Printing Industry Executives Deliver Pro-growth IMessage to Members of Congress n the best-supported joint industry Capitol Hill Fly-In to date, co-hosts NPES and Printing Industries of America brought more than 50 leading printing industry executives to Washington, D.C., on June 2-3, for PRINT’S VOICE 15, where they addressed top graphic communications industry business concerns directly with their elected representatives in Congress and Executive Branch officials. PRINT’S VOICE 15 participants met with 28 members of Congress and contacted 80 congressional offices: record numbers in both cases. Additionally, the group engaged with a number of Obama Administration officials, including: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy Mark Mazur, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing Chandra Brown, and Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative David Weiner, as well as recently appointed U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan. The agenda for PRINT’S VOICE 15 featured talks by Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-2-NC), and Congressmen Erik Paulsen (R-3-MN) and Bruce Poliquin (R-2-ME); issue briefings by D.C.-based policy experts; a bi-partisan Congressional Reception attended by 13 additional members of the House of Representatives; a Gala Congressional Dinner at which freshman U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) was the featured speaker; a “Senate side” Capitol Hill breakfast featuring U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO); and 59 congressional office visits. During the congressional office visits participants advocated for the following pressing industry issues: • Restructuring and revitalizing the U.S. Postal System, and the importance of paper; • Preserving pro-growth business tax policy; • Strengthening U.S. exporters’ competitiveness in international trade; • Curtailing abusive “patent troll” practices; and, • Reducing burdensome government over-regulation in the manufacturing workplace. PRINT’S VOICE 15 hosts NPES and Printing Industries of America were joined by Fly-In sponsors Epicomm and NAPIM (National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers) in speaking with one unified voice directly to their elected officials, to convey concerns and recommendations for action on issues vital to their businesses and employees’ livelihoods. “PRINT’S VOICE 15 was both an opportunity and a responsibility to reach out to our congressional representatives on issues of concern to the printing industry,” says NPES Government Affairs Chairman Ron Rose, who also is President of Nova Pressroom Products, Inc. One very important outcome to which PRINT’S VOICE 15 contributed was the signing into law of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) by President Obama less than a month after the Fly-In. The enactment of TPA, in which the President and congressional Republicans joined forces, is a huge victory for NPES members and other U.S. exporters, as well as American workers and consumers, and was the culmination of an intense final month of lobbying by pro-TPA business groups, including the over 50 PRINT’S VOICE 15 attendees. This was not an easy victory. In some cases votes came with a significant political price, as they were cast in the face of stiff opposition from unions and other anti-trade factions. With 95% of the world’s consumers living outside the United States, NPES’s lobbying efforts in support of TPA were important in assisting U.S. manufacturers to improve their ability to effectively compete for a greater share of the $11.8 trillion global market for manufactured goods, which includes international markets for printing, publishing, and converting technologies that were recently documented in the NPES “World-wide Market for Print: Identifying Global Opportunities for the Print Industry” research study. Among the study’s findings is the importance of Pacific Rim markets that are the subject of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations, and the continued significance of the EU that is the focus of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The 28 EU countries include 20 of the top 50 printing equipment markets in the world, worth $4.2 billion or 27% of the total global market. While the U.S. market is largely open to the world and has the lowest tariffs on manufactured goods of any G20 country, American manufacturers face steep trade barriers abroad. Absent TPA, these manufacturers risked being left behind as other countries negotiate trade agreements that exclude them. With TPA, Congress and the President can forge a partnership that facilitates development and approval of trade agreements by ensuring congressional input on trade negotiations. NPES commends and thanks those members of Congress who voted for TPA. For more information, contact NPES Government Affairs Director Mark J. Nuzzaco at phone: 703/264-7235, e-mail: mnuzzaco@npes.org. HWhat Our Customers Say… unkler Innovationdays is behind us, but the energy from the show and from Ricoh customers is still very much alive. As Ricoh looks forward to the rest of 2015 and ways to help new customers take advantage of the opportunities in the evolving print industry, the company reflects on what current customers are saying about the technologies Ricoh brings to the table. Spanning the globe, the insights of these customers reflect more than just compliments. They get at the heart of the monumental technology and business shifts taking place in the printing industry, and why a partner—that’s more than a vendor—is needed now more than ever. “Ricoh (Booth 1231) doesn’t just sell the product, ship it, and install it. Rather, they want to work together with us to make the investment a success,” says Jukka Saariluoma, Business Unit Director, Hansaprint. “Prior to experiencing the RICOH Pro VC60000, I did not believe that there would be a major shift from offset printing to inkjet. But the RICOH Pro VC60000 made me change my mind. Our clients have seen the samples, too, and are very excited by the new level in quality and the increased flexibility offered by moving significant amounts of their work from offset to inkjet.” “Ricoh is the greatest investment the company has made. With their commitment to training and services, they’re integrated into our team, so they’re part of the Valtim family now,” says David Baldree, Director of Operations at Valtim. “We’re always striving to understand and manage a customer’s message and deliver it in as many ways as possible through multichannel media. With the InfoPrint 5000, we now have the technology to help spread our customers’ messages even further.” Hugo Verlind, Director and Co-owner of Zalsman, says, “Before we installed the RICOH Pro VC60000, we could only offer our clients solutions from campaign creation through fulfillment and logistics. Our clients were also asking for seamless print quality between our offset and digital presses, as well as flexibility in turnaround times and volumes, all without increasing production costs. After extensive market research, we concluded that Ricoh’s solution and business approach are the best able to respond to those additional client demands. With the installation of the VC60000 and the use of advanced solutions like Ricoh ProcessDirector in conjunction with our current graphic arts workflow we can now offer our clients a complete range of services to enable them to communicate RICOH Pro VC60000 more effectively with their own customers and help them improve their business results all while remaining cost competitive. The new RICOH Pro VC60000 closes the gaps we had in our production environment, enabling us to better meet our client demands.” Verlind continues, “The long awaited promises of production inkjet are now a reality on our production floor. Together with our clients we can now take the next steps in more relevant and effective communication.” “We pride ourselves on providing our franchise community with the technology and tools they need to efficiently manage their businesses, and Avanti Slingshot delivers with its robust suite of modules and ability to handle multiple lines of business,” says Joe D’Aguanno, Chief Technology Officer, Allegra Network. “By having essential business information at their fingertips, our franchise members gain a better understanding of their most profitable customers and products.” “Through our partnership with Ricoh, we’re able to meet our customers’ increased production and quality requirements,” says Todd Potrykus, Director of Operations at arvato. “Ricoh was one of the few companies that could meet our aggressive implementation timeline, and they went to the length of bringing in experts to ensure that we were able to hit the ground running. Due to their dedication and proven solutions, we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in print quality, fantastic uptime, and have received invaluable input from their experts. Ricoh has exceeded our expectations.” 18 September 13, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
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