Overlooked Gems

Hidden values lie just off the beaten path

By George Linkletter

It is always a good idea to take note of what the industry leaders are doing.  After all, the Canons of the world didn't get to their lofty perch by being complacent.  They are the leaders for a reason.  They know their customers, their needs and they work hard to meet them.

But when I go to a show like On Demand, I always take a few minutes to look beyond the giants -- because there are dozens of smaller or lesser-known companies out there with unique or fascinating capabilities.  Some may even become a Canon at some time in the future.

Two companies in particular caught my attention at On Demand.  Both offer intriguing value to managers of high-volume print/mail finishing operations

Automated Translations

One is called Promt, a firm that offers automated translation software and services involving English and eight European languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Russian.  Applications span documents, web sites, corporate intranets and messaging via handheld devices. 

Promt’s enterprise solution is a “comprehensive approach that meets the needs of large firms with a multi-national workforce, multiple overseas branches or large volumes of documents,” says Rui Monteiro-Claro, director of business development.  Yet Promt also offers an online service and a desktop solution that is easy for small businesses to access or implement.  Indeed, its online service processes about 75 million translation requests a month.

It is no secret that the U.S. is diverse country.  Whether large or small, many U.S. businesses, government entities, academic institutions and non-profit groups need to reach communities and individuals where English is poorly understood or not spoken at all.  Local businesses that cater to tourists often need to reach out and communicate in multiple languages.  And an increasingly global marketplace offers substantial opportunities for businesses that can facilitate communication with customers in their native language.

For print/mail finishing managers, having access to an automated translation capability can yield a competitive one-stop-shopping advantage.  Clients who are short-staffed, or over-worked or inexperienced with translation will relish the chance to eliminate even one extra task or interaction with a vendor.

Two of Promt’s managers -- Rui Monteiro-Claro and Alex Yanishevsky, senior solutions architect -- were on hand at On Demand and provided an excellent overview of the firm’s capabilities. 

Promt has an impressive client list – Adobe, Cisco, Seimens AG, NASA, DHL and SAP to name just a few.  Xerox, another very satisfied client, attests that the software reduced translation costs while increasing productivity, speeding time-to-market and the improving the quality of the translation over an existing manual approach. 

Distribute and Print

With a name like GlobalPrint Systems, you might think this firm is a behemoth.  Well, it’s not – at least not yet. 

GPS is a young company but it has big ambitions.  It hopes to become the mobile print partner of business travelers everywhere -- hence the name global.

It is based on the concept of ‘distribute, then print’ and provides Print on Demand (POD) services to business travelers via an emerging network of dispersed, high-quality color printing systems.  The first of these self-service kiosk printers are being deployed in airports and busy convention hotels.

“Frequent business travelers, especially sales professionals, are almost always pressed for time,” says Jonathan Dewees, co-founder of GPS and a co-creator/inventor of PrintPOD, as the unique service is called. 

“It’s just the nature of the business.  Rushing to get to an airport, rushing from one business appointment to another -- when you’re constantly on the go, there is precious little time to print out and pick-up hard-copy business presentations, proposals, specification sheets and even contracts.  Yet just about every business transaction still needs this vital information in hard copy form.”

To meet this need, PrintPOD offers busy travelers – including even leisure travelers or vacationers who might want to print out a boarding pass, map or directions – three ways to access vital documents while on the go. 

One, they can upload documents in advance from a desktop/laptop PC to a secure, personal-account-based data storage system.  The travelers then access those documents or files at any PrintPOD kiosk for immediate printing.  The concept is much the same as accessing funds from a personal bank account via an ATM.

Two, using an e-mail capability, travelers can transfer documents ‘on the fly’ -- from a PDA, SmartPhone or laptop -- directly to their personal account, and then print those documents at any kiosk on the network. 

Or three, they can load the documents in advance into a standard mobile storage device – PrintPOD is compatible with the ubiquitous USB flash drive as well as more than 30 other kinds of common media devices – and then print the documents at the self-service kiosk upon arrival, departure or whenever convenient.

One key benefit of the PrintPOD kiosk, according to Dewees, is the simple fact that it is self-service and available 24/7, making it accessible whenever needed by travelers.  Existing office services facilities, whether located in a stand-alone retail business such as a Staples store or even a hotel, can be inconvenient or unavailable due to their location, hours of operation or peak customer demand.

Both of these innovative services – automated translation and remote on-demand printing – fall outside of the realm of the typical print/mail finishing operation.  But Bob Hall, the venerable editor of Quick Printing Magazine, shared an important insight during a conversation at On Demand. 

Noting the immense economic pressures and rapid technological changes impacting the industry, he said the future belongs to those managers who are nimble and focus on the ‘business’ of print, rather than the ‘print’ business.  That means, more than ever before, staying close to customers, finding out how their needs are evolving, and finding a way to deliver the enhancements as well as the new services and capabilities that they want and need.

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Comments?  Contact georgelinkletter@charter.net