PRISM


What's in it for me?


Close ties to Fespa give Prism, and its members, access to a number of advantages. So how does this mutually beneficial partnership work?


P


rism is a Fespa association and its history helps explain the relationship between the two organisations. Along with other European associations, Prism helped set up Fespa in 1962. Initially the associations supported Fespa financially with the UK association providing an office for its secretariat.


A lot has changed since then. The Fespa Exhibition is now billed as one of the most successful exhibitions in the wide format and industrial printing sector targeting a world market of £54 billion. The current Fespa Exhibition in Munich covers 35,000m2, equivalent to nearly six football pitches.


What differentiates Fespa from other exhibition organisers is that it is limited by guarantee. This means no dividends are paid to its shareholders, namely the 37 national associations of which Prism is one. Instead, the profits are ploughed back into improving the show and a proportion re- invested into the industry through supporting national events and initiatives such as The Planet Friendly Guide. This publication explains to the industry how it can profitably manage the continuing stream of environmental legislation from Brussels. Regular market surveys are provided to members of national associations. Further offerings are also released to help members of associations such as Prism cope with the most challenging business climate of modern times.


Fortunately company closures seem to have slowed and Prism members are seeing a slight upturn in business as the high street has held up better than was


16 SCREEN PROCESS AND DIGITAL IMAGING l June 2010 Visit us at www.spdi-online.com


predicted. How this will continue when the public expenditure restrictions start to bite is anybody’s guess.


Companies who are managing the difficulties most successfully are those who are able to avoid the commodity print market, where price is the governing factor. As in internet auctions, it is possible to be sucked into an overall erosion of profitability that is actually unsustainable in the medium to long term.


Success is to be found in areas where the actual process of laying ink onto a substrate, though essential, is not the highest cost factor. Making a difference for your client by being different is crucial. Of course, Prism aims to apply the same principle with a range of services that can make the difference to members. The close relationship with Fespa gives members access to opportunities in their markets throughout the world and Prism can contact directly people on nearly every continent to initiate and support relationships. This can encompass e-mails and networking, but also extends to phone calls and even personal visits, which are still the best way to build effective business links. This represents what Prism sees as a key task - creating effective


communications between trading partners in the UK and worldwide.


llll www.prismuk.org


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