Cup-a-Joe

InfoTrend’s Jeff Hays had a few comments about relavency in the publishing and marketing industry.  It’s worth checking out and considering what “long-term” affects these changes could have on print producers.

And You Too Apple?  As of this morning, Apple has joined the fray in the world of digitizing textbooks.  For the publishing industry, does this hasten the demise of the printed page, or is it just another company (is Apple “another” company?) trying to position itself for a piece of the pie?  Regardless, there is no ignoring this player who has historically been very much a part of the education community.  More importantly is that the world of print is being affected by sources who were once considered suppliers (Apple, Adobe, etc.) and are now both partners and competitors.

For those of us who make a living in the world of commercial printing and say, “but I don’t print books,” don’t forget that the quicker people get used to using digital tablets for communication, that the day-to-day uses of print become threatened.  And for many in our industry, that will create business opportunities.  Content may be king, but those who can format content sit at the right hand of the king.

I purchased an iPad2 over the Holidays.  Mea culpa.  Why did I do it?  Supposedly it was to better understand the competition — and make my mobile communication easier.  Or that’s what I told myself.

Getting set up was a bit tricky, but that’s what tekkie sons are for.  James had recently purchased  his iPad and helped his old man get setup and introduced to a variety of applications — and games — of course.

Although I’ve carried a laptop for years and a smart phone for the past two, this device takes it to a new level.  NO, it doesn’t replace the smart phone, but once I get the right apps setup it will replace the laptop.  More importantly I am starting to see why it’s a game changer for the publishing industry.  And in turn it will affect many of the ways print will be used in the future.

I challenge you to make the investment (it’s not small) because it’s important for us in the world of print to understand the different ways people use to visually communicate.  If we are going to succeed in our business, we need to understand this technology rather than condemn it.  It’s the old adage — “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.”  And while you’re thinking about that line, check out this recent WSJ article on Eastman Kodak.

OK, it’s now time to check out how my Angry Birds are doing.

I’ve been on vacation the past few weeks and enjoying family and the Holidays.  Now that that’s it’s time to get back in the saddle, I’m looking at 2012 through fresh eyes.  Although ’11 was pretty bleak for many, there were many lessons learned, and here are some of my thoughts as we begin a new year.

We can not continue to wait for things to get better – or clearer.  Although most folks in the industry have realized that the economy will slowly trend upward, many are waiting for the waters of communication technology to become less muddy.  It ain’t going to happen.  By the time we think we see where it’s going – it will change.  Thus, we can’t afford to sit on the banks of the stream – we have to jump in and swim.

We need to re-invest in our selves and our personnel.  When was the last time you went to a non-industry seminar/workshop?  How well versed are you with the new ways of communicating?  Do your employees have the skills to re-invent themselves – and if they don’t – where are you going to find new ones?

When was the last time you talked to your banker?  Yes, that’s probably not top on your list – but there’s a good possibility he thinks you’re a dead printer walking rather than a business owner looking to the future.  Sit down and let him/her know that you’re in it for the long haul – whichever way it takes you.

Why did many of those “well-established” companies go away or change hands.  Here’s my simplistic answer.  They made a decision to serve a specific market and committed their assets to that business.  In the 20^th century, that made perfect sense, but with today’s ebb and flow of technology and communication channels, the successful company will need to think less about print technology and more about serving communication channels.

“The printing industry is feeling the impact of change as much, or perhaps even more, than some other industries.  Our change is being driven by the digitalization of information.  This is not only dramatically changing the way we produce our products, but the demand for them, and in many instances their very form.

Historically successful companies in every industry – and our industry is no exception – are losing their way because they have failed to anticipate he impact of these forces on their business, and therefore have not made timely adjustments.  Even in this harsh environment there are companies which are growing and seized opportunities that others didn’t see. They too, however, are faced with the challenge of maintaining their success.”

Pretty interesting observations aren’t they?  What’s more interesting is when they were written — 1995.  So, when one thinks that things have just recently become topsy-turvy, we have to remember that our industry has been facing change for decades, and here’s the important message.  For us to win in a changing environment, we must think strategically.  And that my friends, was the message in Wallace Stettinius’ book, “Winning in a Changing Environment, Learning to Think Strategically.”  The quotation above is from Wally’s preface written over 16 years ago.

I never got to know Wally that well, but in my observation, he was one of our industry’s true management visionaries.  In the 80’s and 90’s, I was able to attend seminars he presented, and had the opportunity to sit and discuss ideas he presented.  He also published many of those thoughts.  “Running in the Black,” dealt with financial management in our industry.  It’s now out of print, but probably was the best book ever written about that subject for printers.

I’ve been re-reading “Winning” and I feel that it still holds numerous nuggets which apply today.  I know that many in our industry are working to re-shape their companies for the future.  Yet, we can no longer afford to build the bomber as we’re flying it.  There has to be some serious planning before we start making major changes in our business model or rethink the types of capital investments we make. Thus, I strongly recommend that you consider purchasing “Winning.  There are copies available on Amazon.com

So, what can we learn from the AMR bankruptcy?

First, bankruptcy is not a solution for firms in our industry.  In my 40 years in the industry, I have only seen one company ever come out of bankruptcy and survive.  Rather than spending a lot of time exploring the reasons why bankruptcy has not worked, let’s take a look at Southwest Airlines (hmm, another North Texas transportation company) and what they’ve done right.

American Airlines was about providing a broad range of services to everywhere, which required a diverse amount of equipment.  They also pursued the glamorous (and expensive to support) overseas markets.  In contrast Southwest flew only one plane (still does – Boeing 737) and focused on short hop flights which were under-served.

American was a legacy airline with legacy labor costs.  Extremely strong unions and management took an adversarial approach.  One of the biggest snafus was a recent one in which employees were asked to take serious cuts in wages and benefits.  When things got healthy management was rewarded with very large bonuses — and employees got nothing.  Southwest is known for its iconoclastic approach to labor management.  Flight attendants tell jokes, sing and dance (yes, they do!) and several times I’ve seen flight captains who were dead-heading home help out the flight attendants by passing out peanuts.  You won’t see that type of esprit de corps in any other airline.

Although Southwest gets flack for their boarding process, their gate turn is inordinately faster than the legacy airlines and that translates into less people and less aircraft.  Throw in their “no bag fee” approach, and it all translates into bottom line dollars.

So, which do you want to be? A Southwest Airlines or an American Airlines?

As a long-time resident of Dallas/Fort Worth, I remember when American Airlines announced they were relocating from New York to Dallas.  It was exciting times and that relocation was a key part of the economic boom of the past 30 years for North Texas.  Thus, the news this week of their bankruptcy was a bit of a downer, although it wasn’t a surprise.

When your company is in a struggling industry with high capital costs and price competition is rampant and you’re dealing with extremely high labor and material (fuel) costs and you are highly regulated, it’s never a pretty picture (ask anyone in the printing industry).  Given that many of AMR’s major competitors (US Air; United; Delta) had already gone through bankruptcy reorganization, it was just a matter of time until AMR faced the inevitable.

Although we’re dealing with issues on a totally different scale, I see lessons that our industry can learn from this debacle, but I’m saving that for next week.  Stay tuned.

Print in all its forms is still the most prevalent way of communicating.  The web; smart phones; signage; and tablets (in all their forms) are all vehicles for distributing the written (visual) word.  If one was to think about it, print is more powerful than ever – it’s just the way it is delivered that has everyone disturbed.

Think of all the new careers which have been created because print is no longer in the realm of craftsman using archaic ways to reproduce the printed word.  Today anyone can be an author, publisher and printer.  No longer do we just listen to the opinions of a handful of individuals who control the newspaper publishing industry.  Anyone with a blog site has the power.  The genie has been released from its bottle.

Here’s one more point which provides additional food for thought.  Per Gartner, a leading IT research agency, there will be approximately 64 million tablets in use by the end of the year.  That number goes to over 900 million by 2016!

Yet, if one is to consider the opportunities which abound for entrepreneurs who can think beyond ink on paper, there are fortunes to be made.  Or at least a good living for the next few decades.

I’m in one of my favorite places for writing – seat 20A.  I’m headed to Kansas City on a typical fall day.  Or is it?

In Texas the talk is not about football, it’s about the Texas Rangers and the team just being one win away from their first-ever world championship.  While in Missouri the talk is split between Mizzou leaving the Big 12 and headed to the SEC and will the Birds from St. Louis be able to mount a come back.  Everything should be clear by the end of the week.

In Fort Worth rumors abound about one of the area’s iconic printing companies.  A recent Fort Worth Star Telegram article put Branch-Smith in foreclosure.  Yet, in a conversation I had with management, we shouldn’t be so quick to close the door.  The article was a bit premature and there seems to be some deals going on which will provide new life for the company and its employees.

Early this year the Post Office announced a trial program in Austin to help promote direct mail.  It drew a few raised eyebrows including yours truly.  I attempted to get the attention of the USPS as well as our national leadership in how this program could backfire and be detrimental to the industry as a whole.  Regardless (no surprise), the program rolled out and was titled Direct Mail Hub, and now that it is beginning to affect more firms has drawn commentary from PIA’s Mike Makin and others.

Kudos to KBA North America, headquartered in North Texas as they recently were recognized by the Patent Board’s Patent Scorecard for manufacturers of heavy industrial equipment in 2011. The Patent Board’s Patent Scorecard is based on the scale, quality, impact, and nearness to core science of a company’s patent-based intellectual property.

Henry Wurst in Kansas City has announced they are closing their North Carolina facility.  It’s another sign of the times and not an easy decision based on a conversation I had with HWI’s president Mark Hanf.  Yet, with much of the Carolina facility’s work re-locating to the company’s two other plants, the company has balanced their capabilities with the market.

Speaking of the turmoil in the web industry, Quad is closing their Stillwater, Oklahoma plant.  The plant, which was a former Quebecor World operation employed over 200 folks, and will have a sizable impact on that community.

PIA MidAmerica is not immune to changes.  Long-time and familiar industry face Jim Oldebeken is leaving our family to pursue another path.  Jim was willing to play a different role with our Association over the past 10 years, but realized his talents were not being utilized.  With our need to re-balance budgets (a continual process over the past 6 years), the time was right for all of us.  Jim is now working with another association in Kansas City  – in the biomedical field and with plenty of upside for his career.  His replacement will be a familiar face in Kansas City — Loretta Nichols. She started her new career this past week and with her long-time industry experience and entrepreneurial nature should do an outstanding job for the industry.  Best wishes to the Big Guy – but I expect we’ll be seeing him around every once and a while.

The past week has been chock full of Steve Jobs stories and adulations.  All well deserved, but when you really look at his life – and his impact on our industry – you realize that one or two small mis-steps, and you have another Wang Computer.

As I look at Jobs and many of the successful folks in our industry, it’s about vision.  It’s about being at the right place, right time – and knowing that there’s an opportunity.  Too often our heads are buried in the minutiae of life and running our businesses.  The end result is we miss the opportunities to excel.  In my mind, the real core of Steve Jobs, which made him a winner, was his vision. He was able to see things no one else saw, and when the opportunity was there, he was able to take advantage of it.  Plus, he was a bit of a hippie/anti-establishment type growing up.  He didn’t let the world constrain him.

With all the “bad” news we deal with every day, do we find ourselves looking at the stable full of horse****t, or are we looking for the pony?  It’s time to saddle up!