InfoTrends Encourages Companies to “Be Digital” Anticipate more digital disruption—it’s been going on for 25 years and it’s not going to stop,” said Jeff Hayes, President of InfoTrends, at Monday morning’s annual InfoTrends breakfast. The five-speaker presentation kicked off with Hayes providing an overall look at the state of the industry. The value of printing shipments has been on a slight increase in the past year, even if print as an overall percentage of GDP is at a historic low, replaced by “data processing, Internet publishing, and information services.” The recovery after the Great Recession has been a long-drawn out affair, but Hayes warns that we as an industry need to really think about “What happens if things cool off a bit in the economy?” he said. The good news is that it will continue to be a combination print and digital world. “Make being digital a central part of your strategy,” he said, not necessarily in terms of a digital production workflow, but using data more effectively. Speaking of which, InfoTrends Group Director Barb Pellow emphasized the need to “change the vernacular.” For years printers have been encouraged to think in terms of offering “marketing services,” but today, they should instead think in terms of offering “customer experience services.” She identified three “pillars” or things that customer experience services providers need to understand. The first is to Jeff Hayes Barb Pellow develop a data strategy and improve the quality of data that is used to communicate with customers; the second is the need to develop a mobile app strategy; and the third is to understand how to cope with an “omni-channel” world. Print, she said, plays an integral role in all three of these pillars. Print functions as the gateway to all other media, via QR codes, Augmented Reality, and/or other printed inducements Jim Hamilton to download an app or take some other kind of electronic action. InfoTrends Group Director Jim Hamilton talked about “the evolution of the revolution,” or how three major shifts that happened over the past several decades brought us to where we now find ourselves, starting with the shift from black-and-white to color printing, the transition from analog to digital printing, and the shift from physical media to electronic media. The evolution will continue as inkjet leads “from a mass production model—the offset model—to a mass customization model and that builds in that segmentation, personalization, just-in-time manufacturing, print-on-demand, and automating multistep processes.” Driven, of course, by data. Associate Director Howie Fenton also spoke about data, but in a different context: the need to develop a new set of metrics that gauge business and operational success. “We have been going through this transformation in our industry,” said Fenton, “but the way we measure our performance within companies, the way we benchmark, has not changed. These benchmarks are becoming less relevant as the product mix changes.” For example, standard metrics like sales per employee or payroll as a percent of revenue don’t take into account the effects of automation. Fenton prefers other kinds of benchmarks such as a “net promoter index.” “As we look at these measures of customer satisfaction, you can move them from 60% to 75%, it translates to more sales and more profitability.” Finally, Ryan McAbee, InfoTrends’ Associate Director, Production Workflow, emphasized another aspect to “being digital,” the need for print businesses to invest in technology. “Tech investments drive business performance,” he said. The cloud—aka “software as a service”—will also become the norm. All of these elements—data, data-driven customer experience services, digital printing technologies, new software technologies, and new ways to gather data about how the business is doing—all need to work together. “We think you need to invest in being a digital company,” said Hayes. “Not just a particular product, but your whole company has to be digital.” Toronto’s C.J. Graphics First to Purchase Scodix Ultra Pro with Scodix Foil in North America Scodix (Booth 2231) has sold its first Scodix Ultra Pro system with a Scodix Foil station. Just launched this week, Scodix Foil is an inline digital foiling solution exclusively supporting the Scodix Ultra Pro digital enhancement press. Purchasing the first system is C.J. Graphics Inc., one of the most distinguished printers in North America. The company has been recognized with thousands of print awards including, for example, each year when Printing Industries of America hosts the Premier Print Awards—commonly called The Bennys—the graphic arts industry’s largest international printing competition. This year, C.J. Graphics Inc. received six coveted Bennys, more than any other printing firm in North America. Jay Mandarino, President and Founder of C.J. Graphics, noted, “For more than 35 years we’ve grown the company steadily into the multi-faceted company it is today. We recently opened a third, custom-built state of- the-art facility in Toronto, and are continuing to grow. No company succeeds by standing still, and the Scodix system will elevate and differentiate us from any competitor in North America. “We view the Scodix Foil station as a critical component. It enables the creative thinkers to look beyond the complications associated with traditional foiling and just focus upon the value of the effect. I look forward to educating the market through our many channels concerning the many new facets of enhancement now available through C.J. Graphics.” KBA Bullish on the Future of the Print Marketplace At the start of KBA North America’s (Booth 213) Monday morning press conference at GRAPH EXPO 15, VP of Marketing and Product Management Eric Frank set the tone for the entire session. “We’re bullish on the marketplace.” KBA is marking its 200th anniversary in two years. What followed from several key KBA officials was a series of upbeat announcements about recent company developments. Germany based company President and CEO Claus Bolza-Schunemann reported that following KBA’s recent restructuring, order intake for the first half of this year was 30% higher than that of the same period in 2014. Bolza-Schunemann added that, while the company once heavily served the newspaper industry, it now generates 85% of its business from packaging, an area with substantial growth opportunity. Eric Frank, VP Marketing and Product Management, KBA North America Claus Bolza- Schünemann, President and CEO, Koenig and Bauer AG Taking the microphone next was Mark A. Hischar, President and CEO of KBA North America, who noted that KBA has consistently broadened its market reach over recent years, and is, he said, “a dominant competitor across all printing segments today.” Addressing the audience’s anticipation of a major announcement, Hischar brought a laugh from attendees by looking ahead to 2016. “It’s a drupa year next year,” he said. “We will have a lot of breaking news when that arrives.” Signaling the growth of the company, Hischar added, “Our traditional core business continues to provide opportunity for us. That’s one reason we’re looking to hire more and more technical support people.” The final speaker, Senior VP of Sales Soren Larsen, spoke on the company’s offset sheetfed segment, where sales are increasing in the packaging and commercial printing markets. “A fierce passion for customer satisfaction is a strong arsenal in our company,” he said. “What we are seeing in this market is an effort on the part of printers to do more with less, and try to cut out as many steps as possible,” he continued. “That is reflected in the continuing demand for customized machines from KBA.” Discussing new KBA installations, he said KBA has a formula for a stagnant market. “You Mark A. Hischar, President and CEO, KBA North America Soren Larsen, Senior VP of Sales, KBA North America have to take share from the competition and do it profitably, and that’s what is happening,” he reported. To conclude, Frank noted KBA is involved in more than 50 industry associations, and is gratified to be a Platinum Sponsor of many such groups. “It’s important to not just take, but give back, in life and especially in the printing industry in particular,” he said. “We’re very proud of doing just that.” The InfoTrends breakfast offered insight into the future of print. 14 September 15, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
GraphExpo Show Daily September 15 2015
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