Traditional Printing vs A Changing World


March 12, 1996

Thank you for the kind words concerning my drive l and for your input. I received a long note from Richard Marx (richard.marx@bbs.hal-pc.org). One observation Richard made was one that I have long considered obvious but I am amazed at how many printers I run into who disagree.

Richard says, ...I don't see any future in traditional printing nor do I see an increasing market for traditional quick copy shops unless they diversify... He gives an example of a nearby Kinkos and another nearby franchise copy shop.

The Kinkos functions as the marketing, advertising and printing departments of many area small to medium size businesses who cannot justify full or part-time employees to perform these functions. On Richard's last visit he saw that they were into custom T-shirts, mugs, imprinted mouse pads, as well as self- service and full service copying, computers for public use, offset printing, etc. along with knowledgeable CSRs to assist customers - 24-hours a day.

The franchise copy shop offers simply high-speed and convenience copy service - during normal working hours.

While at Sunbelt Graphics in Atlanta last week I had the opportunity to visit with many small to medium size printers. The ones who were excited about the opportunities they see were all pretty much like my friend, Harry Silvas of Kennesaw Graphics, Kennesaw, Georgia. Harry's shop is small with a capital S, but his customers would never know that. There is virtually no graphic arts service that Harry doesn't offer his customers - offset, mid-range and high-speed copy, RISO, etc. His wife has concentrated on social printing and Kennesaw Graphics has become a major factor in the area of wedding and party printing, birth announcements, etc. She also has a huge assortment of pre-printed shells for brochures, flyers, business cards, etc. that Harry can print or the customer can run through their laser printer. The company has a growing ad specialty business and while not open 24-hours a day, Harry and Zora are on call and available at their customer's convenience. He isn't afraid of that order for 20M 100-page perfect bound books or some obscure product he has never heard of or has had no experience with. He has learned to take advantage of available resources to find the product and the knowledge of the CSRs of the companies who produce them.

At the other extreme, I spoke with a number of printers who are focused on strictly small sheet size offset printing or copy service. When I ask what percentage of their work they outsource, many will tell me that they will send out many business card and wedding invitations, but for the most part, if they can't produce it in-house they aren't interested in it. While some of these printers were reasonably satisfied with what they were doing, most complained about how soft the economy was and it didn't seem to be getting any better.

My observations are that those printers who are looking at new profit centers they can get involved in and who are taking advantage of those new profit centers are the ones who are most satisfied with the business they are doing and have the most positive outlook for the future.

Richard also noted that many people still see the computer as a fancy typewriter and don't realize its real potential. That is an understatement. As an example, the last couple of months I have been sending a questionnaire along with my Hotline responses. I have received a couple of hundred responses that I hope will enable me to be more effective in what I write and the direction I take. Among the questions are the types of computers printers are using; whether or not they have CDs, modems, etc.; type of output they are using; favorite software, etc.

I haven't started compiling that information yet but a couple of things have jumped out. A significant number of these printers either have no modem or have a 1,200 or 2,400 baud modem. The majority of those responding subscribe to no online service nor do they have an email address. Most say they do not intend to use or have a home page on the web in the next 12 months.

I fear that many of these small to medium size printers are going to find themselves in the same situation that many scribes of the 15th century after Gutenberg introduced his method of printing; the hand-set typographers who refused to learn how to use Mergenthaler's Line-O-Type in the 1880's; and the hot-type shops of the 1950's who felt that offset printing was simply a fad that would soon fall by the wayside.

The small to medium size printer and copy shop of today must learn how to take advantage of others investment in equipment and talent. It is virtually impossible for even the largest companies to acquire all of the equipment and personnel necessary to provide all of their customers' graphic arts requirements. And, if they do not position themselves to where they can provide all of these requirements, they are going to find themselves among that number of the 15th century scribes, the 19th century hand- set typographers, and the 20th century hot-type houses.

A couple of announcements...

Starting with the July issue of Quick Printing Magazine, I will have a 6-part series on advertising specialties. I hope to unshroud the mystique of this incredible industry in the hopes of enticing many of my readers to test the water.

When PTN Publishing acquired Southern Graphics and Quick Printing Magazine from Coast Publishing in early 1995, PTN, for all practical purposes, dropped the very popular Bookstore. I have been working with PTN for many months in the attempt to get Bookstore back in the magazine. The problem was that PTN is a fine-tuned publishing firm that is focused on publishing the finest publications possible and do not have the expertise in the order-entry and shipping of product. I have worked out an arrangement with PTN where the Bookstore will be handled by me out of my Lufkin, Texas office (PTN West). The inventory is in route to me and it will take a few weeks to get everything inventoried, contact authors for latest material, build ads and brochures, etc., but hopefully the first of the new Bookstore ads will appear in the May or June issues of our Quick Printing, Southern Graphics, Printing News East, and Printing News Midwest.

If you are interested in receiving a copy of the first brochure, simply email me a request that says BOOKSTORE and include your fax number and address. I will hold those inquiries until I have the copy ready, then forward it to you.

Bookstore will include the best of people like Tom Crouser, David Fellman, Larry Hunt, and many others. It will include books, video tapes, computer programs, etc.

Til next time, God bless you and yours... cy Commercial...
To receive a brochure describing how you can have the Helene's Hotline database on your own computer, Email me at hotlinecy@aol.com and give leave your fax number. The Hotline databases, BFP and Ad Specialty BFP give you the ability to easily shop numerous vendors for your outsourcing requirements.

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Date inserted: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 4:01:11