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The holidays are a crazy time in any industry—with the last minute rush, rush, rush to get everything done—and printing is no different. Unlike other non-retail based industries that focus on who is going to bring the eggnog, or where to go during holiday down time, the printing industry is putting together last-minute items to ensure their clients' success into the new year.
Some of the most common printing projects this time of year are personalized greeting cards, calendars, and catalogs. While cards and calendars may be used solely as promotional items, the latter can be considered a vital tool in the success of a printer's clients. Particularly in the arena of retail-based, specialty items, and mail-order companies, the timely production of a catalog is of the utmost importance.
While it is important at any time of year to ensure prompt delivery of a job, the holiday season, with its sense of urgency and do-or-die bottom line, is an opportunity for a printer to shine. Considering nearly one-third of a retail-based company's yearly income is generated from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, missing out on even a few days of profits can wreak havoc on its likelihood of survival. With pressure on at full force, clients are more eager than ever to get their work in and out the door, in as little time as possible.
E-Commerce vs. Print Media
"Our expertise is helping customers who don't have a lot of printing experience get a professional catalog printed at an economical cost," says Daniel Gaugler, marketing manager of Printing Plus Online. Located in rural Livingston, Mont., Printing Plus Online relies mainly on its e-commerce customers to pay the bills. It is those customers that request the largest percentage of printed items, including catalogs.
You would think those who rely on e-commerce to buy printing would sell that way, as well. Still, even in this day of advanced technology, people by and large prefer to have a catalog in hand when purchasing goods.
Perhaps it is the tradition of making a holiday wish list or being able to repeatedly refer to a catalog at leisure. In the end, the reason why is unimportant. The critical thing is that the clients are ordering printing, and therefore are giving those in the industry an opportunity to step up to the plate and deliver.
Printing Plus Online (PPO), a small- to medium-sized commercial offset printer, utilizes an e-commerce presence to bring itself closer to its clients, and enables them to feel as if they are dealing with a small one-stop shop rather than a faceless entity. Having recently moved into a 46,000-sq.-ft. facility, PPO offers its clients, such as manufacturers and universities, diverse services from design to fulfillment.
"Many companies utilize their e-commerce presence to get farther away from their customers," says Mr. Gaugler. "We use our e-commerce presence to get closer to our customers." Mr. Gaugler goes on to say that while catalogs are a part of the items they produce, they are not the only item that maintains the company's $23 million annual bottom line.
Most major retailers—the most infamous being Sears—have done away with catalogs to save revenue. While PPO's main client base boasts less than 20 employees on average, there simply are not enough of those clients to establish catalog printing as the company's mainstay. In fact, a majority of specialty printers are required to include catalog printing in their portfolio rather than have it as a main focus. "I think if we were just to print catalogs, we wouldn't be able to feed our presses," said Mr. Gaugler.
As with many ongoing jobs, a standard practice is to print shells, store them, and overprint with new information as needed. While this can often cause a shortage of warehouse space, Larry Pressnell, president of Asheboro, N.C.'s USA Printing Online, does not seem to have a problem with it. Utilizing a new 25,000-sq.-ft. building constructed for fulfillment purposes, Mr. Pressnell says, "As long as we make sure that the inventory will be used up in a reasonable amount of time, it's not a problem."
Digital vs. Offset
"It's not something any printer can do," says Mr. Pressnell. "It's not something that every printer can do well." Mr. Pressnell refers to catalog printing and the skill required to turn it out in a mere matter of days—often two to seven days—when the industry standard can be anywhere from two to three weeks. While the catalog business printed by USA Printing equals roughly 20 percent of the company's own catalog, Mr. Pressnell has developed a system of rapid turnaround for his clients.
Making Better Art
Oftentimes, the quality of supplied art leaves a lot to be desired. Everyone has, at one time or another, come across a piece of art that is basically unusable for its lack of quality. While no piece of equipment has yet been invented that can make a silk purse from a sow's ear, there is one process that assists in converting even the nicest of photos into something even better—stochastic screening.
Often compared to a 400 line screen, stochastic (aka FM) screening uses a series of random, equally sized dots in order to create a halftone image superior to the conventional method. Generally printing via offset, USA Printing Online finds that with a short run, digital printing is more cost effective. It is short turnaround that allows USA Printing to compete in the catalog market.
Originally breaking into the catalog/magazine market through a real estate agency, USA Printing has since taken on other types of work to keep its Muller Martini Minuteman in working order. "When we started out, we got one big deal printing a real estate magazine," says Mr. Pressnell. "We printed it every two weeks. Eventually, we positioned ourselves and marketed ourselves to do more catalogs."
Mr. Gaugler disagrees with the notion that digital printing is the answer to short runs. Devoted to the all Heidelberg shop, PPO believes that using traditional methods are best when it comes to the complicated process of printing high-end products. "All of our printing is done with offset," says Mr. Gaugler. "I find that you tend to sacrifice quality with digital printing." Mr. Gaugler adds, "I typically find that there isn't a big cost difference."
Aaron Marsh, president of Printing You Can Trust, a Highland Park, Ill., company, is open to using both digital and offset methods, although 99 percent of the work is achieved through offset. "We have found that because we have printers who do both, that to be competitive, the runs have to be 200 or less," Mr. Marsh states. "Otherwise it is just not cost effective to do digital."
Mr. Marsh's company, also Internet-based, prints a wide variety of product catalogs, from clothing to electronics.
Regardless of the methods used to achieve the end product, Mr. Gaugler says it best: "It takes a lot behind the scenes in order to make a company sustainable and to make it work."
Pamela Mortimer is a 20-year printing industry veteran and writing consultant.
author: By Pamela Mortimer