Consumables

HSPG and ViP share vision for helping printers cut costs

Thursday 25. November 2010 - In addition to Howard Smith Paper Group co-sponsoring the Vision in Print event Winning the War on Waste which took place last Monday, 22 November, the 120 plus delegates were told that this national paper merchant has also agreed to support its ViP's Snapshot Plus programme for a further two years.

Richard Gray, Director of Vision in Print, says:”Since they commenced sponsorship in January 2009, HSPG has proved to be an excellent and proactive partner and the fact that they have renewed for a further two years is an indication of the strong mutual regard that has developed between our two teams.
“As an example of this mutual support, HSPG asked ViP to conduct a study of the value of their ‘Cost in Use’ services such as ‘My Size’ and ‘Bulk Packed’ and we are able to demonstrate that for an average B1 or B2 commercial litho partner there were great potential savings. In consequence we will introduce into Snapshot Plus in the new year, an assessment to allow companies to calculate their potential savings from these kinds of services.”
At the Lancaster London Hotel forum Ian Symons of Kingfisher Print & Design outlined some of the paper cost savings the study revealed. This included the fact that those buying bulk packed paper can save up to £100 per tonne when including paper handling and ream-wrapped surcharges. It also showed that nearly 4% of paper orders included in the study were in excess of two tonnes, where a bespoke size order using My Size, would have saved an average of 15% in material costs.
This type of fact-based research and extensive market knowledge is why Vision in Print’s Snapshot Plus is proving such a success. It provides printers with a consultative service to enable them to make continuous improvement. With the HSPG sponsorship the cost of an initial business diagnostic can be kept down to just £700. Over 500 printers have undertaken a Snapshot consultation to enable them to make process improvements. The introduction of the Plus element, announced at Ipex, adds seven quality, cost and delivery measures to give even more credence to the diagnostic findings.
Dave Cooling, marketing director of HSPG, says: “Vision in Print is doing vital work in helping printers find ways to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, a quest that fully complements HSPG’s aim of offering printers a truly added-value merchanting service by providing the range of papers combined with intelligent solutions for optimising paper use and printed results. These cost-reducing services are saving printers thousands of pounds a year which fits well with Vision in Print’s promotion of lean manufacturing. We are delighted to renew our sponsorship through to 2012.”