From: TomCrouser@aol.com
Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 08:47:09 -0400
Subject: Short Message From The Road
Content-Length: 8502
X-UIDL: 832785521.010

Crouser Report OnLine Copyright 1996 Thomas P. Crouser, May 22, 1996 -
Material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written
consent of the copyright holder.
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Short Message From The Road
Transmitted from Waterloo, New York

Pamela and I have been doing some intensive training during the last ten
days. From Michigan and our Detroit seminar, to a full week in
Olympic-preparing Atlanta, to a quick turnaround at home (less than 48 hours)
to upstate New York, headed for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Chicago. I thank
Mac Paper Company for hosting us at the Atlanta Braves vs. Cincinnati Reds
game last Friday night at Atlanta s Fulton Country Stadium. Now, let s hear
from you.

Let s drop back to our discussion on Depreciation. Joe Polanco of the
Printing Industries Association of Texas adds a valuable insight.
******
Subj:	Re: Depreciation - Crouser Report, May 1996 
From:	piatexas.joe@nt1.azone.net (Joe Polanco)
To:	TomCrouser@aol.com

Tom, interesting comments (regarding depreciation).  I d like to add another
caution.  With today s electronic equipment, we re running into a double
edged sword.  MACRS forces you into a five year depreciation schedule for
computer equipment.  In reality the equipment probably has NO value in
eighteen to twenty-four months. Now you really have problems.  You have to
realize the loss prior to
achieving it s book 

life

 and then you get to start the whole vicious cycle
again.

I was in Washington D.C. this past week at the PIA Legislative Conference
(along with some of NAQP s reps led by Jeff Hayzlett), and this issue was one
of the top concerns for our industry.  More to come at a later date.
*****
Thanks, Joe. Our point was that depreciation is a 

real expense

 and is not a
source of 

profit

 for the owner who fails to have net income. Your comments
add a sense of urgency to that message. . .As a follow up to the 

mad as
hell

 discussion, Nancy DeDiemar, NAQP s vice president acts. . . .
*****
Subj:	Mad As Hell In Boston
From:	HPLACE

Dear Gary. . .I read with interest your reply in Tom Crouser s on-line forum
regarding the competitive practices of Xerox and your extension to Alco
Standard. In particular, I take note of your suggestion that NAQP compile a
list of Alco Standard dealers nationwide, and Len Factor s suggestion of
where to find the list.

I m sending all this to NAQP s executive director, George Rounds for action.
If we can find a simple way to get the list (such as Len Factor suggests) we
will. We ll keep you informed. Thank you again for your suggestion.

--Nancy DeDiemar, NAQP Vice President for Industry Relations 
*****
$1.77 Per Thousand!!!!! 

What did I miss?

 asks Hal from Chattanooga.
referencing Mickey Evans  comments. Hal asks, 

Is this a typo?  or is there
something I don t understand.......   I can t even look at anything for $1.77
per thousand let alone actually touch it.

 Well, Hal, here s the comment:


Xerox won a Government contract in March with their low bid (we were 2nd
bidder) of $1.77 per THOUSAND.

 Xerox bid $1.77 and Mickey bid something
higher. . . makes you wanta get in the DocuTek business. Meanwhile, Ed writes
from Charlotte about a similar topic, government bidding in the first place.
*****
Subj:	Where is the competition coming from?
From:	ENOW626

Sorry you have to bid on government printing - - I vowed many years ago NOT
to get in any bidding situations - especially government. Msot I know who do
so become very bitter. I certainly agree with you about the greed. Can you
imagine a government that is so greedy that it keeps increasing taxes
regardless of the effect on us taxpayers? I allocate a certain % to specific
expenses each year. Why does that greedy government keep raising my
percentage to where it exceeds 50% counting all levels of taxation? Seems to
me a federal government that now takes an average of 31.5% from its citizens
vs. 25% in WWII crisis situation really makes your point about greed. Thank
you for bringing it to the fore. Good luck on your bids. Ed N.
*****
A QUESTION FOR YOU: WHO PAYS?
I ve been saving the following message for you. Read it and give me your
comments. We ll compile and send back to you next week.
*****
Subj:	Who pays the bill?
To:	TomCrouser

. . . I have another question that may be of interest in your forum.  Our
salesman sold a 4 color design job to a bakery which was designed by my staff
and printed by another printer.  The job took 3 times as long to design than
was quoted because the customer kept changing her mind. She was not
accurately apprised of all of the additional time that she was incurring.

Any way, after several months, she finally approved the last draft of this 4
over 4 11 x17 brochure and we took it to film and showed her a chromacheck
which she signed off.  The job went to press and turned out not to be a
museum piece, but within the range of 

commercially acceptable

.  The
registration was off somewhat.  The customer flat out rejected the job and
would not accept any discount.  She did however want it reprinted with
changes because she wasn t satisfied with the final colors.  She was told
that there would be additional charges for the film corrections.  She
rejected this idea and did not want us to reprint.

To make a long story short, she insisted that we return her $1600 deposit
even though we were willing to give her the disk or mechanicals. We wanted to
keep $450 to cover some of the art time.  Instead of talking to us, she hired
the most expensive attorneys to sue us for damages.  We gave her back the
$450.
The problem is the printer insists that we owe him the $900 for the job. We
had been keeping him abreast of the situation as it developed.  What do you
think? One more question, is the salesman held accountable for any of this
money, if we end up giving some to the printer?  He of course did not get a
commission for this job. 
*****
So, whatcha think? And, if that isn t enough, here s Stephen with a question
on low end color printers.
*****
Subj:	low-end color printer
From:	StepGGray
To:	TomCrouser

Hi: We are a Macintosh based high volume publishing company. We have in-house
scanning and film output capability, (lino topaz, delta & herkules) we
currently output film and make matchprints but would like to generate color
prints 1st to check color breaks and generally proof pages in color prior to
film output.

Other than iris, rainbow or other high-end contract digital proofing has
anyone had success with low end color printers e.g.  540 or Apple color
stylewriters? (HP 540 w/color kit & cable $310.00)

The issues we see here are:

network compatibility/speed, are these low-end printers ethernet compatible?
What solutions are out there to add ethernet capability? (I have found mini
etherprint for $325.00)

Postscript compatibility. we use QuarkExpress, Adobe Illustrator and must be
able to output many file formats. With Apple printers I understand there is a
product called StyleScript that adds Postscript to a Stylewriter a product
called TScript is available for the HP. Do these add-ons work?? (TScript
$130.00) (Total low-end cost $765.00)

After all the add-ons are we better off with postscript and ethernet
built-in? Please pass along any experiences you have had. Thank you in
advance. Stephen
*****
So get those cards and letters coming in. Till next time, this is Tom and
Pamela in upstate New York saying, 

Happy Trails.



Tom Crouser