Toll takeover gives Stream Solutions scope to move outside of print
Three years after it was taken over by Toll, Stream Solutions is about to become integrated with the company at a greater level, offering much more than print to its customers. General manager, Andrew Price, talked to Print21 about what the future holds.
At last week’s annual conference, Andrew Price, general manager of Stream Solutions, the largest print management company in the region, said that the company will be capitalising on Toll’s services to develop “a complete cradle-to-grave management of documents.”
Toll, which has annual revenue of $6.5 billion, also has three million square metres of warehouse space within Australia. Stream intends on utilising these logistic capabilities, along with being able to offer the customer design, document, reporting and billing services.
Price asserted that the company is not backing out of print, but rather expanding its services. “Print will always be a key part of our business and a key part of our revenue – but our business is not just about print anymore,” he said.
“Customers want the entire information supply chain – we can’t ignore customer direction. This is where the integration of the Toll supply chain works well with us: it allows Stream to offer a broader range of services to customers. At the end of the day, major corporations don’t want 500 suppliers and we will be able to offer them everything. I don’t believe our competitors will be able to compete with what we are going to be offering in the next 12 months.”
What does this mean for Stream’s suppliers? More work, for one. “For the people in this room, it means that we as an independent print manager can increase our overall market share,” Price told the audience.
“When you’re dealing with us, we pay our bills, and that’s a key point that reinforces we are going to be here tomorrow.”
Pictured: The three wise men of Stream Solutions (l-r):general manager, Andrew Price, chief operations officer, Greg Higgins and the driving force behind all seven of the conferences, Geoff Brennan.
Stream Solutions set to shake, rattle and roll
Going forward, Price expects that Stream will do $8 million worth of products for Toll alone. This puts the company in a strong position in a market that most businesses find challenging.
Price is particularly proud that Stream has remained unscathed from the carnage that has crippled so many. “There’s been a shake-up in the industry, but it’s had nil impact on us – we’ve had no issues sourcing product, which shows that the shakeout was necessary in some quarters, due to over capacity.”
No one enjoys bad news, though Price is enough of a realist to acknowledge that the tough times aren’t quite behind us.
“Personally, I don’t believe that the shakeout is over – there is more to come,” he said. “You see some crazy people doing some crazy things from time to time. I don’t want to be in the race to the bottom, but I think we’re past the worst of it.”
The last year has been a case of swings and roundabouts for Stream: in December it lost the Telstra account, and, more recently, Centrelink. Price is serious, but not downtrodden about the news. “We didn’t want to lose them, but this is the game we’re in,” he said.
On the plus side, Stream managed to renew contracts with Westpac, BP and the Victorian Government. New business was also achieved by winning part of Optus, along with Virgin Mobile; St George; Asgard; ANZ’s promotional products and the Bank of South Australia – news that Price is particularly pleased with as it has boosted Stream’s presence in SA significantly.
Let there be light
Conference organiser, Geoff Brennan, proved himself to be a force of nature, managing to hold off the rain that was unrelenting on the rest of the east coast, giving the 140-odd attendees two days of perfect weather.
“I was worried because it was pouring down in Noosa the night before – if it had continued, it could have put a real dampener on things,” he said. No pun intended.
Held at the Sherarton (Noosa’s only five-star accommodation), this year’s conference was more expensive than previous years. Was it money well spent? Absolutely, most attendees said. “I’m definitely coming back next year,” said first-time attendee, David Fuller, of Focus Press.
Pictured: The Print21 team were out in force at the Stream conference. Columnist, Andy McCourt, (left) eventually made his way to Noosa after nine hours of delayed flights and bus rides to deliver a lively run-down on IPEX. Online editor, Mitchell Jordan (centre) was once again invited as the exclusive media for the event, while contributor, James Cryer (right) not only presented, but also served as MC for Friday’s Strategy Day, proving himself to be quite the bumble bee indeed.