With the business pages and our customers telling us the country is currently in recession, businesses in the print industry are looking at ways to cut costs and survive in tough economic conditions
In these challenging times PrintNZ is taking a leadership role to provide the best possible environment for our members coming out of the recession. PrintNZ is exploring the ways we can increase the amount of print and paper being used in NZ. This builds on work we did in 2008 on a marketing strategy for the industry, but more importantly, it is about us looking at how we can turn back some of what is being lost in the industry in this economic climate. We want to shift some of the negative perceptions of print and paper that influence the communication/marketing choices being made by our printing customers.Three key pieces of work are currently underway with more planned as the year progresses.
The first area of work is a research project funded jointly by PrintNZ, PrintNZ Training, the NZ Paper Forum and GAPF. This qualitative research will explore the perceptions of print and paper held by end users and buyers of print.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that end users of print and paper have a very poor view of our industry. The perceptions that paper kills trees and that print is an old form of communication hinder the ability of our industry to inform end users of the positive attributes. The research will explore these and other perceptions and also look at ways of changing these – testing some key messages and tools the industry may be able to adopt.
The research will involve interviews with creative buyers (designers and agencies) and also with buyers who purchase print based on functional requirements such as cheese packaging or the screen printed buttons on electronics. The end user group will focus on those who consume print including parents, government agencies, educational institutions and youth. We are aware that this group is likely to hold varied views and one of our challenges moving forward will be to prioritise where we can have the most positive influence for the industry.
Sitting alongside this work PrintNZ is talking to key industry people to explore the practical ways they can contribute to a campaign about shifting the negative perceptions and making print the preferred choice for communication. As this article is being written, plans are well underway to meet with a group of key industry people to begin work to identify the practical ways our members can assist in any campaign. The meeting will involve printers, distributors, suppliers and some of our sister associations who work in our broad industry. The ideas from this group will be tested with the interviewees in our research and will be widely circulated for comment from all members.
The third key area of involvement with the industry focuses on assisting workplaces to raise productivity.
In 2008 four printing companies participated in a pilot project funded by the Department of Labour and Industry Training Federation to increase productivity in their workplaces. This project proved so successful for these companies that PrintNZ Training has established a fund that will allow further companies to participate in 2009.
The current economic climate is an ideal time for companies to work on internally driven productivity improvement and training and development. Now more than ever it is important for businesses to invest in their employees so they are able to complete their jobs well and confidently take on new responsibilities in the workplace. This is being recognised at Government level with their message of using the downturn to be better prepared to take advantage of the inevitable recovery.
The potential benefits of participating in this project include:
• Improved operating efficiency
• Improved adaptability to cope with market changes
• Reductions in unnecessary costs such as those associated with work in progress, waste and labour turnover
• Improved financial outcomes
• Improvements in the quality of the work experience, employee motivation and performance through extended involvement and better jobs
• Improved workforce skills, social competencies and employability
A key aspect of the new fund is to implement the programme in such a way that will make it possible to keep the fund going allowing more and more businesses to join the programme as those funded get returns on the initial investment made by PrintNZ Training.
For PrintNZ it is important that we continue to help build the ability of enterprises in our industry to be more competitive and innovative. These projects represent a way to ensure our industry has a strong and vibrant future.
If you have any feedback on issues raised in this article please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
