PRINTING United Alliance: Its Impact on the Industry
The History:
The PRINTING United Alliance (PrUA) is a new entity – the result of a recent merger between two prominent nonprofit associations within the Printing and Graphic Arts industries. The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) was a trade association representing the screen and digital printing community worldwide. Printing Industries of America (PIA) was the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, representing thousands of member companies. On May 1st of 2020, SGIA and PIA merged to create the largest member-based printing and graphic arts association within the United States. Because of this merger, PrUA, and the printing industry in general, now have complete access to resources such as trainings, workshops, events, legislation & government representation, safety & environmental sustainability guidelines, and resources from the leading media company in the industry (NAPCO Media).
Meet Mike Wagner – Chief Operations Officer – Butler Technologies, Inc.:
Mike currently serves as a member of the PrUA Board of Directors and Vice-Chair of the Industrial Applications and Printed Electronics (IAPE) Committee. For Mike, his initial exposure to SGIA was back in 2000 when he joined the team at Butler Technologies and attended his first Membrane Switch Symposium. In 2009, while attending the annual Membrane Switch Symposium, Mike decided he wanted to become directly involved with SGIA after feeling passionate about the program put together by the symposium’s committee. The symposium was “the” event to connect with industry peers, educate yourself about current methodologies, and learn about up-and-coming products & technology that could grow your business. Who wouldn’t want to be part of this!
At the following year’s SGIA Congress of Committees, Mike sat in as a guest of the Industrial Applications (IA) committee. After seeing the them in action, he quickly realized that he wanted to become a member of that team as well. It wasn’t until 2015 that Mike was nominated to join SGIA’s Board of Directors, where he has maintained his role throughout the transition into what we now know today as the PrUA. Mike believes there is immeasurable value in meeting and working with people that have the same passion for the Print Industry as you. Being actively involved with PrUA has provided Mike with this opportunity.
Meet Doug Billings – VP of Sales & Marketing – Empire Screen Printing, Inc.:
Doug is an active member of the IAPE Committee which he joined back in October of 2019. Doug quickly recognized his passion for strengthening the printing industry, especially within his segment of the industry. Having recently joined IAPE, he’s learned about the committee and its role within the industry. He greatly values PrUA because they help to support the IAPE’s mission of education, networking, and illustrating how to be good stewards of the environment.
As stated by Doug, “PRINTING United is helping to strengthen the industry for future generations. I feel they are letting go of the past and working to reimagine themselves as a go-to knowledge base and print advocate for the world’s printers”. The organization has allowed him to not only expand his knowledge within the industry but to network with other professionals in similar roles as him. PRINTING United has provided Doug with “New Ideas, solutions to problems, and valuable friendships”.
Meet Ed Cook – President & CEO – ECI Screen Print, Inc.:
Ed currently serves on the IAPE Committee and the PrUA Board of Directors. Ed has had the distinction of serving as a past Chairman of the Board for SGIA. Ed has been a long-time member of the IAPE and was actually a member when it was known as the Membrane Switch committee back in the late 1990s. His reason for joining was simple; He always believed that the best way to learn and grow was to invest his time by immersing himself within an industry. This is especially true when it comes to IAPE, as he’s surrounded by industry professionals that he admires that equally help to serve the community they’ve vested their interest in.
As a long-time member, Ed has gained many valuable takeaways, both through the information that he’s learned, and been provided the opportunity to work with. As stated by Ed, “Over the years, I have made many great friends throughout the world, and am able to stay ahead of the curve as the industry changes and grows”. With PrUA being relatively new, Ed feels that they’re now known as a poised and prominent trade association that is dedicated to all printers of all kinds. They’re ready to support and promote the printing industry as a whole now more than ever.
Benefits of Joining the PRINTING United Alliance
1. Facing Issues Together
Even though the PrUA is comprised of a wide range of printing companies that utilize different technologies, produce different products, and serve different industries, the members oftentimes find themselves facing similar challenges. Many of these are universal across all businesses, but there are also some that are unique to the printing industry. PRINTING United allows members the opportunity to have an open platform to discuss any issues that arise and helps members to gain insight into how other companies are dealing with them.
2. Meeting other Industry Professionals
For Mike Wagner, this is the greatest benefit that PRINTING United has brought him. He stated, “Being an active participant in PRINTING United has afforded me the opportunity to meet industry professionals that I may not have otherwise known. Many of these encounters have led to many valuable learning experiences and long-term friendships”. It helps you to meet others in similar positions and industries which affords you the opportunity to become more successful in your role and meet lifelong friends along the way.
3. Events
The PrUA strives to be the best source for information, training, and education within the printing industry. They hold large events such as expos, and smaller community-related events that provide unique opportunities to those within the printing industry to network, gather information and broaden their scope of education.
4. Continual Education
Because the group is comprised of people who work in similar roles to your own, you are provided the opportunity to learn from these industry professionals. Through events and training sessions, you’re also provided the opportunity to learn and experience new things and gain new knowledge.
The Impact of PRINTING United Alliance on the Industry
The PrUA has had a tremendous impact on the industry, as members often look to them for guidance and as the best source for information. They also provide members with distinct benefits such as training and educational opportunities. As the industry has evolved, the committees realized they needed to evolve alongside it. For example, when membrane switches were no longer the only “game in town” the Membrane Switch committee quickly transformed itself into PEMS, or the Printed Electronics-Membrane Switch committee and then shortly thereafter, the all-encompassing Printed Electronics (PE) committee. Then once again, to better serve the ever-changing industry, both the PE and Industrial Applications (IA) committee merged to create the Industrial Applications and Printed Electronics Committee, or IAPE for short.
And of course, the largest transformation of them all was the evolution of SGIA, NAPCO Media, and PIA into what is now known as PrUA – the largest member-based printing and graphic arts association within the United States.
The moral of the story is these organizations have kept up quickly with the ever-changing times and have been able to identify needs within the printing and graphic arts industries. With these needs identified, they were able to make the appropriate changes and merges needed to create an organization that can provide its members with trainings, workshops, events, legislation and government representation, safety and environmental sustainability guidelines, and resources from the leading media company in the industry.
PrUA also helps to ensure its members are provided the appropriate platform to learn from one another and tackle issues together. Although members may work for a wide variety of different companies that adopt different practices, they oftentimes are able to learn from one another.
And what could be recognized as the biggest benefit of all would be the continued advancement in networking opportunities provided by PrUA through such events as the PRINTING United Expo, as well as conferences and training & certification boot camps. The opportunity to network and talk with others who may be facing similar issues has made the printing industry far more successful than it was in previous years.
PrUA has made a tremendous impact on the printing industry, and there is no doubt that in the years to come, they will continue to do the same.
Meet the Author: Jaclyn King
Jaclyn is a Digital Marketing Specialist on the BTI Team. Her main job responsibilities involve inbound marketing, content creation, and social media management. To get to know more about Jaclyn, check her out on LinkedIn!