On-demand streamlinesprinting processes

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(Purchasing Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) While traditional print services are not disappearing, use of print on-demand technology is growing steadily and shows no signs of slowing down. The reason? It means printing less, printing what you need when you need it, says InfoTrends consultant Steve Adoniou.



Print on-demand is part of an even bigger trend in printing services, which is the growth of online print services. According to market research by InfoTrends, about 25% of printing done on high-speed digital color printers came through web-to-print sales, and that number is expected to increase in the next two years. These orders, says Adoniou, can be coming in through ad-hoc send-and-print, using a print driver, a templated solution, or a catalogue, or any combination of those.

Some companies, like FedEx Kinkos and WorkflowOne, offer online portals where print orders can be placed, managed, and optimized. Its not always necessary to get the lowest cost, because other things factor into it such as delivery dates and the capabilities in process, says John Nicely, vice president of marketing at WorkflowOne in Dayton, Ohio. Were also challenging the suppliers to come back with economical solutions and suggest they take a color out or change the size of a product by a half inch to make it much more economical.

Portals such as WorkflowOne Access also allow for warehouse and inventory monitoring. This means print services providers are noticing this growth and stepping up their technology to keep pace.

[Print on-demand] is the focus of our company right now, says Dale McMichael, director of marketing for technical solutions at Standard Register in Dayton, Ohio. Weve focused a lot of effort and investment on the on-demand business, from technology to production-related investments.

Print on-demand can save print buyers money and time because much of the workflow on the printers end is automated. Everything from getting a price quote to printing, binding and collating can be done automatically.

Solutions are growing more and more in their functionality where theyre becoming more end-to-end or theyre integrated with other components of the workflow, which enable efficiency and productivity, says Adoniou.

Print on-demand is not a panacea for lower printing costs, Adoniou points out, as it wont fit every business model. However, it does present the possibility for savings as it can reduce or completely eliminate inventory.

McMichael has similar views, however, saying as the volume of the print order increases over a certain break-even point, theres actually cost efficiencies to printing [items] traditionally, meaning large print orders based on a forecasted volume, she says. Conversely, while many print service providers now employ print on-demand technology, the benefits can be negated if the delivery method is inefficient, such as printing everything at one central location far away from the delivery point.

In some cases a distribute and print model makes more sense, according to McMichael, where a digital file to be printed is sent to multiple printing locations. Whereas traditional bulk printing sent out from one location could have a leadtime from 10-17 days, with a distribute and print model, McMichael says that can be cut down to as few as four days or even overnight, depending on the proximity to the print center.

The flexibility offered by online print services in conjunction with print on-demand have allowed print services providers to work more visibility into the print procurement processa real boon for buyers.

Though Adoniou warns that a buyer cant just look at Web-to-print and think its going to answer all your problems. It can answer a lot of your problems as a print buyer if you just want a simple way to access it and employ it through an enterprise.

Online printing systems, such as printing portals, can allow a purchaser a secure way to monitor the flow of print spend for different kinds of documents, control access to that spend at different levels, and track long-term pricing trends. Adoniou says that the growing solutions offered online can help a purchaser with their workflow so you know whats coming in and going out and when its going to get done.

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. All Rights Reserved.
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