The Good Oil by Rod Brown *
The Australian printing and publishing industry is currently working with the Australian Government to chart a new way forward. Just as well too because the impact of eCommerce and globalisation is putting firms in the firing line. The long standing book bounty has finished, and the industry already has a high level of foreign ownership. I was recently invited to a workshop in Melbourne to discuss options for industry growth, particularly how to compete with the hotspots of the UK, areas of the USA, plus the Asian Tigers, especially Hong Kong and Singapore. The fact that printing and publishing is one of the largest manufacturing industries in Australia, with a wide national coverage, gives it particular prominence, and the workshop discussion highlighted some issues worth quiet contemplation.
One of the most interesting insights was provided by Bobby Graham, a publisher in Wagga Wagga. Bobby migrated from South Africa a couple of years ago. She is enthusiastic about succeeding in her new homeland. In the early 1980s, she was working as the Assistant Production Manager for a prestigious Afrikaans general book publisher. Her story provides a fascinating insight into the Singaporean approach to business.
“We were approached by a Singaporean printer, and I remember my boss inviting me to join in the initial meeting when the representative paid us a visit,” she said. “Living and working at the southernmost tip of Africa you can appreciate that we were rather surprised by this overture and approach. This was the first of various Singaporean print representatives who called on us over a period of most probably ten years.
“What struck me most was, unlike local printers, all the representatives were well spoken, well educated and well travelled business graduates. They never pushed a hard sell approach and always enquired about ourselves, our families and our work situation. They openly discussed their attempts to get work from our competitors, and were extremely good at following up after all visits – even if we didn’t give them anything on which to quote.
“You could be certain of a follow up phone call (from Singapore) and if we did request a quote, this was faxed (pre-email) within days, as opposed to weeks sometimes from local printers. They persisted in developing a relationship even if sometimes it might take a year or two before they got a print job. When we eventually were able to take up their offers, we were delighted with the quality and service which were excellent, and the fact that deadlines were always met and kept.
“When I visited Singapore specifically to meet with the printers on home ground, they were all extremely hospitable and went out of their way to ensure I was collected from the airport, delivered to my hotel, fetched to visit the factory and guided throughout all operations. At all the printers, I was impressed by the efficient flow of the work stations moving as they did from the office staff (estimators) through pre press, to print, binding and finishing before being dispatched directly into waiting containers. Obviously 90 per cent of their work was for offshore clients, and in some cases print runs were split and dispatched to different parts of the world.
“At Tien Wah Press, the different department staff wore different coloured t-shirts. This increased their team spirit, but also quickly identified those workers who were out of place. Each individual workstation had a target chart, clearly visible to co workers and visitors and these were translated into wall mounted charts for each division. Obviously it was very clear what their targets were.
“Just last week I was phoned out of the blue by a Singaporean printer and I have agreed to meet with him when I’m down in Melbourne.
I explained to him that it was unlikely I could give him work, but it could be that my setter and web site man in Melbourne might have clients who would be interested. Whatever the case, I’m keen to stay in touch with the Singaporeans.”
Now Bobby’s story got me thinking about whether in fact the Singaporeans could complement us beautifully – that is, Australians are usually found wanting in the marketing stakes because we are too laid back and not persistent enough. So why not let the Singaporeans help us get our marketing act together?
The workshop discussion then moved on to how we can best compete in an increasingly global world printing and publishing industry. We more or less settled on two options. The first is to form alliances with the big world players, the US and UK in particular, that control 80 per cent of the industry, by leveraging up any purchasing or market clout we have from time to time. However the first task is to identify the good multinationals, as distinct from the bad and ugly. This technique has been used successfully in the defence equipment, pharmaceuticals, IT, medical and scientific industries. However I don’t think the government chaps were overly keen on this idea.
The second option is more romantic, but also probably valid. It involves the forging of new alliances, by firing up some of our local universities, tapping our creative talent and developing win win scenarios with organisations overseas. This brought us back to the Singaporeans. Should you wish to learn more, please contact me – and if you are looking for an expert publisher, try Bobby Graham on (02) 6926 5757 or email editor@bob-e-books.com
* Rod Brown’s Canberra based consultancy group, Australian Project Developments Pty Ltd, specialises in industry/regional development and government liaison. For further information telephone (02) 6231 7261 or email apd@orac.net.au
