Blog

This blog was adapted from an article by Manoj Ramachandran, Operations Manager, Label World, who has more than a decade of experience as a lean operations practitioner. He has gained his insight through experience in many different industries, including printing, aviation, and health care. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and PMP. Mr. Ramachandran will present on Standard Work at the 2013 Continuous Improvement Conference, April 7–10, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Implementing a Lean manufacturing plan can be like composing a symphony: getting all of the intricate details working together harmoniously requires not only attention to minute detail, but also an overall vision of the project. However, you can lay an integral piece of a Lean foundation and put a Standard Work process in place. Standardizing your work methods will set...

Joy Gendusa Founder and CEO PostcardMania

Joy Gendusa is the Founder and CEO of PostcardMania. After more than twelve years of leading one of the most innovative and successful postcard marketing companies in the industry, Joy has obtained a level of marketing expertise that is sought after for counsel and speaking engagements all over the country. We are delighted that Joy will joining us as a speaker in May for the Integrated Print Forum and we recently had the opportunity to...

The following is a guest post from Ken Macro, author of the February/March Book of the Month, The Future of Print Sales. Below, Ken recalls one company looked “outside of the box” to create a new product and grow their client base.

I was contacted recently by a friend who works for a printing company that has expanded into the wide/grand-format market. As a result of product development, they were able to obtain a new client (a furniture manufacturer) by creating the “Good Award”—a small Grammy-like desktop award custom-printed for the company to distribute to employees who have gone above and beyond their assigned roles by helping out their colleagues.

The awards were ganged up on a wide-format printer, mounted to...

The following is a guest blog post from Joe Marin, Sr. Instructor/Manager Training Programs, Printing Industries of America, encouraging graphic arts professionals and industry newcomers to attend Orientation to the Graphic Arts, April 15–18, 2013.

The printing industry is complex and constantly changing. I’ve found that one of the biggest problems for those who are new to the industry—and even those who worked in the business for a while—is understanding terminology and workflow.

Administrative, sales, and even production employees are often focused on their specific task without completely understanding how what they do impacts the job being produced. Add this to all of the industry terminology and jargon and the printing industry can quickly become a confusing place to work!

The Orientation to the Graphic Arts workshop addresses all of these issues and so much more. During this class you won’t just see workflow, you’ll be immersed...