
does printing and finishing – if you’re
what someone once called “a burner
shop” – then your DSI should be
much closer to 14 days.
DSI tells you how many days worth of
inventory you have in stock and the
number of times that your inventory
“turns over” in one year. For instance,
if you have 90 days of stock on hand,
that is equal to “four turns per year.”
In addition, DSI is a measurement of
how efficiently you order and stock
your inventory while serving as an
indicator of how much obsolete or
spoiled inventory you might have on
hand.
For instance, if the company in the
example above could reduce their DSI
to 15 days, it would put $17,000
directly into the company checkbook
– money that is currently sitting on
the floor as inventory.
As with most financial ratios, you can
use any formula that works for you as
long as you use the same formula
consistently. One way to calculate
your DSI is by totaling all of your
material costs for the past 12 months
and then dividing it by the amount of
inventory you have on hand at the
moment. This gives you the number of
turns per year. Divide 365 days by the
number of turns and you will get
another number telling you how many
days supply of inventory you currently
have on hand.
For those of you (like me) who are
mathematically challenged, here is a
more concrete example:
Once you have worked out your
current DSI, you can set a specific,
attainable goal and work on increasing
your “number of turns” per year – and
thereby putting some of that extra
cash into the company checkbook.
Reaching Your Goal
You can reach that new goal by taking
a few simple steps.
You MUST have a purchase
order system. Yeah, I know.
It’s more paperwork, but if
you don’t have a well-defined paper
trail that clearly assigns responsibility
for material requests and usage, then
you will never be able to get a grip on
your inventory.
1
Putting a purchase order system in
place (and then sticking to it!), forces
people to “put it in writing” which
Material Cost for 12 Months:
Today’s Inventory Balance
Inventory Turnover [440,000 ÷ 35,000]
$440,000
$35,000
12.6 turns a year
Day Sales in Inventory [365 ÷ 12.6]
29 days
DSI tells you how many days worth of
inventory you have in stock and the
number of times that your inventory
“turns over” in one year.
adds a whole new layer of
consideration that just isn’t present
when anyone can pick up the phone
and call a vendor. I am a big fan of
paper trails and there is hardly one
more important than this one in the
purchasing department.
It is critical to have a single,
central person who is
responsible for all purchasing.
Whether yours is a small or a large
company, it is essential that only ONE
person be allowed to place orders for
your shop.
2
That person should be held responsible
for checking all requests to make sure
that the material is really needed and
that the paperwork is properly filled
out and correctly approved. If all of
these requirements are not met, then
the purchase order does NOT get
processed. No one else in the
company should be authorized or
allowed to order materials under
any circumstances.
Instituting a plan like this and
making it stick are two different
things. If your shop has been lax
about inventory controls in the past,
then this will be a BIG culture
change and it will only “stick” if you
are completely serious about it.
In the beginning, it is helpful
to make it mandatory that the
owner approves all purchases
over a certain number. Depending on
how bad your starting DSI is, this
number may be as low as $100 but
should certainly not be any higher
than $500.
3
Knowing that there is “a new way of
doing business” in place and that the
boss is taking a personal interest in it
sends exactly the right message if you
want inventory control to become part
of your corporate culture.
Get tough. Before you spend
a dime on materials, you need
to ask: “Do I need this or do I
just want this? Do I really need it
NOW? Do I really need this MANY
now?” (This applies to everything in
the shop – even to the number of
boxes of rubber bands that you order.)
4
It is important to develop a new
perspective and new appreciation for
what materials are truly important.
Take a hard look around at the current
inventory in your shop and ask
yourself the questions listed above.
How many cartridges of toner are on
hand? How many skids of paper? How
many rolls of pink bond paper do you
currently have in stock? (And, where
did all that come from?)
It is critical to have a single,
If you haven’t done this sort of review
of your inventory in the past, I am
sure you will be amazed at some of the
items and the quantities of items that
you discover in your shop. Amazed.
I realize that this last item is the same
advice that I offered in the previous
article but it bears repeating because it
is so true. Talking to other people like
this will provide you with a solid
“reality check” for your own numbers
while creating a bit of competition –
which always helps when trying to
accomplish new goals.
Get help in getting tough.
Involve everyone in the shop
so that you develop a
company-wide mindset that naturally
tightens down on everything. It is
important for you to be publicly
serious about this if you want people
in your shop to become serious about
it. An initiative like this can only
be successful if it is driven from the
top down.
5
Track all inventory to weed
out old, obsolete or damaged
items. Try “dot coding” by
putting a red dot on every box in the
shop today. A system like this will not
only let you rotate stock more
efficiently (changing colors every
month is very effective), but it will
also provide an excellent visual check
in six months for items that should
be weeded out and either sold at a
severe discount, given away or
simply tossed out.
6
Create a support group –
don’t try to do this alone. It is
always easier to accomplish
goals with the help of a little peer
pressure. Call up three of your friends
in the industry – people who are
basically the same size company as
yours with a similar business mix.
Ask your three friends to do the
calculations described above and then
promise to honestly share the initial
results among yourselves and any
results from your efforts to lower
your DSI.
7
central person who is
responsible for all purchasing.
You Can Do It
At the beginning of this list of “to do”
items for improving your DSI, I called
them “simple steps.” Please note that I
meant this in the sense of “this isn’t
brain surgery” and not in the sense
that “this is going to be easy.” If you
are anything like me when I was
running my shop, these steps call for a
completely new mindset regarding
inventory controls and then a total
change in the company culture to
ensure that those controls are
effective. This can be as tough on the
boss as it is on the employees – but it
is the only way to get the job done!
Measuring and controlling your
inventory WILL produce a lower DSI
over the coming months and lowering
your DSI will increase the amount of
cash that you have in the checkbook.
I guarantee it! ●
Bill Schaberg has been in the reprographics
industry for the past 35 years and is currently
the vice president of corporate development at
American Reprographics Company. Schaberg
is a member of the REPRO REPORT
Editorial Advisory Committee and can be
reached at [email protected].
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
31
PRODUCTINNOVATIONS
Gerber Releases Elan XL
Printer, New Inks
Gerber Scientific Products has
launched the Gerber Elan XL, a highspeed, high-resolution piezoelectric
inkjet printer. The Gerber Elan XL
prints directly onto uncoated media
up to 64" wide at resolutions from
360 to 1440 dpi.
print functionality; collated print sets;
“Softproofing” that matches the
monitor image to printer output;
printer gamut limitation warnings;
drivers for the latest Contex and
VIDAR scanners; drivers for the
Canon W 6200, Epson Stylus Pro
4000, Océ TDS 300 and Encad
NovaJet 1000i printers.
Colorado/CopySystems 7.0 is a
chargeable upgrade version, which
requires a new keycode. A free demo
version is available for download at
www.scp-america.com.
QUICK VIEW
Companies in
Product
Innovations:
Encad, Inc.
Two New Kodak WideFormat Inkjet Media
Gerber Scientific
Products
Océ
SCP Software
Seal Graphics
Americas
Corporation
Western
Graphtec
The Elan XL features Gerber’s new
non-toxic, organic solvent inks,
which can last in outdoor applications
for up to three years. The inks also
resist chemicals and abrasion without
laminating.
Using variable dot imaging
technology, dual-CMYK colors and
precision motion control, the Elan XL
can print at speeds up to 375 square
feet per hour. The printer uses Onyx’s
ImageRIP Pro and Plus software.
For more information, visit
www.gspinc.com.
SCP Upgrades Colorado
Software
SCP Software Company has released
Colorado/CopySystems 7.0, the latest
version of its software solution for
wide-format scanning, copying and
printing.
Features of the upgrade include:
adjustable automatic scan modes;
improved filters for sharpening,
smoothening and descreening; a raster
editor with 1:1 zoom function, spy
window, text insertion, eraser and
32
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
Encad, Inc., announced the
introduction of two media —
KODAK Water-Resistant
Removable Vinyl and KODAK
Water-Resistant Scrim Banner
— to its portfolio of
KODAK wide-format
inkjet media. The two
media are meant for a
wide variety of
indoor/outdoor applications
including retail signage, point of
purchase displays and exhibit
graphics. The products establish a
range of high quality, indoor and
outdoor wide-format inkjet
media with increased
performance.
KODAK Water-Resistant Removable
Vinyl is a calendared vinyl with a
pressure sensitive, removable,
repositionable adhesive, designed for
both indoor and outdoor displays.
KODAK Water-Resistant Scrim
Banner is made of a tear-resistant
polyester fabric embedded between
two layers of calendared white vinyl
and is available for both thermal and
piezo inkjet printing systems. Its new
scrim banner is a universal product
solution for banner applications.
For more information, visit
www.encad.com
Fast Encapsulating with
New Seal Laminator
Seal Graphics Americas Corporation’s
SEAL EP 42 is a multi-application
laminator that can perform hot or
cold mounting and laminating up to
43" wide. The machine’s main feature
is its high-speed production
encapsulation.
According to Jim Tatum, Seal’s
business development/product
manager, “The new SEAL EP 42 can
handle sheet-fed encapsulating up to
two times faster than its competitors
at speeds up to nine feet per minute.
Plus it can handle pressure-sensitive
operations with substrates up to .5"
thick at speeds up to 13 feet per
minute.”
For heat-activated
applications, the EP 42’s Tefloncoated rollers heat the film while the
main rollers apply pressure to bond
the film to the media. A color-coded
application-guide and nip adjustment
lever allow for quick setup, and a
Teflon-coated print guide ensures
straight feeds without scratches. The
machine also features X-axis in-line
slitters and a bar mounted Y-axis
manual slitter for fast trim out.
For more information, visit
www.sealgraphics.com.
PRODUCTINNOVATIONS
Océ Announces
Polypropylene
Banner Material
Océ announces the availability of Océ
Outdoor Polypropylene Banner
material for producing large format
inkjet display graphics prints. This
medium broadens the Océ range of
outdoor large format offerings, which
includes polyester, vinyl, scrim and
Tyvek® media. Océ Outdoor
Polypropylene Banner (OBPOLY8)
material is a versatile, universal banner
medium designed exclusively to meet
the needs of the retail signage market.
It is a medium-weight material with an
opaque white inkjet coating that can
accept both dye and pigment inks. Its
bright white appearance over a smooth
polypropylene base and excellent light
blocking ability make it ideal for
producing retail and point-of-purchase
signage, exhibit displays and outdoor
banners.
Océ Outdoor Polypropylene Banner
material features biaxial tear resistance,
giving it added strength for use in
outdoor applications. Polypropylene
material is valued by the display graphics
industry as an economical medium for
short-term outdoor applications. Two
other polypropylene media, IBPOLY7
and UBPOLY7, designed for indoor use,
are also available from Océ. Océ
Outdoor Polypropylene Banner is
available in 36" and 42" wide by 200-
foot long rolls and 50" and 60" wide by
100-foot long rolls.
For more information, visit
www.oceusa.com
Markzware Releases
FlightCheck Upgrade
Markzware’s FlightCheck Workflow
v3.5 has been released and is available
for download at www.markzware.com/
wheretobuy. The upgrade adds several
new features, including support for
Adobe Creative Suite, improved
Adobe InDesign functionality
and better PowerPoint and MS Word
management.
continued on page 34
Continue the Partnership…
Membership in the IRgA is an Ongoing Experience.
hen asked to renew your membership, say
YES, and reap the benefits detailed here
for another year. Then, step up your
involvement in the work of the association and
see the impact…for you and your company, as
well as the organization.
W
Contact the IRgA Headquarters at 312/245-1026
or [email protected] to volunteer your services.
There’s no telling how great the IRgA can be
when each partner contributes.
REPRO REPORT Weekly
REPRO REPORT
IRgA FORUM
ANNUAL CONVENTION
MOUNTING & LAMINATING SEMINAR
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
JOURNAL SERIES
SALARY SURVEY
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
33
PRODUCTINNOVATIONS
FlightCheck Workflow processes and
analyzes information about documents
and jobs while automatically checking
for potential problems. It can automate
error correction, proofing and final
output and other repetitive prepress
tasks, and can also be integrated with
FlightCheck Professional for quality
file output. The new release is
compatible with desktop publishing
applications from Adobe, Quark and
Microsoft, and it can store
standardized information about pages,
spreads, boxes, images and colors for
quick and easy analysis and correction.
FlightCheck Workflow is supported by
the MarkzONE object-oriented
database, which provides its own
scripting language to create custom
34
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
automation and processes for specific
workflow needs.
The FlightCheck Workflow upgrade
from v3.1 is $299. The stand-alone
FlightCheck Workflow v3.5 for
Macintosh license is $999.
Dietzgen Debuts
New Media
Dietzgen has created three new wideformat media. Magellan Simply
Canvas is a 19 mil. 30% canvas/70%
polyester blend designed as an
economical canvas for art
reproduction and framing. The fabric
features a water-resistant coating for
smudge-free imaging with both dye
and pigment inks.
Magellan Holly Wood is a 100%
cotton, museum-grade, double weave
matte canvas with a crack-resistant,
water-resistant top coating suitable for
stretching over frames. Holly Wood is
compatible with dye and pigment inks.
Also available is a new premium
92 bright Inkjet Bond designed
for architects, engineers, contractors
and blueprinters who use CAD
applications and wide format ink jet
printers. The paper is available in 24”,
30”, 34”, 36” and 42” roll widths.
For more information, visit
www.nashua.com/Dietzgen.
S E E
Y O U
I N
Las Vegas!
International Reprographic Association
79th Annual Convention & Trade Show
◆
May 11-13, 2005
Caesar’s Palace
Las Vegas
◆
Visit www.irga.com about this event and all IRgA has to offer.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
reach out to its membership and create
value. The IRgA must never forget
that each of you, its members and
associate members, are its customers.
And it needs to provide leadership
and direction for our industry. Our
new strategic direction points the
association outward and focuses on
the entire reprographics industry.
I stated previously, it is my goal to
reinvigorate and grow our
membership, and one of the ways that
I hope to achieve that is to get to
know each one of you and evangelize
the value of a healthy IRgA so that
each of you will in turn do the same
with other member and non-member
participants in our industry.
At the same time, this organization
needs the support of the entire
industry, through membership, if it is
to garner the resources necessary to
deliver on its worthwhile mission. As
We’re all in this together. Some of us
might compete for business with one
another, but in the grand scheme of
things, we need each other more
today than ever before. In short, the
Dear REPRO REPORT,
having them print them “on demand”
for the subs who were using them for
bidding purposes only. The subs would
pay the blueprinter for only those
prints he needed to bid the project.
TO THE EDITOR
LETTERS
PRESIDENT’SPERSPECTIVE
The more things change, the more they
stay the same. While reading your
article, “Plan Room with a View” [issue
three 2004], I thought that maybe
someone should explain this to the
architects out there who feel
threatened by us little reprographers.
In “the old days,” an architect would
design a project, take it to his
blueprinter of choice and have X
number of sets copied. He would then
take those copied sets back to his office
and send out one or two sets of
blueprints, and sometimes even a
vellum or mylar set, to each of the
bidding general contractors. It was
understood at that time that the general
contractor would have to make copies
for bidding purposes.
Next, the general contractor would
take the drawings to his own
blueprinter, who would copy 10 sets of
As, seven sets of Es, five sets of Ms and
Ps or whatever was needed. He pay the
blueprinter for the copies and bring
them back to his office to distribute
them to subs for bidding purposes. I
never knew of a single architect that
had a problem with this.
Eventually, the general contractors
began to realize that they could save
themselves the expense of paying for all
those prints by making the subs pay for
them. At first, they simply asked the
subs to pay when they came into the
general’s office to get their plans. Then
they realized that they could save time,
money and waste by simply leaving the
original set at the blueprinter and
36
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
At this point, the architects began to
balk. They claimed the blueprinter was
profiting by making copies of their
copyrighted prints. What they failed to
realize was that the blueprinter always
profited from making copies of their
prints. It was just via a different
avenue. The blueprinter, on the other
hand, saw this as a great opportunity to
increase revenue by adding value. He
would now manage the distribution of
the documents for the general as well
as the “open-minded” architect.
Sub-contractors would begin to call on
a regular basis to find out what projects
were available to bid on. Generals
started getting more sub bids per
project, bringing project costs down.
With the advent of the digital age,
this process made a natural migration
to digital. Digital plan rooms began to
pop up. Now anyone could see the
plans online from the comfort of their
own office. Reprographers began to
take advantage of new digital
equipment and could churn out more
plans in a shorter time. Electronic
document management became a
reality. Reprographers became more
involved in the bid process. Generals
were able to spend less time worrying
about plan distribution, and more time
worrying about pulling bids together.
Architects no longer needed to produce
costly mylars or vellums, or any paper
at all. Again, all to ultimately benefit
the architect.
IRgA must be our industry focal point
and the glue that keeps us together.
For as Helen Keller once said “Alone
we can do so little; together we can
do so much.”
Please join me this year in building a
stronger industry and a healthy and
vibrant IRgA. Thank you very much!
Chuck Gremillion is president of A&E – The
Graphics Complex, Houston, Texas. He may
be reached at 713/621-0022 or
[email protected].
Some architects think everything they
design is so good that everyone is just
waiting to steal it. They fail to realize
that their drawings in plan rooms, both
physical and virtual, are there for
bidding purposes and it is to their
benefit to have them there. Some
claim that this is akin to what is
happening with the recording industry
today. That is not the case at all.
Nobody is stealing plans to build
another building. The copies being
made are for bidding purposes as they
always have been. Some would argue
that they lose control of the drawings,
which in turn costs them money. The
truth is, they don’t have to lose
control. Every reprographer I know
is perfectly willing to work with the
architect to make sure he is in complete
control of the drawings. But I know of
some architects who see an opportunity
for financial gain. They want to do the
reproduction and distribution, setting
themselves up as the exclusive supplier
of plans, and charging ridiculous prices
for those plans.
Reprographers do the same thing that
blueprinters used to do. They copy
plans for bidding purposes. They just do
it in a more efficient, cost-effective
manner. The more things change, the
more they stay the same.
Dan Bouchard, Signature Press &
Blueprinting
Please send comments on REPRO
REPORT articles to: The Editor,
REPRO REPORT, 401 N. Michigan
Ave., Suite 2200, Chicago, IL 60611,
or e-mail [email protected].
CLASSIFIEDADS
REPRO REPORT shall not be held liable for the accuracy and/or warranties of equipment, supplies and services advertised in this publication.
Guidelines
Classified advertising in REPRO REPORT is provided as an exchange service to members and non-members of the International Reprographic Association.
Listings are $.50 per word for members and $1.50 per word for non-members. Please e-mail your classified ad to Erin Beekhuis at [email protected].
• Minimum/maximum word count –
Final word count will be determined
by the editor.
• Box numbers – For position-wanted
ads, advertisers may request a blind
box service at an extra $25 per ad.
• Payment – Full payment must
accompany each ad.
• Acceptance – REPRO REPORT
reserves the right to accept or reject
ads at the editor’s discretion. Ads are
accepted in the following categories:
Positions Available
Merchandise Mart
Océ 9476 plotter/ copier in "scan to
print and plot" configuration. Large quantity,
available for immediate delivery. Good
meters. Coming off Océ service, each unit
has Océ "service letter." These are great
machines for sale to end-users or
expansion of FM operations. Call Tom
McNew at DIGITAL ES 800/749-1138 or
[email protected].
Digital ES has the industry's largest
inventory of used wide-format copiers,
printers and plotters. All major
manufacturers' machines in stock. Available
as full refurbs or "as is where is," from our
dock or delivered and installed, 20 years
plus in the business. We speak your
language. Call us 800/749-1138 or
[email protected].
WANTED: $1,000 Reward for information
leading to the purchase of an Océ 9800.
Contact Tom McNew, DIGITAL ES,
800/749-1138, [email protected].
Engineering copier parts and
supplies for use in Calcomp, C-4,
Dietzgen, K+E, Kip, JDL, JRL Systems, Mita,
Océ, Regma, Ricoh, Visual Edge and Xerox.
Image Products of California carries toners,
developers, photoreceptors, cleaning
blades, fuser rollers, pressure rollers, fuser
webs and much more. IPC carries both
OEM as well as IPC (our own private label)
brand products. Make IPC your one-stopshop and call us at 800/221-8831,
714/282-5678 or fax us at 714/282-5680,
or visit www.imageproductsca.com.
positions available, position wanted,
equipment wanted, business
opportunities and services/equipment
for sale (ie. Merchandise Mart).
• Number of ads – Acceptance of ads
will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Engineering parts for the complete line
of Xerox, Kip and Océ systems. OEM parts
at a quarter of the price of the
manufacturer. We have been supplying the
large-format industry for over 10 years and
carry over 1,000 parts and supplies. Call
Reprographic Technology today for a
competitive quote on your engineering
parts. Call 888/746-1802 or visit
www.reprographic-intl.com.
Laminators: New and rebuilt AGL, Orca,
Falcons and Seals rollers recoated - Service
all brands. We purchase/trade/finance/
lease/train. Tehan & Co. 800/283-7290.
FOR SALE: Xerox 8180 24” wide red and
black printer. 36” wide scanner. Prints
1020-24X36 per hour. Reduces to 25%
and enlarges up to 400%. Meter count 900,000. Asking price $6,500. Call Walter
Walker at 925/674-0900.
FOR SALE: 6- Xerox 8855s; 3 Xerox Max
200s; please call Brett Scully,
eBlueprint.com, 216/281-1234,
[email protected].
Sintra/Gator cutter, Neolt 98" laser
guided 1.18" electric board cutter-demo
model $4850. Call 800/283-7290.
We repair Skrebba staplers. (factory
authorized service agency) Model 23, 117
and all current models. Contact Zack &
Associates Inc., 847/462-1460 or FAX
847/462-1580.
We have several reprographic industry
clients that are looking for motivated,
relationship building sales people in cities
throughout the U.S. These firms offer good
compensation and benefits, long-term
employment with lots of room to grow,
relocation and more. If you are looking for a
change, perhaps a new position, or just a
new adventure... then one of these
opportunities may be what you have been
looking for. Please e-mail us at
[email protected]. All inquiries and
contacts will be kept completely
confidential.
Leading Denver reprographic firm looking
for an experienced sales representative.
The ideal candidate will have a recent
successful track record selling in the
reprographic industry. A base salary, plus
commission, bonus, health, life and 401k.
E-mail resume to [email protected] or
fax to 303/297-8885.
Opportunities
Midwest blueprint firm interested in
acquisitions or investments from 50%
to 100% in blueprint and related companies
with sales of $3 million to $10 million.
Looking for mostly financial and strategic
planning involvement in ventures. Will pay
annuity for operationally strong firms in any
financial condition. Contact Brett Scully,
eBlueprint.com, at 216/281-1234;
e-mail: [email protected].
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
37
END OF THE ROLL
Let’s Get Strategic...
Steve Bova, CAE
Executive
Director
Few organizations have a clear
strategic vision. Thanks to the efforts
of the IRgA’s Long-Range Planning
Committee, the IRgA is putting the
finishing touches on its new strategic
plan. Most of the time strategic plans
are too elaborate, full of conflicting
agendas and end up being filed on a
shelf. Too frequently, there is no
communication or buy-in.
If the IRgA and the reprographics
industry are to have a successful future,
we must commit to a clear plan – one
that perhaps not everybody agrees with
(we can’t be all things to all people)
but one that we can all live with…a
plan that is clearly articulated,
understood and actionable.
There are a few basic ground rules
to follow during a strategic
planning session:
• Think new; there are no bad ideas
• Look ahead, not back (no “we’ve
tried that before and it didn’t work”)
• Full collaboration – everyone
participates
• Allow for flexibility
• Keep it focused, keep it real
• Define outcomes, not actions
or process
Realize that a strategic plan is a work
in progress, a journey, not a destination.
What’s relevant today may not be
relevant tomorrow.
Imagine the Possibilities
Strategic thinking, and the resulting
plan that will be included in next
month’s column, is not about
responding to problems. Rather, it’s
about anticipating different futures and
positioning the association accordingly.
One has to stretch to consider the
possibilities and anticipate the range of
possibilities that might be our future.
Once you begin to peel the
organizational onion, you uncover
some raw nerves. Some traditions must
be sacrificed for the good of the future.
38
ReproReport.com • Number Five 2004
It may be difficult for some to accept
that the IRgA of the future may not
look like the IRgA of the past. Most
will admit, however, that it is what’s
best for the organization and the
industry in the long run.
The IRgA will be challenged, and
the Board will have to make some
tough calls. But at the end of the day,
as “owners” of a business, decisions
will be made in the best interests of
the industry.
Some Critical Issues
Following are some of the issues
identified by the committee during the
planning session:
• Pace of change
• Concern about the industry’s future
– fear of a declining AEC core
• Question of loyalty to the
association and industry in the face
of industry fragmentation
• Lack of identity – who are we? Need
for a brand
• Need for industry education and a
strong association
In the end, the IRgA needs to
reinvent itself and devise a new,
broader strategy that focuses on the
industry as a whole. Those
organizations that have the strongest
brands and are most successful do a
few things, but they do them very,
very well.
Why This
Strategic Stuff?
The IRgA included current Board
members and staff, past presidents,
regional association leaders, industry
supplier partners, affinity group
representatives and other thought
leaders during an intensive, one-day
strategic planning session last winter.
The process was led by Mark Thorsby,
a strategic consultant with
SmithBucklin Corporation, who
conducts more than 100 similar
sessions annually with other trade and
professional associations and is known
internationally for his practical,
results-oriented work. During his
session, Thorsby quoted former GE
CEO Jack Welch: “If the pace of
change outside your organization is
greater than the pace of change
within, the end is near.”
Thinking strategically is not an
exercise; it’s a process. Your association
has begun to:
• Reaffirm the IRgA’s purpose and
mission
• Bring a sense of identity and priority
to the industry
• Evaluate the marketplace, current
and future
• Articulate opportunities and
challenges
• Remain flexible and open to change
• Gain new thinking in a proactive,
results-oriented manner
Focus long term and in a team
environment to gain a common
direction
Task forces of the Long Range
Planning Committee are putting the
final touches on a strategic plan that
will be unveiled in this column in the
next issue. We invite your feedback on
the process and on the plan itself. The
IRgA is fully committed to embrace its
new strategic plan, and is interested in
your thoughts as we continue our
process of planning our future. Send
your questions or thoughts to me at
[email protected]. ●
Steve Bova, CAE, is executive director of the
International Reprographic Association. He
may be reached at 800/833-4742 or
[email protected].