No matter how many charms technology throws at the general public, printed forms often prove to be the most seductive. Just ask Kevin Mullaney, vice president and general manager of Pacific Data Forms Inc., a family-owned and -operated manufacturer of business forms and related products.
The Long Beach, California-based company laid the groundwork for Mullaney's eventual career path. Launched in 1975 by his father, Bob, Mullaney first began working in the plant as a young high school student. When college called Mullaney away, he gave up financial printing in favor of a different type of number crunching: accounting. Mullaney scored a job as finance director for Ford Motor Credit. He enjoyed the change of pace.
"I left [the forms industry] to pursue a career in the auto industry to gain some experience outside of printing, and outside of the family business," Mullaney shared.
But five years later, print pulled Mullaney back to the floors of Pacific Data Forms when he decided to take over for his father. The rest is history.
Read on as Mullaney talks shop and shares his thoughts on the industry.
Print+Promo (P+P): How do you set goals for your business?
Kevin Mullaney (KM): My goals at Pacific Data Forms and our other companies [Team Print Media LLC and Speedflo LLC] are growth and gains in efficiency, both of which are closely tied to each other. We are always looking to grow our sales and we feel the best way to do this is to partner with clients and present them with an overall package that works well for both parties and isn't always limited to price. Efficiency is important to us, as it allows us to be competitive in today's ever-changing market. We feel that if we are not efficient, our competitors will have an advantage over us and this can hinder our ability to grow.
P+P: How does the economy continue to affect your business?
KM: We are in the transactional business, so a poor or slow economy does have an effect on our sales volume and does make growth challenging. Our business is also affected by regulations put forth by the federal and state governments that make running a business more and more difficult. While we do see and hear a lot of negative information coming out of Washington, we continue to see a lot of potential in our business as a whole and are excited about the potential for growth.
P+P: What do you expect to be some of the biggest challenges the industry will face?
KM: Over-capacity continues to erode the market for print and, more specifically, the business document segment. Competition seems to be in survival mode in lieu of growth mode or efficiency mode. We are constantly challenged with the pricing we are seeing in the market today and we work hard to find ways to remain competitive yet still maintain a level of margin necessary to remain viable for years to come. It has always been our opinion that a strong and financially healthy company will serve our customers well in the long run.
P+P: What keeps you up at night?
KM: I often wake up in the middle of the night with ideas about growth for our business and new markets we can expand into. Of course, given that the business document segment of print is expected to see more decline over the next couple of years, we are always looking to add business. I consider our business, and our segment as a whole, a challenge, but it's definitely a challenge I am happy to take.
P+P: What is the most exciting, cutting-edge thing your company is doing right now?
KM: We are working right now on software integration that will better serve our larger customers by providing billing efficiencies through automation. We are also working on software to better serve our clients with on-line tracking and order entry, which will allow us to be available to our clients 24/7. While we continue to work on cutting-edge ways to improve our business, we still believe that old-fashioned, face-to-face customer interaction is the most important way to maintain a partnership with clients.
P+P: What would people be surprised to know about you?
KM: I am a travel loyalty junkie. I travel a lot for work and accumulate quite a bit of rewards by doing so. I have been known to move from one hotel to the next to maintain my status with my hotel chain and will also go out of my way to fly with my favorite airline as well, of course keeping the cost at an absolute minimum. I have a few friends who will call me when they need help booking a reward ticket using their miles and I talk them through the best choices out there. I love taking my family on trips, and using rewards I gain from my business travel makes it all worth it in the end.