Enough with the declining markets already. There’s actually a vibrant, emerging market for printed paper business documents, and it’s being driven by technology. While the migration from paper-based forms to electronic formats has been the undoing of many in the industry, Chris Ruback, marketing manager for Phoenix-based Greenleaf Paper (www.greenleafpaper.com) said the proliferation of hand-held printing devices within the past five years is significantly growing sales of roll paper products, particularly for direct thermal applications.
Greenleaf Paper produces blank and custom pre-printed roll paper used for point-of-sale receipts, automatic teller machine records, credit card processing, travel itineraries at airport kiosks and a variety of other applications. Ruback said mobile printers are increasingly being used for route deliveries and issuing traffic tickets, as well as processing food orders at sporting events and busy restaurants where “line-busting” strategies help speed things along. Now, Greenleaf Paper’s “Got Print” PowerPoint presentation shows distributors how end-users can use rolls as more than just supply items.
Custom pre-printed rolls can effectively promote products and services, reinforce brands and logos and even specify return policies. Through co-op arrangements, companies can offer advertising space on roll receipts to vendors for additional cost savings. “Consumers have been trained to look at receipts,” observed Ruback, “so why not print something on them that promotes other products, such as gift cards, while defraying some of the cost of the receipt? There is no end to where it can go.”
Headquartered in Appleton, Wis., Appleton’s (www.appletonideas.com) Manager of Corporate Communication, Bill Van Den Brandt, agreed that market demand for thermal paper has grown. “The United States and Canadian thermal markets experienced strong growth during the 1990s, and should continue growing as the advantages of thermal printing systems become more widely recognized, such as their competitive cost, quiet operation, cleanliness, speed, high print quality, reliability, portability and use of a single consumable,” he explained.
Taking Stock
Van Den Brandt went on to say the rapid growth of the carbonless market during the 1980s—when carbonless paper replaced carbon tissue-based multipart forms, and economic growth forms usage—peaked in 1994. “Since [then], the U.S. carbonless market has been in decline due to increased use by businesses of competing technologies that do not use impact printing to create images, including digital, laser, inkjet and thermal printers, as well as electronic communications. However, we have taken steps to adapt certain carbonless products to these technologies, including xero/form, a xerographic carbonless sheet product designed for use with a broad range of digital and electronic equipment.”
Melissa Klug, marketing manager, branding and communication, carbonless and specialty products for Glatfelter (www.glatfelter.com), York, Pa., also commented on how marketplace changes are spawning new products. “Technology is affecting everyone around the world, especially those of us in the paper industry. However, we are finding ways to coexist in an increasingly digital universe. Our Transcopy Digital Carbonless is specially manufactured to run in the demanding print environment of digital equipment,” she said.
Designed for a wide-range of digital equipment, including high-speed copies and laser printers, Transcopy Digital Carbonless provides smooth, jam-free runability and resists curling during heat-intensive processing. It is specially manufactured to be contamination-free in digital environments.
Klug added that digital carbonless, contrary to popular belief, is not cost prohibitive. “In fact, you can actually reduce costs by using Transcopy for digital end-uses by printing fixed color information on offset equipment, then printing variable information digitally to dramatically reduce toner usage and offset paper cost differences,” she offered.
Measures to combat fraud and counterfeiting have lead to products such as Appleton’s DocuCheck and DocuMark products, as well as Glatfelter’s Defensa Security Papers. Van Den Brandt explained DocuMark and DocuCheck products are designed for applications including vital records, titles, certificates, checks, prescription pads and coupons. “These security products utilize watermarks and visible threads or fluorescent fibers embedded in the substrate that enable authentication of original documents and deter counterfeiting. Our TechMark Intelligent Solutions products use digital coding features to provide authentication and identification. AssurMark Security Label Substrate uses a tamper-evident feature and covert authentication to deter re-marking and counterfeiting fraud,” he said.
Glatfelter’s Defensa line includes products that indicate the use of bleach, oxidizers, solvents, acid and alkali materials through a color reaction. Both Defensa Design SG Security and Defensa Premium SG Security papers also have true watermarks, and Defensa Design features a two-sided pattern, making cutting and pasting extremely difficult. “We like to work with technology changes, rather than trying to fight the changes in our industry,” said Klug.
Apparently, many distributors, too, are viewing technology as an opportunity rather than an obstacle when it comes to sales of paper-based products. Ruback said Greenleaf Paper is acquiring new distributor customers all the time who are discovering applications in municipalities, airlines, colleges, car rental agencies and credit card companies for paper roll products. And, as paper makers continue to innovate products for today’s marketplace, the notion of a paperless society is being beaten to a pulp.
Related story: Paper Trails
- Companies:
- Appleton Coated
- GreenLeaf
- Printco