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GraphExpo_ShowDaily_September_27_2016

3 Ways to Rise Above a Print Plateau Even good, high-quality production print shops with strong customer sets and profi t margins experience issues–a narrowly missed deadline, last-minute reprints that cost resources, new competition. It can be hard to fi gure out how to face these and get to the next level. But that’s what third-party experts are there for: to get shops to the next level. Consulting groups extensively study the production print competitive landscape so they can help print shops understand and implement the kind of industry best practices that can help shops be the best they can be. There are three key areas in which even well-run shops often struggle, and where outside experts may be able to help: • Workfl ow assessment. Improved workfl ow lets shops do more with the employees and devices they already have. An expert consulting group can help shops: • Streamline communications to and from Web Storefront, MIS and e-Commerce platforms, helping to increase effi ciency and prevent missed job opportunities. • Create strategies leveraging existing and new technology investments to integrate and automate manual intensive workfl ows, which can drive productivity and reduce errors. • Execute on those strategies, helping you to avoid overlooked jobs, create more uptime, and decrease turnaround time. • Color management. Getting color exactly right, every time, regardless of device vendor or type, is what separates marketing service providers’ brands that you can trust from those who can expect to see business from big-name (or not-so-big-name) brands once and never again. Shops should look to partner with experts who provide: • Color consistency analysis, across digital and offset, to help ensure production of customer-ready applications the fi rst time, without wasting time and resources zeroing in on colors produced elsewhere in the campaign, on other devices. • Expertise in expanding color gamut and, by extension, the range of innovative applications a shop can provide. • Strong background in streamlining the color management process, so shops can quickly and intuitively adjust when new factors–such as unusual substrates recently added devices, and so on–could introduce color complications, helping to nip color problems in the bud. • Strategic business systems consulting. To really get over the top, it can help to have a print expert who sees not just how they can fix issues they find in a shop, but how that shop stacks up against other, similar businesses in the industry–and what those shops are doing to get ahead. A good consulting partner brings expertise in: • Refi ning and improving business plans, operating strategies, and workfl ow gaps, based on industry-acknowledged best practices to help drive effi ciency, quality, and productivity while reducing turnaround time, missed deadlines, and errors. • Performing operational reviews, voice of customer studies, and market rate development to help keep in line with evolving current customer needs. • Providing project management services for complex solution implementations with an eye toward operational effi ciency and ROI, so employees can focus on their core business activities while the shop improves around them. Finding the right consulting partner can help a print shop realize gains in quality, effi ciency and revenue. Wise managers and owners should consider these points as they evaluate potential partners. For more information, visit Ricoh at Booth 2035. PIP Printing of Peoria Continues to Grow By Offering Customers ‘More than Just Paper’ Paul and Scott Cochran opened a PIP Printing location in Peoria, IL, in 1978. Today, the business is ranked among the top three PIP locations in the nation for sales volume by the PIP franchise network. The company attributes its continued growth to the ability to innovate and embrace new technology. A prime example is their 2011 addition of an HP (Booth 1825) Indigo 5600 Digital Press. “The Indigo gives us superior quality and the ability to print on a wide range of substrates,” says Chris Cochran, who serves as Vice President. The company now has the fl exibility to offer customers the option of printing on more than just paper. Clients can choose from synthetic paper, adhesives, styrene, and even multi-loft. “Deciding to print on synthetics gave us the opportunity to go after new business as well as increase business with our current customers,” explains Cochran. “Offering something other than paper has allowed us to go to our current customers and offer them better options for many of their current projects.” Cochran sites an example of a customer in the healthcare industry who was printing signs on card stock and then having the signs laminated. PIP Printing in Peoria was able to show the customer that they could print on synthetics, which eliminated the need for lamination and gave the customer a product that looked cleaner and had better longevity. According to Cochran, on another project they were trying to use a 15 mil synthetic substrate and were experiencing feed issues, scuffi ng and jamming with the material. That’s when Masterpiece Graphix (Booth 2512) reached out to Cochran with a different approach. “Jeremy Underhill from Masterpiece Graphix contacted me and offered to come to our shop to see the problem fi rst-hand and to offer help and advice based on our needs,” explains Cochran. “Jeremy’s input helped us discover other options to grow business with our current customers and add new ones. He offered solutions that we did not even know existed.” Cochran says Masterpiece Graphix stocks also help his digital pressroom be more effi cient because of their excellent runability. “Customers look to us to provide different materials and options to help them achieve a better product, turnaround, and cost. Masterpiece Graphix helps us do just that,” Cochran says. Xerox and In-Plant Graphics Breakfast Customer Panel Join Xerox (Booth 1625) and In-Plant Graphics today from 9:00 to 10:00 am for an exclusive breakfast and customer panel discussion about The In-Plant Transformation: From Print Provider to Communications Hub. With so many different departments in your enterprise, you have a unique opportunity to support each one in a valuable way. Join us for an intimate discussion during this year’s GRAPH EXPO 16 in Room N310AB. Offi cial Show Daily | PrintingNews.com GRAPH EXPO 16 | September 27, 2016 | 59


GraphExpo_ShowDaily_September_27_2016
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