InfoTrends’ Third Annual TransPromo Summit moved from New York to Boston this year. It took place in August with 225 in attendance. While this number is down somewhat from last year (the organizers blame the lackluster economy), it was interesting to note that a full 10 percent of these attendees were from Central and South America.
C. Clint Bolte
ONE OF the dilemmas in-plant printers have always faced is managing around the ironclad lease agreements forced upon them by capital equipment manufacturers—primarily the digital print engine suppliers. This is not to suggest that any of these suppliers have delivered lemons or won’t provide the expected maintenance support. Generally speaking, with ongoing maintenance, the basic equipment usually performs as expected. This is difficult to ascertain, however, as lawsuit settlements always include a nondisclosure clause hand-cuffing (or “mouth-cuffing”) the printer to stop him or her from ever describing their problems with the equipment and the actual settlement features. The number of lawsuits during
PRINTERS ARE confronted with a double-edged sword of shifting volumes and hungry competition. As the Internet and alternative media have cannibalized conventional print volume, they have also presented startling opportunities to all printers. This article will discuss evolving trends and the strategic positioning that a number of insightful in-plant leaders appear to be pursuing. Insourcing: Essential and Sobering Numerous in-plants are insourcing print volume from the competitive print market to fill capacity on key equipment. In-Plant Graphics’ surveys have shown this practice to be increasing, with nearly 60 percent of in-plants engaged to some degree. While the objective of bringing in incremental volume is
