The Print Files

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, and Lindy Hughson, publisher of Print21 and PKN Packaging News, bring us a review and analysis of the major developments, issues and trends emerging in the ANZ print industry during November.

We start the episode with a discussion of COP26 and the world's intention to become carbon neutral and discuss a number of examples of the print industry already working to improve sustainability, The change is being driven by print companies wanting to improve their sustainability along with the increased demand within the market for sustainable providers and the rising importance of eco credentials in tenders.

Wayne and Lindy then focus on the various industry groups introducing programs to become carbon neutral but also note that while being green may help improve your bottom line, it doesn't shield you from external forces and the realities of commercial life, as some have sadly discovered.

From sustainability the discussion moves on to the impacts of the shipping crisis and how the increases in delays and costs are providing opportunities for on-shore work. We discuss a few examples of this in New Zealand along with the benefits of keeping work, and its associated funds, on-shore.

The episode wraps with a look at some mergers and acquisitions within the industry, the news that Sandra Duerte is moving on to new opportunities, the national print awards and some thoughts on what to expect next year.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, and Lindy Hughson, publisher of Print21 and PKN Packaging News, bring us a review and analysis of the major developments, issues and trends emerging in the ANZ print industry during October.

We start by looking at the opportunities being offered to the print industry through relaxations of Covid restrictions in NSW and Victoria, then consider the sectors likely to see increases in demand such as commercial land wide format printing. This leads to a discussion of IVE investing in wide format, what it means for the rest of us as Heidelberg experiences increased global orders for equipment, and why the rise of fibre-based packaging will continue.

Returning to Covid, the discussion looks at the varying approaches to mandatory vaccination of print industry workers around the country and the confusion about determining what is a mandatory worker in Victoria. After this, we move on to the shipping crisis and its impact on prices in the industry, then consider the future of Ovato's Queensland after the owner sold the premises.

We wrap up the episode by noting the environmental credentials of the print industry, particularly with its use of renewable materials, Epson being rated the world's number one sustainable company by Forbes Magazine, Two Sides calling out organisations for greenwashing.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

In the second of the "Smarter Business" series, Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, talks with Richard Rasmussen, director at Ascent Partners, about the issues to consider when acquiring another company or considering selling your own.

The episode starts with a discussion of the benefits that can be experienced through acquisition of another company and strategies to consider when assessing and planning the process. This leads to a review of recommended methods of ensuring your business is ready to acquire another and the supporting structure that will help ensure the acquisition is a success.

Richard steps through some of the pitfalls associated with acquisitions and the areas that require the most effort, including corporate cultures and branding. He also discusses methods of valuing businesses including EBITDA, summing the value of assets and pricing a company's "good will."

We then shift to options for those considering selling their business, including techniques to improve the value and the importance of having a business appraised well in advance to identify areas for improvement. The episode wraps with a discussion of when is the best time to sell and the factors to consider, including outlook and equipment valuations.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Host: Wayne Robinson

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, and Lindy Hughson, publisher of Print21 and PKN Packaging News, bring us a review and analysis of the major developments, issues and trends emerging in the ANZ print industry during September.

Covid is impacting the print industry and we look at which areas are hurting and which are doing well in Australia and New Zealand. Workplace vaccination will be the biggest issue of the year, News Limited is the first printer to mandate vaccinations, we discuss the issues. The route out of Covid does present opportunities for printers, we look at Snap Printing's initiative to assist with the Covid recovery.

September has seen some major investments in print around the country, we look at who is spending, why and what they hope to achieve as they back themselves to meet the changing demands of the market.

One of those investments is ePac establishing its first digital packaging print service in Australia, building a brand new plant, modelled on the 20 it has around the world. The podcast discusses why ePac is opening here, what trends it is hoping to exploit, and what it means for the rest of the industry.

It hasn't all been good news this month, we have seen the dramatic reduction in paper imports over the past year, and we also discuss Ovato's results for the previous financial year. Then there is the stock market shifting to digital trade information, and Australia Post's two week ban on unaddressed mail.

The episode wraps with discussions on the increases in shipping prices, a Chinese web-to-print company placing one of the biggest press orders we've ever seen and the good news that the PICAs are back at both the state and national levels.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Keeping and growing customers is key to business growth. Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, talks with Sean Crichton-Browne, head of global partnerships and customer engagement at MarketCulture, about the importance of customer engagement across the entire business.

The discussion starts with the importance of developing a customer-focused culture across the whole of a business, and describing a customer-centric culture. Sean notes that a committed customer focus improves the ability to respond to disruption, along with driving innovation, profitability and sales revenue growth.

Sean outlines the eight disciplines for aligning your print business with the customer, including how to measure them, and says that the transformation to a customer-focused culture can start with a focus on just one or two of these disciplines. He stresses the importance of empowering employees to engage with customers, and says that customers who know you are aligned with their goals are more likely to remain with a business.

We wrap the episode with a discussion on key priorities for customer retention, the need for continual improvement, and the reality that highly customer-centric organisations succeed over others. Sean also invites listeners to join a study he is undertaking on assessing the customer focused strengths and weaknesses of 300 businesses.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Host: Wayne Robinson

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, talks with Malcolm Auld, principal of Malcolm Auld Direct, on how printers can benefit from the digital world.

The episode starts with a review of physical print's role in the modern world, with an attitude of print being positive as opposed to "not dead yet," including the demise and return of QR codes. The discussion progresses towards understanding how print can supplement the digital world, and avoiding the rush to fashionable trends as opposed to working with the correct balance across media types.

We then move on to how many print businesses focus on sales and commodity pricing in a race to the bottom model as opposed to establishing and marketing a brand that allows partnering with clients. Malcolm notes the importance of integrating digital and physical media, engaging with social media and working with the younger generation.

Topics covered include using direct mail to improve understanding of your customers, and strategies for positioning your business in the market by leveraging your brand. We wrap the episode with the acknowledgement of the need to embrace digital rather than fearing it, and evolving to incorporate it into the portfolio your business can provide.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Editor: Chris Visscher

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, and Lindy Hughson, publisher of Print21 and PKN Packaging News, bring us a review and analysis of the major developments, issues and trends emerging in the ANZ print industry during August.

Covid continues to impact the economy and the print industry with businesses dealing with changing restrictions and falling demand, which has been further impacted by Clubs in Australia no longer having to send notices via mail. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, most print businesses are closed due to the Stage 4 lockdown currently in place, although government support is available.

The biggest industrial relations issue of the year is growing in Australia with workplaces starting to implement "No Jab, No Work" policies and the Fair Work Commissioner introducing guidance to help advise owners and managers. We look at what that means.

We assess the latest annual results from IVE and Amcor, and note oOh!media has managed to improve despite the impacts on outdoor media. Wide format businesses are making new investments despite the reduction for many due to events being all but halted for the rest of the year, and we see offset printing presses are selling fast overseas, and ask if that is portent for these shores.

We wrap with a celebration of print industry history, including the Penrith Print Museum that has reached twenty years of operation, Eckersley Print Group celebrating fifty years, and check the progress of Clint Harvey's Bacon Factory letterpress studio.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, and Lindy Hughson, publisher of Print21 and PKN Packaging News, bring us a review and analysis of the major developments, issues and trends emerging in the ANZ print industry during July.

We start by acknowledging the impact the latest Covid outbreak and associated lockdowns is having on the print industry, and how that may play out, especially with JobKeeper no longer being available. Another sector continuing to feel the impact of Covid is events and exhibitions with these latest lockdowns forcing many to reschedule, including PacPrint which has been postponed to next year.

We look behind the big label printing news, which saw Multi-Color Corporation (MCC), one of the world's biggest label printing businesses, purchasing four companies in New Zealand and two in Australia, indicating the potential for upside in the label business, especially with new digital printing systems. Aussie label printers were in focus at the HP Indigo Inkspiration awards, and we look at Printcraft in Brisbane, now one of Queensland's biggest print businesses, which has just installed an HP Indigo, for commercial work.

Ovato's latest move selling the former Gordon & Gotch business comes under scrutiny by Robinson and Hughson, who also look at the benefits to Are Media. With subscription revenue at PVCA down by a third trade associations are in the spotlight, but one with good news is the Outdoor Media Association which is seeing numbers rebound strongly, for both digital and print.

We wrap the episode with the sad news of the recent loss of two well known industry identities.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, joins XMPie's David Baldaro, marketing operations manager, and Enda Kavanagh, regional sales manager Asia Pacific, to discuss the opportunities XMPie is giving print businesses through personalisation, cross media marketing and digital integration.

The discussion starts with a review of XMPie's capabilities as a platform for marketing and communications, that increases trust and loyalty across the entire customer lifecycle, through personalised print services, video, email, SMS, store fronts and omni-channel campaigns. XMPie can be considered as a set of Lego bricks that can be assembled as required, allowing the system to scale from a small print company just starting on the digital journey through to major industry leaders.

David and Enda tell Wayne about the level of IT knowledge required to install and use XMPie, where the name came from, and how customers can use XMPie to address an immediate customer need, expanding from there to increase their investment returns and improve margins.

Part way through the session, Steve Hopkins from Wollongong printer Flagstaff joins to discuss his organisation's adoption and use of XMPie to increase its customer retention and the number of products they produce per customer. He also notes that XMPie facilitated the adaptations the organisation made to respond to market and industry changes due to Covid-19.

We wrap up with observations on XMPie enabling a printer's transition to both print and digital services, that allow its clients to get closer to consumers through personalised offerings. This leads to the announcement that XMPie are offering through the Print21 magazine a 90-day free trial of their desktop tools that includes access to online training.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Editor: Chris Visscher

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021

Wayne Robinson, editor of Print21, discusses print leadership with Fred Soar, managing director of Soar Print.

In the sixth episode in our Leading in Print series for The Print Files, Fred Soar, owner of successful print business Soar Print - which is celebrating its centenary this year - shares the lessons he has learned from 30 years of leading and growing a print business.

He tells us how he got into the print industry and began working with the family business. He acknowledges the importance of education and continuous learning for his staff and himself, including the benefits of business coaching.

The discussion moves on to the need for on-going adaptation to keep up with the increasing pace of change, always looking for improvements and being willing to adopt new technology and machinery. This leads to the benefits obtained by working closely with clients and suppliers to help them improve their operations, adding value to their businesses as well as your own.

Fred reviews the company values that form the foundation of their decision making, and are vital when conducting acquisitions and merger which Soar Print has managed. He describes the company's strategic planning and subsequent monitoring while also noting that addressing environmental issues, recycling and reducing the company's carbon footprints are actually reducing costs, not introducing expenses.

The episode wraps up with Fred revealing the key lessons he has learned, and the most important leadership principles he would pass onto the younger generation of print leaders and aspiring leaders.

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The Print Files Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Print21, owned and published by Yaffa Media.

The views of the people featured on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Print21, Yaffa Media, or the guest’s employer. The contents are copyright by Yaffa Media.

If you wish to use any of this podcast’s audio, please contact Print21 via their website www.print21.com.au or send an email to [email protected]

Coordinator: Grant McHerron

Host: Wayne Robinson

Producer: Steve Visscher

Print21 - © 2021