New Concept of "Postpress"

(Just Don't Call It 'Postpress') The subtitle of the 43rd Annual Seminar on Bookbinding, Finishing and Distribution Symposium of the R&E Commission held in Chicago from April 5th to 6th, 2001 was "21st Century Bookbinding and Finishing." And distribution of best practices." At the beginning of the meeting, when a speaker used the word “finishing”, one of the listeners suggested replacing it with the word “binding”. Another person in the industry has further extended this concept, and proposes that today's printing can refer to the operation of “pre-finishing”. This impromptu rename not only brought good advice to the meeting, but also brought the meaning of a new rule of binding. Ten years ago, the bookbinding industry was still the last step in the printing process. Today's changes, as many speakers have said, one-on-one markets, on-demand printing, binding, finishing and distribution of various printing processes have changed. It is more and more important to meet the needs of customers on one hand and increase profits on the other. Harry V. Quadracci, CEO and General Manager of Quad/Graphics, Pewaukee, Wisc., began to state his point: “Everyone asked me the same question five years ago: What is the future of the printing industry? I cannot mention this. And what, because the 'ink-to-paper' printing method has proved to be the best way." Ten years ago he predicted that finishing and distribution would promote the development of printing. He said: “Now this has become a reality. The main question is 'what do we provide to whom?'” Mr. Quadracci asked how printers can efficiently complete this form of business as short-lived and one-to-one printing needs grow. Marketing issues. He described the current binding work as a bit chaotic, but one thing can guarantee: "We will solve this problem very sooner or later." Challenges The challenges facing the bookbinding industry are not small. Mr. Quadracci spent a lot of time discussing the reform with the USPS. He called for postal reforms, not just what the U.S. Congress thought it should be. He proposed an e-mail system that included mailings between companies, such as between printing companies and bookbinding companies. "We need a reform plan for the management system and mailing system of the USPS." Moving his focus to operations, Mr. Quadracci pointed out that, 25 years ago, the binding industry did not keep up with the rapid development of printing productivity. The reason for this, he believes, is that modern saddle-stitching equipment can produce 16,000 products per hour, which is suitable for non-standard paper, thus reducing productivity. His views were confirmed by other speakers, who also mentioned that high-automation systems can improve the speed of binding and achieve higher accuracy. Mr. Quadracci did not mention Drupa held in Düsseldorf, Germany last year. He pointed out that many manufacturers spend millions of dollars to participate in the exhibition is not as good as investment in the development and development of products. Quad/Graphics Corporation now employs its subordinate Quad/Tech Inc. (QTI) Business Unit to redesign press and finishing machines. Mr. Quadracci said: "Technology has not made much progress. Even if you have taken a big step forward, you will always have to come back to perfect each step." QTI's goal is to create what he calls "easy" technology or systems. It simplifies operations and reduces the need for mid-level technicians. According to it, Mr. Quadracci introduced his main topics for this meeting: the difficulties in finding, training and having good staff. In response to the change of hiring policy, Quad/Graphics Corporation began to propose a set of two different career paths. This program considers that many employees who come to the factory are to improve their skills in order to obtain professional positions, but there are also many other employees – they have not received much education due to equal compulsory ethics, or they cannot use it fluently. English - no ambition to get higher income. For the first group, Quad/Graphics provides a quick training to teach them the overall process of the production process and allow them to quickly complete the humble work done during the traditional apprenticeship. The second group will receive very careful professional training and they will do it for many years. Mr. Quadracci said: “In the Hartfor (Wisc) factory, 60% of employees do not speak English, they can work without English, and they also contribute to increase productivity.” Master their adaptability, Mr. Ronald Musil, The general manager of Banta Book Group, Menasha, Wisc., proposed the second basic policy. The challenges encountered by the Banta Book Group and Quad/Graphics companies in the bookbinding industry have many similarities and some similarities in the direction of development, but in other respects they are quite different. Mr. Musil pointed out that the printing industry is very powerful. Although it has developed very mature, it must be reformed. It mentioned: "Radio can not get away from TV; it must find another living space for itself." For Banta Book Group, he pointed out that "it will link the printing industry with other media, this is the future direction of development." He said five years ago, Banta had focused its attention on domestic manufacturers and found that they were not open enough to the potential technology that new technologies brought. Therefore, their customers began to stay away from them. Anyway, he said: “Beyond the chaos brought opportunities, we no longer think of ourselves as being in the printing industry but in the information-rich business environment.” He also stressed the importance of research and development, he said The company is now focusing on meeting customer needs and developing new technologies to increase profits. "The more you pay attention to the prepress-printing-binding system, the more you will fail." Mr. John Ramich, director of the binding department for the reform of the Mida plant of Banta Book Group, said that in the past few years, the Midway plant has undergone reforms, including equipment and staff capabilities, sales operations and speed, and internal quality standards to meet customers. Requirements, from the binding of no strategic rules to strategic plans, the specialization of goods and the proportion of added value. For example, a simple product catalog may have four forms of content, referring to URLs (Universal Resource Locator Device Standards) different rules including different customer web sites, or including different internal components. For its adaptability, Mr. Ramich admits that this is very difficult for the operator. He had to change the settings of the equipment and change the working procedures to meet the needs of the short-lived work. In order to motivate the employees, the Midway Plant began to implement the binding operation procedure ( Bindery Operator Leadership Program, which includes non-traditional training and technical support, from which bookbinding operators learn "business awareness for business services." Mr. Ramich said that they can realize the value of their work. Understanding the dangers of complacency, Mr Musil added: “We do not want others to assume that we are the answer to the problem.” Banta was successful because of its adaptability, but this change is very difficult. “We used to have 5~ 6 revenue sources, and now we have 15-20." There are many other issues in the more topics symposium that have led many printers and manufacturers to ask how they can upgrade the binding process and incentivize the operation staff. Bryan F. Engstrom, industrial engineer at Banta, presided over a workshop entitled "Standards to Improve Productivity." Participants presented an outline of different methods for assessing productivity and motivating employees to achieve the highest standards. The second symposium was hosted by Twyla J. Cummings, Assistant Professor of Print Management at the Faculty of Science, who presided over the seminar “On Recruiting New People, Training, and Retaining Our Most Valuable Wealth — Standards for Raising Human Resources”. Participants raised the scope for developing a stable, motivating, and work-intensive practice technology. The symposium "Upgrading Materials Management and Operational Standards" was moderated by Michael Ratliff, deputy manager of Perry Judd's Research and Engineering Department. The participants discussed the challenges of mobile e-mail in the high-demand environment of customers.