This month, Jay Mandarino, President of the CJ Graphics Group of Companies, discusses the complicated twists and turns that can occur during a merger or acquisition. He includes some fascinating personal observations while commenting on the current state of our industry. His advice: crawl before you walk and especially before you run in these matters. And do your due diligence while acting as an objective third-party facilitator – because the reality is that about 75% of these transactions in our industry today will fail, he says. Mandarino’s CJ Group comprises 36 companies, of which over 70% were successful acquisitions, so he definitely speaks as an expert.
I’d like to welcome two new writers to our team. Angus Pady, Professional Service Consultant with Fujifilm Canada, provides us with helpful colour management set-up and maintenance tips. Dan Sparrow, President of Sparrow & Associates, is a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) expert, and reveals why LSS businesses are worth more than their less-structured counterparts.
In our 2018 Technology Investment Survey, shop owners across Canada informed us that wide format equipment is the top new purchase they’re considering in the next two years. So our team is already busy creating Graphic Arts’ second annual Wide Format Guide 2019. If you’re currently offering wide format services, please let us know and you may be included in our Wide Format Profile Series: Who’s Doing It Best In Canada. The guide will be an outsert in our September 2019 printed issue. Please also take five minutes to complete our Graphic Arts Online Survey, so we can better understand what subjects you’re most interested in. One respondent will win a $125 gift card, for participating, in a special draw.
I attended the DDL (Document Direction Limited) Open House at Ricoh’s Customer Experience Centre in Toronto last month, and was amazed at all the helpful insights on cyber security – often a low priority at print shops. We discovered how prevalent and advanced cyber hacking has become and what can be done to counter it. Congratulations to DDL – as well as Ricoh Canada, Cisco and Jolera, for their outstanding presentations.
As always, stay positive and stay focused.