• Thanks to Ricoh for great event in NYC!

  7/29/2008 12:00:00 AM

  Ricoh leaders presented an informative session in New York City last week, and I was honored to participate. The company showcased its Ricoh Pro C900 color digital printer, which we'll mention in the next issue of the Greensheet. Thanks to everyone at Ricoh for putting the informative event together.

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  Darin Painter

• Expensive ink and paper

  7/25/2008 12:00:00 AM

  The printing ink industry continues to experience unprecedented increases in the prices of raw materials—pigments, chemicals, freight and packaging—that are related to crude oil increases and large swings in the manufacturing capacity of raw material manufacturers. As a result, several ink suppliers announced additional price increases. Also, rising raw material costs have led to sharp increases in paper prices (about 30% in the past 12 months). We'll be tracking this, and talking about effects, in the Greensheet.

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  Darin Painter

• Congratulations are in order!

  7/18/2008 12:00:00 AM

  Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) revealed the 10 winners of its InterTech Technology Award, given annually to progressive graphic communications technologies. Congratulations to the following winners (alphabetical order): Alwan Color Expertise; EskoArtwork; Heidelberg USA (two awards); Hiflex Corp., North America; Inca Digital Printers Limited; Kodak Graphic Communications Group; MetalFX Technology; Sun Chemical Corp.; and Xaar plc. The next issue of the GCW Greensheet will explain the winning technologies.

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  Darin Painter

• Good show, tough news at Heidelberg

  7/14/2008 12:00:00 AM

  Press giant Heidelberg will shed around 500 of its 20,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting exercise following a downturn in sales and a predicted “prolonged slowdown.” This comes after a successful drupa 2008 world print fair, where the firm's preliminary incoming orders in Q1 (about  €1.1 billion and €1.15 billion) will exceed the total in the same quarter last year (€934 million).  Stay tuned...

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  Darin Painter

• New take on Transpromo

  7/11/2008 12:00:00 AM

  A transactional document is valuable real estate for promotional content, but some print firms are proving that a more expansive approach enables their clients to increase marketing ROI and deepen customer relationships. These print providers are taking the transpromo concept beyond the statement, infusing timely and targeted messages into multiple stages of integrated marketing campaigns. The key concept: Reach customers at each stage of the buying process, not only when sending a document. Check out the next issue of the Greensheet for more perspective on this.

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  Darin Painter

• Self-assessment for customer service

  7/6/2008 12:00:00 AM

  The current issue of the GCW Greensheet refers to a list of self-assessment questions that can help boost the performance of your customer service team. Here’s the list:

   

  * Are customer service standards stated clearly and completely in writing?

  * Do you have a method to keep standards constantly in front of employees responsible for delivering them?

  * Are the standards observable and measurable?

  * Were they developed by a team of employees and customers, and do they have the support of top management and contribute to your company's goals and mission statement?

  * Do you have a feedback system to help judge when a standard is found to be unrealistic or unworkable?

  * Do you have some kind of disciplinary action for when the standards aren't met?

  * How can you improve timeliness? How long does it take to deliver service to your customers?

  * How can you improve flow? Do your customers have to complete many procedures to get what they want?

  * How can you improve internal CSR communication?

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  Darin Painter

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