PRINT 09: Massive Print Buying
A PRINT 09 panel will look at large-scale buyers of printing and how they have automated their operations.
By Bill Esler, Editor in Chief -- Graphic Arts Online, August 3, 2009
Computerizing the workflow link between customers and printing firms is rising in importance. At PRINT 09, workflow will receive added attention, both in the Must See ’ems show technology
recognition program, and in a special panel on massive print buying organizations, and the software they use in their daily printing buys.
The topic is of especial interest to commercial and publication printing companies, who must design compatible online and internal interfaces to do business with increasingly automated customers.
The subject will be explored in a free noontime print buying panel opening day of PRINT 09 on Friday, Sept. 11. Free PRINT 09 panel: Market Expansion Strategy: Attracting Business from Massive Print Buying Organizations, sponsored by Graphic Arts Monthly and e-GAM >>.
Designers, small agencies and corporate print buyers make up large numbers of individuals who buy print, but a relatively small number of big buyers purchase much larger volumes of
printing. This PRINT 09 panel will
features Robert C. Tapella, who as Public Printer heads the Government Printing Office, charged with procuring and providing printing for all arms of the Federal government. In a typical year, GPO buys some 135,000 printing jobs valued at $600 million from 2,500 private sector vendors.
Also on the panel will be Eric Belcher, CEO of 650-employee InnerWorkings, Inc., a leading global provider of managed print and promotional solutions, and named in June as the largest print distributors in the U.S., with record 2008 revenue of $419 million, up 45% since 2007. Also covered will be print buying by newspapers; book manufacturers (now sourcing from on-demand providers as well as traditional printers); large magazine publishers; greeting card giants; and corporate print services. At PRINT 09 Chicago on Friday, Sept. 11, Noon – 1:30 pm Room: S502 A
The Must See 'Ems selection committee, which designates which items at PRINT 09 that are of particular interest, says the top three “critical core technologies” for printers are now information technology (IT), effective use of Management Information Systems (MIS) and print buyer interfacing via the use of Web-to-Print software. Increasingly today’s print production operation is a computer-centric manufacturing process, built around interfacing with the print buyer. Many of these technologies will be listed in a webcast on Must See 'Ems nominees launching August 11 at www.graphicartsonline.com/PRINT09mustsee_ems .
