Doing business for the greater good
Whether it’s producing goods responsibly or giving back on every single sale, successful businesses are changing the way they do business. To do better business we not only need to create better products, but with every sale or every decision support the greater good.
Better businesses define themselves by doing good. Better businesses create good products, they provide good service, they’re good to their employees and the community. To be a business that functions for the greater good you need to operate in a way where every action has a positive impact not just for the business but surrounding stakeholders.
How can asking yourself, who else could this benefit? create a natural ripple effect and will hugely change the dynamics, culture and success of your business.
Here are a few concepts that anyone in the print industry could effortlessly apply:
1. Repurpose your waste
One man's rubbish is another man's treasure. At Duplo we demo our booklet makers every day, producing tens of booklets as examples on a daily basis. These are not needed to Duplo, but instead of chucking them into recycling bins we thought of the greater good. These bound, stitched, stapled booklets are great resource for school, Charites and other businesses to use for notes, learning, art and so on.
2. Bridging the gap between Printing and Creatives
Duplo of course need to be delivering products that meet the needs and demands of the end customers. We gain an understanding for our own product development but also communicate this customer knowledge with printers so that they can better, communicate, adjust and deliver services that engage their customers; brands, creative agencies, marketers and media buyers. Additionally, treating these two ways, giving the brands, creative agencies, marketers and media buyers some print insight creates an all-round understanding, leading to better communication and opportunities, for marketers, printers and lastly Dupo machinery.
3.Training
By supporting the development of skills of students, agencies, teachers, media buyers to design for or use Duplo machines gives stakeholders valuable skills to take with them. This activity also gives them the knowledge and skills for best practice, this will increase the quality output on Duplo jobs and also put them in confidence using Duplo’s finishing solutions.
4. Idea sharing
To support designers that are looking for new ways to get creative and additionally ways to build awareness for themselves Duplo are happy to build awareness of their business by producing and sharing artwork in form of applications finished on a Duplo machine. This is a mutual partnership where Duplo are looking for new creative pieces for work and a designer gets to benefit from using a new finishing method plus international awareness as the application is shared across the Duplo market.
5. Community and wellbeing
It would be agreed by the majority that the important part of any business is the people. We proactively invest in the health & wellbeing of our staff. From providing free fruits throughout the office, to having our own RELAX room and CHILLOUT space. Our own in-house professionally trained Mental Health First Aider provides additional support to help us keep our staff happy and healthy. Our current chosen local charity is CORNER HOUSE, which promotes mental & emotional wellbeing, as well as raising money for it, we also donate some of our time when they need a little helping hand.
6. Apprenticeships & internships
We firmly believe in training the next generation of talents. Our ongoing Production Department’s apprenticeship program has produced some fresh talent over the years and regularly feeds our staff population. We welcome interns throughout the year whose enthusiasm and ‘can do’ approach help us all grow.
7. Utilising skills
Machine automations reduces manual labour needed, giving printers the opportunity to be more flexible and allocate resource elsewhere. For example, there has been several cases where Duplo collators have cut manual repetition, eliminated the need for night shifts and given autonomy to employees. This has supported job satisfaction, employee wellbeing and motivation in the industry, allowing print to flourish as a great industry to work in.
8. Operating in a way that assists the environment
The Duplo International and UK office has been built with sustainability at the heart; 500sqm of solar panels have been installed on the roof. This enables us to save up to 38% over our power bill by selling green solar energy back to the National Grid’. Additionally, 63 Sun Pipes have been installed on the roof to catch and channel natural light into the building. Similarly, the open plan office has been designed so that light from the windows can penetrate right into the centre of the workplace, what light is required is provided by ultra-low energy bulbs and motion sensitive lighting in corridors and toilets turn off the lights when nobody is around. Lastly a bank of 10 Wind Catchers and 12 air source heat Pumps on the roof of the building regulate the temperature and avoid an energy-hungry air conditioning system.
Small steps towards best practice, every action, every day...
