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Volume 2, Issue 4 New
Equipment Gives United Litho the EDGE
New
Equipment Gives United Litho the EDGE When
an organization of any size looks for a printer with whom to form a relationship,
they want assurances. They want to know that deadlines will be met, that
the final product will be the best it can be, and that they will receive
quality service at a reasonable price. To
give customers these assurances, printers do a lot of research and behind-the-scenes
legwork to keep up on the latest innovations and improvements throughout
the printing process. United Litho is consistently an industry leader,
offering incomparable know-how and the finest equipment. It is their way
of giving their clients the assurances they seek. An
example of this leading edge commitment is the newly acquired Muller Martini
Saddle Stitcher. Now, stitchers may not be as sexy as the outstanding
printing equipment United Litho has in place. But according to Chris Azbill,
United Litho's vice president of operations, "The new machine is
significantly faster and also has a lot of state-of-the-art bells and
whistles that help with quality assurance." Sexy or not, a top of
the line saddle stitcher can have a great impact on quality and speed.
Why
is the new stitcher so much faster? For one thing, it includes an in-line
mailing feature. Before United Litho installed this new machine, saddle
stitching and mailing required two separate machines, significantly slowing
the project. Now, both processes are done in one step. The
machine also sports a 9-pocket system, capable of producing 20,000 books
per hour (the old machines had an 8,000/hr. capacity); inside/outside
ink jet capabilities; and other features such as signature recognition
capabilities, which prevent the wrong signature from being inserted into
the wrong pocket, or the right signature from being inserted incorrectly.
Wayne
Peterson, vice president of sales and marketing, said the new, faster
capabilities of this machine are a great benefit to the client. "This
stitcher gives us much more versatility and some significant labor savings.
It will enable us to hold the line on pricing, even as labor costs
climb." "It
keeps us ahead of the competition," Peterson said. "The stitcher
is absolutely the Cadillac model available. This type of equipment is
not usually seen in a short-run magazine plant." United
Litho will also be installing a new perfect binder with in-line mailing
capabilities. Azbill expects that machine to be up and running by Spring
2000. Once that machine is installed, every primary production machine
in United Litho's facility will be less than 3 years old. Just another
way United Litho is enhancing quality and reliability to assure its customers
that they will receive the finest products available. In
our quest to make the mailing process easier for you, we wanted to make
you aware of a system that the post office calls CAPS—which
stands for Centralized Automated Payment System. While this system has
been around for some time, it is underutilized. This system is designed
to make payment for all classes of mail easier and more cost-effective
for business mailers. CAPS
provides electronic options as customer alternatives to presenting checks
and cash in person at each mailing post office. A national CAPS account
can be used to pay for mailings at multiple locations, eliminating the
need for maintaining trust accounts at numerous post offices. In addition,
when your mailing transactions are funded through a centralized account,
CAPS can use those same transactions to provide consolidated reports of
mailing activity by post office location, mailing account and There
are two payment options currently available through CAPS—a
centralized trust account and a centralized debit account. The two options
have the following in common:
For
a centralized trust account, you deposit funds electronically - via standard
ACH banking mechanisms - to the CAPS bank prior to mailing. Your CAPS
account is then reduced automatically as postage statements are processed
by local offices. With
a centralized debit account, your designated bank account will be debited
on the next business day—via
standard ACH banking mechanisms—for
the total of the day's mailings. Customers
participating in either option are provided easy-to-use personal computer
software that allows them to access their detailed account information
in real time to check balances and analyze mailing activity. Although CAPS makes sense for the Postal Service, its primary goal is to make things simpler for business customers.
You
may enroll in CAPS by completing the application forms available through
the CAPS Service Center or by selecting "forms" on the caps.usps.gov
web site and sending them to: CAPS
Service Center This
information was taken from the USPS web
site. How
do you divide numerous deadlines and multiple responsibilities among an
already overworked few? Small magazine staffs face the never-ending challenge
of producing a quality product on time and within budget against incalculable
odds. But there are solutions. Making your resources add up to success
is all a matter of careful planning, thoughtful hiring and choosing the
right publication partners. The
Small Staff Equation For
a small nonprofit, association, start-up or consumer magazine, making
the most of what you've got becomes a necessity. Cheryle Dodd, managing
editor of the Florida Bar Journal,
admits that her small pub's staff walks a fine line. "If we're all
here and we're all 100 percent, we don't notice it," she says. "But,
for instance, I haven't had a vacation in a few years!" As part of
the magazine's staff of seven (including three editorial/design staff;
three advertising staff and one circulation person), Dodd knows that the
responsibilities have a way of multiplying. "When the work overloads,
we either take it home or come in on weekends," she says, adding
"It probably would be nice to have another part-time person."
Josh
Greene, editor of Wine
& Spirits magazine, doesn't just stop there. "I would like
two times or three times as many people," says the member of a staff
of eight-and-a-half. "That would be ideal." In fact, Green sees
personnel as the biggest challenge facing Wine & Spirits. "We're
always struggling to split jobs up and match people's talents to different
parts of the job." Since
budget constraints can often make hiring difficult, when you have the
opportunity to add people to your staff, you should take full advantage
of it. That means making wise hiring and promotion decisions. Adding
the Right People When
you're desperate to staff up, good publications people are hard to find.
Most editors find that flexible hires, who can wear many hats, make the
best additions to small staffs. "You have to have someone with some
fiscal knowledge," says Dodd. "You also need a technician, someone
who is grammatically aware and someone who has attention to detail."
She places organization and "love of the printed word" at the
top of her new hire "must have" list. Dodd
also finds that the best new hires are often old ones. Look around other
departments in your organization. See if there are people who are willing
to take on additional responsibilities and who have an interest in your
magazine. The Florida Bar Journal's assistant editor started out in another
department, but proved to have a knack for pubs. Dodd herself worked her
way up from proofreader to her current position during her 26-year tenure. Association
publications should also try to make the most of their members. A member-staffed
review board can help with article ideas and article review, easing some
of the burden and eliminating the need for an on-staff expert in the subject.
Consumer
publications need to make smart hires too. Greene looks within the industry
and through his existing staff's network of contacts for new people. "A
lot depends on what your editorial and marketing goals are," he says.
A magazine that needs to focus on its editorial needs to make strategic
hires in that area, a magazine focused on marketing to a wider audience
needs more ad and circulation people. Keep in mind that those goals may
change as your publication changes, too. Sometimes
outsourcing a function can reduce headaches, and may even bring unexpected
surprises. Wine & Spirits outsources its design to a part-time designer.
"He brings a good perspective to the group," Greene says, "because
he's a little more outside it." Above
all, Greene stresses flexibility and a mesh of personalities and talents.
"In a small organization you don't want a completely homogenous staff,"
he says. Greene likens the magazine staff to a matrix made up of talents,
personalities and goals, and amounting to a kind of "staff culture."
When an employee can't fit into the existing structure, chaos can ensue.
"The main reason I've had to let people go is that they couldn't
fit into the matrix," he says. A
Partner Equal to the Task Of
course, hiring or recruiting people isn't always an option. When you're
forced to work with what you've got, you may uncover help in some unexpected
places. For both Dodd and Greene, United Litho became not only a partner
in the printing process, but a valued contributor to the magazine equation.
The Florida Bar Journal staff, which has turned to United Litho for printing
for more than 12 years, also looks to them to be a part of the team. "I
consider the printing company a part of the staff," Dodd says. "They
give me tips on how I can save money. They have staff members who've helped
walk me through software I've had to learn. They've helped me through
their technical education to be the best I can
be." Greene
has had a similar experience. "I think of [United Litho] as part
of the magazine. The staff there is one of the main reasons we've stayed
with them," he says of the magazine's 16-year relationship with ULI. The
best partner is one who has just as much invested in your publication
as would a "regular" member of your staff. "United Litho
has always had a quality staff that is very mindful of our high standards,"
says Dodd. "At the end of the month, I can give them my 'baby' and
they will take care of it. I know I can trust them to care as much about
my project as I do." Focusing
on the Plusses Although
being the member of a small staff often means long hours and multiple
job titles, there are still benefits. "You know the magazine from
the ground up," says Dodd. And that often leads to more control over
the magazine's direction and goals. By building a staff of like-minded
individuals and choosing partners who are committed to your ideals, you
can create an environment conducive to something large publication staffs
almost never have: staff loyalty and longevity. And that means a better
and more consistent product for your readers. One
of the most critical stages in the production of your magazine arrives
with the digital proof. It's important to review since it represents the
last opportunity to make changes or correct omissions before the magazine
goes to press. With the addition of a CTP (computer-to-plate)
workflow, the corrections you make to your proof will quickly result in
a printed product.
Before looking through the proof, remember that you are not only checking your accuracy but United Litho's as well. ULI cannot accept the responsibility for any errors not noted by you on the proof regardless of the source of the error.
An
Extraordinary Service Experience: Orlando Leisure Christi
Ashby is the editor of Orlando Leisure, a lifestyle and entertainment
publication for residents of Central Florida. They produce six issues
of the publication each year, with a circulation of approximately 50,000
per issue. United
Litho has proved to be an excellent choice for Ashby and Orlando Leisure.
The range of services ULI offers put Ashby at ease from the moment the
publication leaves her hands to the moment it reaches Orlando Leisure's
readership. Ashby
has been particularly thrilled with the mail services ULI offers. "We
didn't want to have to deal with one hundred different vendors,"
Ashby said. With United Litho's mail capabilities, Ashby only has to deal
with one. "It's been a very smooth relationship, which is important
since we're so far away," Ashby said. Transferring
mailing lists, extracting the data correctly, organizing the mailing in
the most efficient manner—all
of these factors can lead to headaches. But not with United Litho, Ashby
said. "We
pretty much do everything by e-mail," she said. "I'm impressed
with their ability to get information to us quickly. Last issue, they
didn't have any problems with our lists. They
understood what I needed, and I understood they were going to get it done."
Just give ULI the mailing list and let them do the job. No headaches there.
Working
with United Litho throughout the production and distribution process "helps
me save some time," Ashby said, adding that having one vendor makes
finances much easier as well. She feels the service she gets from ULI
is top-notch, and coming from an editor of her experience, that's not
light praise. "We're simply getting much better service with United
Litho than I have gotten with previous printers," she said. Ashby
feels completely comfortable with ULI. When
we began looking for printers, we were looking for a company that offered
a lot of support and customer service," said Ashby, who has many
years of publications experience and knew exactly what challenges this
publication would face - the same challenges all publications face at
one time or another: a lot of work to do and not enough staff to do it.
ULI filled in the gaps. "United Litho has a really good staff, and
we felt very comfortable when we went up for our initial plant tour. "We
selected a partner, and we trust that partner to take care of us,"
Ashby said. That's just the type of trust United Litho wants to build
with all customers, from start to finish. TechTip:
Changing PANTONE's Default CMYK Builds for Spot Colors A
great tip by Dan Margulis recently appeared in Electronic Publishing magazine,
and I think it is worth relaying to ULI customers. It involves changing
the default Pantone CMYK builds for spot colors in order to get closer
matches. If
you use process colors to match a Pantone spot, you probably use the default
builds provided by Pantone, Inc. to get a close match. For example, if
you use PMS 180 in Quark, and click "process color," you will
actually use 0C, 76M, 83Y and 11K. That is a close match, but it does
not account for press gain or other screening processes. To get a better
color match, we will recompute the CMYK build based on our Photoshop CMYK
settings. To do that, let's first review our CMYK setup. Hopefully you
have your preferences set to the following: Now that your configuration is set up for SWOP settings, check out your Photoshop custom color picker and select Pantone 180. You'll see the recommended Pantone settings (as shown above on the right). Then, click on "picker"—this will allow you to make changes to the color build information. In order for Photoshop to recalculate the color using your CMYK setup value, you'll have to change the color's LAB values and then immediately set them back. Just change the 47 to 46 and then back to 47. Notice how the CMYK values suddenly become very different—13C 87M 76Y and 4K. That is the optimized build for our CMYK setup. Grab your swatch book and compare the printed difference between these two colors. The one on the left is Pantone's idea of PMS 180—the one on the right is "calibrated." Which is a better match?
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