2008 Spring

Making the Decision: Is Adding Services Right for You?

May 1, 2008

by Dianna Brodine

You’ve heard it all before – either in this magazine, from another industry source, or on the financial newscasts. Money is tight, the value of the dollar is falling, and the economy is in a “slowdown.” As a wise business owner, you’ve evaluated your financial situation, taken a look at income vs. expenses, reviewed new equipment that might bring efficiencies, cut a few customers whose business wasn’t bringing in the expected return, but a wise business owner doesn’t stop there. A look to the future is the next step, and perhaps adding services is the right answer for growth. New services could bring new customers or, at the very least, add value to existing customers. And there are natural tie-ins with the bindery business that seem to make the decision a slam-dunk. But not all additions are wise, and not all change is good. How do you decide what is right for your business?

Industry Trends Tighten Profit Margin

Shorter runs, consolidation, and a reduction in the numbers of graphic arts firms all have an effect on the flow of business into binderies. Anna Massey, sales and marketing manager with Gateway Bookbinding Services, noted that, “Today’s trade bindery is very different than that of a decade ago. Printers have become far more efficient and the runs have become smaller so the days of doing 100,000+ books with 5 percent spoilage are long gone.”

Jack Rickard, president of Rickard Bindery, has noted a trend toward one-stop shopping. “People who do the purchasing really like to get the project off their back, so one-stop shopping is attractive. I happen to disagree with that mind-set because I think you want to go where core competencies are.”

Agree or disagree, the reality exists that customers looking for one partner to fulfill all of a project’s needs can apply pressure to printers, or in turn their bindery partners, to offer more services. This leads to another trend – the inclination of printers to add bindery services to the printing shop – but Rickard will point out that the trend is not a new one: “I can remember my grandfather ranting about printers putting in their own equipment back in 1945. But here we are, going right along, and the reason is that we’re good at what we do. We’re better at what we do than our printer customers, who dabble with what we do.”

In fact, Rickard explained that knowing and understanding core competencies can provide opportunities to work with other bindery service providers when trying to meet the needs of a customer: “There are things which we do that I know somebody else does better. When we get one of those jobs in, we will take it over to the guy who does it better. In Chicago, for years and years, we have dealt with each other’s core competencies. We work very hard with each other so that the printers don’t get the feeling that they’ve got to put the equipment in themselves.”

Know Your Business Model

Business models define the parameters in which your company operates, including what you do, why you do it, and what you hope the results are once you’ve added your fair share of hard work. Part of that process is determining core competencies – the things you and your staff do better than the competition. When evaluating the addition of services, one of the first questions you should ask is whether or not the new service can be done as well as your existing core competencies.

Rickard Bindery have explored a lot of avenues over its decades of existence and Jack Rickard is open about some of its mistakes. “We stuck our nose into a lot of places and found out that 90 percent of the time, we got our fingers slapped. In 1980, I brilliantly got some labeling machines and we jumped in. I found out in a matter of two months that one, the mail houses hired cheaper people than we had; and two, they knew what they were doing. I managed to get back out of the business in four months,” Rickard laughed.

That and other “missteps” have made Rickard a firm believer in knowing the business model in which your company operates. In the case of Rickard Bindery, the company could easily slip into mechanical binding, laminating, diecutting, or perfect binding. In order to succeed in the new ventures, the only thing Rickard employees would have to learn in those fields would be the technical expertise. The essential business model would not change.

“In binding, we take paper and we mechanically cut it, chop it, fold it – we physically alter the stock,” said Rickard, explaining that adding services that alter the stock in similar ways makes good business sense, while some things fall outside of the company’s core competencies. “Fulfillment is a computer game with inventory. You’ve got to have the computer horsepower and the inventory mind-set to manage inventories of various products in order to do fulfillment. And it, just like mailing, is a different mind-set business.”

Adding Services

So, with the cautionary tales and words of advice, why add services? The answer, in some cases, is increasing responsiveness to customer needs. “Today’s trade bindery needs to be poised and ready to respond to their customer’s needs,” said Massey. “They need to go beyond just being a final step for their customers. They need to become a partner with the printers to bring added value to the relationship.” Another answer is that the more services you provide, the more you “control” your customer accounts.

Once you’ve made the decision to expand your bindery’s services, there are many directions to go. Three are discussed here: string tying, mechanical binding, and mailing. Future issues of The Binding Edge will feature a series on fulfillment services.

– String Tying
Rickard Bindery added string tying to its services in 2006. According to Jack Rickard, it was a logical step for the trade bindery. “String tying is the same business, the same customers, the same quoting process, and the same schedules,” he said.

String tying is one of many ways to promote products at point of purchase. There are a variety of shelved products that have a physical shape that lends itself to having a string-tied piece attached. Well-conceived string-tied promotional pieces attract attention and provide useful information right at the point of purchase. If your customer’s product is a bottle, or has a button or a hook, then string-tied tags might be exactly what’s needed to boost unit sales. Products could include grocery items like liquor, hair care products, condiments, spices and flavorings (i.e., soy sauces or olive oils), or cosmetics.

String tying applications have size limitations and stock weight requirements. A hole must be punched in one corner. And the pieces must be stitched, glued, and folded in such a way to be attractive and functional. Further enhancements through foil stamping and diecutting are possible. Strings can range from plastic options to cotton in a variety of thicknesses and colors.

The work came about for Rickard Bindery because of an existing customer relationship. “We were doing a lot of string tying work and we really didn’t want to mess with their turf, but we were operating three shifts and they were operating one shift. We could bring something to the table that they couldn’t,” said Rickard. Despite the very real possibility of offending their string tying customers, the company is still doing work for the string tying companies, providing material and occasionally sending very difficult jobs to them. “We’ve drawn our market from areas our string tying customers weren’t drawing from.”

– Mechanical Binding
Mechanical binding is another service that makes sense as a vertical move in a bindery’s business plan. According to Massey, mechanical binding offers ease of use, quick start-up with minimal training time needed for operators, and affordability of implementation. “Most binderies will already have some sort of punching equipment so often all they require is a punch tool with the correct hole pattern for coil,” explained Massey. “Once they have their punching requirements figured out, they then need some type of coil inserting equipment.” Massey explained that there are a number of options, depending upon the volume of work the bindery foresees and the complexity of the projects. Possibilities include belt drive coil inserters, dual roller coil inserters, and automated coil inserters. Equipments investments can range from as little as $795 up to $20,000 for an automated machine.

The plastic spiral itself is readily available, but according to Massey, a lot of binderies take it one step further with in-house coil manufacturing. “By producing their own coil from spooled filament, the bindery not only positions itself to be able to respond much more quickly to its customers needs, but it also sees a 50 percent savings in material costs. Interline the coil forming process with automated coil insertion (with production speeds anywhere from 700 to 1,400 books per hour), and that bindery becomes not only fast but highly efficient.”

Adding to the appeal is the fact that plastic spiral binding is suitable for a variety of projects. With a variety of color options and lay flat capabilities, mechanical binding could provide flexibility not only to your bindery business but to the customers you serve.

– Mailing Services
According to John Gracey, co-owner of Mail Right, Inc., 65 percent of printed material ends up in the mail but only 10 percent of printers have an in-house mailing system. Gracey points out that the mailing business is a natural move for binders, since they’re already involved at the end of the process – right before mailing occurs.

Mail Right specializes in setting new companies up in the mailing business, offering the equipment, software, and resources needed to be successful. “We focus on the how-to,” said Gracey. “We’ve done it, so we can teach exactly how to do it. We can walk new mailing organizations through pricing mailing jobs, getting your salespeople to sell mailing jobs, teaching the production people how to produce jobs, all the way to taking them to the post office to teach them how to introduce jobs into the system.”

Continued compliance and changes in the mailing standards and prices are a concern. Mail Right holds advertised phone seminars and schedules phone calls to discuss compliance issues. One change coming up in November is NCOA (National Change of Address). At this time, when an automated mailing is done, mailers have to verify that the address and zip code are valid. NCOA goes a step further to require that mailers verify that the person the mailing is directed to actually lives at that address. “Mailers are going to have to access the USPS change of address database to verify that the person actually lives there,” said Gracey. “It’s always been required for first class mail, but now it’s going to transfer to standard mail, which is the majority of the stuff in the system. All of the lists are going to have to be run through a list verification service.” Another change in the works is a new barcode system that allows more information to be imprinted, offering increased ability to track your mail through the system.

Getting into the mailing business from bindery is less of a vertical move and more of a horizontal change in business strategy. No longer are you physically altering the state of the paper stock. It can be, however, another way of securing your customer relationships.

Jack Rickard has a simple standard for evaluating expansion possibilities: “It’s looking at what’s going through your shop and saying ‘What else is being done with this, and how can I help out with what’s being done?’ If it’s really outside of your competency, I’d recommend you take a long, hard look before committing any resources.”

Special thanks to Jack Rickard of Rickard Bindery for his insights and experience. String tying information reprinted with permission from Rickard Bindery. Additional recognition to Anna Massey, Gateway Bookbinding Services, and John Gracey, Mail Right, Inc.

Bindagraphics: Aggressive Growth, Progressive Education

May 1, 2008

by: Dianna Brodine

An aggressive growth strategy, a commitment to educating the industry, and a willingness to provide a multitude of services to meet customer needs has proved successful for Bindagraphics, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland.

Family Footprints

Marty Anson is the third generation of his family to be involved in the printing industry, following the footprints of both grandfathers and his father (a photoengraver). For Anson, working in his high school print shop and then proceeding to the Rochester Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Print Management in 1965 seemed a natural progression.

Upon graduating from college, Anson went to work for a commercial printer in the estimating department until drafted into the United States Army in 1967. After his tour of service, Anson landed a job with a book printer as a controller. “Part of my job was to formalize production standards in an effort to increase efficiencies,” explained Anson. “I spent a lot of time in the bindery and became very interested in this area of the business. Anson founded Bindagraphics in 1974.”

Located in downtown Baltimore, the fledgling company went into operation with two employees, Anson and a partner (a machine operator), in 10,000 square feet of rented space on the eleventh floor. Starting with cutting, folding, and stitching – “the basics for any bindery” – Bindagraphics’ services were limited to binding soft cover books and pamphlets. “As you can imagine, moving materials and product up and down 11 floors via an elevator became very difficult and time-consuming,” stated Anson. So when the company’s lease was up, it relocated to the Lansdowne section of Baltimore where it doubled its space. Bindagraphics continued to flourish and in just over five years, added an additional 30,000 square feet of space and established two additional divisions under the same roof.

Through steady growth and the continual addition of new capabilities, Bindagraphics once again relocated in January of 1992 to its current facility located in the Crossroads Industrial Center in southwest Baltimore. In 2002, a 55,000 square foot climate-controlled addition was completed. Today, Bindagraphics’ Baltimore location boasts 175,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and office space, and over $15 million in annual sales. Anson also has brought two of his sons – Todd and Matt – into the fold, to help carry the torch into the modern era. Matt acts as COO of the Baltimore operation and Todd is president of the company’s Buffalo, N.Y. division.

Aggressive Growth Meets Customer Needs

The key to Bindagraphics’ success, according to Anson, has been its continual re-investment in the latest equipment and technology, as part of its drive to expand its capabilities to better meet the diverse needs of its customer base. In connection with some of these acquisitions and expansions, Anson set up separate divisions within the organization to better allocate expenses and profits, and to help identify different product lines and customer needs.

Quality Information Packaging division (QIP) was launched in 1982, specializing in custom packaging and design services, ring binders, slipcases, portfolios, index tabs, spot and raised UV coating, litho mounting, and fulfillment services. In the mid 1980s, Bindagraphics made the decision to diversify into the finishing arena, offering foil stamping, embossing, diecutting and ultimately, film laminating, UV coating, in-line folding/gluing, and hi-die capabilities. “We kept getting calls from our print customers to provide various finishing services,” stated Anson. Adding finishing capabilities allowed the company to capture a bigger piece of the pie, reduce delivery times, and better control the quality of its end product.

A satellite facility in High Point, North Carolina, services bindery customers in the southeastern areas of the East Coast. According to Anson, “The facility, which opened in the spring of 1999, enables customers to get many of their jobs done locally and more efficiently.” The binding arena primarily services a regional market, mainly due to the expense of moving materials back and forth across the country. Consequently, opening satellite facilities makes good economic sense. The facility has grown significantly since its inception, and recently expanded into a 40,000 square foot building. Anson plans to add finishing services over the next year, which will help the North Carolina operation be more of a one-stop shop. “Our business model in Baltimore is to be a warehouse full of options for printers,” explained Anson. “We’re very diversified, and we want to keep that same footprint in North Carolina.”

In August of 2005, Marty Anson bought a high-end ring binder and packaging operation in Buffalo, New York. The packaging operation, which primarily services colleges and universities, allows Bindagraphics additional diversification and the facilities are able to exchange work, utilizing specialty equipment when needed for specific jobs.

The most recent acquisition came nine months ago, when Anson found an established finisher in Atlanta, known as Art Laminating Finishing, that had been in business since 1947. Anson currently spends three days a week in the Atlanta facility, getting it up to speed and introducing the Bindagraphics capabilities to a new market. “We have a lot of specialized equipment in Baltimore, but this helps us give a presence in the southeast, said Anson.”

Facility acquisitions aren’t the only investment Anson has made. The Bindagraphics facility in Baltimore has added a 12,000/hr Kolbus perfect binder and a mechanical binding machine from Kugler-Womako for coil binding. “That’s over $3 million in new equipment right there,” explained Anson. “We had some 15-year-old equipment and we decided it was time to upgrade. It sure is nice to have a new piece of equipment for makeready and quality control. The new perfect binder increased throughput significantly.”

Educating the Industry, Present and Future

A key philosophy to the successful growth of Bindagraphics over the decades has been to become a source of information and knowledge, for its customers and the industry at large. Bindagraphics’ web site houses one of the best reference libraries of industry-related articles written by Marty Anson on topics ranging from binding basics and finishing to bindery management/quality control and multimedia packaging. By contributing helpful information on a variety of topics, Bindagraphics has secured a reputation in the industry as being a leading source for education.

Bindagraphics University, or more popularly known as Binda U, is a training seminar conducted at the Bindagraphics facility for customers, potential customers, or for those just wishing to enhance their knowledge of the industry. Established over 20 years ago, Binda U continues to attract a wide range of attendees. Attracting technicians to designers to those in upper management, the one-day seminar remains popular today with its focus on education rather than “selling” the bindery. Anson, however, will admit that education does sell, “We make people aware of what we’re doing and what we can offer. Hopefully, they’ll think of us down the road when they have a project because of the positive experience they had at our facility.” The sessions are offered once in the fall and again in the spring. “We provide an overview of different binding and finishing techniques, provide hints and tips to help printers avoid the typical pitfalls and then conclude with a tour of our facility,” said Chris Martin, director of marketing. “Additionally, we also provide that education to a local university located in the D.C. area. The students have been in twice over the last six months, which allows us to show graphic designers how the bindery side works. That, in turn, helps us when these students find jobs and are producing projects that we have to make work.”

Bindagraphics also does an online newsletter and e-mail blasts that talk about the industry and general bindery tips. “We also have ‘e-infos’ that focus around a specific product,” said Martin. “Projects that we think would be interesting are featured for printers, which both shows off our techniques and shows them the possibilities for future projects.”

Internally, the importance of education has filtered throughout the organization in a variety of programs. Bindagraphics became the first bindery in the U.S. to achieve ISO 9001: 2000 certification for its quality management system. Approximately 10 years ago, Anson evaluated the company’s current quality management system and found that it was not very effective. Upon examining the positive results that ISO certification can produce for an organization (utilizing a business acquaintance as a model), the decision was made to undergo the process. “It has definitely helped us to control our processes better,” stated Anson. He also pointed out that the ISO process does not mean much to the smaller printer but to larger ones, the certification process can be a key selling point.

Internal education in the areas of cross-training and safety procedures also are key within the organization. Because the company runs a large amount of specialized equipment to accommodate custom jobs, Bindagraphics employees need to learn how to run various pieces of machinery. “The specialized machinery doesn’t run all of the time, so cross-training is extremely important in our company,” stated Anson.

Looking to the Horizon

For now, the latest acquisition in Atlanta will keep Marty Anson busy. “It’s going to take a couple of years to get that facility operating the way we want it, so I’m all set for right now,” Anson laughed. “I’ll be 66 on May 1 and I haven’t got too many more acquisitions under my belt.” Anson will keep his eye on the industry, however, knowing that he has to be sharp to stay on top. He’s seen his printing customers adding more binding and finishing equipment. He’s also noticed the Internet absorbing traditional print work. “It’s a tough environment,” concluded Anson. “The printers are having a tough time and it gets passed down to the bindery level. Hopefully it will all settle down and everyone can make a living.”

Using the Right Glue for the Right Application

May 1, 2008

by: B&R Moll, Inc.

Today, trade finishers face the challenge of having to select the most effective gluing product for a myriad of specific applications. This results in a constant balancing of pricing and the wide range of product effectiveness. Binderies must select the right glue after considering such factors as the intended end use of the product, the specified coatings or finishes, different types of paper stock, and storage conditions. Given these factors, binders also must weigh the cost savings of using a lower-priced glue against the possibility of performance failure in a specific application.

Adherence

Glues must be carefully selected to adhere to whatever coatings or finishes have been required by the bindery’s customers. To complicate that selection, the coatings and paper stock that have been used successfully with certain glues frequently change in composition, causing the glues to lose their effectiveness. A plethora of coatings – such as UV, aqueous, and standard varnishes – are constantly changing in composition due to the varying availability of certain chemicals. Some chemicals can no longer be used because of raw material availability, a situation that is out of the binder’s control. The use of different paper stocks, too, changes regularly. Paper stocks range from recyclable paper that is widely used in the printing and carton industries, to standard offset, cover weight stocks, and fluted carton material that are finding wide acceptance in direct mailers, brochures, and information packets. As a result, binderies must deal with a wide range of adhesion issues. For example, flood coating of paper is commonly used in applying certain coatings. This sometimes creates a problem for gluing because these coatings have high resistance to adhesion.

There are several effective ways to combat loss of adhesion. One is to block out the glueable area on the paper. This will create an opportunity for the glue to bypass the coating and adhere directly to the substrates below the coating. If using a block out is not an option, binders can add a glue assist to their existing dies or new dies at the time of die-making.

Multipurpose Adhesives

Binders clearly need to use glues that are highly versatile, can be counted on to perform effectively under a wide range of conditions, and work well with other technologies and diverse materials. Are there glues that can be considered to be multipurpose, reliable adhesives?

The major trend toward the use of multipurpose glues has been the increasing acceptance of hot melt adhesives. In this connection, hot melt glues have been replacing liquid “cold” glues, when a ready-to-use glue and quick set-up times are required. Hot melts are considered the glues of choice in a broad range of end products, such as void fillers in some heavy carton applications, short-run applications such as packaging, and fulfillment items. Here, a glue must not only provide adherence to the product, but also to fulfillment information in cartons, pocket folders, and shelf talkers. Hot melts work well with diverse paper stocks, but are the best glues for any stocks that are flood coated or laminated.

For use with UV, aqueous, and varnish coatings, hot melts are the most effective glues on the market. Hot melt adhesives break through these coatings and secure a good bond for the coating and the paper substrate. Also, hot melts provide excellent adhesion in box applications, brochures, pharmaceutical inserts, direct mailers, and pocket folders. Typically, hot melts are used in the preparation of presentation folders, which requires a high concentration of ink coverage, because they provide excellent adhesion to folder pockets and coatings. In addition, hot melts provide high performance in short-run carton and sleeve applications because they have an instant adhesion to both substrates.

Hot Melt Glue Versatility and Cold Glue Advantages

Hot melt glues demonstrate their versatility by performing well in applications that have a wide range of temperatures. They provide excellent adhesion in situations where temperatures reach well over 100 degrees in shipping trailers, and where temperatures are below freezing in food packaging.

Hot melts work well on coated and uncoated paper stocks, but liquid glues also have performed satisfactorily on uncoated stocks. However, cold glues have not performed satisfactorily on some coated stocks because of their inability to adequately penetrate these stocks. However, there are some cold glues that work on these stocks. Testing is important to determine what works best.

Hot melts not only offer excellent adhesion to numerous substrates, but also meet “machinability” requirements. They can be applied with little or no stringing and with a clean cut off. Hot melts are recognized as having superior “machinability”, reflecting their wide acceptance in high-speed carton and box gluing applications. Where dealing with difficult coatings is an issue, hot melt glues are preferred.

Despite the predominance of hot melts in the market today, there are a number of important applications where cold glues are as effective in breaking through coatings and creating an excellent bond with the two substrates. These are applications in which longer drying times are required, such as cartons and pocket folders. What’s more, in these applications cold glues are more forgiving in the bonding process due to their ability to allow both boxes and sleeves to find their natural configurations. Because liquid glues are thinner in viscosity than hot melts, they are able to be applied more quickly. For this reason, cold glues get the nod over hot melts for use in long-run carton and box applications found in the printing and binding industries.

The “storageability” of cold glues is on par with that of hot melts. Depending on the application, the coating, and the paper, cold glues are generally as effective as hot melts in temperature extremes that range from below freezing to 100 degrees plus.

There are several specialty hot melt adhesives that are finding important niches in the marketplace. One is a repositionable hot melt that is used in self-mailing applications where the end user can receive information and re-secure the product for other mailings.

Hot melt and liquid cold glues can form another effective type of gluing product for binder managers to have at their disposal. These are known as “fugitive” glues. Fugitive glues can be applied to a substrate – such as a folder, pockets, and standard bond paper – to which a binder can secure products such as credit cards, pharmaceutical inserts, and information cards. At the same time, these glues allow removal of these products relatively smoothly, with no tearing, and without defacing the information found underneath the fugitive glue.

Cold glues used to be the recommended glue for fugitive applications. Now hot melts are regarded as the better choice because they are more durable during the handling and mailing processes.

Another form of specialty glue has been designed for remoistable applications: remoistable hot melts. These hot melts are used for straight-line envelopes that function as self-mailers. Frequently used in fulfillment programs, remoistables start out as hot melt glues, then change in composition after application to the paper. After the paper is dry, these glues become remoistable to secure the information inside the envelope.

Cost savings should not be the major consideration when deciding on glues for specific applications. Lower-priced glues may not perform well for a broad range of applications. At this time, trade finishers should ask their glue suppliers for recommendations on the use of a type of glue that will provide the required adherence.

Today, trade binders must meet the demanding, constantly changing, and time-sensitive requirements of their customers. To successfully and economically meet these customer needs, binders must rely on the expertise of their glue suppliers to provide the right glue for a host of applications. Binders must pick their glue suppliers carefully, seeking the guidance of only performance-proven glue experts, if they are to grow their businesses by maintaining current customers and adding new accounts. For astute trade binders, choosing a qualified glue expert is simply a matter of dollars and sense.

Headquartered in Ivyland, Penn., B&R Moll, Inc. is an international manufacturing company with over 60 years of experience providing innovatively-designed folding and gluing equipment, accessories, replacement parts, other technical expertise, and service for the printing, diecutting, and finishing industries. For more information, contact Lorenzo Boscaino and Rick Moll at B&R Moll, Inc. at (866) 438-4583 or visit www.mollbrothers.com.