Growth will no longer come from cutting costs or consolidation. It will come only from innovation. This was the message Wes Lucas, president and chief executive officer of Quebecor World, delivered to a room filled with printing pros at last month’s Critical Trends Technology breakfast at Graph Expo. If we are to succeed, “We must make print more relevant and create more value for our customers. We must focus on reinventing ourselves through innovation,” he said.

Lucas should know. His company, Quebecor World, is one of the largest commercial printers in the world. Because a large percentage of the company’s revenue comes from magazine printing, like newspapers, it is acutely vulnerable to the decline in print advertising. Yet while magazine titles continued to shutter this year, Quebecor World saw significant growth. That’s because Lucas knows that innovation is everything.

Defining innovation

Lucas’ cry sounded all too familiar. To create more value for customers, he said, “We need solutions that are more targeted, more frequent, more segmented.” That requires shorter cycle times. Getting the color right and keeping the file open as long as possible is essential. We must be flexible, he said. “Make it easy for your customers,” he urged. Among the added value Quebecor World offers publishers is a wide variety of insert options, including product sampling.

Think about it. It’s a brilliant strategy. The one thing the Internet cannot do is deliver product samples, be they skin care creams, fragrances, mini CDs or anything else you can fit between the pages. And while sampling requires investment on the bindery and packaging end to make it work smoothly, the returns are worth every penny.

In addition to offering more inserts, Quebecor World has seen positive results from making production so efficient that the company can guarantee delivery times. “Knowing the exact at-home delivery time is important to advertisers,” he said.

That certainly makes sense. Knowing when an ad will hit has multiple benefits for advertisers, from tracking results of tie-ins to making sure consumers know about a special sale date before it ends.

Be on lookout

To be able to offer targeted versioning, predictable delivery, a wide variety of insert options, longer deadlines and color accuracy, you have to have an automated workflow with impeccable process control — from advertising design to delivery logistics. You also have to be on the lookout for technological innovations that can facilitate your ability to offer the kind of added value that goes straight to the bottom line.

Graph Expo was laced with innovative technologies.

Following are a few that may help you to build value-packed offerings for your customers.

Innovations to watch for:

•The front end is always the best place to start. You can expect X-Rite’s marriage with Pantone to yield great things in the color arena — from color selection to color management. Pantone’s just-introduced Goe color system offers 2,058 new colors. In addition to being chromatically logical — that is, the colors are arranged like the natural color spectrum — it includes software for creating color palettes that can be imported into applications. While newspapers may smirk at adding spot colors to ROP, insert printers should consider the value of having spot color capability in the repertoire.

•Variable data was abuzz at the show. The ability to automatically swap out images as well as text is key to targeted versioning. Companies to watch for are EFI and XMPie. Even though Xerox was visionary enough to snatch up XMPie, don’t let that fool you. XMPie works as well with traditional print. And EFI is well known for working closely with its customers to develop custom solutions. Domino Amjet also showed new inline variable-data capabilities designed specifically for magazines and newspapers.

• Process-free thermal plates will get a run for your money with new chem-free plates for violet-laser platesetting from Agfa and Fuji. To reduce time to press even further, manufacturers are finding ways to reduce the variables in plate-making. The common solution among all the manufacturers is plates with wider processing latitude.

• Oce has come a long way with its variable-data, color digital printing presses for short-run newspapers. For incredible color inserts look at HP Indigo, Xerox iGen3, Kodak Versamark and now the Canon Digital Press. They print on paper as thin as 16 pounds at speeds fast enough for very targeted short runs.

• Want to really dazzle? HumanEyes (www.humaneyes.com) lets you make 3D or lenticular inserts without special lenses. All you need is acrylic or film-based material and HumanEyes software — amazing stuff for toner, inkjet or ink-based digital presses such as the Indigo. If investments like these are not on the  drawing board, find a commercial printer who is equipped and ready to partner. Then take your ideas to advertisers to deliver out-of-the-box added value.

Keep your eyes open and your focus on innovation. And like Quebecor World, your newspaper might start to see real growth.