A year ago at drupa, HP announced an OEM relationship with Press-sense to bring to market HP’s SmartStream Director Web-to-fulfillment workflow solution, citing key benefits, components and features including...

As the new year began amidst tidings of economic doom and gloom, WhatTheyThink argued that firms should use this time to make sure their staff has the best possible training. The digital production floor is one area where training is often less than perfect. I recently spoke with industry expert David Zwang on this topic, one he is very passionate about.

Earlier this month, Kodak and Xeikon announced an alliance effective in the United States and Canada to offer label printers an online presence. We were interested to know how this came about, and what any potential future plans between the two companies might be, so we spoke with Michael Ring, VP of Sales and CMO for Xeikon North American Operations, and Steve Miller, Kodak’s Product Manager for Newspaper and Packaging Workflow, to find out more. Read the interview...

The pressure continues to build for print service providers to reinvent their businesses in order to better meet the realities of a marketplace where the demand for print is declining. There are many avenues to pursue, but the one most commonly suggested is making the transition to a marketing services provider by offering a range of print and electronic business communications services to support the needs of marketing professionals. Read more...

On the heels of a much diminished On Demand show in early April in Philadelphia, I had the pleasure of attending ad:tech later in the month in San Francisco as a member of the media. For me, it was quite different than the usual printing shows I attend for many reasons.

For those of you who might not be familiar with it, ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world. Shows are held around the world throughout the year, with several U.S. venues, including Chicago right before Print 09. Read more...

Following David Dodd’s posting on PrintCEO about the Ingram reorganization, I was able to catch up with Lightning Source President David Taylor at BookExpo America in New York to gain a little more insight into the company’s move. Read more...

I was interested to see the latest web venture undertaken by Mohawk Papers, a new online paper store at MohawkPaperStore.com. The company has been one of the leaders in the paper world in terms of the tools and information provided for visitors to its primary web site, MohawkPaper.com, including detailed information about its own environmental initiatives as well as an environmental calculator, an eco-guide and tips for specifying sustainable papers. In addition, Mohawk was one of the first to map each of its papers against the various digital print engines to help designers and print service providers select the most appropriate paper for digital printing projects. Now it seems that they are the first mill to launch an online paper store designed for use by the consumer (if they are not, I am sure I will hear about it!). WhatTheyThink spoke with Hillary Davis, Interactive Marketing Manager, to get the details.

There is so much chatter about how important it is for printer service providers to transition to marketing services providers as our industry is reshaped by a number of internal and external factors. But what does that really mean? We recently had the occasion to speak with Mark Parent, CEO of Sugarbush Media Solutions, who has successfully made this transition, to learn more. A visit to his web site is quite an awakening, especially when it is compared to the average print service provider web site. Read more...

U.S. Public Printer Bob Tapella wasted no time after being confirmed in appointing a key staff member to focus on reducing the GPO’s environmental footprint. In March of 2008, he tapped Trish Fritz for this important role. Prior to joining GPO, Trish worked with Congress, the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior to promote more efficient and environmentally sound technologies to enhance coalbed natural gas development. These technologies helped increase gas production efficiency while reducing the environmental impact of excess water.

Trish is tasked with helping to bring more sustainable environmental stewardship to the U.S. Government Printing Office as well as to work with industry leaders to create a standard to evaluate more environmentally responsible paper use by Federal agencies.

WhatTheyThink checked in with Trish to see what progress has been made in the past year.

I have recently had the opportunity to speak with several BCT franchisees about new technology they have added to their shops. BCT, founded about 30 years ago, began as Business Cards Tomorrow, a B2B printing business serving the trade and was known for its fast turnaround and thermographic printing. With 70 franchise locations the franchise has recently undergone a rebranding, has made dramatic changes to its plants, and is poised to step up its marketing efforts. WhatTheyThink spent time with Peter Posk, BCT’s President, to get the story.

More than a year after the Adobe/FedEx Kinko’s uproar and with some organizational restructuring at Adobe toward year’s end, WhatTheyThink was interested to see what the company is up to relative to its support of the printing industry. Imagine our surprise when we were connected with some folks in India to learn more! Read the interview...

Are you still wondering whether digital printing is for you, and what the ROI truly is? Jim Aust is a Print Industry Business Analyst with Kodak and spends much of his time auditing print facilities, most recently with a view to helping potential buyers set reasonable expectations about returns that could be expected from a digital printing investment. Out of that work, he has gleaned a number of key findings and lots of good advice. WhatTheyThink spoke with Jim recently and he agreed to share much of that wisdom in this interview. This is a two part interview:
Part One | Part Two

Recently, WhatTheyThink had the opportunity to speak with Art Coley, Senior Director of Franchise Development for AlphaGraphics. Coley left the ICED franchise organization about two years ago to join AlphaGraphics. We were interested in why he made the move, whether it lived up to his expectations, and what AlphaGraphics is up to these days.

Of the major franchise organizations, AlphaGraphics has had the highest per-store revenue averages, but fewer shops in operation. The number of AlphaGraphics shops has been relatively stable, in the range of 250 over the last several years. Among other things, Coley shared with us the company’s plan to double the size of its system in the next five to seven years. We were particularly interested in this aggressive plan for growth.
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