Ink Prices on the Rise

Today the Flint Group North America announced an increase in Ink prices. Flint cited the continuing and unprecedented rise in raw materials, transportation and energy costs as the reason for the increase.
The following inks are affected:
Publication Gravure - 10%
Publication Heatset - 8%
News Ink - 6%
Sheetfed - 5% to 7% depending on product technology and color.
Packaging – up to 12% depending on product technology and color.

Sheetfed buyers...expect these costs to be passed on to you. The increases are set to become effective October 1, 2007.

Flint Group is citing that "the increased global consumption of petroleum and petroleum derivatives, along with limited refinery capacity, continue to be the key drivers in the cost of raw materials" according to Bill Miller, President Flint Group North America.

Link to Press release: http://www.flintgrp.com/FlintGroupPressRelease.nsf/PressRelease/C9544A35B6F7ACA3852573440070F815?OpenDocument

Will XPS replace the PDF?

XPS stands for "XML Paper Specification." XPS is available in Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 07 which is available for Windows XP. XPS architecture is built specifically for the Windows Vista environment but there is a free download available from microsoft called: "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable Package" If you are running Office 07 on a Windows XP machine you will want this download to use XPS. You can get the XPS viewer here: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/viewxps.mspx

XPS is designed for use three ways;
As a spool file format the format which documents are submitted to the printer drivers for conversion to PDL.

As a printer command language. Newer printer are being released that support XPS just like PCL or PostScript(r) Language

As a document sharing format; allowing a static, electronic representation of the document to be shared for viewing, collaborative development, proofing, or remote printing.

Advantages and Disadvantages
There are not a whole lot of advantages of XPS as yet as it is new. There are not any disadvantages to it over PDF either. I can say that of course PDF has had ten years of maturity over XPS and is a widely accepted format for both printers and the legal profession. However, if adobe attempts to go down another road like the FedEX/Kinko's fiasco...I would say XPS will at least have the advantage. (and don't think this is the last attempt Adobe will make at this kind of venture) I would guess they are plotting right now as to how they can pull this sort of thing off again. I think at this point PDF has a pretty firm hold on the market. But, don't hold your breath! I think there are some pretty cool things in XPS and based on what I read by Global Graphics I think there may be some cool things to come!

For Printing Companies:
I would start asking your IT departments to look at XPS format and what it will take to start accepting XPS files from your customers. It is coming and I think you should get ahead of this one.

Information regarding XPS: http://www.globalgraphics.com/xps/more.html
XPS downloads: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable Package for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
XPS Viewer: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/viewxps.mspx



Sources: American Printer July 07
www.globalgraphics.com
www.microsoft.com

Printers Tag-line

“expert solutions to the publishing world”

"To many of our customers we are more than a print vendor, we are an extension of their print purchasing departments because of our consultative approach to selling and customer service. We don’t just take orders, we help our customers by looking for ways to save them time and money, we remind them when they should be ordering so they don’t miss their mail dates and we help educate them on the most efficient ways to print their materials."


This printer is looking for a new tag-line to describe themselves their tag-line is this...“expert solutions to the publishing world”. Now here is my dilemma in all of this. How many of your printers describe themselves as above? Probably ALL of them "we're more that just a print vendor.....Yada, Yada, Yada!! How many print buyers have heard this? Almost every company in the U.S. says something like this "[puking], [puking]. Print Buyers, just once wouldn't it be refreshing to have a sales rep come into your office and say something like this: "We print [insert item here] and [insert other item here] we try to do our best to deliver your products on schedule and on budget. Sometimes we don't! and when we don't we will try to make it up to you the best way we can. We are humans and sometimes humans mess up! We will try to help you with anything we can but we don't do everything!" I am not saying this printer doesn't deliver what they say...I am saying actions speak louder than words! You shouldn't have to advertise your abilities you should be able to show your abilities. If your that good word will spread Print Buyers are a small but close knit community they know which printers are good and which aren't and if your that good print buyers are not afraid to make recommendations for you.

[rant]I had a supplier that I worked with in the medical field and they would come into my office and instead of trying to give me a bunch of fluff they would say "this is what we can offer you it's the best I can do. If you can find it cheaper somewhere else then buy it from them!" Sometimes they would even come in my office and say; "Here's the price of [product] but I know you can get it from [XYZ Vendor] for cheaper here's the sales reps number give him a call and he will help you out" [end rant]

Now guess who got my business 95% of the time? You got it they did! Why? Because there was no bull about how we are going to help you they actually HELPED me!! It wasn't in a tag-line or mission statement. It was what THEY did for the customer they were trained to provide WOW service to their customers. They were also the ONLY vendor that could come to my office without an appointment. They would just show up and most times they would walk out of my office without a sale in their pocket but if I needed something fast or I needed anything they were the one I called first and always. Bottom line: Cut the crap and treat your customers like they are your friend, neighbor, brother, or sister.

So this company needs a new tag-line how about this; "We will do the best job we can."

This post is dedicated to Zane and Brianna hope things are going well for you!


Excerpt from http://printceoblog.com/2007/08/printing-company-tagline

Print Procurement Questions

I am not going to say that "I am the leading authority on print procurement and print buying." But I will say that If I am asked a question I will find an answer. It may not always be the answer your looking for but I will get an answer. I have had extensive experience in purchasing and as I stated in a previous post the process of purchasing is really not much different between print or an other commodity. Now I said that word, "Commodity". Believe what you will, and I plan to address this further in a later post, print is a commodity. My background in working with both printers and print buyers gives me a unique perspective of hearing both sides objectively as compared to other pundits in the business who have an "either...or" background. I encourage, you to ask me questions. I am not going to give fluffy answers. I will tell you the way I see it or as I have heard it said. If you have a question related to print or print procurement send me an email at: jgangerjt@gmail.com