Is Your Company a Good Fit for Print Management?

Contributor: Craig Condry, Vice President, Strategic Engagement, Consolidated Graphics

Consolidated Graphics has an important message for any organization that prints literature or other materials (and who doesn't, really?). By streamlining internal processes and taking a holistic approach to print buying, significant efficiencies in print procurement can be achieved. The approach is called "print management," and it's changing the way companies purchase print and related technologies, resulting in savings up to 20 percent in some cases.

But how do companies know if they are good candidates for print management? Nearly any company, regardless of size or market segment, can streamline and gain savings to some degree. However, successful candidates tend to share certain characteristics and needs. A starting point for any interested company may begin by taking the following yes/no quiz:

1. Do you have a desire to centralize of strengthen the procurement function?
2. Are there multiple buying locations, departments or divisions?
3. Are you open to a strategic relationship versus transactional bidding?
4. Is there a need for national (or global) service?
5. Do you have senior executive sponsorship?
6. Is there a willingness to provide benchmark data?
7. Are you open to process and procedural changes?
8. Are you being charged to identify double-digit cost reductions across multiple commodities?
9. Do you want to get away from dozens or even hundreds of niche print providers in favor of a more strategic, single source relationship?

Companies that answer yes to two or more of these questions may be good candidates for print management. The only way to know for sure, is to proceed with a print assessment audit utilizing Six Sigma processes, which in short order will determine the current overall cost of ownership for print within the organization, including hidden costs that weigh down margin. In addition to printed products, it's important to focus on process during the assessment, including administration, obsolescence, packaging, freight, fulfillment, distribution and storage, to name a few. From that point, evaluation will continue with solutions ultimately proposed to streamline and create process and product improvements that deliver savings, from product design through supply chain, production and fulfillment.

The results of a strategic print management partnership can come in various forms, including reductions and stabilizations of pricing based on historical data and purchase patterns, or earned rebates. Now, more than ever, is the time for companies to take a holistic approach to print procurement, and take a look at all areas within the print supply chain to save money and increase competitiveness.

Craig Condry
Vice President,
Strategic Engagement,
Consolidated Graphics

For more information about Print Management, contact Craig Condry at ccondry@cgx.com.

5 Tips for Effective Use of Consumer Data

Big Data is the latest marketing buzz word.  Never before have marketers had so much access to information, often requiring no more effort than the click of a button.

Gender, location, salary, and family size are now considered the low-hanging fruit in the data world.  As the result of social media platforms, the real data gems now include details like food allergies, hobbies, shopping preferences, and buying patterns. Marketers today have the ability to build out a 360-degree view of their target market, from broad segments down to specific individuals. All of this data helps to shape campaigns that lead to desired responses.

Here are five tips for effectively using – and proactively managing – consumer data:

1.  Leave your biases behind. Data is often used internally to protect pet projects or support preferred outcomes. It’s important to free yourself from desired results and execute a neutral assessment of the facts.

2.  Data cleansing should be an ongoing process. Organizations often execute time-sensitive, solitary efforts to purify their databases leading to inaccurate information that impacts results.  Make data collection and revision a continuous effort.

3.  Cross-check your data. There are a variety of databases that provide similar information. By combining several of these sources, inconsistencies can be easily identified for a cleaner result.

4.  Make data collection and analysis a C-level focus. All too often, data collection and assessment reside at the lowest levels of an organization. The importance of high-quality data must be communicated by top executives.

5.  Don’t ignore the human factor. By its very nature, consumer data is in a constant state of flux. It’s important to take time to contemplate the information within the context of your business. What makes sense on paper may not make sense in reality.
 

5 Tips for Effective Use of Consumer Data previously appeared in Consolidated Graphics’emerge^® magazine. To view emerge magazine online and to subscribe, click here.

Creating Presence…With Coatings

Coatings applied to printed material are not exactly new. They've existed for decades, used for such practical purposes as protecting ink from the effects of sun exposure and shielding paper from moisture or mildew.  More recently, coatings gained favor for enhancing the look of printed surfaces, with “spot” applications used to highlight certain graphic shapes or colors incorporated into print design.

Today, innovations in specialty coatings have been developed featuring an ultra violet (UV) process for achieving even more striking effects on printed material.  UV enables quick drying during production and more flexible applications of coatings on substrates, adding to real and perceived depth, dimensionality and texture.  Printers are pushing the envelope by combining coating effects and providing turnkey production services to efficiently increase the “shelf appeal” of printed products, especially for packaging applications at retail.  But uses extend into other applications as well.

“We’re seeing a rising interest in applications beyond packaging,” says Brad Haralson, President of Printing Inc. in Wichita, KS.  “A large national department store came to us with a need to differentiate holiday gift card holders, and our solution was a glitter UV design accent which dramatically changed the look and feel of the product for consumers – which is what the client wanted for their critical holiday selling season.”

Other factors are contributing to increase interest in coatings. Matte and raised UV coatings can be used as an alternative to physical embossing, for example, because in some instances it can be more cost-effective in some instances and provide customers with a smooth back side of the sheet.  In addition, there are now highly reflective coatings that can be overprinted to make virtually any color look metallic – a recyclable alternative to foil stamping.

Say Haralson: “Anything we can do to maximize the visual impact of a printed piece and make it interactive increases its perceived value – and gives the recipient a reason to hold onto it longer.”

Coating Options that Create Presence:

Glitter UV – Metallic flakes of glitter can be used in combination with matte or gloss UV coatings (see below).  It allows designers to create unique specialized effects in a variety of shapes, colors and dimensions.

“Heavy Metal” – Not actually metal at all, but can be used to create an ultra metallic look with more reflectivity than a metallic PMS.  A recyclable alternative to foil stamping that can be overprinted.

Pearlescent – Popular in the creation of luster effects, enabling new and unique color effects for automotive, industrial, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and other applications.

Dry-Erase UV – High gloss coating that creates a writable and dry-erase surface on many commonly used substrates, for presentation boards, games, calendars or schedule boards.

Cast and Cure – Enhances the brilliance of printed surfaces by embossing UV coating with a holographic film, and retaining the holographic impression within the coating. A recyclable alternative to holographic Mylar.

Raised matte UV – The matte UV coating is slightly raised, so it can be physically felt and seen when held at an angle to the light. When added to full color printed material, spot use adds drama and makes a piece stand out.

Raised gloss UV – Same application as matte UV, but with a gloss application that adds a noticeable richness and luxurious effect.

Creating Presence...With Coatings previously appeared in Consolidated Graphics’emerge^® magazine. To view emerge magazine online and to subscribe, click here.

And Then There Was White

For years, the color “white” in printed materials was primarily handled by designers: when something needed to be white, it was designed with an absence of color and printed on white substrate. But advances in technology have led to a new generation of white ink which is being successfully applied to dark substrates, often with stunning effects.

White ink isn’t exactly new. However, the traditional white inks used in offset printing have been too translucent to get a true, bright, solid white without several passes through the press, which posed a challenge to maintain image registration during production. With the emergence of digital printing, providers have responded with all-new white inks specifically designed with the operating characteristics of digital presses in mind.

HP, for example, formulated ElectroInk White specifically for its Indigo line of digital presses. (Consolidated Graphics maintains the world’s largest installation of HP Indigo presses.) ElectroInk White was developed to print as a true white on colored paper and can be used as a primary color, as a base upon which to layer other colors, or to make colors pop off of rich-colored papers.

White ink is now being used in a wide variety of commercial applications including invitations, direct mail, photo greeting cards, labels and business cards, among others. It’s also being used for packaging applications such as POS displays and storefront signage. The ability to effectively print white presents designers and marketers with a wider range of creative possibilities on colored and metalized papers, and transparent substrates. 

Use White Ink as…

A spot color

A highlight on an existing design

A cool effect by adding on top of white paper or clear substrate

An undercoat on dark substrates and non-white surfaces

An overprint on see-through substrates to achieve full color saturation

A diffusion layer on clear substrates while reverse-printing the back side

A combination of any of the above

And Then There Was White also appears in the current issue of Consolidated Graphics’ emerge magazine.  To view emerge magazine online and to subscribe, click here.

5 Ways to Lower Expenses and Create Value for Direct Mail Campaigns

Contributor: Scott Kravitz, Sales and Marketing, Mount Vernon Printing

Over the last 25 years, the cost to mail a one-ounce letter has doubled, jumping from 22 cents to 44 cents per ounce. With additional increases pending and higher energy costs on the horizon, we can only expect this trend to continue.

What does this mean for direct mail marketers? Primarily, that rising postage costs will be a major factor dictating how we communicate with customers and prospects. Lucky for us, innovative solutions and cost-effective alternatives are countering those rate hikes and keeping the overall cost of direct mail in line with marketing budgets.

It’s important to recognize the overall goal of direct mail: to entice recipients to respond to a call for action.  With that in mind, here are five ways to lower expenses and create increased value for direct mail campaigns:

1. Select products and packaging that can be mailed as an automated flat.

This means that the U.S. Postal Service can automate the processing of these products, significantly reducing the postal rate per unit. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first is by selecting mailable, durable products that easily fit into traditional flat mailers and can withstand the wear and tear endured in the shipping process, including items such as USB drives, T-shirts or tote bags. The second option is to choose packaging innovations such as the CGX Flex Mailer®, which enables dimensional products to ship as automated flats.

The CGX Flex Mailer allows dimensional products to ship as

automated flats, to achieve postage savings.

2. Manage package tracking internally.

While UPS, FedEx and USPS premium delivery options trace the movement of specific packages throughout transit, the Posta Service’s Intelligent Mail® barcode (also known as IMB) can be printed directly onto packaging, enabling customers to manage the process themselves. Thanks to modern technology, what once required expensive infrastructures can now be executed at a much lower cost through your fulfillment provider.

 3. Watch your weight.

Apply those New Year’s resolutions to your promotional products’ packaging and watch the savings add up. One of the easiest ways to keep expenses down is to reduce the overall weight of your package. Next time you’re selecting products and direct mail content, keep the overall weight in mind. By reducing the weight of your mail by just one ounce, approximately the equivalent to the weight of 10 pennies, you can save 17 cents per mailing. Multiply this by 10,000 mailings and you’ve just saved $1,700.

4. Be flexible in terms of materials and production of packaging.

Before you choose the packaging for your next direct mail campaign, ask your provider if there is excess capacity in a specific line of products, or if they’re trying to get rid of a certain paper stock. Simple changes that don’t impact the end result you’re looking for can have a major effect on your ROI.

5. Personalize your mail.

Study after study shows that recipients are more likely to open relevant personalized mail. Customize your packaging in a way that targets individual consumers or prospects. While it may be more expensive on the front end, you might be surprised at the increase in response rates. This means you can send fewer mailings out for the same results.

Mount Vernon Printing is a Consolidated Graphics, Inc. company in Laurel, MD. For more information about Mount Vernon Printing, visit www.mvprint.com. Contact Scott Kravitz at skravitz@mvprint.com.

Maximum Security: keeping your data safe and secure

Maximum Graphics, a Consolidated Graphics company based in Minnesota, recently achieved SOC 2 compliance, assuring our customers that their data is safe and protected to the highest degree possible. Previously Maximum underwent SAS 70 compliance, and Its replacement, SOC 2, is part of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) Service Organization Control (SOC) reporting platform. While that may sound like a mouthful, the premise is simple: SOC 2-compliant companies ensure a heightened level of credibility for data management technology and cloud computing-related systems.

SOC 2 utilizes five “Trust Services Principles,” including:

• Security: appropriate measures are taken to protect against unauthorized access
• Availability: everything is up and running as promised
• Processing Integrity: authorized processes are completed in a timely (and accurate) manner
• Confidentiality: information tagged as “confidential” is protected as agreed upon
• Privacy: personal data is treated as outlined in the company’s privacy notice and as mandated by the AICPA and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

SOC 2 compliance isn’t actually a certification; it’s an audit that provides complete validation of a company’s security measures, including operational, administrative and technology aspects. The company’s physical buildings and all of its resources, down to each individuals’ laptop, must be inspected to ensure the highest level of security possible.

Maximum is constantly upgrading its facility to maintain (and exceed) the requirements needed to uphold its SOC 2 compliance. “It’s an ongoing process that is a top priority here at Maximum Graphics, one that we focus on each and every week,” says Rob Nawfel, President of Maximum Graphics.

While Consolidated Graphics has always taken the extra step to ensure data security for its customers, even the Federal government is beginning to take note as it cracks down on oversight, specifically within industries, such as healthcare and finance, which deal with large amounts of highly sensitive data.

For more information on Maximum Graphics and SOC 2 compliance, please email info@maxgraphics.com.

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The Benefit of Being a CGX Sales Rep?

Greg Ferraro recently joined the Consolidated Graphics team after a 10-year career in large format printing. Here Greg shares his experiences as a Consolidated Graphics sales representative at Tursack, Inc., a CGX company in Morgantown, PA. 

What attracted you to Consolidated Graphics?

I was working for a local company when I was first introduced to Consolidated Graphics, and I was intrigued by the company's culture and broad product and service offering. It was appealing to think about being able to offer so much more than just large format graphics, but also going to a company that was committed to staying at the cutting edge of large and grand format printing, which was an area of the business that I was most familiar with.

What is the biggest benefit to you as a sales rep at a Consolidated Graphics company? 

Definitely the diversity of everything that Consolidated Graphics offers. I have the local culture of Tursack and a name that is well known in its niche, but also the ability to offer virtually any print and technology service to my clients through a very sophisticated global platform. It opens up so many opportunities, and allows me to constantly bring something new to the table.

How do you benefit from the company’s geographic footprint and broad capability offering?

Working here has been a great education for me on so many other aspects of this industry. Even after being in the business for 10 years, there are so many things for me to learn through Consolidated Graphics that will help me expand my skill set and better serve my customers.

Can you describe a typical day as a sales rep?

About 80% of my day is spent making sales calls and looking for new avenues to pursue. I use this time to introduce new products and services to existing clients, as well as meeting prospects that we can begin relationships with. Approximately 15% of my day is dedicated to following up on current projects, ensuring that the customer is fully satisfied with their deliverable and learning how we can make them even happier going forward. And the remaining 5% of my day is spent internally, making sure that orders are completed on time and delivered as planned.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Ultimately, it's about giving the customer what they want, and it's nice to be a part of an organization that believes in service and in providing top quality. If the customer is happy, I know I've done my job well.

To find out about sales and other career opportunities at Consolidated Graphics, go to: www.cgx.com/careers. Visit Tursack, Inc. at www.tursack.com/.