Voorma picked as Active CEO

Steve Voorma, the new CEO of Active Display Group, has given an exclusive interview to Australian Printer, detailing the company’s plans for the year, and impressions of the market for 2019.

Voorma officially kicked off in his role in November, overseeing a series of actions including  the decommissioning of the company’s screenprinting, screen making and screen washing equipment, vacating its Chelsea Heights warehouse, and relocating the entire Boxlink business.

Speaking on Active’s progress, and the early results, Voorma says, “We have now completed that consolidation, moving our design team to Keysborough, bringing them closer to our sales team, and getting synergies from there. Now our sales team is spending more time talking to designers and vice-versa.

“The consolidation of Chelsea Heights into Dandenong is ahead of schedule, on track to be complete in March, while the Boxlink business integration was completed last month.

“Some of the immediate benefits we have seen are turnaround times, with less moving of product throughout the supply chain, and additional management oversight in key facilities.

“The reduction in our cost base now lets us to look on ways to pass on savings to our clients.”

After investing in multiple Fujifilm Inca Onset wide-format printers last year, complemented by robotic arms rendering manual labour unnecessary, the company is looking to improving its ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, both internally, and in how it links in with customers, giving them access to data.

Voorma explains, “Active is always looking to invest. We will be in the marketplace today, tomorrow, and 15 years from now.

“Last year we saw significant investment in our printing qualities, giving our customers a cutting edge in the market, with never before seen quality in Australia.

“Now we are looking at our systems, how we can improve, enhance, and streamline our work, while getting closer to our customers. We want to integrate into their systems, while improving our reporting capabilities, both internal and external.

“We want to have that completely rolled out by 2020. Clients will feel the benefits from Q2, Q3 of this year.

“So we will look to enhance our systems, our service offering, and look at ways to integrate and capitalise on opportunities that come thereof.

“We are looking across the business in totality, we are looking at a complete ERP implementation. We have made significant investments in our internal systems, and everything that is customer facing, to give speed to market, and data on demand.

“So we will have bolt-ons and add-ons to our total offering.”

The company has now completed the decommissioning of all its screen printing equipment, with Voorma noting, “The market is moving to shorter runs, with more variations. It is part of the revolution from analogue to digital.

“Now we can say openly, and frankly in the market, we now have the most advanced wide-format printing in Australia. That strategy was designed to give us the ability to make that bold statement.”

Speaking on the market as a whole, Zita Watkin, marketing consultant, Active Display Group, says, “There is the print manufacturing industry, and the retail industry, both of which we need to keep our eyes on.

“Run sizes are changing, the artwork is changing, there is a market need to create more bespoke print offerings. We need to to remain nimble, and adapt to the market, clients want customisation, and personalisation.

“The biggest retail stores are focusing on customer experience, so we are reflecting that.

“We need to understand the market, listen, and keep updating and changing to match what customers are saying.”

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