For the last 2 plus years, I have read many articles, attended webinars, and listened to several podcasts. All of these communication modes are informative, and I have learned a great deal. But I have that found I learn best with face-to-face interactions and peer sharing. As I book travel for my next in-person conference, I’m excited about the interactions, sharing and learning I anticipate from attending sessions with a knowledgeable and diverse group of industry peers

The pace of technology continues to move at warp speed. There are some terms that were once only discussed by IT teams and are now more common among businesses users and consumers. In my reading and research, I find there are terms that have multiple or unclear meanings in different contexts.

I recently spoke with senior managers at three distinctly different print operations to get their perspective on staffing and the changes they have made to fill open positions and grow their business. I talked with: Dairyland Power Cooperative, Kennickell Group in Savanah, and SPC a direct mail company in the Midwest.

The summer travel season is here. I relish a summer day on the beach with a good book. My toes in the sand, the sound of the waves, and a great story that pulls me in. This is my definition of a perfect day. Whether you have a vacation planned or a long flight in your near future, nothing is better than some uninterrupted time with a good book.

With significant increases in postage rates, marketers must justify their direct mail budgets and the results they are enabling. The USPS has an interest in getting companies to mail more even with the higher rates. To demonstrate the value of physical mail driving consumers to digital channels while providing postage discounts the USPS launched a series of promotions. The benefits for mailers include more effective mail with improved response and conversion across all channels.

Everyone wants to save money on their mail and direct marketing programs. The USPS has an interest in getting companies to mail more. The USPS promotions are designed to demonstrate the value of physical mail driving consumers to digital channels while providing postage discounts. The benefits for mailers include more effective mail with improved response and conversion across all channels.

Successful commercial printers and print/mail service providers take the time to conduct regular planning meetings with their largest clients. These meetings may be called quarterly business reviews, account reviews, executive business reviews, or planning meetings. At these meetings, senior level people from the client and the vendor attend. There is a structured agenda with a focus on the services, value, and metrics for print/mail services.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with four IPMA members on our Webinar: The Present and Future of In-Plant Print Mail Communications. You can view the replay here.

Our webinar panelists included Tammy Golden, Assistant Commissioner of Document Solutions at State of Tennessee and Mike Lincoln, State of Colorado Printer. In a recent IPMA blog, I shared how Tammy and Mike assessed their teams and services so they could adapt and grow. Both teams implemented changes and experienced growth in 2021. On the webinar, they shared how they are responding to staffing challenges and paper shortages while leveraging strong partnerships to meet their clients’ needs for printing and mailing.

The webinar included two additional speakers, Lauren Tarbet: Copy Supervisor, Pflugerville (Texas) Independent School District, and Danelle Clark, Enterprise Correspondence Technologies Manager, American Family Insurance.

A new year, time for new thinking and new approaches. While this coming January may feel different than others, it still is that time to pause and reflect and define the goals for the coming year.

If you don’t have a formal process for annual strategic planning, consider a strategic assessment.

In September of 2020, I spoke with managers running large in-plant print operations — Mike Lincoln, Colorado State Printer and Tammy Golden, Assistant Commissioner of Document Solutions at State of Tennessee. Despite significant differences in print volumes and approaches, both managers expressed the need to assess, adapt and expand their services to meet the changing requirements of their customers.

In-plants continue to face multiple staffing challenges from high absenteeism, large numbers of retirements, and state mandated hiring freezes.

Inkjet is delivering substantial return on investment for direct mail programs. This is the second article of a two-part series on how next generation inkjet is delivering results for direct marketing firms.

I recently spoke with Mark DeBoer, Senior Vice President of Darwill about their inkjet journey. They are a national integrated marketing company with two production facilities. They provide omnichannel services for direct marketing programs including data, creative, production, mail, and reporting solutions for their customers across many B2C industries.

Before the pandemic many print-mail service providers had what they thought were solid disaster recovery (DR) plans. These plans included contracts with national and local firms to meet client SLAs in the event of a disaster. Files were transmitted and paper stocks were held in inventory in the event a facility could not produce client statements and invoices. These plans were tested on an annual basis.

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.