Ward/Kraft

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

Form/label combinations benefit distributors, as well as their customers. Forms and labels are a natural combination to win distributors greater profits and reap savings for their customers. "There's not an industry that can't use form/label combinations in some way," said Ed Brandt, owner of Brandt Affixing, Carrollton, Texas. Brandt, which offers both blown-on (piggyback) and integrated label constructions, has seen "nice, steady growth" in form/label combinations, he said. Bill Reid, director of marketing for Printegra, Peachtree City, Ga., agreed that the form/label market is growing. "In the past three years, we've averaged 30 percent growth with this [product category]," said Reid. Although it's a

Ward/Kraft, Fort Scott, Kan., has passed the Lexmark performance criteria for its version of LaserBand—a self-laminating, laser-printed identification wristband. By meeting or exceeding the standard for all T-series printers in the special media category, Ward/Kraft has the honor of being the only manufacturer making the Lexmark Converter List that exclusively serves the independent distributor market. A licensed manufacturer of the LaserBand ID band when it's combined with patient ID labels, Ward/Kraft, currently stocks 15 versions of the laser-generated, self-laminating identification wristband. For more information, call (800) 821-4021 (Kansas plant) or (800) 351-9302 (Ohio plant).

The financial forms market can be a cash cow for distributors who learn the tricks of the trade. Although significant acquisition activity has changed the landscape of the financial services industry over the past few years, many forms professionals specializing in this market have remained adept at keeping their own businesses stable. "It's not the business it used to be," said Ray Hough, president of the Ray Hough Company, Muse, Pa., which has specialized in financial markets for the past 32 years. "We have been through three kinds of merger mania—in the late 1970s, the early 1990s and now—and the current wave is detrimental

Good old plastic is being shaped into hot new products for technically oriented business solutions To young Benjamin Braddock in the 1967 movie The Graduate, the word "plastics" suggested a terribly depressing future. But today, that classic career advice could never serve to epitomize unimaginable drudgery. Plastics, it seems, offer a perfect complement to technology, with plastic products taking on exciting new shapes and designs to satisfy ever-evolving applications. Consider phone and gift cards. Mike Lettmann, sales associate for Xtreme Graphics/Travel Tags, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., sees no signs of these markets slowing down. "Because phone cards tend to be cheaper, many people

A mere five minutes from Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the Condado strip nestled betwixt the Atlantic Ocean and the Condado Lagoon, rests the elaborate Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino. Boasting 570 luxurious guest rooms and suites, 27,000 sq. ft. of meeting and conference facilities, five international restaurants and the largest casino in Puerto Rico, the hotel faces a formidable challenge in meeting the needs of guests—specifically the tools required to register those visitors. Fortunately, Puerto Rico also houses frugal designer Guillermo Zabala, Alpha Business Forms, San Juan, whose creative innovations have been serving the hotel industry in PR for about 20 years.

Streamline clients' tracking and information gathering while adding heft to your paycheck. Say your customer wants to track his inventory as it moves through the chain of production, but all you have to offer are plain-old traditional forms. What do you do? If you're smart you'll find a manufacturer who prints bar-coded labels and not only will you have a happy customer, you'll have a whole new product niche to explore. Though it's been more than 30 years since the nearly ubiquitous product made its debut, bar codes are still often overlooked. Perhaps this is because bar codes seem confusing or, in

Platinum Award: Continuous Forms. Many Happy Returns. Sometimes opportunity doesn't knock. Sometimes it just makes an appointment. At least that's how it happened to Jim Cramer, president of Data Flow, a forms distributor based in Amarillo, Texas. One day he was making a routine appointment to meet with a manufacturer's sales representative and the next day he had a fantastic new product and an idea for just the client to sell it to. In spite of all of his good fortune, Cramer said, it was little more than opportunity meeting preparedness. "Actually Ward/Kraft came to me and showed me a new product," admitted Cramer. "And I said, 'Yeah,

Plastic products can be a lucrative niche for those who know how to approach it. It's almost always more durable than paper, is usually nicer to look at and has a higher perceived value. The profit margins are generally higher and there are fewer of your competitors selling it than you may realize. The material is plastic—and while it's not always an easy sell, it can be well worth the time invested for distributors willing to learn the ropes. One of the keys to profiting from this material is knowing how the product will be used. Russ Herman, general manager, Allegheny Printed

Ward/Kraft, Ft. Scott, Kansas, has announced an investment in six new presses for the Ft. Scott and Fredericktown, Ohio, facilities that will double the company's capacity for its Pressure Seal mailers and integrated products lines. The new presses, which will be operational in the second quarter of this year, follow an investment of $4 million in 2000 for new equipment for the development of plastic cards, promotional products, laser cut sheets, roll products, pattern adhesives, and other specialty products.