Current Supply Chain Interruptions
Create PR Opportunities for Printers
Not sure if interruptions and delays in acquiring various papers has impacted your operations, but if it has we have a suggestion or two to offer.
We recently experienced three or four specific incidents where we found ourselves madly hunting around for paper that we normally would be able to order and receive within a couple of days. Even fairly common stocks such as coated stocks and specialty window envelopes are increasingly more difficult to find.
Well, at the very least we thought we would kill two birds with one stone by alerting our customers that the shortage is real and also encourage orders that if not placed early might not be processed at all.
Below is a simple draft of a news release (actually my wife’s printing firm) that we sent out to 1,800+ customers using Mailchimp. Mailchimp is not my favorite program but it serves Paragon’s purpose.
Anyway, feel free to copy and or modify the text below in whatever way you want. I would advise using something like, “XYZ Printing Issues Urgent Warning” as a subject line for whatever news release you choose to send out. It is eye-catching, dramatic, and should result in a fairly good open rate of 18-25% or more.
Please let us know if you follow up on this suggestion and how it worked.
John Stewart, Executive Director
National Printing Research Council (NPRC)
[email protected]
Please be sure to let us know if you find this article useful. Email us at: [email protected]
Sample News Release – Feel free to modify
Expect Significant Delays in Printing Orders
Advises Owner of Paragon Printing & GraphicsThere is currently a serious shortage in both domestic and internationally manufactured papers, and the shortage is not expected to end anytime soon, warns Paragon Printing & Graphics.
The causes of the shortages are numerous, ranging from serious disruptions in the supply chain to the inability of the paper industry, both nationally and globally, to respond to an increasing demand for goods and services.
“When the pandemic first began, many paper mills either shut down their machines, or converted machines to produce other paper materials like board stock, or dramatically limited the types and weights of papers being produced,” explains Paragon Printing & Graphics owner Mary Stewart.
“With paper products of almost all types becoming progressively more difficult to acquire, it is critical that business owners try to anticipate future needs and place orders well in advance,” Stewart adds.
“The shortage in paper is very real and it is affecting both specialty papers as well as what we used to consider commodity house stocks such as offset and coated stocks,” notes Stewart. “Last week a customer attempted to place a re-order for a popular window envelope.
“Normally, we would process that order in less than four days. As it turned out, the paper mill that would normally produce this product was weeks behind, and no one could tell us when this product would be available. Fortunately, our customer was willing to accept an alternate choice,” Stewart relates.
The lesson to be learned? Printing orders that used to be completed in 2-3 days may take as long as 2-3 weeks depending upon shortages and delays in the supply chain, and customers need to place orders as far in advance as possible, advises Stewart.
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