Canadian Managers Enjoy Newfoundland Experience

THE COLLEGE and University Print Management Association of Canada (CUPMAC) scored something of a coup this year. It succeeded in convincing popular industry speaker Frank Romano, professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, to address the group’s 39th annual conference, way up in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the most eastern point in North America (unless you count Greenland).

Actually, Romano did more than just “address” the 39 managers in attendance. He captivated and amused them as well, while leading four sessions over the conference’s three-day span. And when he wasn’t at the front of the room, he watched the other presenters (among them a little-known editor from some outfit called In-Plant Graphics), and chimed in with a comment when appropriate.

Whether or not this will be remembered by historians as the “Romano CUPMAC” or the “Newfoundland experience” remains to be seen, but either way conference host and organizer Boyd Cranford, of Memorial University of Newfoundland deserves most of the credit for the event’s success. He and his coworkers provided a warm welcome to in-plant managers from all across Canada, as well as a slate of activities that won’t soon be forgotten (not the screech-in anyway). A rare stretch of sunny weather only enhanced the pleasant experience.

Printing Past and Present
Romano’s sessions covered the printing industry from a variety of angles, recalling past technologies and predicting changes to come.

“The next generation of digital devices will probably be ink-jet,” he speculated, noting their simplicity compared to toner devices. At the moment, though, he added, “these machines are abysmally slow.”

Such blunt honesty surfaced throughout his talks, as when he noted how manufacturers slow down their high-speed digital printers, sell them for less money, then offer to increase their speed later—for a price.

Other points he made:

• The current growth market lies in 40-ppm and higher color printers.

• Four-up digital printers will increase in popularity, further eroding the litho market.

• “Analog copiers will disappear,” he said, as multifunction devices take off.

• The “transpromo” trend is growing: i.e. printing ads on bills and transactional statements.

Critical Issues on the Menu
At a lunch session, which was open to members of the local print community and drew 70 additional attendees, Romano noted some of the critical issues today’s printers are facing: price cutting, tighter production schedules, competition from the Internet and from international printers, demands for color and for targeted material, postal rates/regulations and the consolidation of clients.

Skill sets are changing in the modern in-plant, he said. Sales reps are becoming consultants; operators are now technicians; prepress is crucial while operators are less so; database knowledge is becoming essential.

Printers that are prospering, he noted, are developing projects, not just jobs. They are solving customers’ problems. They are adding fulfillment services. They are using the Web. Printers that are growing are absorbing services that other companies provide.

Romano lamented the decline of the word “printer,” which has mutated to the cumbersome term “graphic communicator” in some circles. We need to change the definition of “printer” to include more services, he suggested.

Romano offered a few ideas for in-plants. He noted opportunities in wide-format printing, case binding and customized newsletters.

“The best thing you can ever do is to align yourself with IT, because no one ever argues with IT,” he pointed out.

In-plants, he said, should turn to their vendors for help in promoting their shops to in-house customers. Ask your vendors to visit customers and help market your services.

“You can get them to do this,” Romano insisted.

Find Loyal Customers
In-plant marketing was also addressed by another speaker, Lyle Wetsch, assistant professor of marketing at Memorial University. He stressed the need for “true loyalty” from customers, not just “spurious loyalty.” Your in-plant’s advocates, he said, can do more to market your shop than all of your other marketing efforts.

Wetsch encouraged managers to listen to their customers and get to know what they want. Don’t bristle at the complainers either, he said.

“You need to love the customer who actually complains,” he said. They are giving you a second chance to fix the problem and to continue doing business with them. The ones who don’t complain will just quietly go away. You’ll never get their business again and you won’t know why.

Opportunities for In-plants
IPG Editor Bob Neubauer gave two presentations to the group. In one he provided statistics on the in-plant industry, using data culled from three different surveys. He compared the entire industry with just the university sector and again with just CUPMAC members. Based on the comparisons, he pointed out several opportunities for CUPMAC members, including the addition of design services, mailing, fulfillment, wide-format printing and perfect binding.

In his other talk, Neubauer presented case studies of six university in-plants, highlighting their innovative practices. He also went over some of the steps involved in creating an in-plant marketing plan and offered ideas for new services—some of them non-print related—that in-plants should consider offering.

As part of the conference, Cranford brought the entire group on a tour of his in-plant. The centerpiece was the new Kodak Magnus 400S platesetter. CUPMAC members watched eagerly as a plate emerged from the machine, produced without any chemistry.

The in-plant also has two Xerox DocuTech 135s as well as a pair of two-color Heidelberg presses. A fairly new Duplo System 3000 bookletmaker was the highlight of the bindery area. The in-plant plans to add a Xerox iGen3 90 in the fall, as well as a 6155.

As CUPMAC drew to a close (on yet another sunny day), attendees’ thoughts turned to CUPMAC 2007 to be hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa. Still, fond memories of this year’s meeting and of St. John’s, Newfoundland, are sure to permeate their thoughts for years to come.IPG

CUPMAC’s 40th annual conference will take place next year in Ottawa from June 17-20, with Carleton University as the host. For details, visit: cupmac.mcmaster.ca