The challenges in securing paper for printing and mailing are very real. The confluence of factors creating the challenges in paper supply are not likely to improve until the second quarter of 2022. In my last article I explored the perfect storm contributing to the challenging situation including:

Supply, Demand, Manufacturing cost , Distribution/transportation cost

To get perspective on the daily impact of the situation, I spoke with several print-mail service providers about their strategies to handle the challenges of longer lead times, price increases and lack of inventory. From the trenches of daily buying and managing paper, input for this article was provided by:

I can’t get my paper for 12-weeks? And it’s going to cost 12% more than my last order? Yes, this is what procurement managers and paper buyers are hearing. Buying paper has become a convoluted process putting stress on inventory management, procurement, and vendor-client relationships.

The paper industry is experiencing a confluence of factors, a perfect storm of negative impacts. First, there’s the supply side. Globally, paper mills have been closing for years, reducing sources for many standard printing and publishing grades. Some mills have also converted from commercial printing grades to packaging grades, further reducing overall paper supply.

Inkjet presses from equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have delivered on the promise of lower cost, higher throughput, and better uptime. Many in-plant print operations attribute part of their success to their inkjet adoption strategy. Performing regular preventative maintenance is the key to drive uptime and predictable excellent image quality.

No Short-Cuts

The last year has presented many unexpected changes in production schedules and staffing models. Proper preventative maintenance is more important than ever in unpredictable situations.

For Part 2, I spoke with Michael Graf who is the Technology Director of the New York State, Cattaraugus Allegany Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The BOCES organizations were created in the 1930s to meet the educational needs of students in rural New York State school districts. The Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES supports 22 school districts across four counties in southwestern New York state.

Inkjet, toner, offset. Do print service providers need them all? I interviewed two companies who have a mix of technologies to get their perspective on why they use different print platforms, and to understand their customers’ perspectives on print quality.

First, I spoke with Cheryl Kahanec, the CEO of Quantum Group. A full-service commercial printer in the Chicago area, Quantum runs offset, digital, and inkjet printers. Their 250 employees also provide marketing services, e-commerce, direct mail, fulfillment, and logistics to a diverse customer base across most major vertical markets.

June is here. Summer travel has begun. Depending on your geography, restrictions on business and gatherings are over or soon will be. B2B employees are beginning to return to their offices. Mail volumes are up significantly over this time last year and many print service providers are experiencing growth in print volumes across many sectors. After overcoming the hurdles of 2020, the biggest challenge of the summer may be adequate staffing for production volumes.

I recently spoke with four book printers to better understand how inkjet supports their current manufacturing process and how inkjet has changed their approach for future capabilities. Each have taken different paths to migrate to inkjet platforms. All four executives expressed optimism about growth opportunities in book printing. All shared ways that inkjet is a key component in their manufacturing capabilities and how it complements other press technologies.

As we begin to go back out to our favorite stores, restaurants, gyms and public places we are looking for reassurance about cleanliness. It’s never been more important for retail and services business to be transparent about their hygiene protocols to protect the safety and health of customers and employees*.

Is it clean?

Long before COVID, my father held and still holds, the distinction of biggest germaphobe in our family. He had hand sanitizer and wipes long before the grandkids arrived 20 years ago. Like many, I have upped my game and often pause before touching many surfaces in public places.

As a consultant I am often engaged when decision makers want to improve their sales results. I regularly hear “we want the sales team to be more effective,” and “we want them to sell more.” These appear to be universal goals in the print and mailing industry.

Sales effectiveness is the combined result of four disciplines: sales leadership, sales methodology, sales execution, and sales culture.

Let’s focus first on sales leadership. Great sales leaders see their role in helping their team to achieve desired results.

I hope you attended some great online webinars in the last year. Events where the content was salient, the speakers were engaging, the technology worked well and there was relevant interaction with the attendees. At the end, you felt it was worth your time to attend.

I suspect you have also attended some ineffective online events that were not well delivered, and you tuned out, or were bored and began multi-tasking during the event. Or worse, left

Do your customers know everything you can do for them? This is a question I ask at the beginning of consulting engagements. The answer is usually some variation of, “No, most customers don’t really understand everything we can do.”

This is a big challenge for in-plants. Educating customers and senior leaders in your organizations about everything you do - and can do - to support the strategic goals of your organizations is a critical role for in-plant managers. If senior leaders don’t understand what you do and how it benefits the larger goals of your organization, it’s a slippery slope to outsourcing.

Direct mail continues to be a critical component for many marketing plans for both B2C and B2B products and services. It’s always more effective than digital-only channels like email or social media ads. Three trends are driving new strategies in direct mail marketing.

• Consumer expectations for brands to know my preferences

• More data and tracking to understand the correlation between online and offline transactional behaviors

• Inkjet technology driving improved and complex workflow

Does every manager and team leader understand the marketing strategy for your company? Some owners of companies challenge me when I ask this question. “Why does our IT manager need to know our marketing strategy”, they ask. A concise marketing strategy is the basis that drives activities, decisions and investments in sales, client service, operations and finance as well as marketing.

Strategic planning comes in many forms, and there are different methodologies to create a successful plan to guide companies to achieve their goals.

While many companies have some type of annual planning process to define goals and budgets, the plans are often more tactical than strategic. Too often, the plans define short-term goals by quarter for the next year.

A new year, a time for new thinking, and new approaches. While this January feels quite different than most, it is still that time to pause and reflect and define the goals for the year.

Healthcare companies of all types continue to face the brunt of the pandemic. The people managing the in-plant print operations continue to respond to dynamic changes in business conditions and the need for print, signage, and mail.

Many new inkjet production presses have been installed across all sectors of the print industry in the last five years. The overriding reason they are installed is because they print faster at a lower overall cost than toner and offset.

K-12 school districts’ in-plant print facilities have been on a rollercoaster since COVID hit. Many faced similar challenges last spring when the shut-down required an immediate transition to online learning. School districts were faced with the immediate need to print millions of books and documents to enable students to continue learning.

Does everyone on your team know all the plays? It’s Fall. It’s football season. It’s fourth quarter. And for many companies it is the time for budgeting and strategic planning. Companies have both formal or informal processes for strategic planning and budget planning. Yet, few people get excited about the time spent in the planning process.

I recently interviewed three managers running large in-plant print operators — Mike Lincoln, Colorado State Printer, Jerry Hill, California State Printer and Tammy Golden, Assistant Commissioner of Document Solutions at State of Tennessee. Despite significant differences in print volumes and approaches, all three managers expressed the need to assess, adapt and expand their services to meet the changing requirements of their customers.