Ink Isn't Just Ink . . .

"Kohl & Madden partnered with us," concludes Gilson, "and that's what it takes to get the sale—not just selling the ink but selling the service, as well. It's partnering with a firm."

Valassis: Tech Support
An example of an "ideal" partnership—not to mention one of huge magnitude in a dollars-and-cents respect—is the one between free-standing insert printer Valassis Communications and its single-source supplier, Flint Ink. Valassis, a $740 million, publically owned sales promotion company, purchases 100 percent of its inks from Flint, which equates to millions of dollars per year. With that kind of money on the line, the partnership should be as monumental as the printing operation itself. Dick Anderson, executive vice president of manufacturing and media at Valassis, says it is.