Cup-a-Joe

In a recent blog, I touched on the issue of BHR’s and some of their weaknesses.  I received some excellent comments on the need for “knowing your costs,” which is essential to good management.  Yet blindly establishing pricing on BHRs (which may or may not be accurate) is a quick trip to “dead printer walking.”  Here’s an article of interest written by Gerry Michael with Carlson Advisors.  It was published in the Printing Industries of America’s PIFE newsletter.

Earlier this year, Dr. Joe Webb was our featured speaker in Dallas/Fort Worth and Kansas City.  His message was not an easy one to hear – the industry is never going to be what it used to be and we can not wait for “things to get better.”  His message at manroland’s 9^th annual Joe Webb briefing at Graph Expo was not gentle, but Webb was very forthcoming that there will be plenty of opportunities for those who are willing to break away from the herd.   In the past, the herd was comprised of wild mustangs, which had plenty of open range and opportunities.  Today’s herd is now comprised of lemmings headed towards a very un-timely end.  Which one are you? Lemming or Mustang?  I think the choice is easy – but the execution will be a bit more difficult.

A month or so ago, Joe Webb wrote an article where he covered all sorts of topics (when doesn’t he?), but here’s a tidbit that got my attention.  Especially in light of the industry’s trade associations working on “Value of Print” campaigns (including PIA MidAmerica). read more »

This might put me on the wrong side of the fence with the Tea Party, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with increasing taxes. There I’ve said it – and I feel better about it.  But before anyone starts a flame war, consider this.  Are we really going to be able to solve our fiscal problems by just cutting?  Are we going to be able to tax our way out of this mess?  The answer is no — yet one side is refusing to accept that taxes are a necessary part (evil?) of any government, while the other is not willing to accept that doing business as usual is not sustainable. read more »

It’s time to get connected.  OK, I’ll admit it.  In my world, Social Media has not been #1 on the priority list.  I use LinkedIn several times a week and my Facebook page might get a visit every other week, and up to now, I refused to Tweet.  Well, maybe it’s time to rethink these topics.

It is becoming apparent to this old fogey that getting connected (networking) is becoming more and more important in the industry we call printing.  Why?  The people we need to be speaking to – or getting to know are no longer just “printers.”  It’s about mailers.  It’s about marketers.  It’s about online competitors.  It’s about foreign (no that doesn’t mean Illinois) competitors.  It’s about supplier/manufacturers who are also competitors.  How do we stay up with this new world?  Use the new technologies and find ways to expand our horizons.  We can no longer just hang around with folks who look like us.  We gotta spread our wings.  Tweet. Tweet.

So, I’m off to check Google Plus — more to come.

I just can’t resist returning to health care — or The Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA/Obamacare) as that wonderful piece of legislation is known.  It’s such an oxymoron, I can’t resist.

I had my interest piqued the other day by a notice I received on AHCA — it was a notification from the Department of Health and Human Services on the development of standards for the Affordable Insurance Exchanges (45 CFR Parts 155 and 157 for you geeky types).  These are the state run exchanges which “will provide competitive marketplaces for individuals and small employers to directly compare available private health insurance options on the basis of price, quality, and other factors.”

I don’t know what I was thinking (or was I?), but I started reading the 35 pages of details in the Federal Register — and rapidly determined that the Exchanges (as they are known) are going to make Homeland Security seem like a micro agency.  The scope of detail which will be monitored and regulated by the Exchanges is very broad and will necessitate a very large bureaucracy.  The exchanges will be responsible to make sure that individuals have valid social security numbers; that they qualify for appropriate discounts (which means they’ll have to interface with the IRS and/or employers);  coordinate with Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP to ensure that the individuals don’t qualify for those plans — and these rules didn’t even mention how the Exchanges are going to work with insurance carriers to make sure that the coverage is “affordable.”

I’m amazed at how our government has determined that the “initial” cost of the exchanges will be expensive, but long term costs will be reduced because of the “use of efficient systems.”  Hmm.  Government and efficient systems — another oxymoron.  In my opinion, this solution is not going to be affordable — in the short-run or long-run.  But it sounds like a pretty creative way to reduce unemployment.

My last posting covered the Administration’s proposal (or attempt) to provide goodies on one hand, while dishing out “other” stuff with the other.  Well, it really hit the fan on Thursday with the announcement by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which will require mandated postings in the shop/office explaining employee rights for collective bargaining (unionization). read more »

The administration announced today that it was proposing changes to regulations which would provide savings of over $10 Billion (over five years) to small business.  Wow, that got my attention, but I started looking for the “hook.” read more »

Many of us have heard the story before — print is an essential partner for online transactions, but the word is not getting around to senior managers.

Time and time again we hear the stories of retailers eliminating their catalogs in order to reduce costs (and sometime to improve their “green” color) and then watch their sales drop.  The latest was JC Penney.  Their decision to stop printing their catalog may have cost them $400 million in sales per a recent “Dallas Morning News” article.  Per the article, they did not realize that shoppers were using the catalog to help them shop online.

Many marketers have become enamoured with mobile and social media and thus assume that print is “so last century,” and it is no longer effective.  They don’t realize buyers are not a homogeneous mix and must be reached through a variety of channels — including print.   JC Penny’s decision to exit catalog sales may have made sense in saving short-term dollars — but in the long-term, may have had been very damaging.  Time will tell.

With the recent announcement by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi that James Clyburn, Chris Van Hollen and Xavier Becerra will join Republican counterparts Dave Camp, Fred Upton and Jeb Hensarling, it becomes apparent that the lines in the sand have been drawn and the concept of a “grand bargain” may be DOA.

“Congressional leadership is sending a loud signal they didn’t like Bowles-Simpson,” said Robert Bixby, president of the nonpartisan Concord Coalition, an Arlington, Virginia-based group that advocates for a balanced budget. “If you are going to say taxes and entitlements are off the table, I don’t know what they can do that hasn’t already been done.”

Looks like we are in for an interesting ride.  Can anyone tell me how to get off?