Printing & Copying

By Edwin Mashonganyika
Nearly 100 workers at the Scotsman Printing Department Caledonian Offset Limited (COL) are likely to be made redundant next month when a proposal to cease printing production at the site is expected to be finalised.

In a letter to the affected members of staff the Managing Director, David Wells advised that, if the idea was implemented, printing production would be moved to Johnston’s Press in Sunderland as well as Trinity Mirror Sites and News International’s Eurocentral Site.

“The reason behind the proposal are that it has been identified that Johnston Press’s printing needs can more efficiently and effectively be met by moving work to Sunderland, Trinity Mirror and News International.

“Currently excess capacity exists in the News Paper printing Industry which means very competitive terms have been negotiated with Trinity Mirror and News International. It is also the case that significant investment in that Plant and machinery would be required at Caledonian Offset Ltd to ensure the ongoing quality standards our publishers demand”, Wells said.

The Managing Director noted that ‘clearly’ by ceasing production at COL, the investment would no longer be required.

“In summary these factors, and others, combine to create a strong and compelling business case for the cessation of News paper printing at COL” , Wells added.

Formally advising the workers that their employment was at risk, Wells said the role of the workers had been identified as “potentially redundant”.

He said a period of consultation was now underway and would take place both individually and collectively.

Wells said the purpose of the consultations was to provide a means of employee input while proposals remained at the formative stage, “to consider ways of avoiding or reducing the number of redundancies proposed and to consider ways of mitigating the effects of redundancy of affected people.”

“During this process you will have every opportunity to speak to me to raise any questions or concerns you may have. A decision of whether the role is to be made redundant will not be made without you having had the chance to contribute to the discussions”, explained Wells.

The Managing Director said he realised that the news may have come as a shock and that the workers may have had unanswered questions.

He encouraged the workers to speak to a staff forum or a Trade Union representative as it was their right to be represented during any discussions and meetings regarding the proposals.

An anonymous source said the longest serving member at COL was around 36 years.

Buying a good hand cleaner and not the cheapest stuff on the market will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Maintaining clean hands in a press room is a hard task to accomplish. With common dirt in addition to chemicals, grease and of corse ink being able to keep your hands clean is a challenge. I have used, tried and disposed of many useless forms of hand cleaners in my days. I have found that the best hand cleaner on the market is Kresto. Kresto is made by Stoko and can be purchased from Presstek (AB Dick Co.). Trust me Kresto is worth the extra couple of bucks and your hands, press and printed work will stay much cleaner because of it. Remenber you buy cheap you buy twice.

The Young Guy…

According to the SBA 95% of new business owners fail within the first five years of business. Each year after that your chances of success increase 10%. This does not mean that if you are in business for 10 years that you will be 100% successful. In fact the rug can be swept right under your feet if you are not careful any given moment.

I’ve been a part of 4 different start-up ventures. Two lasted more than a decade each and were very successful, one never got off the ground due to lack of commitment from investors, and one failed miserably. Each business had great opportunities and good ideas. Although ideas are not enough, they need to be put into action. Action (business plan) is what caused a lack of commitment from investors of my third venture in my mind.

One of the most difficult aspects relating to a start up business is getting everyone on board to believe in your vision. Getting people to do what you need them to do in a particular time frame without breaking the bank is crucial and an art form.

So how do you  get people “on board” to have faith and trust that you will come through as a business owner for them? A smart business owner will extract the best out of each individual. He or she should be able to realize and acknowledge an employees strengths and weaknesses through their work behavior. A savvy business owner will place that individual in the right position to provide a proactive work environment.

When I was at a ripe old age of 24 (just kidding about the ripe), yes i was very wet behind the ears, I was pointed to City Hall. I drove down to my local City Hall and behold there was a pamphlet that included a step by step process to establishing a business. It did not tell you how to be successful, but it did present to tools you need to become successful. It was a simple 7 step process and it covered applying for a EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS to running a fictitious ad in the local paper. I believe most City Halls have this pamphlet and I suggest picking one up. Again, this will not make you successful even if you follow it exactly, but it does offer the correct advice.

What is the most important factor in starting a business?

IMHO it is cash flow. The lack of cash flow will cause your business to fail immediately. There is nothing worse than having a client and not having the cash flow to produce the product. Customers are out there, how many customers you can potentially have depends upon the product you are selling.

In today’s economy it is nearly impossible to secure a bank line of credit. A bank line of credit can establish business credit which can make or break your business when your vendors run your D&B rating (Dunn & Brad) and decide whether or not to offer your business net 10, net 15, or even net 30. As important, it also allows your business to operate daily. Your employees will not like working and not getting paid, they will eventually not care, potentially stop working, or even might sabotage your business.

Imitation is the sincerest of flattery. Charles Caleb Colton

When does inspiration turn to outright copying?

I’m sure everyone takes inspiration from others ‘…I like how that bail is attached..’ ‘…that way of stone setting would be great with my…’  Classes, workshops, online tutorials, YouTube, magazine projects, books we all see the same projects and as beginners we might try to make the exact project…taking that aside when do you say the line between inspiration and actually copying has been crossed?

I believe different people coming up with similar designs is fairly common, after all we all start somewhere using the same materials and the same tools.  Think about disc cutters and dapping tools or form folding ala Charles Lewton Brain, so many similar designs come from these techniques and tools.

Further, when you come across a member of your community who has crossed the line, what is the appropriate action?

On one of my bi-weekly, time wasting cruises through an online shopping site’s metalwork ring catagory I saw some pieces that I  recognized by style; I admire the seller’s creativity and execution of the work.  However, upon closer inspection of the new pieces  I noticed…it was an entirely different seller.

I brought up both shops and looked at pieces side by side ..my jaw dropped,  literally dropped.   It’s not that the pieces are similar, some pieces are  in fact almost identical.  If it wasn’t for the marker’s mark on the back I think anyone {but the actually makers} would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the pieces.  I checked the shop & sales dates it’s pretty clear who was the originator, I was so disappointed to find the person I admired is the imitator.

Do we let the parties work it out themselves?  Should the imitator be outed, shamed and shunned?  Or, do we just look the other way and pretend we don’t see it?  As a community, are we obligated to watch out for each other?  Personally, I feel the fool – I complimented this person on many occasions – geez, I actually gushed about the work…I ‘m feeling a tad bitter.

Well, I spoke with the “higher powers” here at Georgia Printco and they have approved of my online standee give-away. I am going to design a Santa Claus standee (full size!) have it contour cut (not to mention the print will be fan-freaking-tastic b/c we’ll do it on our flatbed printer)  and put it up for grabs for one lucky company.  To be included in the drawing you just need to either email me or submit a comment with your company info and on November 11th I will choose (out of a hat… or bucket, or whatever is close enough to my desk to work) the winner.  Nothing catches a potential clients eye like something new or out of the ordinary, so think of this as a chance for free advertising… not to mention the winner will be publicly announced for all to hear… er, see.

While were on the topic of the holidays, (Yes, I realize that has been an ongoing topic of mine, but do bear with me… I love this time of year) I am going to have a few different generic holiday banner designs that will be available for purchase. I haven’t yet done them so don’t rush the CSR’s just yet   We are looking at $.60 a square foot for those holiday banners. That will make your holiday easier being able to offer a few standard banners to your customer. We all know how hard it can be for some of our customers to figure out what they’d like in regards to artwork, so we are making it SUPER easy.  I’ll try to get those banner designs done before the end of the week and get them up here and on facebook for you to look at and start promoting. I will also probably send out a mass email with a  link to print off for your customers to look at and choose from. We’re trying to keep it super easy so you don’t have to do much footwork. The less time you have to spend on the little things, the more other BIG things you can accomplish.

I have just started sending out the Holiday Theme Special, you should get that in your inbox sometime today – It will give you FREE Setup AND 48Hour turntime on ANY/EVERY order whose artwork is holiday related… so as long as your order has something that looks festive or mentions something about the holiday season, your in! Make sure to mention the special to your CSR to ensure that you get the special deal applied to your workorder.

I think I have covered anything. Don’t forget to send me the info for the Standee otherwise, everyone have a GREAT hump-day!

More and more as I speak with offset and web press operators I find myself asking if they have exposure to digital printers. Its not just me thinking that things are going more in that direct, but that it is what my clients are asking me to provide them. What this reminds me of is the way it went for strippers in the 1990’s.

During the 90’s there was a fundamental shift in printing firms on how prepress was done. No longer were companies using traditional strippers, they were installing digital prepress systems. While the traditional stripers had a lot of critical experience such as understanding color separation and the capabilities of the printing presses, they were no longer needed unless they also had digital prepress skills, both software and hardware. This change had very telling effects on the prepress positions. First, those that did not want to learn new skills were no longer able to find work and when they did, it was at substantially lower payrates. Those that did make the effort and invested in themselves to learn the new skill sets were able to stay in the industry as digital prepress people. At first those with traditional and new skill sets were in the biggest demand. As time has gone by digital prepress workers no longer need the skills of the traditional strippers and people with just digital prepress skills have all the tools for the modern prepress jobs.

Traditional offset and web press operators are now in a very similar situation. Those segments of the industry are shrinking and with that comes fewer jobs. Those that are relectant to increase their computer skills and spend time learning about the new digital equipment will find themselves with fewer and fewer job options. While I do feel at this time that having both offset/web skills and digital print skills will be valuable in some situations, it seems that a digital printer doesnt need to rely only on an ink on paper back ground. Many digital prepress operators are able to run the digital printers at this point. In fact most firms will ask for someone  with offset backgrounds OR prepress backgrounds to be trained on a digital printer.

If you are an offset or web press operator and pondering your career moving forward, please heed the lessons of strippers in the 1990’s. Look at gaining better computer skills and seeking opportunities to get your hands on digital printers. Do this while your current skills can still keep you employed. This way you will be positioning yourself for your future, as it is likely you may need both skills sets to finish out your career.