Volume XXIX, Number 10 November/December 2010newsT H E A S S O C I A T I O N F O R S U P P L I E R S O F P R I N T I N G , P U B L I S H I N G A N D C O N V E R T I N G T E C H N O L O G I E S

INSIDE:

President’s Perspective........................... 2

View FromMcCormick PlaceGRAPH EXPO 2010 .................................. 4

Vision 3 Summit........................................ 6

Market Intelligence News:UCC Filing Update .................................... 7

Jim Duffy talks about closingAlonzo Printing.......................................... 8

Duties Imposed on Chinese andIndonesian Coated Paper Imports ........10

Capital Investment in aRecovering Economy.............................. 11

News and Notes: Join NPESon a TradeMission to India .................. 12

Proving once again itsvalue to the graphic com-

munications industry, GRAPHEXPO 2010 presented a com-prehensive exhibition of thelatest technology and applica-tions to a diverse spectrum ofindustry attendees. GRAPHEXPO 2010 was enhancedby the 20 co-located industryprograms and events thatprovided attendees with awidely expanded range of busi-ness education and network-ing opportunities. The showattracted a total of 19,961

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attendees, which includedexhibitors and attendees, and12,552 actual verified attendee/buyers with an extraordinarilyhigh level of purchasingpower, from 69 countries, tothe expansive McCormickPlace in Chicago, October 3-6,who came to examine, com-pare and purchase the latestgraphic communicationstechnologies.

Based on its commitment toreporting the truest and mostaccurate attendance numbers,show producer, the GraphicArts Show Company (GASC),defines ‘actual verified atten-dees’ as registered on-site show

goers—counted only once—regardless of their number ofdays at the show, or times theyenter the exhibit hall. Showdata reports reveal that whilefewer attendees from eachcompany were there, the showdrew higher-level decision-makers from among the 7,171unique buyer companies whocame ‘on a mission’ withbudgets to spend on the equip-ment, products, software andapplications demonstrated bythe 506 exhibiting companiesthat occupied 291,134 sq. ft. ofspace across the South Hall ofMcCormick Place. There theyfound 68 first time exhibitors,

many of whom joined veteranexhibitors in recognizing thehigh caliber of attendees andresults from this year’s show.GRAPH EXPO 2010 exhibitorsspoke out loud and clear onthe quality of this year’s show,via the results of independentresearch conducted by ExhibitSurveys Inc., which revealedexhibitors’ “overall satisfac-tion” rating at 70%, far sur-passing their 53% rating forthe 2008 show.

We’ve seen better atten-dance than what we antici-pated,” says Vince Lapinski,manroland CEO. “The markethas been tough and business

Crowds of domestic and international visitors, from 69 countries, assembled early each morning in McCormick Place’sGrand Concourse awaiting the show’s 10 a.m. opening.

GRAPH EXPO 2010 Success Hailed by Attendees,Exhibitors Across 11 KeyMarket Segments

In my columnthis past September,I shared with youthe decision andprocess of the NPESBoard to develop anew strategic plan.A big part of thatprocess was talkingwith varied con-stituents aboutour future and thedirection of theindustry. When the

Board met, the following trends and issues were used as astarting point for the day-long meeting that began ourstrategic planning process:

1. Communication platforms are changing, with majorimpact on the value chain.

Today, print is neither the only, nor necessarily theprimary, option for delivering information—which nowinclude the Internet, e-readers, smartphones, and more—and print volume and consumption are shifting as a result.

With spending and ROI also being influenced, graphiccommunications companies must identify new strategiesto adapt to these changes. What actions will help attainprofitability in the short-term? How must companiesreposition themselves over the mid- to long-term toachieve business growth? Many organizations are now

restructuring to benefit from the new opportunities (oras a reaction to the decline of other revenue streams).

One thing is clear: digital and ink are evolving together, soto successfully evolve your business model, you must under-stand the new and emerging relationships between them. Al-ready with several digital transformation leaders across our

president’s perspective

Ralph NappiNPES President

Visioning for NPES’ Future industry, the rest of us will need to catch up ifwe want to hold onto our market share.

2. The digitization revolution is not over—the endgame is not clear.

We will continue to experience significantchanges, new advances, emerging businessopportunities and further turbulence in themarketplace without an end in sight. Considerthat a mere 15 to 20 years ago, film was aliveand well. How many of us then could havepredicted the tremendous impact of not justCtP, but also digital printing, on film use?This perhaps dated example, given all of thetechnologies we’re dealing with now, aptlyillustrates just how new and as-yet unfore-seen trends can have a tremendous impacton our business.

For now, we must understand and fore-cast, to the best of our ability, the impact ofexisting technologies on our customer base,customer behavior, and the flow of money. Irefer not just to industry-specific technologies,but other trends being embraced by con-sumers or those outside of graphic communi-cations: the aforementioned e-readers andsmartphones, for example, as well as socialnetworking sites, QR codes and more.

And, as the digitization revolution contin-ues, we must recognize the differing needsand new roles for traditional print, for hybridtraditional–digital, and for purely digital enter-prises as further differentiation, evolutionand merging will continue for the foreseeablefuture. Knowing what market you’re servingnow, and anticipating how the needs of yourcustomer base may evolve, are critical.

3. U.S. companies are expandinginternationally.

It used to be that the only Americancompanies that did business abroad were thehuge conglomerates. Now, with the ease ofovernight package delivery and the Internet,borders no longer exist. U.S. companies canjust as easily do business in Tallahassee, FL,as in the Czech Republic.

Increasingly there’s reason to conductbusiness abroad. Unlike the U.S. printingindustry, which has reached the saturation

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point, the graphic communications market incountries around the world continues to grow.From Brazil, Chile and Peru to Poland to India,China and Indonesia—the printing industriesin several regions of the world will experiencesignificant growth in the coming years.

Those who decide to compete on foreignsoil must understand just how complex aplaying field they are stepping onto. Everyregion and country has different constraints, adistinctive way of doing business, and is at aunique point in its evolution. Whereas offset isthe prevailing print process here (with digitalcatching up), for various economic, rawmaterial and supply chain reasons, it’s just aslikely for rotogravure or flexographic to be thedominant print process elsewhere. Note also,that as the industry moves to a global scale,the policies of the U.S. and other major postalsystems around the world will have increas-ingly important consequences.

4. Globalization is impacting U.S. companiesdoing business in North America.

Globalization goes both ways: just asU.S. graphic communications companies mayconsider expanding to other markets so, too,are players from other countries setting upshop here. Indeed, more graphic communica-tions companies are doing business in theUnited States than ever before.

While the U.S. printing market is shrinking,in terms of dollars, it is still the largest printmarket in the world by far. Mergers andacquisitions are a key way for companies togain market share—and here too, there isevidence of foreign firms acquiring U.S. graphiccommunications companies.

5. There is an untold story about sustain-ability/green issues and the facts relatingto the printing equipment industries.

Concern over the environment continuesto grow in the media and among the public.That our industry has not taken control ofthe “green” message as it pertains to printinghas hurt us.

No story is ever just black and white;likewise the same holds true for printing.For instance, how many of our customers

For now, we must under-stand and forecast, to

the best of our ability, the impactof existing technologies on ourcustomer base, customerbehavior, and the flow of money.”

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GRAPH EXPO continued from page 1understand that printing on 100%recycled paper may require moreenergy than printing on paper withless recycled content, or truly un-derstand the real carbon footprintimpact of the “not print” tech-nologies? How many people inthe general public know the print-ing industry has actually madehuge strides in getting educatedabout our impact on the environ-ment—and that we have takenaction to reduce that impact?

The focus on environmentalissues is not going away, makingit more critical than ever for us toeducate the public on the factsabout “green” printing—and thatwe stand on the “right” side ofthe environment.

Print as a pull technologyNow understanding what the

industry thinks about print’sfuture, what of the public? AsNPES was conducting its industryoutreach to determine the criticalgraphic communications trendsfor the future, Seth Kahan wrote acolumn for Fast Company aboutthe work he was doing with usand asked his readers: “Is there afuture for print in your life, and ifso, where?” One particular re-sponse from the article caughtmy attention: “…perhaps theprint of the future will be our owncreations—drawn from whateversources WE think are importantenough to collect into a more per-manent form. Each book will be aunique collection of items wefound and chose to put together—for business or personal use.There’s an intriguing idea for anew business, eh?”

As our industry proceedsalong its evolutionary path, onething about print is certain—that itwill continue to play an essentialand integral role in both ‘tradi-tional’ and yet-to-be-imaginednew applications.

has been tough, but people are still investing. Ithink the strong printers are certainly investing.”

GRAPH EXPO provided a huge success forAlwan Color Expertise, with the companyregistering its best trade show sales sinceDrupa 2008. “This year’s GRAPH EXPO wasa resounding success,” says Dave Hunter,Alwan’s representative for North America.“We generated excellent sales and significantlyextended the reach of our sales network,which bodes very well for the future.”

“We are pleased with the show results andour colleagues in Germany were impressedwith the customer response,” states MarkHischar, President/CEO, KBA North America,Inc. “The four-day show drew an amazing,well-qualified crowd of printers who took anactive interest in our press models and keptour sales force busy. We sold several presses inall size ranges.”

“Our traffic has been unbelievable,” echoesEric Gutwillig, Marketing VP at Prisco (Printers’Service) early on after his firm sold six systemsoff the show floor. “We haven’t been able tosit, and 90 percent of our booth visitors havebeen interested in our digital offerings,”Gutwillig notes.

“It has been an exceptional show for us,”says Joe Manos, Executive VP & Alliances ofMindFireInc. “We will have generated hun-dreds of thousands of dollars in new revenuefrom the show, which for a software companyis really good.”

GRAPH EXPO exhibitors observed thatattendees represented not just commercialprinters but all segments of the graphic com-munications industry, including newspaperproduction pros, digital printers, book publish-ers, in-plant printers, transactional printers,mailing and distribution professionals, alongwith print buyers, among others.

“I was pleased to see so many newspaperexecutives at the show who, like me, weredrawn by the debut of the News Print pavil-ion,” shares Rick Shafranek, VP of Sales andMarketing of ProImage America. “Also, theco-location of ING’s program was a home run,adding even greater value to this year’s show.”

Among the 20 co-located organizations’ pro-grams and events that took place in tandemwith the show, the Association of IndependentMailing Equipment Dealers (AIMED) held theirfall conference immediately prior to GRAPHEXPO, and was on-site with a booth in the

Mailing & Fulfillment Pavilion. “Our mem-bers have a tremendous crossover with theprinting industry, which makes GRAPH EXPO2010 a natural fit for co-location,” says Execu-tive Director Barbara Price.

“This show marked a significant change,reflecting the change that is occurring in theindustry,” says Chuck Stay, President, Bert Co,Inc. “From my 40 years in the industry, I go tothe show to see new technology and newprocesses and I was not disappointed by theexhibitors who chose to be there. Three dayswas barely enough time for me to see and insome cases experience and evaluate the newtechnology.”

To enable show goers to continue exploringthe latest solutions with participating ex-hibitors, extend their networking with indus-try experts and peers—and especially for thosewho missed this year’s show—the GRAPHEXPO 2010: A Virtual Post ShowWrap took

place on Wednesday, November 10, from9:00 am to 5:00 pm (ET). The free event,which will be archived through March 5,2011, featured key highlights from GRAPHEXPO 2010. During the full-day program,participants viewed timely education sessions,exchanged best practices in live ‘hot topic’chats, visited one-on-one with featuredexhibitors, downloaded new product infor-mation, and also viewed a wide variety ofvideos that captured just some of theexcitement from this year’s show.

Looking ahead to next year’s show,GRAPH EXPO 2011 themed “EmbraceTechnology” is slated for September 11-14,2011, at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Formore information about GRAPH EXPO 2011visit: www.graphexpo.com.

GRAPH EXPOprovided a

huge success for AlwanColor Expertise, with thecompany registering itsbest trade show salessince Drupa 2008.”

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The PackPrint pavilion at GRAPH EXPO 2010 was among eighthighly-trafficked special interest sections attendees explored throughoutthe show. Others included News Print—the newspaper pavilion; FuturePrint; the Mailing & Fulfillment Center; GREENspace; Prepress/Soft-ware-Design and Press/Finishing sections; and, Education Main Street.

GRAPH EXPO 2010’s conference program offered attendees morethan 50 state-of-the-art learning opportunities in 20 educationcategories—from executive level to ‘hands-on’ computer labs—something for everyone!

At the Positively Print Recognition Reception following EXECUTIVEOUTLOOK, program administrator Bill Lamparter, President of Print-Com Consulting (left) and Ralph Nappi, President, GASC (far right)congratulate the new print advocacy program awardees for creativelypromoting the power of print in their communications—(second fromleft to right) Gary Stackpole, Printing and Graphics Association-Mid-Atlantic; Gavin Jordan-Smith, Xerox; Warren Werbitt, Pizzaz Printing;and, Don Murphy, Hewlett-Packard.

GASC Chairman D. J. Burgess applauded the efforts of Teachers Confer-ence participants during his welcoming remarks at GRAPH EXPO 2010.

Former pro ball player Bo Jackson was a highlight of Xerox's specialmarketing keynote on achieving success Monday morning at GRAPHEXPO 2010.

Exhibitor presentations at GRAPH EXPO 2010 drew capacity crowdswith in-demand subjects such as “Social Media, Search Engines, Print-ing and You,” presented by Tawnya Starr, President of PrinterPresence.

Lead generation and on-the-show floor sales were brisk at GRAPHEXPO 2010 as high level decision-makers from 7,171 unique buyercompanies came with budgets to spend, seeking solutions to movetheir companies forward.

Targeted cross-media market campaigns—personalized for each of11 key industry market segments—drew a broad cross-section ofattendees with budgets to spend who came for a ‘look under thehood’ comparison of the latest technologies and newest applicationsto finalize their purchasing decisions.

Among the many GRAPH EXPO 2010 “show firsts” were the 20organizations that chose to co-locate their events and activities intandem with GRAPH EXPO 2010, including the Muller MartiniUsers’ Group (pictured), International Newspaper Group (ING),Association of Independent Mailing and Equipment Dealers (AIMED),Dscoop, EFI Pace Users Group, KBA Web Offset Users Group, Agfa:Apogee Users’ Group, and MAN Roland Users’ Group (MANURUG).

GREENspace was a highly-trafficked hub of information, education,and complimentary one-on-one consulting with sustainability ex-perts—plus provided access to products and services to help attendees'go green' with confidence. The GREENspace Directory was a handyreference for attendees to seek out out numerous exhibitors beyond thepavilion who also offered eco-friendly products and services.

GRAPH EXPO 2010 was the epicenter for industry educationduring show week as—in addition to the conference program’s morethan 50 sessions—the newly co-located G7 Summit, sponsored byIDEAlliance and IPA (pictured), and Xplor Document Universityboth debuted at this year’s show.

GRAPH EXPO 2010 offered free, timely segment-specific presenta-tions—seven in all—to help attendees move their careers and busi-nesses forward, including “Keeping it Real—Essential Steps toSuccess for Quick and Small Commercial Printers,” sponsored byQuick Printing Magazine and NAQP.

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VISION

Registration is now openfor the Vision 3 Summit,

a groundbreaking new leader-ship conference produced bythe graphic communicationsindustry’s top three associa-tions—the National Associa-tion for Printing Leadership(NAPL); NPES The Associationfor Suppliers of Printing, Pub-lishing and Converting Tech-nologies (NPES); and, PrintingIndustries of America.

The two-and-a-half-dayevent slated for March 13-16,2011, at the Desert SpringsJ.W. Marriott in Palm Desert,CA, is designed for companyowners and executives, opento both industry serviceproviders and suppliers, andoffers a distinctly manage-ment-level approach to ad-dressing the industry’s biggestchallenges. “Getting our in-dustry’s three primary associa-tions working together toproduce one mega network-ing and education eventseems fitting in these times,”said Ralph Nappi, President

of NPES. “Here we can lever-age our unique strengths andshare our respective insightsso that the industry can bene-fit from one major event.” Assuch, the Vision 3 Summitwill include in-depth, inform-ative sessions featuring sub-ject-matter experts, paneldiscussions based on real-lifebusiness examples, plus in-spiring keynote addressesfrom both professional and

industry-specific leaders.Topics will span the gamut ofmanagement concerns—fromthe economic recovery to fu-ture growth markets, to new-media marketing strategies andsales tactics—with a particularemphasis on real-world appli-cations and ‘how-to’ advice.Program highlights include:

• An Innovators Panel, fea-turing three graphic commu-nications companies thathave successfully leveragedthe opportunities of the Inter-net and other emergingtrends and technologies tocreate business models new to

the printing industry• A panel discussion with

prestigious Fortune 1000 pan-elists on the key cross-mediamarketing opportunities andpartnerships available tographic communicationscompanies in today’s “beyondprint” environment

• A revealing presentationby Dr. Lowell Catlett, an inter-nationally recognized experton commodities futures mar-kets, on which areas of theeconomy are expected toexperience the greatest post-recession growth

• A crucial legislative up-date on the environmental,labor, postal and tax policiesmost likely to affect graphiccommunications companiesin the second half of Presi-dent Obama’s term

• A timely session on thetop strategies for profitablesales growth in this changingmarketplace, featuring thenew “go to market” tool kitingredients as keys to successin the future

• An interactive workshopon how to use social media,such as Twitter, LinkedIn andFacebook, to attract clienteleand build a reputation as atrusted resource for clients, and

• A 2011 forecast with anexplanation of the ‘new’ rulesof recovery and the best ac-tions companies can take tobuild their company for 2011and beyond.

“The U.S. economy is re-covering from its 14th reces-sion in the past 80 years. Atthe same time, our industry isencountering ever new tech-nologies that are changing

the way we do print—more-over, that are challenging theidea of print as the sole meansof marketing and communi-cations,” saidMichaelMakin, President and CEOof Printing Industries ofAmerica. “Most companyleaders understand that theycan’t keep doing business theway they did five—even threeor two—years ago, but they’reunsure about what should re-place those traditional busi-ness models. The Vision 3Summit will offer top industryexpertise and real-world tac-tics that will show executiveshow to turn today’s businesschallenges and into newprofit opportunities.”

In addition to the educa-tional sessions addressing therange of marketing, financial,sales, technology and otherissues regularly faced byupper-level management, theVision 3 Summit will alsofeature several solutions-oriented roundtables and avariety of networking events.A number of receptions andrecreational outings will alsobe available for attendees andspouses or guests.

“When it comes to learningthe best strategies for yourbusiness, and finding out what

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Vision 3 SummitREGISTRATION OPEN FOR GROUNDBREAKING NEW LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

News of the Vision 3 Summit, co-produced by NAPL, NPES and Printing Industriesof America, was jointly announced by the three organizations in a press confer-ence at GRAPH EXPO 2010; (l to r) Bill Gibson, Chairman, Printing Industriesof America; Michael Makin, President & CEO, Printing Industries of America;Joe Truncale, President & CEO, NAPL; Ralph Nappi, President, GASC/NPES;D.J. Burgess, Chairman, GASC/NPES; and, Keith Kemp, Chairman, NAPL.

The chart compiled from UCC data provided herein byEquipment Data Associates (EDA), shows up-to-date UCC

(see definition below chart) activity for all printing equipment.Both new and used printing equipment filings continued therather “flat” pattern that we’ve seen since the start of the GreatRecession. Although the Great Recession has been declaredover, UCC filings of printing equipment have not participatedin the recovery yet.

Although UCC filings are a combination of new equip-ment sales, used equipment sales and refinancings ofexisting placements, they arestill a strong indicator ofmarket activity.

This information is ex-tracted directly from EDA’scomprehensive database ofnearly 30,000 records for pur-chasers of printing equipment.

For each of the data pointsin the table, subscribers toEDA’s market intelligenceservices can see exactly whopurchased the piece of equip-ment—and the manufacturerand model. NPES membercompanies that participatein the free NPES MarketData program are eligiblefor significant discounts onEDA’s services. By combiningthe critical purchaser infor-mation from EDA with thecomprehensive market

statistics, analysis, and forecasts provided by NPES’ free MarketData program, participating NPES member companies can get acomplete picture of the current and anticipated future activityin the marketplace.

For more information, or to join the free NPES Market Dataprogram, contact NPES Assistant Director for Market Data, RekhaRatnam at phone: 703/264–7200 or e-mail: rratnam@npes.org. Forspecific information about the market intelligence services offeredby EDA, contact Mauricio Jurin at phone: 704/845–1099 or e-mail:mjurin@edadata.com.

Market Intelligence News: UCC Filing Update

A Uniform Commercial Code Form 1 (UCC–1) filing is a financing statement required by law to be filed with the state to show thatone party (usually a lender) has a security interest in another party’s (usually a borrower’s) personal property, and most frequentlyrelates to the commercial financing of capital equipment through a lending institution. UCC data is filed everyday throughout theU.S. Each UCC data filing statement has three components: the borrower, the lender, and what the borrower purchased, includingmake, model and serial number. Once the data is filed, EDA’s more than 50 employees manually review each filing to identify andcorrectly classify the transactions of printing equipment. What results is a robust database that offers subscribers continuallyupdated information on exactly who is buying or leasing what pieces of equipment.

Printing Equipment UCC Filings: 2006—2010

works and what doesn’t, noth-ing beats face-to-face discus-sions with like-minded peers,”said Joseph P. Truncale,President and CEO of NAPL.“The Vision 3 Summit is de-signed to facilitate this kindof invaluable informationand idea exchange. Becausethe conference is designedfor upper-level managementfrom across the entire spec-trum of the graphic communi-cations industry, attendees willbenefit by meeting executivesfrom a variety of backgrounds

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and experi-ences, whoneverthe-less allshare incommonthe samebusinesschal-lenges.”

The Vision 3 Summit re-places NAPL’s, NPES’ andPrinting Industries of Amer-ica’s individual leadership pro-grams, including NAPL’s TopManagement Conference;

NPES’ Indus-try Summitthat includedthe PRINTOUTLOOKConferenceand PRIMIRSpring Meet-ing; and Print-

ing Industries of America’sPresidents Conference. BothNAPL and NPES will hold theirindividual board of directorsmeetings in conjunction withthis conference. NPES addi-tionally plans to hold PRIMIR

committee meetings.While the first co-produced

conference by NAPL, NPESand Printing Industries ofAmerica, the Vision 3 Summitis not the first joint venturebetween the three organiza-tions. NAPL, NPES and Print-ing Industries of America alsoco-own the Graphic Arts ShowCompany (GASC), which pro-duces the popular industryGRAPH EXPO and PRINTexhibitions. For more infor-mation and to register, visit:www.vision3summit.org.

shell hit. December of 2008and January and February of2009 were awful months forus. By the end of January2009, we were down from 50to 36 employees and Alonzohad lost more than $300,000.Despite our efforts to reducecosts by May 2009 Alonzowas behind on press pay-ments.

“A large financial com-pany”—I’ll just call themthat—removed our pressin October 2009. With thecash deposit, the dollar valueof 20 payments and a conser-vative street value the leasingcompany had received morethan a million dollars in

assets. Despite this the“financial company” suedAlonzo Printing—and mepersonally—for $1.2 million.

WTT: Alonzo Printingwas not just a flagship greenprinting company, butseemed to be a successfulweb, sheetfed, and digitalprinting company. And yet,in January 2010, after 33years in business, you shutthe company down. How didit all unravel?JD: In an effort to re-

duce labor costs, we madea lot of investments inequipment in 2007. Weput a new press in and wehad enough work for twoshifts a day. Things weregoing OK and we weremaking money. November2008 came along and sales

were down. We lostmoney that month, butwe were still profitable forthe year. Then the bomb-

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Because of this Alonzo hadno choice but to cease pro-duction and close its doors.

When a company closes,employees lose their COBRAbenefits unless there are atleast two employees in thesystem. In order to ensureemployees the ability toreceive COBRA benefits,Alonzo prepaid healthcareinsurance for two employeesthrough June 2010.

That’s really what hap-pened. Some of us getcaught up in this and someof us skate through it. Ido know that a lot of print-ers are on the edge. They’rehanging on with theirfingernails and runningout of cash.

Some printers will benefitfrom Alonzo’s departure.That’s $4 million of webwork, $1 million of sheetfed,and $1 million of digitalthat has been absorbed byother printers.

WTT:What about yourinitiatives as a marketingservices provider? As a com-pany that offers more thanprinting, a company thatoffers direct mail, pURLs,campaign management andother marketing services?JD: I never viewed Alonzo

as a marketing servicesprovider. Did we understandwhat pURLs are? Did we un-derstand what Direct Smileis? Yes.While we used the

JimDuffy talks about closingAlonzo Printing

Some of us get caughtup in this and some

of us skate through it. I doknow that a lot of printers areon the edge. ”

In mid-January, Alonzo Printing closed its doors aftermore than a year of struggling financially. Jim Duffy,owner of Alonzo Printing for 22 years, shared his thoughtswith Gail Nickel-Kailing of WhatTheyThink on the closureand had some advice for others in the same situation.

tools sometimes, I nevertruly felt that the WestCoast adopted them asmuch as the East Coast.

We bought Printableand never used it. We did-n’t really have the techni-cally skilled people tomake it come to life. Didwe do variable? Yes. Didwe have a storefront? Yes.We used Page DNA be-cause they were local withno upfront costs; it’s payas you go with them.

We marketed Alonzo,and from a pure market-ing perspective, it was justa dream. And yet, it wasanother issue of not hav-ing the right people tomake it really come tolife. Then we reached thepoint where we couldn’thire the right people.That’s how you get caughtin the spiral.

You do need to marketyourself; you need to doit in a way that’s going tobe meaningful for yourclients. But, when you’recaught in this web of re-duced cash flow, how doyou do it?

We started with amonthly newsletter. Thenit became bi-monthly,then quarterly. Then Igot so busy and I stoppedproducing it all together,not to mention it costmoney we didn’t have.

wanted recycled. Theywanted FSC. But you knowwhat? Many printers areFSC certified because it isthe green thing to do, notbecause customers are will-ing to pay for it. For themost part, they want theFSC logo but didn’t wantto pay for it. We kept run-ning low VOC inks—veg-etable and soy-based—andwe used low VOC cleanersand press washes.

I realize that with theshutting down of Alonzocoming to a close and hav-ing the time to think back,given the chance, I woulddo many things differently.

Thank you for theopportunity to tell theAlonzo/Jim Duffy story.I’m committed to sharingmy strong commitment toa “green” and sustainableprint industry. It wakes meup inside and I realize thatwe—by we, I mean theprint industry—certainlycan do a better job of car-ing for our environment.This interview was reprinted withpermission from Print CEO (print-ceo.com), part of the WhatThey-Think media network.

print goes down. When pric-ing is the key, the green ini-tiative takes a backseat. Wereduced the amount of FSC-certified products that werebought, because it cost more.

In 2008, we measured ourcarbon footprint. A part ofthat process included thepapers we purchased and therecycled and post consumercontent of those papers;92% of all the paper we pur-chased contained recycled

content and 48% of all thepaper purchased was madewith from post consumerwaste. Needless to say thiswas a monumental achieve-ment and commitment tousing environmentallysustainable papers.

In 2009, we were forced tochange how we bought paper.We went from buying 40%recycled content to 10% recy-cled content. We even wentto buying virgin FSC-certifiedpapers because they had acertified history and youcould be assured they werecoming from sustainableforests and they did cost less.

Everything was price. Somepeople wanted green. They

value lease. Instead opt forthe $1.00 buyout. It may costslightly more but it gives youmuch greater flexibility. Also,get a short term lease; Iwouldn’t lease anything formore than three years becauseyou’ll get caught up in it. Justdon’t plan on keeping any ofthis equipment for a long pe-riod of time. People are goingto be a lot more cautiousabout buying equipment.There’s so much equipment

out on the market right now;it’s readily available. Unfortu-nately people don’t have thecash to buy it.

Number three: cut, cut, cut,cut, cut! Don’t be afraid tocut. You have to do it. Youdon’t have an alternative. Toomany people are just tookind. It’s “Oh, we can’t laythis person off. She’s a singlemom, and she’s got this andshe’s got that, and we’ve gotthis and we’ve got that.”

WTT: In your perspective,has the green initiative lost itsedge? Are people asking you forgreen? Are they backing off?What’s happening there?JD:When you have a soft-

ening economy going on,

WTT:What is your ad-vice to the other printers? Tothe ones who might be hang-ing on by their fingernails?JD: Number one: set

your egos aside. For themost part, we’re talkingabout presidents in owner-operated companies. Theyhave to set their egos asideand actively considermerging with other print-ers to keep it all alive. It’shard to do; nobody wantsto fail. Do it from a busi-ness model and not from apersonal model. You mayneed a facilitator to helpyou get there; someone tohelp you clearly defineroles and responsibilities.You will have to lay somegood people off for the en-tire entity to survive. Ithurts to lay them off, butif you don’t do it, you’regoing to fail.

Number two: I wouldcaution people to thinkvery seriously about thecommitment they makefor digital equipment. It’svery expensive to operate.There’s no doubt in mybook that HP has the bestprint quality of any colordigital application, but it’sa very costly system tomaintain. And if you’restuck in a lease with anolder model, you’repaying a premium whilethe new buyers are payingless money and have acompetitive advantage.It’s not like buying anoffset press where youcan pay off the press andkeep running it for years.Digital equipment has adefinite shelf life.

If you lease equipment,don’t get a fair market

9

Number one: set your egos aside. Forthe most part, we’re talking about

presidents in owner-operated companies. Theyhave to set their egos aside and actively considermerging with other printers to keep it all alive.It’s hard to do; nobody wants to fail. ”

presses, manufactured by paper producersin China and Indonesia. The paper underinvestigation is typically used for printingmulticolored graphics for catalogues, books,magazines, labels and wraps, greeting cardsand other high qual-ity items.

Petitioners soughtrelief under two ofthe most frequentlyapplied U.S. tradestatutes, Anti-dumping (AD) andCountervailingDuty (CVD) tradelaws. Chineseand Indonesianproducers argued that U.S. domestic ship-ments of coated paper have been downbecause of the overall bad economy, notbecause of any unfair practices of theirs, andbelieved that the petitioners’ cases wouldultimately fail as did similar petitions in2007. Other opponents of the petitions

argued that reper-cussions in the U.S.economy could re-sult from increasedpaper prices stem-ming from theimposition ofduties on coatedpaper from Chinaand Indonesia.

In accordancewith the trade laws,AD and CVD caseswere conductedjointly by the U.S.Commerce Depart-

ment’s International Trade Administration(ITA) and the USITC. Antidumping laws pro-vide relief to domestic industries that havebeen or are threatened with the adverse im-pact of imports sold in the U.S. market atprices that are shown to be less than fair mar-

The United States International TradeCommission (USITC) has determined

that the U.S. paper industry is threatenedwith material injury from imports of certaincoated paper from China and Indonesia,which the U.S. Department of Commercehas found are government-subsidized andsold in the United States at less than fairvalue. As a result, the Commerce Departmentwill issue antidumping and countervailingduty orders on imports of these products.

NPES President Ralph Nappi statedthat “the Association strongly supports theenforcement of international trade lawsanctions where violations have been found.This is in complete conformity with NPES’longstanding support of free and fair inter-national trade that provides a level playingfield for NPES members’ products in globalmarkets.”

In September 2009, U.S. paper producersAppleton Coated, LLC; NewPage Corpora-tion; and S.D. Warren Company, dba SappiFine Paper North America, along with

United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial andthe Service Workers International Union fileda petition seeking the imposition of tariffs oncertain categories of coated paper suitablefor high-quality printing using sheetfed

This is in complete conformity

with NPES’ longstanding

support of free and fair international trade

that provides a level playing field for NPES

members’ products in global markets.”

10

ket value. Additional importduties can be imposed ondumped imports. Countervail-ing Duty laws give similar reliefto domestic industries that are

jeopardized by imported goodsthat have been subsidized by aforeign government or publicentity and therefore have acompetitive advantage oversimilar goods produced in theUnited States. Like dumpedgoods, additional duties can beplaced on subsidized imports.

In September 2010 theCommerce Department con-firmed earlier findings of unfairtrade practices, and announcedfinal antidumping and counter-vailing duty margins on thepaper in question. Antidumpingmargins on Indonesian importsare 20.13 percent, and rangefrom 7.6 to 135.83 percent onChinese imports. Countervail-ing duties on Indonesian im-ports are 17.94 percent, andrange from 17.64 to 178.03percent on Chinese imports.

For more informationcontact NPES GovernmentAffairs Director Mark J. Nuzzacoat phone: 703/264-7235 ore-mail: mnuzzaco@npes.org.

Duties Imposed on Chinese andIndonesian Coated Paper Imports

The Association stronglysupports the enforcement

of international trade law sanctionswhere violations have been found.”

“In this economy and technological age, a bad decision can put a company out ofbusiness.” That’s how one participant in the NAPL Capital Investment Study puts it.He’s right, of course. Margins for error are shrinking across our industry. And whilethe return to making the right capital investments is greater than ever, so is the costof making the wrong ones.

Over 350 companies, with annual sales ranging from under $1 million to over$350 million participated in our study. Topics included investment priorities for thenext three years, priorities for the last three years (past priorities explain a lot aboutfuture priorities), investment rates, plans to invest in new equipment, in used equip-ment, to expand capacity, to replace capacity, the most trusted sources of capital in-vestment advice, and where the capital investment process most needs to beimproved. Here’s some of what we learned:

By more than 2-to-1, participants in our research plan to invest less in capitalequipment over the next three years than they did over the last three years.Uncertainty about the economy and our industry is part of the reason. But thisis about more than waiting for the clouds to lift. It’s about a tough new mind-set—born of an extraordinary recession—that will invest “only when soundmeasures of expected return justify investment, not because our competitorsare investing, we’re getting a deal, or it’s new, hot, and going to make all thedifference.”Digital infrastructure, bindery/finishing systems, Web-to-print and e-commerce,and variable-content digital printing are top five priorities for the next threeyears, just as they were for the past three years. Priorities vary by company size,but similarities across size categories are far more significant than the differences.For example, digital infrastructure and bindery/finishing systems are among thetop five priorities in every company-size category. Web-to-print/e-commerce isamong the top five priorities for all but companies with sales of $1 million or less.And workflow solutions and variable-content digital make everyone’s top 10,with at least one of the two in everyone’s top five.Four-or-more-color lithographic presses will be a priority over the next threeyears or were a priority over the last three years for one-third of our researchgroup and for nearly half with sales above $20 million. Of course lithography’sshare of our industry’s revenue has been declining for a decade. And no turnaround in the economy—no matter how robust—is going to change that. Butlithography is still a $40-$50 billion market. Who’ll get the lion’s share of thatwork? The most efficient, the most productive, and the most adept not atprinting but at putting print to work for their clients. Everyone else will have tofight it out for what’s left.There are many ways manufacturers and suppliers of graphic arts technology canhelp their clients make better capital investment decisions. The four our studygroup mentioned most: know our business, connect us with peers who can giveus the whole story about the investments we’re considering, show us the ROI,and educate and support us—before, during, and after the investment.

Our research is just beginning. Capital Investment Study participants made itclear that there’s a lot more they want to talk to us about. As always, we’re ready tolisten. Our goal: Better understand how they make capital investment decisions sowe can help them make better decisions. After all, better investment decisions willlead to a stronger, more sustainable industry. And that’s something from which wewill all benefit.

11

Capital Investment in aRecovering Economy

“In this economyand technological

age, a baddecision can puta company outof business.”

By Joe Truncale, President and CEO, NAPL

news and notesNPES CALENDAR

January 2011Printpack

NPES Member Booth and Trade MissionJanuary 16-21 • New Delhi, India

February 2011ICC Meeting

February 14-17 • Tokyo, Japan

March 2011Vision 3 Summit

Desert Springs J.W. MarriottMarch 13-16 • Palm Desert, California

PRIMIR Spring MeetingJ.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort

March 14-15 • Palm Desert, California

GAERF Board MeetingJ.W. Marriott Desert Springs ResortMarch 18 • Palm Desert, California

April 2011TC130Working Groups

April 11-15 • Berlin, Germany

May 2011Expográfica

NPES Member Booth and Trade MissionMay 17-20 • Mexico City, Mexico

June 2011ICC Meeting

June 14-17 • Barcelona, Spain

September 2011EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK Conference

September 10 • Chicago, Illinois

GRAPH EXPOSeptember 11-14 • Chicago, Illinois

International Graphic Arts ShowNPES Member Booth and Trade Mission

September 21-27 • Tokyo, Japan

October 2011TC130Working Groups and Plenary

October 15-20 • Tokyo, Japan

NPES 2011 Annual ConferenceOctober 16-19 • Palm Beach, Florida

November 2011ICC Meeting

November 13-15 • San Jose, California

October 2012GRAPH EXPO

October 7-10 • Chicago, Illinois

NPES News is publishedmonthly by NPES.

Publisher:Ralph J. Nappi

Managing Editor:Deborah Vieder 703/264-7222

Correspondents:Pernilla JonssonMark Nuzzaco

Circulation:Margie Garr 703/264-7287

The Association for Suppliers of Printing,Publishing and Converting Technologies

1899 PrestonWhite DriveReston, VA 20191 USA703/264-7200e-mail: npes@npes.orgwww.npes.org

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This is a tremendousopportunity to boost

your company’s sales byentering, or enhancingyour presence, in one ofthe fastest growing globalmarkets for print!The Indian PrintingIndustry in a nutshell:

• Today, India is thethird largest Asian marketfor printing equipmentand consumables.

• The Printing Industryis one of the biggest andfastest growing sectorswithin the Indian econ-omy. Printing industry

Join NPES on a Trade Mission to Indiain Conjunctionwith the PrintPackShow in NewDelhi, January 16-21, 2011

revenue growth hasconsistently outpacednational GDP growth.

• GDP (purchasingpower parity): $3.548trillion (2009 EST.)—4thlargest in the world!

• GDP Growth:India GDP growth of7-8 percent

• Population: 1.16billion people with apopulation growth rate of1.38 percent per annum.

NOW is the time forYOU to learn how toparticipate in—and benefitfrom—this tremendous

growth opportunity.For more information

contact Pernilla Jonsson ate-mail: pjonsson@ npes.orgor phone: 703/264-7200.

NOW is the time forYOU to learn how

to participate in—and benefitfrom—this tremendous growthopportunity.”