What the link between running a print business and running a basketball team? They’re both better with a good game plan. Another thing they have in common is Vega Colour Group. Commercial manager Rob Nugent was general manager of the South-East Melbourne Magic when he was introduced to print by Vega Colour Group’s managing director, Peter Gude.
Basketball paved the way for Nugent to enter the printing industry. After meeting Gude, the pair hit it off and Nugent took his financial know-how from the court to the press hall in 1998.
Finding success in both basketball and printing hinges on some similar skill sets, says Nugent. “Well-compiled budgets and regular financial reporting are always essential. In basketball and the printing business, these same factors are critical. Whether it’s finance or environmental performance, you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” he adds.
Vega was established in Blackburn by Gude’s father in 1960. Gude worked his way up from the shopfloor to take the company reins in 1982. Vega’s company history acts as a lesson in using cutting-edge technology to get ahead. It was the first printer to bring a Komori Lithrone into Australia, back in 1984. It again led the field when it brought in the country’s first sheetfed KBA Rapida in 2002.
(The company’s fleet of KBA Rapidas now comprises a 10-colour, a six-colour
as well as a five-colour along with Heidelberg machines.)
By 2002, the company was bursting out of five sites on both sides of the road in Blackburn. It was time to relocate. It moved across to its present 5,000m2 site in Notting Hill – and moved up in terms
of expanding the business.
“In the seven years since we moved, we’d virtually doubled staff over that time,” says Nugent. Vega Colour Group currently employs 95 staff, including two dedicated IT people.
A well-planned strategy is core to Vega’s approach, and Nugent puts a lot of faith in data. The company is currently undergoing an overhaul of its Prism MIS, which is not a task for the faint-hearted, says Nugent. But he is passionate about the potential improvements that can be brought about with a more up-to-date system.
Gude says the company is ambitious to hook the MIS up all the way to the bindery. The only thing holding it back, he adds, is that the equipment just isn’t sophisticated enough for this type of connectivity and automated analysis.
Technical prowess
Technological improvements are always on Vega’s radar. Its in-house IT team has helped develop Vega’s own proprietary software, such as an automated SMS service to update clients of the status of their job.
The company isn’t only focused on upgrading its technology but is also constantly looking to update its technical acumen. Vega was the first company in Australia certified as a Mellow Colour Proficient Printer in ISO 12647 for colour management. It was also one of the first printers to be announced as joining the elite ‘Mellow Colour 100 Club’, which means a printer’s PrintSpec reports showed a score of 100 in recent production print runs. Among the others to join was Geon – a company with more than 10 times the staff and more than 10 times the turnover.
This ambitious nature is typical of Vega. Nugent is especially passionate about the company’s environmental credentials. The company has a raft of eco kitemarks and green initiatives to back up its ideals. It has been certified to ISO 14001 by SGS, holds FSC chain of custody accreditation and is also 100% carbon offset through its certification with the Carbon Reduction Institute.
But it’s the sustainable initiatives going on behind the scenes that really get Nugent excited. Vega has undergone a six-figure spending program to implement energy and water efficiency programs. This includes connecting its 2,000 fluorescent tubes to ‘Light Eco’ energy-saving devices as well as putting in power factor correction and SkyCool UV roof coating to reduce temperatures. According to Nugent, power factor correction has helped cut energy distribution costs by 20%. Meanwhile, its water-saving program has helped it make huge reductions in water use.
And sometimes, it’s the little things that count. The company’s UpFront imposition software also helps keep waste to a minimum. “We’ve created a library of impositions to make it quicker and to reduce waste,” says Nugent.
Carbon crusader
Vega again proved itself to be at the vanguard of the green movement just recently, when it became the first Australian company to secure ISO 14064 for greenhouse gas emissions. Vega was accredited by certification body SGS Australia. SGS was itself was the first Australian auditor to be accredited to certify for 14064 through JAS-ANZ, the government-appointed accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand.
“We’ve done just about everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint, other than put a couple of water tanks out the back for the toilets – and we’re talking about doing that,” says Nugent.
Green ideals
Vega’s green ideals are also at work on the printed page. It tries to discourage customers from using lamination or UV to avoid VOCs. Vega can offer inline aqueous coating on press, which it says is better for the environment particularly for paper recycling. Nugent claims its press battery helps the green approach. He says thanks to Vega’s maintenance program, “the presses run more efficiently, use less energy and have fewer breakdowns”.
All these environmental strides are part and parcel of Vega’s strategic approach to business. It chose to plan ahead on sustainability, says Gude, and the timing was spot on. “We got the environmental side in place between 2006 and 2008. If we had tried to do it now, it would’ve been really tough,” he says.
Sticking to a game plan helped Vega weather the GFC. “In printing, it is really important you understand the financial dynamics of the business. You need to have the control mechanisms in place so you can see the bigger picture. You need to understand your costs,” explains Gude.
Forward planning proved its merit as the world financial state began to crumble, says Gude. “November was the start of the trouble. Then December came and it went down again. January went down. February went down. There was no roadmap for this,” he says.
There may not have been any clear directions, but planning ahead surely softened the blow. As it stands, Vega had to reduce the workforce by 20% in January 2009. A hard decision, but one that no doubt secured the printer’s future.
In the modern print industry, every printer faces new challenges. Vega is seeing a shift in the make-up of its customer base that reflects changes across the industry at large. Gude is pragmatic about the promise of an upswing. “People might want to think that the work is going to come back to what you were used to before but this remains to be seen.”
Vega stays positive by focusing on new initiatives and new ideas. The company has been part of the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s ‘Grow Me The Money’ program, which looks to help small businesses foster links and share environmental knowledge. The 12-month initiative illustrates how SMEs can lower their environmental impact while saving money. Since signing up, Nugent has since become a ‘business sustainability ambassador’ for the program.
Sharing information
“The print industry is so competitive down here and lots of people don’t want to share what they’re doing environmentally,” says Nugent. “But I became a mentor through the program and offered to take calls from other small companies, not just printers. It’s about sharing information with other people who want to be sustainable.”
The co-operative approach gels with Vega’s own company ethos. For Nugent, one of the key aspects was that Grow Me The Money promotes members to learn from one another. He says the important thing is that the industry is moving toward a more sustainable future, and they can get there quicker by working together. It’s not just about another green badge.
“Instead of just giving people logos, we should be showing small printers how they can save money by being more environmentally friendly. It’s really important we help other people – you
can’t sit there and say that you’re fully environmentally friendly and then not help other people to do the same,” he adds.
It all comes back to Vega’s strategic approach to business.
“There are two major differences to the way Vega does things. One big difference is that we make a big investment in IT. We have two IT people embedded in the group,” says Gude.
“The second big difference is that with Rob, we have a focus on the business of business, looking at our business plan and how we can grow,” says Gude.
Whether running a printing business or playing basketball, the vital thing is understanding what makes the team tick and playing to its strengths – which is what helps Vega stay ahead of the game.
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