Blog

11.18.2019

Karen Brookman becomes CEO with long-time Alberta-based digital imaging and printing company to guide future direction and expansion Calgary, Alberta (November 18, 2019) – West Canadian Digital Imaging Inc. (“West Canadian” or “the company”) today announced a CEO transition that activates the company’s succession plan. Owner and current Chief Executive Officer George Brookman becomes Chairman and Company Ambassador of West Canadian. The company was founded in 1952 and was later acquired by George in 1984. Under his leadership, the company grew from a traditional microfilm and reprographic service provider to a modern document management company with services that range from digital printing, signage and graphic design to enterprise content management, digital imaging and on-site managed services. With this move, the company’s current Chief Innovation Officer Karen Brookman is promoted to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of West Canadian, putting in place the fulfillment of a long-held family dream. “This is such great news for West Canadian. I am so proud that my daughter Karen will take the reins of this extraordinary company. Karen and I have worked closely for many years so I am absolutely certain she is the right leader to take West Canadian into the future. She has already earned the trust of our people and has tremendous energy and passion for our business and for our customers,” said George Brookman. Karen Brookman steps into her new role after joining West Canadian in Calgary as Chief Innovation Officer in 2018. In that role she oversaw the full range of business functions while spearheading innovation initiatives that lead to business growth. The work resulted in the development of an updated business strategy for the company that leverages its strengths in the area of customer service and technical expertise as well as anticipates expansion into new business activities and growth areas. Karen was previously President of Commonwealth Legal, a West Canadian subsidiary company based in Toronto where she worked from 1997 to 2014. Under her leadership, Commonwealth Legal grew from a regional imaging company to an industry-leading national legal document management company. In 2014, Commonwealth Legal was acquired by Ricoh Canada. Karen was appointed Vice President, Services for Toronto-based Ricoh Canada where she oversaw multiple business units with combined revenue of over $100 million. Reflecting on the leadership transition, George noted, “I saw Karen’s drive, determination and business instincts when she was at Commonwealth Legal. She made great advances while with Ricoh Canada and we are fortunate we were able to attract her back to the family business. With her experience, her ability to develop business strategy, and her commitment to building the leadership team to deliver on the strategy, she is the ideal candidate to guide West Canadian on its future path.” As Karen assumes the new position, she shares a perspective on what sets West Canadian apart. “We talk about the importance of culture and values at West Canadian. We want the best and brightest talent to come to the company to build their careers, enjoy their work and contribute to our local community. We are a customer-first organization where we draw from our staff’s creativity and their big ideas. That will not change. In fact, those values and that drive will be more important to us than ever before. We want to continue to service our customers and to empower them to make their businesses more successful. Innovative technology offerings and providing industry leading solutions will be key to our future direction. I look forward to carrying on the legacy started by my father and those before me at West Canadian.” George and Karen have worked with the West Canadian leadership team to develop a detailed transition plan for the business which is being implemented through the balance of the year. As the company’s Chairman and Company Ambassador, George will contribute to corporate strategy, long-term growth planning and key customer relationships. A former Calgary Stampede President and well-known community leader, George will continue to be very connected and involved with local business and community initiatives. About West Canadian Digital Imaging For over 60 years, West Canadian has enabled businesses to manage their information, tell their story and drive change that matters using an unparalleled breadth of innovative and flexible digital solutions that span from back-office to brand. Our services are designed to reduce costs, improve efficiency and provide our customers with the confidence to take their business to the next level. Our rich history and deep roots in the community have forged lifetime relationships with clients, partners and staff across Canada. Headquartered in Calgary, we have offices in Edmonton, Red Deer and Fort McMurray, Alberta as well as Toronto, Mississauga and Sarnia, Ontario. Find us on LinkedIn or follow us @WestCanDigital on Twitter or Facebook. For more information:Stephen LewisTelephone: (403) 472-6574 Email: slewis@swlconsulting.ca

10.31.2019

As a business owner or marketer, your goals are to tell your story, create meaningful connections with customers, and produce revenue. While digital marketing has taken the business world by storm, traditional advertising techniques are still proven effective if approached with great strategy and creative. Often, businesses may not even realize the opportunity they have to tell their story by utilizing assets and space in creative ways. Here are three ways businesses can take advantage of space to establish brand awareness: 1) Windows, Walls and Floors If you own a storefront business, do your windows invite and entice new customers to stop by? Or if you work in a corporate office, do your employees and customers love coming to your space? By using your windows, walls and floors in creative ways, you can take your customers on a journey, immerse them in a creative space and create an environment that makes them want to keep coming back. Using vinyl wraps and decals, you can showcase your visual brand, create a colourful and vibrant space, educate your customers and attract new and repeat visitors to your space. 2) Vehicles and Fleets Your company fleet is practically a moving billboard, so if you haven't wrapped it with a creative and eye-catching design, you're missing out on the best type of local advertising! There are several options for branding your fleet. Subtle decals help with brand recognition, while a more elaborate and creative design can show off your company's personality and encourage viewers to visit your website, call your business or visit your storefront. 3) Events From conferences to trade shows, golf tournaments and fundraisers, your business is busy hosting, attending and sponsoring all sorts of events. But are you maximizing your presence in a way that captures the attention of your audience and produces ROI? Signage plays an important role in creating a meaningful brand experience at events. If you can excite the people at your events with creative displays, you'll maximize your return and build connections that last. Just think of those Instagram worthy moments! Looking for creative inspiration? You don't have to be a creative expert to get started—WCD Creative can help with that. Let our experts come to your space, create a vision and design a space you'll never want to leave. We can even help you manage the print process working alongside our strategic print and signage partner, Cober Solutions.

08.20.2019

Alberta’s school boards are undergoing an unprecedented transformation, paving the way by bringing student education into the digital era. Driven by the Provincial Approach to Student Information (PASI) initiative, Alberta’s school boards have collectively agreed to develop paperless processes and digitize student records by September 2020. But with the paper records of tens of thousands of students in storage and an influx of over 70,000 new students entering Alberta’s education system each year, educators are challenged to develop an effective strategy that can withstand budget, time and compliance constraints. Asking the Right Questions Each of Alberta’s school boards is at a different stage in the Digital Transformation process. While some are still using traditional paper-based processes, others have begun to digitize. Regardless of where you are on your journey, it’s important to look at the larger picture and ask the right questions. Are we prepared for Digital Transformation? If not, how can we get there? Before diving into digitization, a good place to start is to assess your school board’s readiness to undergo Digital Transformation so that you can identify areas that may need attention. Begin by asking yourself these questions: Do our senior leaders recognize digitization as essential for success?What is the culture around a change in our school board? Are our employees on board? Can our current technology sustain these upcoming changes?Do we have supporting policies and procedures, resources and skillsets to enable Digital Transformation? How willing is our school board to innovate and conceptualize new business processes? How will we convert our documents into a digital format? Is outsourcing the best option? Choosing an approach to scanning your paper records is dependent on a number of factors. Perhaps you work at a smaller school board that started scanning student records several years ago and has the internal administrative capabilities to keep most of the work in-house. On the other hand, you may have a larger volume of records to capture that are physically dispersed at several schools, and given the September 2020 deadline, you know your internal administrative team would be hard-pressed to complete the work in-house. To help with the decision, consider the following: What is the volume of records you need to be scanned?Are the file collections located in several locations and will need to be transported? Does your school board own the hardware/software needed to scan in-house?What are your budget and timeline? Depending on your answers to these questions, you may decide to keep the work in-house or outsource it. You may also use a hybrid approach so that your team is involved in the work but is enabled by a third party that brings added expertise and capabilities to the mix. In Part 2 of our series on Digital Transformation in Education, we will review strategies for completing the first step in Digital Transformation: the capture and digitization of backfile record collections.

01.10.2017

Robotic and Process Automation “Robotic process automation (or RPA) is an emerging form of clerical process automation technology based on the notion of software robots or artificial intelligence (AI) workers.” - BrainBotics In a nutshell, this means we take current human-based activity and automate it using software automation. RPA operates on the surface, so if a user goes to a website and copies some information and then goes to their accounting system and pastes that information in, we can do the same thing, only without the person needing to perform the action. This approach means you don’t need to redefine the process—instead, the robot actually records the action and then repeats it with a few variables in place. It also means you don’t need to be a programmer to make one. That all sounds great but isn’t that what BPM and BPA tools do? Actually, it isn’t. BPM is a process for improving business processes and has its foundation in operations management. BPM is a part of quality control. Its purpose is to provide a process map that can be measured and improved upon over time, and it is the driver behind programs like Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. The primary way BPM helps organizations is through a reduction in variance and through proper metrics, without those as a foundation, organizations (especially manufacturers) would have difficulty improving. BPA Tools are often referred to as workflow tools and provide a way for you to map and automate business processes. The approach in a BPA tool is to recreate the process from the ground up, automating process steps through either predefined steps, like sending an email, or through programming functionality. Some tools are pretty easy to use and don’t require a developer, while others require a workflow developer to create the code to build a workflow. Where there is a real need for RPA is within systems integration. Often, systems integration projects are costly and time-consuming, but with an RPA tool, you can pull from one system and move information to another without any programming required. If a user can show a robot how it is done, then the robot can do it. RPA and BPA tools all have the same end goal in mind: save the organization time and money. Using the right tool for the right job will help your organization, no matter the requirement. It will also pay for itself in a very short period of time. Most organizations purchase these tools for a specific pain point but quickly learn that they can be used in other processes, providing better value. Before you decide on a tool, you should consider where it can be used in the organization as a whole. If you can quickly identify three or more internal processes that could use the tool, you are likely to show a return on investment in the first year. Both RPA and BPA serve a specific purpose, just the approach is different. No matter which tool we use, BPM should be the foundation for the process moving forward. If you dig down, you are going to find your organization probably has a need for all three. Even the best-run organizations have room to improve. Find out how WCD can help you incorporate RPA into your business processes.

06.03.2016

Who remembers the vehicles adorned with infill wood panels, typically seen on the sides of sedans, convertibles and… station wagons. I don’t want to date myself, but the first time I would have laid eyes on one of these gems was when Clark W. Griswold hauled the family to Wally World in the 1983 classic film ‘Vacation’. Not exactly the typical Woodie, but the Wagon Queen Family Truckster did have wood panels. Originally, Woodies were made with real wood framework, but later models, like the Griswold’s, used wood-grain sheet vinyl called DI-NOC. 3M pioneered DI-NOC in the 1950’s for this specific use. It was developed to create a realistic wood-like vinyl which would eliminate the weight of real wood on the car, while being more cost effective. Unfortunately, it didn’t catch on as anticipated. WCD has divested of its print and signage divisions to Cober Solutions, offering expanded national capabilities. Find out more >> DI-NOC began to gain popularity in the 90’s when the Japanese started using it as an architectural product. With the ability to stick to almost any existing substrate, DI-NOC became the go to material when re-furbishing and re-covering existing spaces. Fast forward to today. DI-NOC has advanced substantially and is available all over the world for many types of commercial, institutional and residential applications both indoors and out. What is 3M DI-NOC vinyl? 3M DI−NOC vinyl’s are durable, cleanable and flexible PVC films that use Comply Adhesive air release technology for fast, easy and virtually bubble-free application. The films have excellent adhesion and flexibility, allowing them to be used indoors or outdoors on flat or complex curved substrates, walls, furniture, fixtures, etc. Some of the films can also be applied to 3−dimensional surfaces and/or thermoformed. These films are ideal for both new construction and remodeling. Why choose 3M DI-NOC ? 3m DI-NOC finishes have many advantages: Large Selection: Over 700 different patterns to select from giving you the ultimate creative control. 21 different product categories ranging from Wood Grain, Fine Woods, Concrete, Leather, Marble, Metallic and many more finishes. Quick and clean to install: Minimizes turnaround time and disruption to workplace getting you back up in running quickly. Budget friendly: Can use existing substrates so costs are minimized when you can re purpose existing fixtures, walls and furniture. Environmentally friendly: DI-NOC architectural finishes are not produced from trees or metal-bearing ores. A green building product, they go up fast, with less likelihood of error and waste. And when their lifecycle ends, select DI-NOC products are easier on the earth. Sustainable: Most DI-NOC architectural surfaces earn LEED credits for green building. Specify them instead of materials that come from forests or metal-bearing ores that require mining. And when its lifecycle ends, DI-NOC products are easier on the environment, too. Insist on 3M DI-NOC Experience 3M Visualizer for DI-NOC >> For renovations: Lightweight and self-adhering, DI-NOC architectural finishes can be applied to existing substrates, reducing labor and material cost compared to natural materials. With DI-NOC products, you create a whole new look, quickly and inexpensively without compromising on aesthetics, thanks to its uncanny resemblance to natural materials. For new construction: Perhaps you prefer the authenticity of real wood, metal or stone. That’s only natural. Use them for select areas. Specify DI-NOC architectural finishes everywhere else. You’ll get cost savings, speed of application, durability and still maintain the aesthetic look you desire. Read to get Started? Signage solutions now available through Cober Solutions.