Living Life in the Cloud

I just read a post called; "Uninstall Now" from what I believe might be a very brave person for even attempting this experiment if you will and I hope he succeeds. I feel that software as we know it is on a cusp and that our computing devices are merely a URL storage device and a browser to allow us to access our tools from anywhere without being tied to software versions and installing upgrades. I have believed for the last 8 years that this was possible and I may even try to join David Rae in this adventure! Good Luck David!
As a side note: NowSource has always been an SaaS model. Design and architecture have fully been based on web accessibility so that users do not worry about updates and versions, they have access to the latest version everyday and with out worry or hassle.

Day 1 Wrap-up from On-Demand

Day 1 was a pretty busy day! I did not get a chance to peruse the other exhibitors because we were steady all day in our booth. Show officials stated that the registrations and attendance was on par with last year so it is good to see that attendees and exhibitors were out in full force on day one! If your at the show stop by booth 2411 and say hi! Check back tomorrow as I will have more news regarding Cross-Wind.
John

On-Demand Day #1

Well I survived show set-up...(I actually did not do a whole lot to help) Having my first morning coffee and getting ready to head over to the show floor. Before I do I thought I would share the latest company news.

UPS Stores/MailBoxes Etc. Will utilize the NowPrint Platform for Online Digital Print stores.
Read more here: http://www.graphicartsonline.com/article/CA6646833.html?rssid=258

Going Green in Procurement

I read an interesting article by Tom Jowitt at TechWorld titled Companies fail to go green on procurement. The sad part is that according to his article only 3 percent of companies in the UK are using a non-paper based procurement system. Which leads me to wonder what the statistics might look like in the U.S.? Unfortunately I did not find a lot of data in this area which leads me to believe that if only 3% in the UK that the numbers in the U.S. are probably not much higher. What interested me even more was the statistics related to Printers, Faxes, and other equipment required to produce a paper copy that ultimately produces Carbon Output. not to mention the money saved in electricty alone.

Manufacturing Survival

Again these are random thoughts on the current economic situation. I, by no means, have any answers or magic pill to help anyone overcome the current situations. I am just offering up babble at this point and hoping something sticks to the wall!!

Suppliers are taking a hard look at production costs and looking to trim cost to widen margins and more importantly win new business. It is a hard time and the survivors will be those that can find cost trimming solutions in their manufacturing. So what is the answer? How do we cut costs? I have cut as deep as I can go! Sound familiar? This is what I am hearing, and the survivors are those that can compare their costs against competitors pricing and find that one last spot to trim. Based on current projections it is likely that suppliers will be in the 1% or less profit range for the next couple of years. Seems reasonable at this point that if you can live within that range and be competitive with the competition, then you can point out the differentiator's that make you stand out. You know...the "I produce a quality product", and the "we provide good customer service" kind of things.

Fuel prices impacting print spend?

Appended:
I apparently wrote this before the DOE announced the National average of $3.39 per gallon yesterday afternoon so the news gets better and better! The message is still the same just even more urgent than last week.

According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, Fuel prices are up 32% over this time last year. From an April 2007 average price of $2.36 per gallon to $3.11 per gallon this week. Diesel Prices currently average $3.95 per gallon up 111 cents since this time last year. Cost of shipping is definitely on the rise, paper is heavy and costly to ship, both to the printer and to the consumer. At the same time personal income has only rose 0.9% in the same period. Companies are taking a hard look at how to cut costs and anything involving freight charges will be scrutinized heavily.

Now is the time to be evaluating print production costs and focus heavily on freight charges.
What is freight costing?
Can I get a better freight cost at the expense of production costs?
Am I better served producing a job closer to the delivery destination?

If you don't have strategic suppliers providing you with cost effective print; YOU ARE LOSING MONEY. No question about it at this point. I would also heavily consider which jobs can be split to make production closer to destination so if you are split shipping consider split production. Ask your suppliers where they are producing if they have multiple facilities and challenge them if they are producing in a plant further from the destination than another plant. Now is not the time to let your suppliers dictate. I believe that the breaking point is very close. The word "Recession" is getting used daily on the news. I heard from a colleague today that his company is now on a hiring freeze. Companies are looking for cost effective ways to measure and source print spend consider looking at sourcing solutions that can help you evaluate based on these and other criteria.

Staple Offer for Corporate Express REJECTED

According to the Associated Press Corporate Express management rejected the proposal within about 2 hours of the offer being made public. CE officials sited the proposal as significantly undervaluing Corporate Express and failing to reflect CE's value.

http://news.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1074569&srvc=home&position=recent

Staples Makes Bid to Acquire Corporate Express

In an email to Staples associates dated 2/19/08, Ron Sargent Chairman and CEO of Staples, notified associates of the proposed offer made to Corporate Express. Below is the text of the email distributed yesterday.

"Fellow Associates:

Today we have taken a significant step in creating a bigger and better platform for all Staples associates to deliver great service and value to our customers around the world. We are pleased to announce that Staples has made a proposal this morning to acquire Corporate Express, one of the world's leading suppliers of office products.

This acquisition will not only significantly expand Staples' North American Delivery operations, the fastest growing and most profitable part of our business, but will also add successful Contract businesses in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to our portfolio. In addition to expanding our business into new geographies and customer segments, the acquisition will complement our organic growth, representing the addition of approximately $8 billion in annual sales to Staples' $20 billion business.

Corporate Express has a strong management team leading 18,000 associates in 20 countries, and we believe our combined business and people can be even more successful in building a strong, global delivery business. While Corporate Express has not been receptive to our approaches to discuss a possible business combination, we decided to pursue the proposed acquisition because of the tremendous benefits to both Corporate Express’ and Staples' stakeholders, given the complementary nature of our business and the significant opportunities the combination represents. We hope to meet with Corporate Express’ management and complete an acquisition agreement as soon as possible.

We look forward to officially welcoming Corporate Express to the Staples family in the coming weeks and working together to ensure a smooth transition for all associates, customers and suppliers."

The office products market seems to be heating up a bit. The proposed offer is for 7.25 euros per common share of stock. Staples is touting this as a 60% premium from current market value.

Will stock holders snub this offer like Yahoo investors snubbed the Microsoft offer a couple of weeks ago? Let's wait and see!

Read the official Press Release here: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=96244&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1109564&highlight=

John

Busy, Busy, Busy, Are you busy too?

Good Morning!
Or is it afternoon I am not sure! It has been a very busy start to 2008 for me. I hope your 2008 is starting out with a bang as well. I was at the Corporate Express National Sales Meeting last week. What a great show! The Keynote speaker was Astronaut Jim Lovell who talked about his experiences on Apollo 13. A very inspiring talk. I got the opportunity to visit with almost all of the Strategic Suppliers for Corporate Express and talk with them about their experiences with Cross-Wind and how it is working for them. Almost all of them were very pleased with how it works and expressed that it helps improve their processes when quoting to their customer. In addition, the Strategic Sourcing supplier manager did a supplier survey in early December asking for the suppliers input and the preliminary analysis is showing that an overwhelming majority of Suppliers are please with the tools. I hope to have the raw data soon and to share that analysis here as well. While the weather wasn't the greatest (Cloudy and rainy Wednesday through Saturday) it sure beat the Minnesota weather I came home too (-10 degrees) on Saturday.
Next week I am off to New Jersey for another customer implementation of Cross-Wind and hopefully I will be able to announce very soon the customers name. I am out of the office all next week but will have some time to start keeping up on this blog! As always if you have questions please feel free to send me a note.
John

CEO Confidence Declines Further

Oct. 5, 2007 -- The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which had declined to 45 in the second quarter of 2007, edged down to 44 in the third quarter. A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses. The survey includes about 100 business leaders in a wide range of industries.

"Despite the rather bleak assessment of current conditions, CEOs are not as pessimistic in their short-term outlook," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "But although the outlook is somewhat brighter than last quarter, the pace of growth is likely to remain moderate in the months ahead."

CEOs' assessment of current economic conditions was less favorable, with 14 percent claiming economic conditions had improved, down from 23 percent last quarter. In assessing their own industries, business leaders were also less optimistic. Approximately 17 percent claim conditions are better, down from approximately 23 percent in the first quarter.

CEOs, however, are moderately more optimistic about the short-term outlook than last quarter. Now, approximately 20 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months, up from 17 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own industries are also more upbeat, with 27 percent anticipating an improvement, up from 17 percent last quarter.

Capital Spending Plans Decline

Some 24 percent of business executives report increases in their companies' capital spending plans since January of this year, while 13 percent have scaled plans back, based on a supplementary question asked each year in the third quarter. This is a moderate change from the 2006 survey, when 28 percent of respondents had increased their capital spending plans and 9 percent had made cuts. Among the reasons given for increasing capital investment plans, the most common was an increase in sales volume. A decline in sales volume was the most cited reason for a decrease in spending plans.

Related Tables are attached. (You will need Adobe Acrobat to view)

Source: CEO Confidence 3rd Quarter 2007
The Conference Board

Are Reverse Auctions good for the Print Industry?

So the question has come up again; "does Cross-Wind do Reverse Auctions?" My biggest concern is why are buyers so infatuated with reverse auctions? I find it hard to believe that anyone in the print industry would even consider these. Have the lessons not been learned? I really would like further feedback on this from the print supplier/printers perspective.

I can tell you that I have personally sat in on reverse auctions with a printer, as an observer and I can tell you it was quite painful for the print supplier. The auction was a long duration auction lasting 3 days. The supplier reviewed the specifications and had questions as did other suppliers apparently by the feedback response that was given to the questions. Of course no one really wants to ask a question about the specs on an open forum as that may give away something none of the other bidders had considered and if the customer is not accepting questions any other way then the questions often go unanswered. The specifications in the suppliers eyes were not complete so therefore they felt they were unable to provide the best pricing and without being able to consult directly with the customer the price would not be complete. Also pricing did not start coming in to the auction site until the last 3 or 4 hours and then got really heated in the last few minutes which by looking at the price differences that printers were providing there was margin the whole time. In addition, the customer was fairly savy in that they were using a ringer. They had a supplier that truly had no intention of doing the job but was there strictly to drive the price as low as possible. Every time pricing was submitted the ringer would respond within a minute or two and counter the price by a percentage point. So if a print supplier was truly interested in the job they were forced to drop the price even further if they wanted it. The print supplier I was working with had decided early on that they were not going to get the work and that this was a waste of their time. The supplier estimated the job with their standard markup, a discounted price, and with their cost. When the auction started he offered up his discount price immediately which was a 0.5% profit margin. Within an hour he countered with his cost price which meant no profit on the job. One minute later the ringer countered that price which would have put the print supplier at a 1% loss. The right thing to do for the printer would have been to walk away at that point. However the printer knew e needed to fill the press and chose to go .5% lower (now at a 1.5% loss.) With a half hour left in the auction another supplier countered his offer. The printer while frustrated chose at this point to walk away from the job. Now once the price went below cost the printer spent most of his time that afternoon trying to run different scenarios as to how they could cut cost on the project to win the bid. This was a very painful experience for the supplier as they met and engaged the production department and pre-press in devising ways that cost could be trimmed, but without the answers or the ability to ask questions of the customer their was no way to respond without taking a complete loss on the project. The supplier walked away frustrated and realized later how much time was truly wasted in trying to respond blindly to the auction. This supplier politely turned down the next invitation to a reverse auction for this customer, and when the customer called to ask why, they politely told them that if this was the way they intended to do business from now on that they were not interested in being a supplier for them.

The customer lost out on having a consultative resource available to them. The bottom line for the supplier was that if doing business meant doing it at a loss they were not willing to risk losing their company to satisfy a customers need to save money. There is a balance and companies are in business to make money.

What are your thoughts? I am interested in hearing what Printers and Print Buyers think regarding using and completing Reverse Auctions. Post your comments! All will be posted. Thanks!

Print Buyers International Announces Speaker Line-up for 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference

Print Buyers International Press Release

Print Buyers International today announced their speaker line-up for the upcoming 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference on November 7th and 8th at the Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center in Westford, Massachusetts. Headlined by keynoters Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb, the conference will offers attendees the expert input of 22 different renowned industry authorities. For complete conference details, including session descriptions, speaker bios, and program logistics, go to http://www.printbuyersinternational.com.

In an unsolicited email, Joan Grace, Chief Executive, PrintNZ (New Zealand) stated, “Having seen the proceedings from last year’s 1st Annual Boston Print Buyers conference and then looking at who Margie had attracted to speak this year, I decided this was a ‘must do’ in terms of my own professional development. I am looking forward immensely to meeting Frank Romano, who continues to challenge the industry to consider its future. Likewise, the session with Don Carli, Institute of Sustainable Communication, is important to me. In a small country like New Zealand, it will be helpful for me to see how the printing industry in a much larger economy is addressing environmental sustainability. I am also looking forward to meeting with the print buyer delegates – what do they want from our industry? – are we delivering it? Finally, with such a great line-up, I would like some advice from Margie on how I can attend more than one session at a time!”

Speaker Line-Up

This international print buyers conference offers a rich and comprehensive educational program. This year, there will be 21 educational sessions, held over two days, dedicated to the enhanced understanding of professional print and media buyers. In addition to a buyers’ panel moderated by PBI founder Margie Dana, the conference will offer the expert opinion of several of the industry’s leading authorities:

Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, RIT;
Dr. Joe Webb, Director, WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center;
Derek Awalt, Global Product Manager, Halftone Proofing, Kodak Graphic Communications Group;
Don Carli, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Communication;
Daniel Dejan, National Print & Creative Specialist, Sappi Fine Paper;
Diane Dragoff, Purchasing Manager, United Way of Massachusetts Bay;
Christine Erna, Executive Vice President, Mailing/Fulfillment Services, Vermillion, Inc.;
Cheryl Kahanec, Vice President and Director, Digital Solutions, Sandy Alexander, Inc.;
Sabine Lenz, Founder, PaperSpecs.com;
Rick Littrell, President/CMO, Magicomm, LLC;
James Lockman, Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) Print Specialist and Owner of Working Words & Graphics;
Robert McClements, Managing Director, Grange Consulting, and founding Senior Executive of PrintYorkshire;
Jack Miller, Senior Consultant, North America, Pira International;
Nick Patrissi, Senior Marketing Manager, Kodak Graphic Communications Group;
Sandi Peterson, President, Berthelot Marketing Services;
Michael Riordan, Assistant Professor at RIT's School of Print Media;
Brian Rooney, Chief Technology Officer, Pantone, Inc.;
Bob Wagner, Vice President, Xerox Creative Services Business and Premier Partners Program.

Dinner Keynote by Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb

A special highlight of this year's conference will be the November 7th keynote dinner address, to be co-delivered by industry giants Frank Romano and Dr. Joe Webb. Romano is the well-known author, educator, industry guru, world-class speaker, and friend to every print customer. He delivered the keynote address at the first annual print buyer's conference held in November 2006. Webb, affectionately known as "Dr. Doom," is one of the printing industry's most highly regarded economists, consultants, forecasters, and commentators.

"We’ve built this program to bring attendees not only the hottest topics, but also sought to find the best-in-field speakers for each," noted PBI founder Margie Dana. “With Frank and Joe co-keynoting, I know the dinner session will be entertaining and information-packed. But just as valuable, Frank and Joe tell it like it is. There’s no sugar-coating. Today’s print and media buyers need to understand what’s happening and how it’s getting done. I know our hand-picked roster of speakers will tackle each topic with this same hard-hitting approach.”

For additional information, please visit http://www.printbuyersinternational.com or send your inquiries to info@bostonprintbuyers.com.