Digital Printing Hot Spot

Written by George Gibson
Manager, Next PIJ Platforms
Xerox Corporation

Five minutes ago I stood over a wastebasket, scissors in hand opening one of my least favorite sorts of containers – a plastic clamshell. I know why manufacturers and retailers are drawn to them, but their use as a package is just a way station on these materials’ route from the ground (as oil) to (in overwhelming fraction) the landfill. Just what we all need – another way to create garbage (I apologize to all those folks who have a vested interest in these packages, I’m just relating my personal taste here).

This experience was a whole planet away from the experience I had opening my iPhone. The packaging was beautiful. Opening it felt like a ceremony and, for no good reason in particular, I still have that packaging. This all makes me muse on why some packages are deigned from the start to be temporary (which can be a good thing if, for instance, we’re talking about packages designed to be as carbon neutral as possible).

The other day someone I love sent me some chocolate with my picture printed and some of my favorite aphorisms actually printed on them. It was so cute I NEARLY didn’t eat it. The problem was that once it was gone it was gone. I think I’ll use the package it came in do store screws in the basement workshop. The secondary packaging I just threw out. Here’s a seriously missed opportunity. With the all the information that chocolatier had about me the package could have become part of the gift – think a package that used the same information they already had about me, my picture, some “clever” things I like to say, and my birth date; and created a package that outlasted the candy. Something I would have treasured that would remind me of the sweet sentiment of the giver and their brand.

I hope you’re seeing the thread here. On the one hand we have packaging that makes me angrier and angrier the longer I struggle with it and on the other we have the potential for the package as a keepsake. Digital printing for packaging offers us the opportunity to transform the very role of the package. Please come and join us at the Xerox booth at drupa and let’s talk about how Xerox’s package printing and workflow solutions, including the exceptional personalization capability of XMPie can give your customers the power to make the leap.

Written by Joel Basa
eMarketing Manager
Xerox Corporation

Technology. Inkjet. Workflow. Finishing. Digital Press. Offset. Those are probably some of the topics that come to mind when you think of drupa 2012.

How about these topics? Social Listening. LinkedIn. Twitter. Facebook.  Blogs.

The latter group of topics has seen a huge spike in interest and has growing importance in the print industry. Social media has become an integral part of the way businesses market, communicate, educate and service their customers.  Social networks have also has become a large source of printed content for many of the print applications that consumers are looking to purchase.

How mature is your social media practice within your business? Do you need help getting started? Are you looking to further develop and expand your practice? At Xerox, we realize that businesses fall across this spectrum. At drupa, Xerox would like to help you with your social media practice.

We’ll be offering Social Media Clinics. Our Social Media Experts (aka “Doctors”) Joel Basa, Andy Hill and Christina Klos will help answer your questions on social media and provide 1:1 consultation for your business. We’ll provide you a “diagnosis” and prescribe a recommendation (“medicine” if you will) to accomplish your goals. You’ll walk away with a Information Sheet as well as 1 of 3 Social Media resources that will match your needs.

Please stop by our Social Media Café in our Xerox Stand in Hall 8b. Our clinics will be from 10:30-11:30 and 2:00-3:30 daily. If you have questions, please comment below or tweet using #xeroxdrupa.

We look forward to sitting down with you at drupa 2012!

Written by:
Howard Fenton
Senior Technology Consultant
NAPL

In many companies, the relationship between sales and production is strained. Sales blames production for mistakes, cost overruns or delivering late and production blames sales for over-promising, inaccurate job specifications or unrealistic deadlines.

If you’re like most companies today, you may have tried to create more teamwork and a better working relationship between production and sales. You may have had someone from prepress or one of your vendors offer your sales team training. You might have had an IT or prepress person go out on sales calls. Or you might not have been able to cost-justify hiring a subject matter expert (SME) or you hired a digital sales specialist that did not work out. And like most companies you may not have achieved much success.

The success in using SMEs extends far beyond just having someone you identify as the expert. It requires a culture of teamwork and ongoing teamwork exercises. One of the challenges is that in many companies the relationship between sales and production is more competitive than cooperative. When things go wrong, there is more finger pointing than fist bumping.

Team building and increasing moral will also increase productivity. Considering the typical morale problems I see, I would recommend trying to improve staff attitudes through a series of team-building exercises such as the creation of a new mission statement, plant tours that require teamwork and rehearsed presentations, as well as customer training seminars. Team building can also help create a sense of pride for on-time delivery.

Do you have a teamwork problem? Are you just living with it? Or are you working on it?

Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research. He is a paid contributor to this blog.

Written by Joel Basa
eMarketing Manager
Xerox Corporation

Our drupa 2012 countdown continues! In just a few short weeks, graphic communication professionals from around the world will travel to Düsseldorf, Germany for the start of drupa 2012. To help set the stage, Xerox is partnering with Cary Sherburne of Sherburne & Associates for a second industry-focused #tweetjam on Tuesday, April 24 to discuss expectations for this year’s show.

At drupa, the topic of the “Future of Print” will be seen in tangible form. We recently put together an InfoGraphic to share some of the vision of the “Future of Print” based on industry data. Take a look by click here.

Do you have a prediction or expectation for any of the new technologies and applications that will be on display in Düsseldorf? Share your thoughts and join the conversation on Twitter by following @CSherburne and @XeroxProduction – be sure to include the hashtags #FuturePrint and #drupa in your tweets! All are welcome to weigh in with their thoughts and questions on what will be the must see digital technologies, workflow software and business development solutions. Sherburne will lead the online conversation on Tuesday, April 24 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.

Written by:
Mamta Moolchandani & Victoria Burlison
Xerox Corporation

I’m (Vicky Burlison) a Curious Cat. When I say this, I do not mean that I am a soft furred feline who likes to explore. Upon considering a purchase I like to assess all the options, go away, think about it and then nine times out of ten I return to the first shop I entered and purchase the first item I saw. This drives my friend mad, but as I recently explained to him after a 5 hour long shopping expedition; the behaviour is beyond my control.

On the other hand I (Mamta Moolchandani) an Obsessive Compulsive Brochure Collector (OCBC). When walking around fairs my eyes immediately focus on the free literature, I am eager to accept any booklets that are being given out. I always leave with a bag full of brochures detailing everything from how to open your own pet shop to the best way to bathe a child (I have no children). When leaving IPEX 2010 I found my suitcase laden down with print samples, posters and numerous books. I was over the moon!

The type of visitor we are, whether going to a retail shop or to an international trade show, is dependent upon our attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. Which category do you fall into?

Definite: Prospect customers that have already made purchasing decisions prior to entering a shop or tradeshow.
Demonstration Junkies: Do you pass by shops or tradeshows looking out for activities such as product demonstrations, which attracts you to spend more time in store or on the stand?
Curious Cats: Do you fall into the same category as me (Vicky), information hunting before making any decisions…
Obsessive Compulsive Brochure Collector (OCBC): Or are you like me (Mamta) who loves to collect and keep just about anything and everything!
Eye Ballers: Are you exceptionally keen to gain more information, and may consider purchasing if all of your boxes are ticked?
Keenos: Do competitions encourage you to interact and purchase?

Keepsakers: Or are you attracted by the freebies being offered?

Dis-interested: We all have those trips where we like to window shop and aren’t too serious about considering buying…unless something special catches our eye!
Socialites: Do you enjoy networking, socialising and meeting new people from around the world?

Researchers: Instead of going out looking to purchase, do you focus more on extending your knowledge by researching around different products and services? 

Whichever category you fall in to, at drupa 2012, we are looking forward to accommodating your needs. We will be demonstrating revolutionary products and end-to-end workflow solutions for all of you demonstration junkies! Curious Cats will be pleased to hear that we will have industry experts at hand to answer all of your questions, be sure to bring your notepad. OCBC-ers watch out, our print offerings are likely to set you over your luggage allowance on the way home. For those of you looking to win a prize, make sure you register with Xerox @ drupa to be entered in to our draw! On top of that, everyone who registers with us will enjoy a free cup of coffee on us! For those of you browsing, our Cirque du Soleil performances are sure to keep you entertained. For our Socialites, we are putting on a Happy Hour consisting of music and beverages where you can meet people from around the world – on the last opening hour, every day. For all of the researchers out there, make sure you drop by and talk to our keynote speakers.

With 14 days to go, the excitement is really building! No matter your purchasing characteristics, we really cannot wait to see you there.

Written by George Gibson
Manager, Next PIJ Platforms
Xerox Corporation

I had the good luck to be able to attend PackExpo last fall in Las Vegas. There, weary and searching for a place to rest, a colleague and I sat down on some furniture made of corrugated board. We were, it turned out, in Clemson University’s fascinating booth where faculty and eager students really wanted to talk about the leading edge of package design. They even had a live demonstration of the use of eye-tracking techniques to measure the effects of package design. Ever since that I’ve been paying attention to what is it that draws my eye to a package, especially to one particular package in a sea of similar packages (presumable containing similar goods).

I’ve heard it said that in the sort of supermarket environment, presented with an array of similar products, consumers take 0.7 seconds to make their purchase decision. If they weren’t hard-wired to pick your brand you’ve got literally the blink of an eye to effect their purchase decision. No pressure but just how are you going to do that?!

One of the most effective methods is making the package personally relevant to the consumer. You probably can’t have their picture on every package they look at but you can do an increasing amount of regionalization, seasonal, event or affinity customization. In Rochester, the Lilac Festival and the Xerox Jazz Festival are big deals, why not create a link from your brand to those events. There are literally millions of such opportunities but most brand owners let them go unexploited. Why you ask? Because until know the economics of packaging has been the economics of mass production not the economics of mass customization.

Digital printing is on the very verge of transforming brand owners’ ability to use their packaging to connect with their customers and prospects at an entirely new level. Join me at the Xerox booth and let’s talk about how Xerox’s printing and workflow solutions can help you transform ordinary boxes into attention grabbers. Let’s share our thoughts about this most exciting time in the digital packaging revolution.

Written by Brian R. Walsh
Marketing Operations, U.S. Graphic Communications
Xerox Corporation

There’s no disputing it: Demand for traditional printing has dropped significantly in recent years.  But that shouldn’t be keeping you up at night.

To examine new trends developing in the printing industry, Xerox recently put together a “Focus Forward” event which took place at the  top of the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis.  Included in the discussion:  an IT analyst, a printing consultant, and two leading Twin Cities printing leaders.

Right out of the gate, industry analyst Marco Boer offered optimism saying, as the number of printed pages continues to decrease, “digital production is saving the industry.”

Mike Wolfgang of Vivid Print Solutions says he saw the downward trend develop more than a decade ago and when it was apparent it would last, “successful” printers had already begun to adapt.

Part of that process, according to Chuck Reese of SmartPress.com, was to develop online sales.  That move, along with the attrition of printers who didn’t adapt to the market’s changing needs, has helped boost his company’s year over year growth by 250%.  Reese adds that efficiency is the key for keeping costs low while printing an increasing amount of smaller jobs.

NAPL Consultant Howie Fenton says digital printing‘s future will be forged, in part, by technologies that bridge the gap between mobile media and print.

Boer capped off our DPS by saying that while the nation’s 100-billion dollar printing business is shrinking, there’s still plenty of business to go around for companies willing to adapt to the changing needs of customers.

To see when Focus Forward is coming to a city near you, go to http://xeroxfocusforward.com/.

Written by:
Howard Fenton
Senior Technology Consultant
NAPL

Most companies offering digital printing services today use the same processes and procedures for the work as they do for conventional offset printing work. The problem is that these elaborate steps such as estimating, scheduling, and customer service procedures work great for conventional printing, but often are too time-consuming for digital printing demands.

In an on-demand world where work is turned around in two days or less, waiting for estimates and jobs sitting in piles to be preflighted is unrealistic. In our latest “Digital Services Study, 2nd Edition”, we learned that successful companies are using a variety of solutions to address this problem.

The quoted one participant who said:  “We can’t afford to have five different people and three days before we get a job on a device that’s going to print it. If the customer needs it done in six hours, we have to find a way to get it done in six hours. A lot of that happens by moving completely from the old way of doing it to a new department with new people—with one person doing multiple roles rather than multiple people doing one role.”

This is called a Clean Sheet Approach. The best selling book “Reengineering the Corporation” authors Hammer and Champy talk about the importance of a Clean Sheet Approach, which means starting with a clean sheet of paper and reengineering the process with no constraints.

Some companies are more willing to take risks than others. But even those that take risks recognize and minimize risks. We see a lot of companies that “beta test” a new workflow. They take a few staff, create a new and different way of doing things (estimating, scheduling, prepress) and then start to let work trickle through the department. As issues are discovered, workaround solutions are created. Typically, this is done in a “fast fail” testing mode, which means that if it does not look like it’s working in a few weeks, it is shut down.

In a digital print production workflow, that often means shifting from specialists such as estimators, customer service, planners, prepress, press and bindery staff to generalists in which two people do more. This is often called cross-training and is one of the ways that leaders increase their productivity. They build the flexible, lean workforces that can be where they need them when they need them.

Are you stuck in old ways? How is that working? What steps are you taking to shift into new ways?

Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research. He is a paid contributor to this blog.

By Mary Roddy
Marketing Manager, Premier Partners Global Network
Xerox Corporation

Digital color printing continues to deliver the best opportunities in our industry. Among print technologies, it’s the only one that’s growing and the only one projecting continued growth. And the rates are impressive. InfoTrends expects page volume to grow by 15.1 percent compounded annually from 2010 to 2015 and retail value by more than 5 percent.

A Fall 2011 survey of Xerox Premier Partners, a group of leading graphic communications providers, corroborates these rosy views, but with a twist. The corroboration: 81.8 percent reported that digital printing enables them to expand their business, and 72.5 percent said it generates new revenues.

The twist: 71.3 percent report that “Graphic communications providers will go out of business if they offer only print and distribution.” So, while digital printing continues to be a bright spot, a more fundamental transformation of the business is necessary for continued prosperity, according to these industry leaders.

Turning observations like these into a business strategy typically doesn’t happen in a vacuum. That’s one reason why the Xerox Premier Partners Global Network was formed — to give leading graphic communications providers a forum for sharing their insights with other leaders from around the world. The next opportunity is at drupa in Dusseldorf, Germany this May. More than 350 Xerox Premier Partners are expected to gather May 3-4, as the trade fair opens, for a global congress to consider ways to capture these opportunities.

It promises to be one of the most valuable gatherings of the year —a collegial setting for making sense of the industry’s largest and most influential trade show, and of the latest twists and turns in our industry. Consider joining us. It’s a members-only event, but there’s still time for non-members to become Xerox Premier Partners.

What are you expecting at drupa? Wouldn’t you benefit from sharing your experience with industry leaders from around the world?

Written by George Gibson
Manager, Next PIJ Platforms
Xerox Corporation

I have to admit I am sometimes given pause when I realize how much my favorite e-tailers know about me. This isn’t a complaint, by the way, I’ve willingly and knowingly taught them about my birthday, our anniversary, other family members’ birthdays and other significant dates. They know a lot about my taste (send me stuff on hiking, cycling, golfing, gourmet cooking stuff, wine, trips to the mountains and guitar; don’t send me stuff about hockey, hunting, beer and Broadway) and use it, no doubt, to fill my inbox and tailor the ads I see when I visit their web sites.  I actually appreciate it. I’m a busy guy and I don’t want to waste time sorting through a bunch of stuff I’m not interested into get to the goodies.

There is, however, one piece they haven’t started to use to help communicate with me; their packaging. Everything I buy is delivered in the same bland and undifferentiated boxes. My neighbors, buying different things from the same shops get identical boxes. What a missed opportunity! We all know why of course, the economics of printing individual boxes has been horrible.

All that is about to change. At drupa I firmly expect to see a variety of new products and hear a lot of discussion about how to bring the economics of digital printing to the packaging domain in a way that will signal the revolution of the industry.

Please drop by the Xerox booth at drupa and let us show you how Xerox can help you lead this revolution.  We’ve got printing systems and workflow solutions that’ll allow you to differentiate yourself, creating more value for you and for your customers. I’ll even be talking some on the topic at the Xerox booth. I hope the see you there. We can share thoughts, new product sightings and explore how Xerox can help you because, as one clever tag line I saw a few months ago said, “Sometimes Innovation Involves RE-Thinking The Box.”