Mackay mining printer rebounds through diversification

Mackay outfit Payne Print says business is rebounding from a tough 2013 as its strategy of diversification reaps rewards, and as it slashes its power bills by installing 120 solar panels onto its building.

Manager Lyn Lawton says the solar panels will cut the company’s electricity expenses by two thirds and leave more power to run future printing equipment expansion.

She says much of the electricity consumption is from its massive air conditioning requirements, which run three quarters of the year to keep the whole plant cool in the hot and sticky North Queensland climate.

“You get more production when workers are cool and happy,” she says. Payne Print is used to dealing with the elements, its entire production kit was destroyed in the 2008 floods.

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Lawton says the business is on the upswing, albeit slowly, after the past year or two was lean due to a downturn in the local mining industry, the biggest client in town for all Mackay printers.

She says the company is making an effort to diversify its client base into other industries and has taken on new business for legal, accounting and engineering firms, the sugar industry and rapidly-growing safety companies.

“Safety is a big industry up here and its growing quickly. Even if the mines do not have much work they still need things like safety tags and manuals,” she says.

“We have orders of hundreds of thousands at a time so it’s a great market to get into.”

“One of the big problems for printers here is a lot of us relied too heavily on mining clients and were exposed when there was less work, so it’s good to get into other areas.

“Now it’s getting busy again and we plan on getting even busier.”

Lawton says Payne Print was able to get through the mining downturn without losing any of its 22 staff and kept them busy organising the warehouse and developing better workflow and processes that are now paying dividends.

The company also just launched a new website, connected to the National Broadband Network last week, and bought a new delivery van.

Two of its offset production staff are also being upskilled as apprentices to work in digital and print finishing, to better equip them and Payne Print for the changes to the industry.

The workers, aged in their 30s and 40s, are signed on to an apprenticeship program, but will continue to receive their usual wages and finish the course quickly due to their head start in print. They join two other apprentices at the company.

Payne Print was founded in the 1970s by current director Tom Payne who runs the business with his wife and four children. It provides design, printing, binding, and delivery to local businesses.

All the company’s equipment was destroyed in the 2008 floods and had to be replaced with new kit at a cost of $2.8m that, unlike many printers in Brisbane, was financed by insurance.

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