I've always considered myself a student of management, and one of the primary roles of a good manager is planning. Back when I had a real job, and was working for a publishing company owned by Dun & Bradstreet, top management asked the division heads for three-, five- and 10-year plans. At one meeting with the company chairman, I explained that the graphic-arts industry was changing so quickly, it was impossible to plan five to 10 years into the future. In fact, I told him so much was happening month by month, I could be way off with even a one-year timeline. That was in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1990, PIA (Alexandria, VA) held a conference in Skokie, IL, for a preview of its “Printing 2000” study, research that cost more than $300,000. There were about 300 people on hand, and the head researcher was discussing the prepress side of our business. Remember, this was before virtually every printing company had its own prepress operation. It was a time when color electronic prepress systems (CEPS) were priced in the millions of dollars. The researcher reported that while the past three to five years brought technological revolution, the next decade would deliver evolution rather than revolution.

Hard to predict

At the time, we had just launched the VUE/Point conference, and if there was one area of the printing industry on which I had a handle, it was prepress. I couldn't take it any longer — I stood up and interrupted the speaker. “If you thought the last five years have been revolutionary, wait 'til you see what happens next,” I declared. “I don't know what you're basing your projections on, but I expect there will be more changes in the next six months than there have been in the past five years.”

I noticed heads nodding in agreement. After the meeting, PIA raised another $75,000 to redo that part of the study. Within a couple of years, the Mac had replaced all of those million-dollar CEPS devices.

It's becoming more and more difficult to predict the future and to develop effective plans. The last quarter of the fiscal year is usually when most companies plan for the coming year, but where does a printing executive go for information on which to base his strategies? For more than two decades, NPES The Assn. for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (Reston, VA) has hosted Print Outlook. The conference provided economic forecasts both on the printers' and vendors' side.

For several years, Print Outlook was cosponsored by both PIA and NAPL (Paramus, NJ), in hopes of attracting more printers. But for some reason, printers never showed up, except for a couple of planning types for the largest printers. Attendance at the past few meetings has been less than 50.

Introducing I-TAG

In a couple of months (Nov. 10 and 11), NAPL will take matters into its own hands with a conference in Washington, DC. The association has formed the Industry Trend Analysis Group (I-TAG), where a select group of leading printers will serve as a research and analysis source for NAPL vice president and chief economist Andy Paparozzi. The group will hear Paparozzi's “State of the Industry” report and will then break into facilitated teams to discuss ways to address the opportunities and challenges the printing industry will face in the coming year.

Among the subjects that will be discussed during the breakout sessions are: marketing ideas that work, dealing with competition, incorporating computer-integrated manufacturing, financial strategies, finding new markets and customers, and achieving greater profitability. Other planned topics include: creating dealer and vendor relationships, expanding your product mix, educating employees and customers, hiring and firing strategies, cross-training, evaluating sales staff and commissions structure, and planning for succession. As you can see, the day-and-a-half meeting should produce some stimulating discussion. Each breakout session will have a moderator and a secretary who will then report to the entire group what has been revealed at each individual session.

I expect this meeting will provide a textbook of management techniques and strategies that forward-thinking printing executives will need if they are serious about capitalizing on the many opportunities that lie ahead for our evolving industry.

NAPL plans on limiting the participants to 100. If you are an NAPL member and are interested in joining the leading minds of the industry, drop me a note at mrvinocur@aol.com. There's no question in my mind that this gathering will be enlightening, informative and educational. And mingling with your peers is sure to produce some new ideas.