Ennis Acquires Royal Business Forms
Ennis Inc., Midlothian, Texas, acquired 100 percent of the stock of Royal Business Form Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Arlington, Texas, for $3.7 million in Ennis stock. Royal has been in existence since 1959 and has customers nationwide. The acquisition of Royal continues the Ennis strategy of growth through related manufactured products for its existing customer base. The acquisition will add additional short run print products and financial documents sold through the distributorship marketplace.

Reynolds and Reynolds Reports Q4 Results
The Reynolds and Reynolds Company, Dayton, Ohio, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2004. Fourth quarter revenues of $242 million were 6 percent lower than a year ago and essentially flat with the third quarter. Full year revenues of $982 million were 3 percent below last year. Earnings per share were 31 cents for the fourth quarter and $1.37 for the full year compared to 44 cents and $1.56 respectively, for the same periods last year.

Label Shipments to Reach $15.2B in 2008
Label shipments in the United States are forecast to increase 5.7 percent per year to $15.2 billion in 2008, according to a study by marketing research firm The Freedonia Group Inc., Cleveland. The study, entitled Labels, says technologies such as radio frequency smart labeling, 2-D bar coding and plateless digital printing will open a new range of labeling applications. However, maturity in key label markets and competition from direct labelless printing in applications such as mailing, primary packaging and corrugated box labeling will limit further gains. For more information, call (440) 684-9600.

Appleton Introduces Check Fraud Tool
Appleton, Appleton, Wis., introduced its "Upgrading Slide Brochure" that uses recent check fraud statistics from Ernst & Young to allow distributors to quickly assess and calculate each customer's Annual Fraud Odds (number of checks at risk per year) and Annual Fraud Risk (dollars at risk per year). Distributors also can visit BetYourCorp.com, a web site created by Appleton, to calculate the risks. For a free copy of the brochure, call (800) 533-9421.

Office Depot to Cut 900 Jobs
Office Depot Inc., Delray Beach, Fla., plans to cut 900 jobs as it consolidates operations at eight call centers and offices in six states. The company said three of the facilities will close. The cuts are estimated to generate $15 million in annual savings. Some operations will move to call centers located in Boca Raton and Norcross, Ga., the company said, affecting offices in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio and Texas.

IKON Adds Document Solutions Portfolio
IKON Office Solutions, Valley Forge, Pa., announced a new relationship with Rockville, Md.-based Notable Solutions Inc., a distributed document capture and workflow middleware technology company. NSi's AutoStoreT framework will be integrated into IKON's document management solutions. Customers can capture both hard copy and electronic documents, process them through a variety of image and document transformations, such as optical character recognition, bar code reading and forms recognition and route content to repositories or business applications, databases and email systems.

Sales and Marketing Tip
Self-Service Email Marketing
As long as you can pump your own gas and check out your own groceries, why not do your own email marketing? Full story.

E-Commerce Spotlight
Online Payments
Improve Cash Flow
Online payment systems may improve competitiveness by dramatically reducing the cost of billing and collections. Full story.

Product of the Week
Communicating for Success
This book guides you through the basics of developing good workplace communication skills. It features project-based instruction supported by more than 30 literature selections, along with topics such as internet usage, teamwork, ethical/legal issues, presentation skills, customer service and technology. Code: COMSCS. $32.95. To order, contact Tina Davis.

Hot Sites
Reverse Dictionary
Can't seem to remember a certain phrase or word? Here's help. Users type in a concept into a search engine and receive a list of words and phrases related to it. For example, typing in "joy from the pain of others" returns more than 100 results, including "schadenfreude" and "regret." Visitors also can use the database to solve crossword puzzle clues. Visit the site.

Law Firm Gets Better Filing System
Although office products account for 75 percent of distributorship S&T Office Products Inc.'s sales, Vice President Patrick Crowley talks more about selling productive solutions than selling ink cartridges and pens. In June, a sales representative from the distributorship suggested to a law firm that it could increase productivity by improving its filing system. The law firm agreed, and S&T Office Products won a $35,000 order.

Many companies use static filing systems where the floor-to-ceiling shelves are fixed. St. Paul, Minn.-based S&T Office Products introduced the law firm to a track filing system in which shelves move back and forth. The system allows the customer to store more folders in less space. Also, the folders are color-coded to ensure files are stored correctly.

S&T Office Products also offers technology-based solutions. "We have spent and invested heavily in our internet capabilities," Crowley says. Approximately 200 of the distributorship's 6,000 customers use its bar code scanning technology, provided by Eagan, Minn.-based Jump Technologies Inc. When a customer needs to replenish an office product, he uses a hand-held scanner the size of a matchbox to scan a bar code located on a product, on a label, on a contract or in a catalog. The scanner holds all necessary ordering information. The customer then connects the scanner to his computer with a USB port. Using software provided by S&T Office Products (originating from Jump Technologies), customers then upload the data from the scanner directly into a shopping cart located on S&T Office Products' web site. This limits the need to search for a specific office product on the distributorship's web site, which offers thousands of office products. Crowley says the technology, which S&T Office Products launched a year ago, has been successful and triples the speed of customers' online ordering time.

S&T Office Products is one of the largest independent contract office supplies dealers in the United States. The distributorship has 140 employees and four offices in Minnesota. Its 40 sales representatives have two primary responsibilities: account management and new-account development. Contract office furniture accounts for 25 percent of the firm's sales. Law firms, which make up a large segment of its business, require custom products such as legal pads and promotional items. The distributorship supplies office products efficiently because it's part of the TriMega Purchasing Association, which enables the distributorship to combine purchasing resources with other firms.

Crowley says major national retail stores such as Staples and Office Depot offer tough competition. To beat them, Crowley says the company offers a "total value proposition" to its customers. Instead of focusing on price, those clients consider S&T Office Products' services such as next-day delivery, free freight, 100-percent-order-filled success and account representation, he says. "As competitive as it is, there is still a tremendous amount of opportunity as long as [companies] are creative in how they approach their market," Crowley says.

CEO Summit
This year's program is packed with information, discussions and details you need to further your success. Join your fellow members with sales volumes of more than $2.5 million in St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 2-4, for what has proven year after year to be a great program! Click here for more.

Small Distributor Summit
This summit is for distributors with sales volume below $2.5 million. This year's program has new topics, new technologies and new insights. Designed exclusively by member distributors, this program brings top-notch education in a format that works for you. Your peers developed all of the programs, the schedule and the manufacturer sessions. Join us from March 12-14 at Embassy Suites Outdoor World, Dallas. Click here for more.

Here are this week's top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. Brokers Pad; 5" x 6 1/2"; prints 2/0; four part unit set; first 3 parts 20#--15# carbonless; part 4 is a 140# tag; 10 sets per pad; consecutive Arabic crash numbering; 10 pads will be shrink-wrapped with a bar coded label attached showing numbering sequence of the pads; 50 pads per carton; QTY=25M pads
2. Sign; 30" x 30"; dimensional foam lettering; brushed aluminum on face of letters; QTY=1
3. Trophy Wraps; 1 3/4" x 6"; cohesive glue; QTY=50M-100M
4. Post Card; prints 4cp/4cp; internal "L" perfs; QTY=9MM-12MM
5. Molded Plastic Food Container Top; approx. 8" in diameter; QTY=10MM quarterly
6. Bouffant Caps; used by healthcare and food service workers; QTY=900M
7. Pens attached to a Christmas Card; imprinted 1 color; QTY=50-100-250
8. Library Furniture
9. Fuel Meter Tickets; 4 1/2" depth; 3 parts; prints 2 colors; self-contained face; 33# CF on back; QTY=5M - 50M
10. Silk Business Cards; prints 4cp/1; QTY= 3M each of 7 names

If you have a source request--for anything--call the Hotline at (800) 333-2828 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or use the Source Hotline Database online. For new sales ideas every day, try our 1,000 Sales Ideas Database. Manufacturers, if you produce any of these items and would like to check your listing with the Source Hotline, please email Cheryl Rush.