RR Donnelley -- Giant Transformation
"From RR Donnelley's perspective, a lot of the wins we had in 2002 are kicking in this year," Knotts says. "We're installing new equipment in both our consumer and B2B magazine platform to keep up with the growing demand. A lot of that equipment will come online in the second half of this year. The bulk of that is to meet increased demand from market share gains, as well as organic growth from existing customers. We feel cautiously optimistic about 2003."
Catalog/Retail
On the heels of a year that saw the industry's Standard A mail volume drop roughly 7 percent, RR Donnelley's outlook is extremely bright, according to Steve Zuccarini, president of catalog/retail solutions. Zuccarini sees the overall market performance garnering steam in the second half of 2003. In the first quarter, Donnelley already has a leg up on the competition—augmented by securing more than $250 million in the lifetime value of contract renewals and new accords.
Understanding the needs of catalog/retail customers is to understand their end-consumer's shopping preferences, Zuccarini reveals. "In addition to utilizing print catalogs, many of our catalogers are moving into brick-and-mortar stores, as well as enhancing their Internet sites and experimenting with e-mail marketing," he says. "In response, we're delivering better content management solutions and streamlining our creative production workflows for our customers. We've developed tools with our Premedia group that are going to ensure brand and product consistency across all of their mediums."
Significant investments have bolstered Donnelley's catalog/retail segment in 2003. Three wide-web gravure presses are slated to roll this year, along with three additional offset presses in the Lancaster, PA, catalog facility. Bindery equipment with enhanced targeting capabilities has been added across the entire platform. The segment has benefitted from the logistics investments that have helped provide maximum postal savings for catalog customers, while providing reliable delivery accuracy, he notes.
