Printing in General

[HeidelbergMan13]

i know its a bit off topic but i just wanted to hear from different guys from shops around the country and see if your going through the same thing we are here in Chicago, "we have no work" and its been that way for awhile so many shops seem to be merging or going under i lost count, the shop i work for now is losing money every day.......what are things like for you ?

 

[Lee Thompson]

here in the UK we seem to be very busy!

 

[birdz]

michigan is suprisingly busy. We had a 3 year head start into this recession so maybe we're the first to come out of it. There are a number of shops who are hurting, but they're the operations that didn't invest in themselves when they had the money. Now that things are tight, their inefficiencies are causing them to bleed that much more.

 

[Got Boost]

Hi everyone, new to the boards here.

Im here in North Carolina, and luckily, we've stayed pretty busy.
We've had our ocassional slow period for about a week, week and a half, but overall, we're very fortunate. There have been quiet a few shops around here thats closed down also. Sad times for sure.

 

[shermanator]

In New Zealand most printshops have fairly new press.The problem we have here is China stealing our work,You would be suprised how much they are takin from you guys as well.How to fix = DON'T BUY THERE CRAP. Peace

 

[birdz]

Most all competent business people here in the USA know not to buy chinese ********. It's the people looking to save every penny at whatever the cost that give us our troubles.

Sometimes saving a nickel can cost you a dollar.

 

[shermanator]

yo birdz it's your country that started all this .your big companies all have have gone to china.you should send bush there too.usa does not have much respect in this world any more an for your greed of oil an money

 

[veejay18]

Im in Mumbai, and fortunately we've stayed pretty busy with our domestic & export orders from US,Europe & Africa infact we are bound to outsource the orders due to lack of time, So far so good

 

[HeidelbergMan13]

Im in Mumbai, and fortunately we've stayed pretty busy with our domestic & export orders from US

you killing meeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Printzilla]

Hi Guys
I'm new to the board, and i'm from Texas. Lots of shops going out of business and or merging and then going out of business. This last fall we had 6 of our largest print shops merge only to go out of business, and off the top of my head 12 medium and smaller shops closed. I myself went from 9 employees down to just me. This new year has to be better.
zillaprints.com

 

[inkman2000]

In Utah it is really sluggish in print right now. The shop I work for is beaking even or losing money every month since july. There have been a couple of print shops close up here and a buyout of at least one shop and the rumor on the street here is that the company that bought them is looking at closing the offset print portion of that facility in utah. We have had several rounds of layoffs and who knows may be more to come. We need congress to do something to stop so many companies here from buying print overseas and bring it back home. As well as many other products that could be produced in the USA. We used to be the ones that supplied the world now we depend on them. Back in 1982 i was a member of a union shop. The union had a campain going to try to get congress to re enact a printing copywrite bill that would have continued to protect print in the USA but they let it expire. The unions were warning of this very thing then and look where we are today.

 

[Warren]

Hey Guys,
I'm working in a shop in Northern Virginia. the work is sparse to say the least. I, however, foresaw the decline in the US printing industry in 2004 due to its' commoditization and completed my Bachelor's degree in Business administration (March 2008) BUT, because of the recent turn of financial events I have decided to get into further debt by pursuing my Master's degree (March 2011, expected).
Yes, it's tight out there but the real culprits are the managers (since I'm a business admin. guy with an "A" average I can say that). The biggest problem is managers that think that they have earned the right to be complacent. Being a manager means that you have the duty to support your workers with proper assets, materials, training and most of all respect and patience. Too much of our industry is characterized by bad management and the prevailing belief that workers are lazy. It's a self fulfilling prophecy I assure you.
To all the managers out there: There is work out there to support and grow your business. You have to talk to your customers and find out what they need, not just their printing needs but all their needs. Learn their business as well to see how you can meet their needs and find a way to meet the challenge. In these times of economic uncertainty, you must go more than the extra mile. One good thing about our industry is this: You can promote yourself faster than any industry, period. It's going to take looking at the environment outside your print shop from where the printing comes from to where it goes and is used. Make your sales staff fill out reports that confirm how many customers they meet with in a week and even if they don't get the job, a pat on the back can go a long way to loyalty and performance. Have production meetings with your production crew every other week and look for and recognize successes on the shop floor. A pat on the back and a "good job" will keep a pressman from going to another shop or even threatening to go to another shop to get a raise.
Most of all: read Harris DeWeese in Printing Impressions Magazine faithfully and put his ideas to use. Your sales will increase and your net operating income will feel much better.
God bless all my brothers and sisters in the printing industry,
--Warren

 

[Warren]

Oh, By the way: I'm not a young arrogant braniac. Iv'e been in the printing industry for 30 years so Iv'e seen almost everything and It does not take a 4-year degree to see the writing on the wall.
Warren

 

[inkman2000]

Hey Guys,
I, however, foresaw the decline in the US printing industry in 2004 due to its' commoditization

Warren makes a good point here as well as many other points in his post. I could not agree more there are many shops that take what those who work for them for granted fortunatly for me I do not work in one of those shops.

 

[Swifty2]

steady but slow compaired to pre 911!!!.. I am In a small town just outside of Boston that once had 5 print but now it us!!

 

[Yeslek]

Nashville TN here, I am lucky to be a part of a company thats seeing growth. Thats not the case in most shops here. I have seen probably 15 shops close here in the last couple of years.

 

[mr.mark]

HI, here in ohio lots of shops have gone under or merged . The one problem we are having is finding qualified people anymore.Ten years ago you set an ad in the paper and 40 people applied now we are lucky to find 1 person who might have some clue.Things are busy still however. The other issue we are seeing is that repair persons are leaving the business and not getting replaced.

 

[Steelgangsta]

We are a small shop near DFW, 2/C offset and a ton of Digital. We are a tad slow right now but it's that time of the year for us.

 

[Steelgangsta]

Mr. Mark,

That's how I got my job.. Hated my last one (I was a heavy equipment mechanic) and driving to work, I saw a sign for PRESSMAN WANTED.. Went in and got hired on the spot. And it's been at least 15 years since I did any printing work..

 

[John Hamilton]

Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible for a packaging company to print over a specific area on industrial rolls that have already been printed, our company have alot of printed rolls that are used to packaging product in 25kg bags that cannot be used currently for packaging due to a statement that is already printed on the packaging. Trying to think outside the box in terms of how we can reuse these. Thank you