GOOD NEWS FOR PRINTERS
Amidst current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Printers in Nigeria have been assured a bright future full of good news as a result of increased print business activities.
This encouraging good news is by industry veteran - Mr. Babafemi Oluwalana, Managing Director of Expand Press LTD while delivering his lecture in a live webinar on the topic: GETTING MORE OUT YOUR PRINT PROJECTS aimed at ensuring print stakeholders not only reduce the cost of their printing projects for increased profit but to also make their printing projects seamless especially during this COVID-19 era.
Mr. Oluwalana, who is also a member of the current Council of Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON), started his presentation with an understanding of the Print Ecosystem in a VUCA World where he predicted that though VUCA stood for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, the future of print business was bright due to the potential increase in print business activities in the New Normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic; “Current (print) stock when exhausted would need to be replenished; reset in some areas of the industry is certain; and multimedia campaigns will be required to get people moving again” explained the Architect turned Printer with over 3 decades experience in the industry.
WHERE To Print gathered that his insightful, eye-opening, and educative presentation which was sub-divided into three parts for Print Buyers, Graphic Designers and Print Service Providers precisely outlined measures that a Print Ecosystem could take to respond to the New Normal by outlining Best Practices for efficiency and cost saving measures in the print process while illustrating some of these practices within the peculiarities of the Nigeria Print ecosystem.
With clear description of new trends and terminologies, participants were also put through series of time-tested and invaluable cost-saving practices that print personnel could adopt to sustain their businesses. Starting with Print Buyers, Mr. Oluwalana (who also serves on the National Working Committee of the Nigeria Book Fair Trust) advised that they should re-invent their ordering processes by taking cognizance of specific details in print production such as final trim size (FTS), how the job sit (portrait or landscape), paper stock/ type (for cover and inner), number of pages, type of print process and number of colours on the job.
He also outlined clear instructions on other ways to reduce cost of print such as multiple proof read/ checks, preflight, paper stock usage, avoidance of bleeds on artwork and designs plus solids and heavy inks. Consequently, the industry guru advised Print Buyers to be careful in the use of spot (UV) varnishes, metallic inks, embossing or die cuts in their designs and give enough lead time that would ensure Print Service Provider (PSP) has latitude to plan; “the longer you can wait, the more money you can usually save” he asserted while noting that the more the process in (print) production, the more expensive print becomes.
The Expand Press boss was also unambiguous in his advice to Graphic Designers. He said because Graphic Designers are critical to the design/ creation and production process, they must be attuned to investment in self-development as deep knowledge of print process save printing cost aside been further motivated with right tools and equipment. He stressed that genuine software, systems, right workstation and ergonomic chair (that takes care of lower back) make Graphic Designers perform optimally while noting that the best practices for data protection was to: “Use legal software, review privacy settings on your systems, enable remote location/ device wiping for mobile devices, install antivirus/ antispyware software, avoid clicking on pop up boxes, and avoid free programmes (even free anti-spyware programmes)”.
For Print Service Providers, Mr. Oluwalana who is also a member of Association of Nigerian Printers (ANP), enjoined that they plan for long term contracts “and anticipate supply chain disruptions as scarcity makes you to think and plan ahead” he stressed while noting that with Nigeria’s local peculiarities they must ask salient questions that bother on paper variety and supply, ink/ paper compatibility, Print Buyer flexibility as regard print stock availability and their impact on pricing.
Powered by Expand Press LTD and Pixelcity Global Enterprises, the live webinar seminar took place on Friday 10th of July 2020 at exactly 11:30am and lasted for over 2hours via Zoom platform. Though, it was meant for Print Buyers, Publishers and Graphic Designers, the GETTING MORE OUT YOUR PRINT PROJECTS online seminar saw participants that cut across different strata of printing joined from within and outside Nigeria.
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