MARK SMITH

Like it or not, change is the new normal in the graphic communications industry. Whether your organization is large or small, the challenges are the same:

* cut costs,
* manage risk,
* realize profits, and
* maintain customer loyalty.

The ability to drive revenues depends on staying relevant to your customers. That takes having the expertise and solutions ready to meet their evolving marketing and communication needs.

Hear how print service providers from both ends of the business spectrum have found success within a common competitive landscape by being innovative in uniquely different ways.

Click here to view this free webinar today!

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Printing industry sales may no longer track exactly with GDP, but the two remain inextricably linked. Unfortunately, recent events have greatly increased the difficulty in trying to forecast the economy's track in 2006 with any degree of confidence. In the fall, the National Association for Printing Leadership's (NAPL) economic team revised downward both its printing industry forecast for 2005 and projection for 2006, reports Andrew D. Paparozzi, chief economist. Growing concern about the economy and ongoing resistance to price increases in the marketplace were the main reasons. "In an industry as competitive as ours, it doesn't take a

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Automation usually has the effect of at once making equipment simpler to operate, but more complex to fix when a problem arises. Just as driveway car repairs have become a thing of the past for most owners, the response to any glitch on today's printing equipment is apt to be arranging for a service call rather than reaching for a wrench. The answer, of course, is to bring more technology to bear. As heavy iron has integrated silicon components, the potential has grown for capturing even minute operating parameters by tapping into the various electronic controls, IC chips and servo motors.

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor This time of year, even the most dedicated printer is far more likely to be pondering a trip to the beach than the Windy City in the fall. Nonetheless, planning for PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 is well under way. Billed as this year's largest industry expo for the international graphic arts community, the event is scheduled to run September 9-15 at the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago. The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), which puts on the exposition, and a group of industry vendors recently took part in a pre-show media event that highlighted coming attractions. MediaDays

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor There were no mysterious bulges, but maybe the occasional exacerbated expression and a testy moment or two during "The Great Debate: JDF—Reality or Hype?" session at Executive Outlook 2004 in Chicago. This "debate" between Frank Romano, industry consultant and Professor Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and James Harvey, executive director of CIP4, actually started with an exchange of opinion pieces published by OnDemandJournal.com. As entertaining as these exchanges have been, Harvey says he's not interested in repeating the debate since the questions have been asked and answered. He sees more value in the industry moving on to discussing

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Experience has taught printers to error on the side of caution when it comes to managing paper. Any tendency toward overreacting is understandable, given how essential this raw material is to the process. It's easy to imagine the sense of helplessness from having a press sit idle or turning away business for want of paper. The critical role of paper helps explain much of the past volatility in the marketplace. In recent years, paper buyers and suppliers have both taken steps to instill more stability and rationality in the market, and there were some indications of this

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