I have three words to say about this year’s On Demand show: Busy, Busy, Busy. We had more traffic at this show than any other in recent memory. While we had a few out of towners, most every attendee was from the east coast, northeast and mid Atlantic area. The buzz was about the new digital presses (as always) and, I am pleased to say, perfect binders.

Our company won the Best In Show award for our new Sterling Doublebinder, layflat perfect binder (http://www.spielassociates.com/DoublebinderVideo.html). This machine binds books so strong that no attendee could pull the sheets out of the book—And each one tried! There was a vast array of perfect binders at the show from the usual suspects (save for Muller who didn’t exhibit), Horizon, Duplo, and Graphic Whizard.

I am pleased to say that none of the books made on the other machines matched the pull test strength of The Doublebinder, including the new Duplo PUR binder, that sells for about four times the price of The Doublebinder. Other highlights included new digital presses. Konica won a number of Best In Show awards for their new C8000 digital which seems to be giving Xerox a run for their money. MGI also demoed a new digital press that uses no fuser oil.

It seems that the prediction of the demise of the Print Industry has been greatly exaggerated.

A New Lease On Strife

I sold a used punching machine to a customer of mine, or did I? We agreed on a price of $45,000 for a used Lhermite EX-380 with a few dies, some modifications, and installation. My customer sent off his first and last payment to the leasing company. The leasing company sent me forms to fill out, which I dutifully did. I included a picture of the reconditioned machine which you see above you. My customer’s lease was turned down, not because he didn’t have the credit but because it was a used machine.

My customer told me that he could not get a lease on a used machine from any of the leasing companies he normally deals with. Does this make sense? This machine is worth $45,000. In a few years it will be worth somewhat less. My customer had asked me to quote him on a new punch with all the accessories and the price came out to be $65,000. Should he purchase a new machine, what will it be worth in a few years, $50,000, $45,000? The depreciation is much greater on new equipment.

So at a time when businesses are strapped and turning to more used equipment, the leasing companies are turning them down. Nice, huh? It seems that the leasing companies are even more cowardly than the banks—Not to mention foolish.

Are you having trouble getting a lease? Call me up. I’ll sell you the machine AND lease it to you.

The Slow Death of Regional Shows

I used to love regional shows, The Charlotte Show, The Texas Shows, Gutenberg, and the only one left—Miami. They are generally more relaxed than the cauldron of McCormick Place or The On Demand show. Setup and break down was certainly easier. I miss swimming in the pool at the hotel at Gutenberg and the Cajun food at the Charlotte and Texas shows.

Why did they die? The answer is a chicken and egg problem. Low turnout caused less exhibitors to show their wares but which came first? I remember visiting customers in southern California and attempting to get them down to the show. Few did. I venture to guess that the closer a bindery or printer’s facility was to the show site, the less likely they would show up.

The few customers who attended this year’s Graphics of the America’s show in Miami said that it was dead. One machinery dealer I know said that it was fair. Our company used to exhibit there every year. Then we dropped years when we attended DRUPA. Now we’re down to every other year. Last year we didn’t do enough business to find it worthwhile.

Another dealer I know recommended that the show move to Orlando. Orlando has a bigger print industry than Miami. Miami, of course, draws many printers from south of the border. But how serious are they? Often I have felt that our cousins to the south use this show as an excuse to visit friends and relatives, and then think about going to the show.

Perhaps the best solution would be to rotate the show every other year between Orlando and Miami. Then printers could bring their families to Disney World or Universal, and attend the show for a day or two. Then after I sell all the machines in my booth I can declare; “I’m going to Disney World!” Food for thought.

Since this original post, Graphics of the Americas has chosed to hold their 2011 show in Orlando. Hooray for our side!

Binders, Printers, & Businessmen II - Confronting Automation

We specialize in mechanical binding equipment: Punches, plastic coil binders, and wire binders. We sell the Rilecart line of wire binders. Rilecart calls us the TP-480 guys. Why? The Rilecart TP-480 is their slowest, entry level machine. It competes with James Burn, Renz, GBC—all of which can bind up to 1,000 books per hour. This machine, like the others, costs about $30,000. Rilecart makes other models that bind 1,500, 2,500, and 4,000 books per hour. This is what they mostly sell in Europe. Europeans are very labor conscious. Here in the US, we are the opposite when it comes to binding books.

Most bindery owners usually opt for the slowest, most economical machines. They just figure they’ll throw labor at it or add another shift. In one of my last blogs I showed that using a slow wire binder cost the owner $30,000 over a 15 year period. That was just going from a 200 per hour machine to a 400 per hour (conservative estimate) machine without insurance, workman’s comp, or overhead.

It is not unusual to see ten or twelve people working six wire binders when three or four operators could bind up to 4,000 books per hour on Rilecart’s fastest machine (The B-599 seen above). How much money would you save if you saved the labor costs of just six workers at $10 per hour? The savings is $125,000. This doesn’t count taxes, insurance, workman’s comp, or overhead. If we add 50% then we come to $187,500 (yearly cost), which is also the one time cost of a brand new Rilecart B-599 automatic wire binder, capable of binding up to 4,000 books per hour. Add to that the six wire binders that cost $30,000 a piece at $180,000 and that adds up to real money.

I don’t understand why so many owners fail to do the math. I refuse to believe that Europeans are better businessmen than we are. So what’s the disconnect?

Health care, Medicare, any care at all

We need a single payer system—The government should pay for everything. I don’t understand how the Republican party, who is so pro-business could be so anti-business when it comes to health care. Yeah, they’re afraid of government taking over the whole country sure but only when they are not in power. The Republican’s under the last administration oversaw the greatest expansion of government this country has ever seen but that’s another story. The rest of the industrialized world has a single payer system. Are we smarter than everyone else? I didn’t realize our educational system was that highly ranked, because it’s not.

Since I sell bindery equipment I have to compete against the Europeans and the Japanese. Guess what? Those companies don’t have to pay a penny for health care but I do. Is that fair? I build a machine and my expenses are higher because I have to pay for a portion of my employee’s health care while my competitors get a free ride. Perhaps the Republicans don’t care that I have to compete abroad or even here at home. Perhaps they don’t realize that I am one of the few dealers left that sell machinery built in the US. Maybe they’ll figure it out after I’m extinct.

Before GM went bankrupt they spent more on health care than steel. Yet the Republicans don’t care. All they care about is instilling fear in the populace towards their political ends. Case in point: During his campaign, John McCain proposed deep cuts in Medicaid. During the health care debate in December he complained that the bill would impose “draconian cuts” on Medicare, even though the proposed cuts were far less than he had proposed months earlier. The Republicans have been trying to cut the cost of Medicare for years!

Medicare is a perfectly good system. Everyone on it likes it. I propose expanding Medicare for those aged 60 and above immediately. In two years lower the eligibility to those aged 55. In another two years to those aged 50 and so on.

If you want to be afraid of something, be afraid that America won’t be able to build anything in the future short of credit default swaps.

Printers, Binderies, and Business

When asked, every man thinks he’s a good driver and good in bed. But there must be some that are better than others, right?

My father did a lot of business with a bindery owner who would buy a machine for a particular job and then sell it back to my Dad. Sometimes the same machine would change hands a few times. He didn’t care, the cost of the machine was built into the job and no matter how much he spent, sending out the job would have cost more.

One bindery owner I know is a very savvy businessman. You walk into his shop and you see fairly new equipment, well maintained and clean. Another bindery owner in the same area has a shop with, let’s say, less than optimum equipment. He has a Sickinger Twinserter wire binder that is about 15 years old. The problem is that it is a very slow wire binder. It produces about 200 books per hour. Almost every other wire binder on the market can double or triple this output, but let’s just say double. So if he averages 100,000 books per year, he could have saved over 200 man hours (assuming he uses two people including material handling) per year he would have saved at least 3,000 man hours in the past fifteen years. If he pays his people $10 per hour, he would have saved a minimum of $30,000. This doesn’t count insurance, workman’s comp, or overhead. So how much did he save by having a less than sterling wire binder in the long run?

I once told a bindery owner in California that if he made his own plastic coil he would save $100,000 per year and the machine at that time only cost $28,000. His reply to me was; “I’m not so much interested in saving money as making money.”

Even though times are tough right now I hear about companies outsourcing hundreds of thousands of dollars in binding services per year when they can bring the machinery in to do it in-house for less than $100,000.

Within the next few weeks we’ll delve into this more thoroughly.

Bush, Fascism, and the Gift That Keeps on Giving

Imagine a government that is so in league with corporations that it under regulates them to the point where it is disastrous to the corporations themselves. The auto industry, the banks, we've been there, done that. Now we have a Supreme Court, furnished by that corporate lackey George W. Bush, that takes it one step further.

Now, corporations can donate millions, or billions to the candidate they choose. Perhaps our senators can start wearing jackets with logos a la NASCAR. Yes, the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are as entitled to free speech, and donations, as private individuals. Goldman/Sachs can go to their petty cash box and donate a million dollars to each and every senator.

Has it dawned on anyone that now, foreign governments can sponsor our politicians? It doesn’t matter whether or not foreign corporations will be deemed ineligible for these donations. Where do multi-national corporations lie within this irresponsible ruling? Let’s say that Saudi Arabia wants to keep oil prices high or renewable energy a far flung dream. They can donate funds, through their own corporations, through multinationals such as Exxon, or through dummy corporations set up here in the US to any politician(s) that will ensure just such an outcome. If a Chinese bank donates money to a senator, it will be the Chinese government calling the shots.

In fact, now foreign governments can start grooming young politicians to run for federal office. China can groom a few, Yemen can groom a few, Russia can groom a few and when the time comes for these politicians to be sworn in, they will be given their marching orders. None will question who is buttering their bread.

So thank you Mr. Bush, thank you Supremes, now we lazy Americans can outsource the running of our government to people who really care about America— Corporations and foreign governments, be they friend or foe.

And some call Obama a fascist!