National Business Forms

A sticky situation revolutionized workflow solutions NECESSITY MAY be the mother of invention, but sheer coincidence spawned the integrated label. In 1980, Gary Stewart, co-founder and owner of Trade Printers, Phoenix, was working on a machine he developed to apply transfer tape in segments when producing die-cut laboratory mount sheets. "It came to me that by reversing the process and applying tape to a form and then die-cutting the paper, we could create a peel-out label," he recalled. "There was not a specific application driving the discovery. I just saw that here was a concept with some merit that people would be able to

Adding custom features to multi-part forms can maintain profitability. Conventional wisdom dictates abandoning a sinking ship. And, likewise, many would counsel a shift away from selling declining product lines, such as multi-part forms, in favor of growing opportunities in newer markets. A recent industry study pegged the decline of conventional forms—which includes continuous, checks, salesbooks, pegboard and short-run forms, as well as multi-parts—at approximately 7.5 percent from 2000 to 2002. During the same period, the total retail value of products such as labels, direct mail, tags, tickets, commercial and quick printing, finishing services and promotional products rose approximately 4.2 percent. It seems intuitive to

Customized, value-added traditional products remain popular and profitable. Continuous forms, unit sets, checks—not very exciting, are they? But, these traditional products—distributors' bread and butter a few decades back—have plenty of profitable life in them yet despite falling sales, said manufacturers. "Sales may be flat to steady for traditional forms, but we notice sales overall are up," said Deanna Day, brand manager for forms products at PrintXcel, Fairhope, Ala. This is due to a changing product mix, Day said. "Since 1995, we've seen a 15 percent shift from basic traditional products to specialty and value-added," she noted. Becky Douthat, vice president of National Business Forms,

Two major promotional products suppliers discuss how working with print-savvy forms distributors is a win-win situation for both industries. If you ask two promotional products powerhouses why their industry pairs well with the business forms industry, they'll be quick to attribute that success to forms distributors' extensive print backgrounds. "Because the forms distributor is already print savvy, we are seeing more unique designs with multiple graphic enhancements and colorful concepts being created for their customers," said John Andersen, sales manager at Admore, Macomb, Mich. "The result is better promotions that get the message out and have a 'wow' factor when designed properly." Stan Dohan,

Education and equipment provide the keys to success for Dick Kuntz and GBF Graphics. There are quite a few photos of Dick Kuntz in the BFL&S archives. Over the years, several articles have documented the achievements and contributions of the president of GBF Graphics, Skokie, Ill., in an industry he clearly loves being a part of. He first appeared on the cover of the February 1977 issue, when the magazine—then called Business Forms Reporter—launched what has become an annual tribute to the manufacturer of the year. At that time, the company, formerly known as General Business Forms, was celebrating its 25th anniversary,