Living and working in Southern California has an inherent set of benefits (like being able to surf before and after work!). But, there are also some drawbacks – we battle massive brush fires every year and the occasional earthquake. The Northridge earthquake in 1994 was devastating to local business – the shop where I worked suffered major damage (being 4 miles from the epicenter) and was shut down for 10 days as our presses were repaired (our 6-Color “bounced” 5 feet off of its pad and “twisted”). Since then – disaster preparedness has always been an important aspect of business and personal life. As such, I always as the question “What if?”. Shockingly, many printers and designers have no firm or real plan in place to deal with the inevitable. I am fortunate to work with a company that has a documented disaster preparedness plan:

Infrastructure to Deliver Business Continuity Disaster Planning

For disaster planning Consolidated Graphics leverages the fault tolerant redundancies that are part of our primary data carrier’s collocation facility. Our equipment is installed in a hardened facility with photo ID card key access only. The entire facility is protected by an FM 200 fire suppression system. There are dual A/C handlers that trade off operating so one is a known functioning backup to the other. There are two separate power feeds from the local electric provider. An adjacent battery room provides backup AC power to our equipment and A/C units with a dedicated diesel generator behind that. Diesel fuel contracts are in place to ensure a constant supply. Network connectivity is direct to our data carrier’s IP backbone and Frame Relay networks. There are two separate physical network feeds coming in at opposite ends of the building. Our equipment is covered by a minimum service contract of 24×7 4hr response. In addition to that, we have shelf spares for a few key components. Finally, tape backup media is stored off site so that systems can be rebuilt and installed at another collocation facility or node on our WAN in the event of a total loss.

With regards to the data security procedures in place to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of information we have appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Consolidated Graphics utilizes a state-of-the-art firewall for access control. Our sites use SSL encryption to secure data during transfer. While Consolidated Graphics has identity authentication standards, we can customize identity authentication based on the customer’s requirement. Our hardware is located in a secure data center with photo ID card key access only.

In the event of “Act of God” occurrences or catastrophic events, copies of all software and system specifications are stored offsite. In short order, entire systems and installations could be rebuilt and available, either from the same location or a different location depending on the extent of the incident. Incremental backups are performed nightly. Full backups are performed each weekend. Backup tapes are retained for a rolling 30-day period and are securely housed outside a 5-mile radius of the facility.

And, unfortunately- we have had the occasion to test the system:

In early February of 2008, a tornado struck Mercury Printing, a Consolidated Graphics company, in Memphis, Tennessee. Fortunately, no one was injured. However, the building was badly damaged and a large amount of materials held on-site in fulfillment was damaged or destroyed. Although the area did not have power restored for several days, Mercury was able to bring in generators within 24-hours to provide power to critical areas in the building. Accounting and pre-press were up and running within 24-hours which allowed files to be sent to roughly ten Consolidated Graphics operating companies in strategic locations around the country. This sister company outsourcing, coupled with the immediate relocation of shipping and receiving to a nearby warehouse, allowed Mercury to provide seamless service to clients in the face of a potentially devastating event. Although part of the building collapsed, Mercury’s client base saw no interruption in service.

So, I would always ask your vendor “What If…?”

Questions? Drop me a note.

The U.S. Postal Service has some mailers in a panic because it is reportedly planning to issue complex, last-minute changes to the rules for Full-Service Intelligent Mail discounts.

Not to worry: After getting a sneak peak at the rules that will supposedly be released Friday to mailers and to the employees who will enforce the rules, Dead Tree Edition offers this simple, exclusive analysis: Using Full-Service Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMbs, AKA FUBAR codes) is like having a first-class cabin on a luxurious cruise ship — The Titanic.

In The Postage Discount No Mailer Wants, Dead Tree Edition explained two days ago a few of the ways the FUBAR code has been a disaster so far. As if to underscore that article’s point, postal officials revealed to some mailers today a number of rules changes that they might announce on Friday for implementation three days later on what Lisa Bowes at Intelisent is calling Black Monday. The Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) noted that the proposed changes have to do with “Full-Service IMb Verification procedures and error tolerances and postage consequences.

Bowes sums up postal executives’ thinking on the FUBAR code this way: “Let’s acknowledge that there are major issues with Intelligent Mail, but proceed as if ‘everything is fine’ anyway.”

Another of her top ten thoughts today from the “Intelligent Mail think tank”: “Let’s write and then continually edit/update at least a dozen different guides and specifications necessary to do Full Service Intelligent Mail.”

I know what you’re thinking: “OK, Mr. Tree, I’m so interested in these new rules that I can’t wait until Friday. I’ve already called my relatives to tell them I’m skipping Thanksgiving dinner to get to work on this, so give me the details.”

Here you go: They’re rearranging the chairs on the deck, and the captain insists on trying to break the record for fastest crossing of the Atlantic. Yes, this will be an historic trip. No, you don’t want to be on it.

For the foreseeable future, that’s all you need to know about Full-Service Intelligent Mail.

Courtesy of:  Dead Tree Edition

Dead Tree Edition: 12 Telltale Signs That You Are A Printing Geek.

You may be a printing geek if you:
1. Hear “PMS” and think first of ink. (And you’re a printing supergeek if you hear about a woman having PMS problems and think, “I wonder if she’s just tried using process colors.”)
2. Know that dot whacking won’t get you thrown into jail.
3. Realize that a debarker belongs at a pulp mill, not a veterinarian’s office.
4. Cringe when someone says “red ink” and find yourself reflexively responding, “It’s magenta.”
5. Don’t snicker when someone refers to blow-ins.
6. Are aware that commingling isn’t something you do at a networking function.
7. Understand that there’s nothing intelligent about the Intelligent Mail barcode.
8. Know that “too much showthrough” does not refer to a black bra under a white blouse.
9. Realize that dot gain has nothing to do with that weight your Aunt Dorothy has put on. (And you’re a printing freakazoid if you insist on saying “tone value increase” instead of “dot gain”.)
10. Know how to spell “supercalendered” even though spell-check keeps telling you “super calendar”.
11. Reply “Additive or subtractive?” when your child asks about primary colors.
12. Assume a woman worked in prepress if she says she’s a retired stripper.