Control Printing Group

Control Printing Group, a leading Midwest provider of custom branded print and promotional products, and product fulfillment services, has changed its name to Control Group, effective Oct. 8, 2012.

1 WorkflowOne Headquarters: Dayton, Ohio Annual Sales $(000): 1,200,000 Principal Officer(s): Greg Mosher, Chairman; Mike Zawalski, President, CEO Locations: 140 2 Proforma Headquarters: Cleveland Annual Sales $(000): 293,933 Principal Officer(s): Greg Muzzillo, Founder, Co-CEO; Vera Muzzillo, Co-CEO Locations: 600 3 American Solutions for Business Headquarters: Glenwood, Minn. Annual Sales $(000): 249,022 Principal Officer(s): Larry Zavadil, President, CEO Locations: 455 4 InnerWorkings Headquarters: Chicago Annual Sales $(000): 160,515 Principal Officer(s): Steven E. Zuccarini, CEO

Rank: 1 Company: WorkflowOne, Dayton, Ohio Sales $(000): 1,000,000 Principal Officer(s): Greg Mosher, Chairman, CEO Locations: 150 Rank: 2 Company: Proforma, Cleveland Sales $(000): 293,000 Principal Officer(s): Greg Muzzillo, Founder, Co-CEO; Vera Muzzillo, Co-CEO Locations: 650 Rank: 3 Company: American Solutions for Business, Glenwood, Minn. Sales $(000): 239,776 Principal Officer(s): Larry Zavadil, President Locations: 410 Rank: 4 Company: GBS, North Canton, Ohio Sales $(000): 90,143 Principal Officer(s): Eugene Calabria, President, CEO Locations: 12 Rank: 5 Company: Merrill Corp., Monroe, Wash. Sales $(000): 83,950 Principal Officer(s): Mark Rossi, President Locations: 6 Rank: 6 Company: The Shamrock Companies, Westlake, Ohio Sales

Rank: 1 Company: WorkflowOne, Dayton, Ohio Forms Sales $(000): 338,000 Total Sales $(000): 1,000,000 Rank: 2 Company: American Solutions for Business, Glenwood, Minn. Forms Sales $(000): 66,178 Total Sales $(000): 239,776 Rank: 3 Company :Data Supplies, Duluth, Ga. Forms Sales $(000): 28,678 Total Sales $(000): 73,533 Rank: 4 Company: Fiserv Direct Source, New Berlin, Wis. Forms Sales $(000): 19,600 Total Sales $(000): 35,000 Rank: 5 Company: Great American Business Products, Houston Forms Sales $(000): 19,563 Total Sales $(000): 35,570 Rank: 6 Company: GBS, North Canton, Ohio Forms Sales $(000): 18,930 Total Sales $(000): 90,143 Rank: 7 Company: Merrill

Distributors talk about evaluating and compensating their sales representatives' job performances. These are penny-pinching times and, more than ever, sales professionals must go the extra mile to edge out competitors and convince customers to expend precious financial resources. So, just what is it that keeps printed products distributors going day after day? Here, 12 company executives—identified in the chart below— share their views on compensating, training and hiring. New Blood When it comes to hiring sales representatives, the consensus is that industry experience is a definite plus, although both Sherie Bartlett and Walt Smith observed that it isn't always easy to come by. Mark

Distributors discuss how value-added product and service solutions impact sales approaches. Offering customers the very best is not a new concept for industry sales professionals. They will tell you that this has always been their mission. But just as technology and a progressive marketplace have changed the way business is conducted, so have they changed the way salespeople approach their customers. Today, these professionals use contemporary marketing terms and their thinking has become more proactive than reactive. This is mainly because product and service solutions are far more sophisticated; they are value-added. This requires manufacturers to educate their distributor partners who, in

How distributors are saving time, opening doors and sharpening their competitive edges. It's no longer a question of "if" distributors offer online capabilities, but since when, or how soon. Indeed, today's marketplace demands that distributors implement Web-based solutions. But for every action, there is a reaction, and transitioning from manual to automated workflow is going to have a major impact on daily operations and relationships. In addition, while e-commerce can be an effective time-saving tool that streamlines routine operations, some distributors are finding that there are limitations when it comes to serving more customized needs. BFL&S invited the following panel of distributors

Offering direct mail services can help distributors penetrate accounts and boost shrinking revenues. Like lava slowly flowing down a mountain, the proliferation of distributors offering direct mail products has spread slowly but surely over the last decade, fueled by the twin fires of cost-consciousness and demand. As people throughout the forms and labels world desperately try to figure out what the future holds for this maturing industry, attention has turned toward finding new products and services to take the place of older, more commodities-oriented offerings. Direct mail products, with their ability to offer users significant savings over traditional stuffed envelopes, as well as

Documents with security features add value and peace of mind. Nobody likes to think about what would happen if the proverbial "rainy day" ever came to pass. But gambling that it won't isn't going to help when something does go wrong. Aided by the proliferation of powerful printers, copiers and scanners, check and document fraud continues to grow. But despite the increasing sophistication of would-be crooks, how many businesses are really insured against the threat of deception? "The question to ask is, who's going to look at my documents and who's going to steal them?" said Tom Hahn, vice president, Data Management, Butler,

Distributors contemplate the present and future state of the industry. Has this year's economy had an adverse affect on the forms business? And with endless possibilities for print popping up via ad-vanced online technology, do distributors stand a chance to stay in the forms business in the years to come? Whether or not the recent fiscal slump gives way to major changes within the in-dustry, or simply serves as an opportunity for industry professionals to refocus their efforts, remains to be seen. To gain better insight into the concerns distributors have been facing of late, how they are handling them and where they see