By Chuck Williams
LANSING, MI -- 'Make technology your friend' could be a slogan at a 53-year-old Lansing firm.
Doug Bushard is president of Aldinger, Inc., a direct marketing firm in Lansing, and today their business revolves around state-of-the-art electronic communications.
"We're about eight years into variable data printing," Bushard said.
Starting life as a direct mail advertising firm in the late John Aldinger's basement in the '50s, the company grew over the years with commercial printing, graphic design and pre-press services for full-color printing.
Michigan, in the last five years, has lost over a thousand printers.
"Owners need a vision to invest in technology that will make their business conform to client expectations," Bushard said.
"Labor is a major factor in our industry. It can account for 50 to 60 percent of the costs everyday. Efficient investment in technology makes that dollar go as far as it can."
Variable data printing is an example of state-of-the-art technology employed at Aldinger.
In variable data printing the output comes from a database and each printed piece may be different from all the rest. Board of Water and Light utility customer invoices are printed and mailed from Aldinger's facility using this technology.
Mainstream traditional printers find this fascinating. "You'll need an IT department," Bushard said. IT, or Information Technology, is the department in mid- to large-size companies charged with running complex computer systems.
For the utility invoices, the flowing of name, address and amount owed originates in a database and outputs to high-speed laser printers and onto colorful 'template' invoices.
"Every sheet that comes through the printer is different," Bushard said.
Advice Bushard was given several years ago still rings true: Either get on the technology bandwagon and upgrade or diminish. "And that's what's happened. IT is part of the printing industry. You cannot afford to be on the sidelines," he said.
Fund raisers find variable data printing fascinating.
"We do a lot of fund raising, perhaps 30 percent of the nonprofits in town. Red Cross, MSU, Make A Wish. You know in the old days you'd get a fund raiser in the mail and it would say, 'Dear Occupant'? That went out of vogue probably ten years ago because responses started to plummet," he said.
Modern mailers, Bushard continued, speak to a person with a personalized name and message. Demographic research, again using databases, plays a large part.
"All this solicitation now comes to a direct person," Bushard said. "And that's variable data."
"We take their their database of names and addresses and we CASS-certifiy (Coding Accuracy Support System) the database to make sure it's deliverable. It's an integration of data from outside the walls of Aldinger to databases within our walls."
Technology today allows companies to take an exact approach to data management whereas 15 years ago it was cost prohibitive.
"PCs today are marvelous. Within Aldinger we've adopted a philosophy that says technology is our friend. You need to embrace it," Bushard concluded.