The Transformative Effects of Tropical Sun and Strategic Business Initiatives

Written by Gina Testa, Vice President
Worldwide Graphics Communications Business
Xerox Corporation
Coming from Western New York State, the warm, tropical air in Miami Beach this time of year is absolutely transformative. As the Graphics of the Americas show opens its three-day run here today, the gorgeous weather is giving me a lift in much the way that business transformations are bringing new surges of energy to many in this industry.
Tomorrow I’m leading a panel with three graphic communications customers, who’ve all engineered business transformations to take advantage of new opportunities for growth. Roger Manning, owner of Banyan Printing, Mark Serbin, president of Serbin Printing, and Richard Sierra, president of Nationwide Graphics at Dodd Communications are all from Florida and have compelling stories to tell.
While there’s no “right way” to transform a business, some patterns do hold. Change is often evolutionary, not revolutionary, so the transformation takes place over time, rather than all at once.
Moving upstream to provide more marketing services is a common strategy among today’s graphic communications providers. Over time, the graphic communications provider becomes not just the host of a Web-to-print solution, for example, but manager of their customer’s marketing supply chain, reducing costs while improving distribution speed and fulfillment flexibility.
Others graphic communications providers may find transformation in new lines of business, such as production of books, photoproducts or personalized product packaging. Still others may focus on improving their internal operations, automating their workflow to improve their efficiency and lower their costs.
What are you doing to transform your business? If you need ideas, take in our panel discussion on Friday, March 2 at 10:30 a.m. or stop by the Xerox booth at the show. Look for me. I’ll be happy to talk to you about transforming your business…and about the weather in Rochester, N.Y. I hear a few inches of snow fell there yesterday.