PIA Affiliates Launch FSC Group

Sixteen Printing Industries of America affiliates have joined together to form the Regional Affiliate Certificate Group offering manufacturing printers access to FSC chain of custody certification at group prices. They report that on December 1, 2010, 47 companies were successfully included in the group launch, which is the first printers group created in North America. Although the group is limited to accepting manufacturing companies with sales of less than $5 million, administrator Jim Tepper says he sees potential for many firms across the US.

Sixteen Printing Industries of America affiliates have joined together to form the Regional Affiliate Certificate Group offering manufacturing printers access to FSC chain of custody certification at group prices. They report that on December 1, 2010, 47 companies were successfully included in the group launch, which is the first printers group created in North America. Although the group is limited to accepting manufacturing companies with sales of less than $5 million, administrator Jim Tepper says he sees potential for many firms across the US.

“The majority of print manufacturers are companies with sales less than $5 million and have struggled with the process and cost of FSC compliance. By partnering with a group manager and a well-respected auditing firm, we have utilized the advantage of association membership to provide our members a way of meeting their customer’s needs at an affordable price which is less than half of a single certification,” Tepper says.

The group says that aggregating participating firms makes costs substantially lower than with individual certification. The full costs are prorated across the entire group. An additional benefit is the availability of the group manager to assist members with compliance, document preparation, advice on organization of records, and more.