InfoSeal

As the summer season reaches its peak, rest assured, Uncle Sam is spending our hard-earned tax dollars on his exotic vacation getaway. Okay, not really. In fact, the work of the tax man never ends—which could mean a hefty profit for distributors who add tax forms to their product lines. Even before the current year’s April tax return deadline, manufacturers are occupied working on preliminary materials for the following season. Typically in March, different formats undergo a test run. New catalogs and brochures are also designed at this time for distribution in July. Neville Johnson, vice president of Houston-based Apex Business Systems, noted, “It is

Rank: 1 Company: Ennis, Midlothian, Texas Sales $(000): 559,397 Principal Officer(s): Keith Walters, Chairman, CEO, President Employees: 6,200 Locations: 42 (*Does not include sales figures for Block Graphics, acquired 08/09/06.) Rank: 2 Company: Champion Industries, Huntington, W. Va. Sales $(000): 135,000 Principal Officer(s): Marshall T. Reynolds, CEO Employees: 768 Locations: 22 Rank: 3 Company: Western States Envelope & Label, Butler, Wis. Sales $(000): 111,000 Principal Officer(s): Mark S. Lemberger, President, CEO Employees: 733 Locations: 5 Rank: 4 Company: Printegra, Peachtree City, Ga. Sales $(000): 87,706 Principal Officer(s): Casey Campbell, President, CEO Employees: 822 Locations: 14 Rank: 5 Company: PrintXcel, Montrose,

DMIA’s annual Print Solutions conference and exposition will be held Oct. 3-5 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. The conference will provide three days of educational sessions, including a presentation by this year’s keynote speaker, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and co-author of “Contract with America.” Join Gingrich as he analyzes the current political climate in Washington, DC, and educates attendees on effective leadership. This year’s conference will feature equipment demonstrations, offering distributors better insight into how various applications are produced. In addition, exchange centers will be located on the show floor with more than 34 hours of

Market-specific trends shed some light on what it takes to get mailers opened and responses generated INSIDE DIRECT MAIL is a monthly publication offering reviews and analyses of the plethora of mailers being sent out across the United States. Many of the pieces are catalogued in the magazine's "Who's Mailing What? Archive," and are used to generate the MailWatch section featured in each issue. Here, BFL&S reviews some of the trends identified in the column throughout 2005. To Each His Own Specific markets and business sectors have clear format preferences for reaching target markets. For instance, nonprofits favor envelope packages, as opposed to self-mailers,

While traditional mailers are not obsolete, pressure seal continues to set the pace in the self-mailer market WITH THE RISE in the popularity of pressure-seal mailers, conventional mailers have taken a hit, but they are a long way from being obsolete. "We have seen some erosion in the market for traditional mailers, due to the increased installation of non-impact printers, but heavy demand for the product still remains," said Deanna Day, senior brand manager at Montrose, Alabama-based PrintXcel, A Quality Park Brand. "Customers who have not made a software or hardware transition still depend on these products and their utility." In

Laser printing and direct mail redefine the market "INTEGRATED PRODUCTS are critical to the forms industry," noted Tom Yeager, vice president of sales and marketing at Batavia, Illinois-based Strata-Tac, a supplier of pressure-sensitive films and laminates for integrated labels, cards, coupons and magnets. "The products allow forms presses to go beyond traditional business forms, and open up new markets for manufacturers and distributors." Yeager added that with the popularity of laser printers, integrated products have become the new "it" in the industry. "Laser printers are so widely used that distributors can't help but to create products that can incorporate laser images—namely integrated

New Jersey Business Forms (NJBF) and InfoSeal, both headquartered in Englewood, N.J., are no longer members of the Unigraphics Network, as of March 15. "After two years of the Unigraphics buying consortium, it was time to return to a fully independent manufacturer status," said Andrew Harnett, treasurer. "Our geographic location largely voided the expected lower raw materials benefit expected from being a member of the buying consortium. We need full flexibility to source raw materials at the lowest possible cost in order to remain competitive." For more information, call (800) 466-6523.

Unique solutions targeting financial institutions create a wealth of opportunity. Business forms distributors can get a piece of the competitive financial market pie by looking beyond sales of core, commodity-type products to specialized solutions that enhance security and cut operating costs for banks, mortgage companies, brokerage and investment firms, and lending and leasing institutions. It's all the better if those solutions include patented products. "This is where the real profits are generated," said Dan Hopkins, national sales manager for Roanoke, Virginia-based Info- Seal. "Because the items are not available from other sources, competition is virtually eliminated. And, distributors can sell them at better

InfoSeal, Roanoke, Va., recently completed testing of its forms and equipment at the OCÉ North America Design Documents Systems Division facility in Boca Raton, Fla., and was issued a certificate of connectivity that allows InfoSeal to operate its pressure seal system in-line with its high-speed continuos and cut sheet LED printers. InfoSeal recognizes this strategic development as an important relationship to distributors when selling to accounts with OCÉ equipment. The company plans to continue developing partnerships such as this that will support distributors selling against the major directs. InfoSeal provides unique, printed, self-mailable documents and fold and seal mailing equipment through a nationwide

Direct mail is a profitable market with strong growth potential. According to BFL&S' 2003 Top 100 Distributors' survey, direct mail sales rose to $141 million—a 6 percent increase from $135 million in 2002. Furthermore, the Top 10 sold $55 million in direct mail. By most estimates, these figures dim in comparison to other market sales figures. For instance, the survey reported that in 2003, commercial printing grossed an impressive $488 million in sales, and promotional products' sales totaled $345 million. Nonetheless, industry experts agree that no matter how small, direct mail has a noticeable presence in the forms industry. Roger Buck, national sales representative