A Smarter Way to Outsource Print, Chicago Business Executive Wants to Re-Invent Print Procurement

Pat Monahan believes in keeping it real.

“The fact is,” Monahan says, “the demand for commercial print is declining – except for packaging. And yet there are still more than 50,000 commercial printers in the U.S.”

Bottom line: excess production capacity is costing consumers billions. Print is a $129 billion industry. So, each 1% of unnecessary duplication, inefficiency and waste costs outsource print buyers $1.29 billion.

Monahan, Managing Partner of The Lowitz Group, says he’s inspired by Fisher Investments. “Like Fisher, we don’t sell product. We’re Independent 3^rd Party Print Advisors.”

The veteran downtown Chicago business executive wants to “re-invent print procurement.” He purchased The Lowitz Group because he saw an opportunity to convert it from Print Broker to Print Advisor.

“Amazon spends $1.9 billion annually on outsourced print – about 0.7 percent of revenue. And Amazon has a large team of professionals devoted to managing this expenditure,” Monahan said. “But, according to Gartner, Middle Market Enterprises may be spending up to 3 percent of Revenue on print. And, for advice on cutting print costs they rely on their commercial printer or print broker who have inherent conflicts of interest.”

“My roots are in independent management consulting,” Monahan adds, “and, observing our Lowitz’ Print Consultants, it became clear they’re actually valued advisors for our clients.”

Lowitz’ print purchases are equivalent to a billion dollar enterprise. It leverages its collective buying power on behalf of clients to negotiate deep discounts and passes those discounts directly to clients – no mark-up.

“Operating expenses are relatively fixed,” explained Monahan. “If a printer runs one shift, their Operations Recovery Costs per unit are ‘X.’ Run two shifts and Unit Recovery Costs are one-half ‘X,’ three shifts one-third ‘X.’ So, the name of the game is maximizing utilization of proven vendors. That’s how we’ll shrink costs for clients.”

Clients enjoy additional savings by bringing Lowitz’ Consultants to the table during the planning stages of print projects. All-in Monahan believes clients can expect reductions in its outsource print budgets of 25 to 35 percent. These savings are then either re-directed to additional marketing initiatives, capital expenditures or earnings.

Of course price isn’t the only factor when purchasing print, there’s also quality and reliability. Monahan proudly points to the Art Institute as an example of a client with extremely high quality standards.

“And, we enjoy more than 3,200 5-star reviews,” Monahan said.

An audit of outsource print expenditures is the first step in the process. The audit may reflect savings… it may not. But interested executives have nothing to lose approving an audit, and potentially hundreds of thousands in savings to gain.

Lowitz has served major Chicago and national clients for more than three decades.

“Our mission now,” Monahan concluded, “is to replace your grandfather’s outdated approach to purchasing with a smarter way to outsource print.”

For more information, contact:

Patrick M. Monahan at 708.307.2566

www.lowitzgroup.com