Part 2: The Direct Mail Marketer’s Guide to ‘Not Slowing Your Roll During the Paper Crisis!’

It’s all about thinking outside the box to ensure your pieces reach the mailbox.?

This article was written by Amy?Ioveno, Assembly’s in-house Print?Production & All Things Paper Crisis Expert?

Hello, it’s me again! Mixed in with the I’m-a-paper-nerd jokes and a lot of the things I’ve been sharing over the past many months on?how to navigate through postage increases?and?delivery delays, we’re now facing?a global?paper crisis. No, we’re no longer talking about toilet paper.??

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 50% increase in the price of wood pulp,?the material used to make paper.?Add supply chain disruptions?and?the?growing need?for?paper mills?to source boxes?to the mix, and you?have yourself?a?certified?paper?crisis.?Direct mail pieces,?books, envelopes,?paper bags and more rely on?printed paper?and?its delivery in a timely fashion. Shortages and lead time delays have sent the industry into?a supply and demand?whirlwind, while analysts predict things will only get worse before they get better.?

To better understand the challenges facing the paper industry and?to?gain insight into proactive solutions to keeping mail campaigns on track,?I attended DG3’s?webinar, “How Not to Lose Your Sheet:?Enabling Print During a Worldwide Paper Shortage”.?When you?live and breathe printing for clients,?you?must?have?a game plan?to combat?tight supply,?rising prices and?the increased demand for direct mail pieces.?

There were a few new thoughts addressed during?the?webinar?that?I?thought were very worth sharing:?

What’s the Reality Here??

Just as we highlighted before postal increases went into effect?earlier this summer, proactivity matters. Early planning can make all the difference in avoiding some of the hiccups facing paper inventory. Mills and plants are looking at orders for campaigns mailing as far out as March, April and May?2022?now?and lead times are reaching the 3–5-month range for some rolls.?

Let’s Get Creative?

Does a client typically use a matte sheet, but can’t find any? We’ll look for a gloss stock that we could lay a dull varnish on during production to give it the same finish as a matte sheet.??

Need paper for a run of 500K pieces, but can only secure enough for a smaller run? Let’s look at the size of the format. Changing trim size by 1” and re-thinking production could potentially allow for a yield of 8-up on a sheet instead of 6-up. Boom, additional circulation pulled out of thin air (Not really, but I’m trying to keep this exciting for you!).?

Once size and choice of paper are streamlined for maximum efficiency, slight adjustments to page count, roll size, and overall segment planning could potentially improve print production outcomes.??

You get the idea, now more than ever is the time to think outside the box. I hate that I just used that jargon…?

As the Game Changes, So Do the Rules?

Plants are becoming a bit more lenient with campaign shifts and cancellations… Clients might be iffy on what they want to mail in January, let alone Q2. In the past, once you locked in a paper order, clients were on the hook to pay for it.??

But now, plants are “selling” paper between clients faster than my brothers used to trade their Pac Man cards.?

With the demand being so great and the supply being so miniscule, if campaigns are cancelled or circulations shift, vendors might be able to sell that paper to other clients who need it. This is something to keep in mind when planning with your clients — the rules and tolerances will be different from plant to plant. I’ll always ask about cancellations, penalty policies, restocking fees, and sub-selling before we lock in any orders. I’ll also give our clients all the information, so we can make informed decisions once we know all of our options.??

Time is of the?Essence?

Inventory is moving faster than the speed of light. Clients should be prepared to give the approvals to place orders faster than ever before.??

Still not convinced? Within a mere 10 minutes (yes, 10), one of our vendors found available stock from another facility, only to follow with, “Scratch that. Paper is gone now”.?

So, let’s get excited to plan now, plan early, just plan, plan, plan!!??

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