May 13, 2008
Print Service Bureaus - Takin’ Care of Business Using the Web
Web-based systems are offering direct savings to print production’s bottom line and service bureaus are positioned well to realize ROI right from day one of implementation.
Why? Today’s web-based modules for the documents design workflow allows the company to segment specific areas of the workflow – areas in the past that may have caused extra costs that chipped away at the profit margins.
There are two sides to this coin; mistakes made by the customer and errors at the service bureau. Both can be costly.
On the production side, printing an incorrect file, using the wrong paper stock, and ultimately late document delivery causes extra costs which can be associated with overtime, cost of supplies, or poor response to a late mailing.
Customers can make similar mistakes by sending their print vendor the wrong file (thinking it was the approved file), or delivering their master files and data late. In these cases the print service bureau may pay for part or all the overages in order to retain the customer’s print business.
Many of these scenarios boil down to issues related to individual business processes and how they should be managed in the overall workflow. Web-based systems such as the Elixir Correspondence System provide service bureaus with the ability to delegate certain aspects of the document design, proofing and production workflow on a per-customer and per-document basis.
One area that customers are usually happy to take on (and vendors are just as happy to step away from!) is the proofing and approval process. Eliminating the potential for the wrong design or data file making its way into the production cycle can significantly reduce errors. A web-based system allows vendors to hand over certain responsibilities and activities while also providing the customer with an improved process.
The underlying management apparatus in a good document correspondence system contain tools to organize files and resources (images, text, etc.) and provide the ability for version control on the document and its individual resources. Documents are routed for approval and tracked through this process until a final approved version can be released to the vendor. This makes it pretty difficult to release an incorrect design or any other document element into the system. View this informative recorded presentation on how Data Recognition Corp. has implemented this business model using the Elixir Correspondence System.
Immediate ROI!