Print
Solutions March 2006
Cover
story
Reality
Check, continued
Web-to-Print
Case
Study
The
Key to Online Solutions
Software
companies provide turnkey solutions
for W2P applications.
For
web-to-print applications, software
is as important as presses, paper
and ink.
Joe
Fedor, director of product marketing
at Printable Technologies Inc.,
Solana Beach, Calif., says, “In
today’s marketplace, printers
and distributors can no longer
rely simply on price, quality
and turnaround time to differentiate
themselves. They need to rely
on value-added services and turn
themselves into a new kind of
company—a marketing company
where print is just one stream.”
The
overall theme is taking
processes that are a real
nightmare internally and
turning them into something
that’s automated.
Steve
Enstad, co-founder Printra
Santa
Clara, Calif.
|
As
more print companies position
themselves as marketing communications
experts, software companies play
a larger role in the industry’s
evolution toward desktop control
of printed products.
Web-to-print
software differs in detail, but
generally it’s the technology
that allows end users to access
online storefronts, order and
customize print products, and
send press-ready output files.
In
this article, we feature seven
of the industry’s web-to-print
vendors: Pageflex, a division
of Bitstream Inc. based in Cambridge,
Mass.; Printable Technologies
Inc., Solana Beach, Calif.; Kramer
Smilko Inc., Bel Air, Md.; Printra
Inc., Santa Clara, Calif.; TopForm
Software Inc., Norcross, Ga.;
e-Quantum Inc., Reno, Nev., and
Four51 Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.
All offer web-to-print solutions
to manufacturers, distributors
or operations software suppliers
who want to sell web-to-print
applications without investing
resources to develop these solutions
in-house.
Companies
partner with these software providers
for different reasons. For some,
using web-to-print solutions means
cost savings in the long run.
For others, it allows them to
attract more customers and go
toe-to-toe with larger competitors.
For some companies who buy ready-made,
web-to-print software packages,
“the value proposition is
to increase sales through new
online offerings without having
to increase incremental costs,”
says Rich Landa, CEO of Four51
Inc. For others, especially smaller
companies, “Web-to-print
programs are not only creating
new revenue streams, but also
are being designed to connect
with networks of suppliers who
are located all over the country
and not just in their geographic
area. It allows those companies
to move up the supply chain.”
Features
and Benefits
Distributors
and manufacturers no longer require
a large, dedicated IT staff to
implement web-to-print technology.
“Basically, one person who
can understand how the web site
should be set up can deploy it,”
says Alice Fackre, director of
product marketing at Pageflex.
Most web-to-print software relies
on a Wizard or step-by-step instructions
that guide administrators through
the process of building a web
site for their customers. When
designing the site, you determine
its level of functionality according
to your customer’s needs.
When
I’m talking to people,
it seems like everybody
knows what web-to-print
is. They know that they’re
going to get left behind
if they don’t figure
out a strategy that works
for them.
Alice
Fackre, director of product
marketing
Pageflex
Cambridge,
Mass.
|
The
typical web-to-print package includes
an order-entry portal for the
customer and an administrative
site for the distributor or manufacturer.
From the administrative site,
the distributor or manufacturer
chooses products available for
the customer to purchase and to
what extent they can be customized.
For instance, if the customer
wants to manage business cards
and stationery, the software allows
administrators to set up a pre-designed
template for each item. Administrators
can define rules that let customers
add variable text or upload individual
graphics but does not allow them
to modify static information such
as a company logo. The programs
are sophisticated enough to automatically
adjust static elements if the
variable text is too long or the
uploaded graphics are too big.
The web-to-print software platform,
Quantum Net, allows customers
to use similar tools to manipulate
the text and graphics on various
variable data print items, says
Beth Pohll, a member of the e-Quantum
marketing team. “They can
scroll through variable images
offered by the distributor, or
end users can upload their own
files,” she says. “They
can upload mailing lists. They
can do leading and tracking. They
can control tinting. There is
a whole bank of drawing tools.
The distributor can even offer
forced formatting so that text
automatically appears in upper
case and lower case.”
Once
the material is formatted and
customers purchase the items,
they proof them on their computer
screen. Some companies, such as
e-Quantum, offer security measures
so that several people are alerted
to the impending purchase of a
product. “Some end users
may need to have a manager approve
the purchase,” says Susan
Godfrey, marketing director for
e-Quantum. “Before the purchase
is made, an email is sent to that
manager telling them they need
to give approval.” Once
approvals and proofing are completed,
on the back end the software converts
the file into a press-ready output
file for the printer.
In
many cases, software vendors also
host the web sites and provide
support to the administrator,
including technology and sales
training.
Applications
and Implementation
The
most basic applications usually
manage stationery products, but
there are more sophisticated solutions
available.
In
addition to offering the web-to-print
application, Web.ec., where end
users can enter variable data
and upload images to their stationery
and commercial printing products
online, TopForm Software also
offers DocuCenter, “which
is specifically for customers
who need to manage the content
of their print-on-demand documents,”
says Julie Pritchard, president
of TopForm. End users can create
new documents and make changes
to existing documents which are
all stored in a central document
repository. DocuCenter provides
the tools so that the documents
can be accessed directly from
an on-line product catalog. The
items’ artwork or content
can be updated and multiple designers
can work on items in the same
catalog,” Pritchard says.
Some
solutions are tailored for specific
companies. Printra worked with
a distributor to streamline an
employee recognition program for
a Fortune 100 fashion retailer
with 150,000 employees. After
working for the company for five
years, employees received a watch.
After 10 years, they received
a better watch, and at 25 years
an even nicer watch.
“They
had two full-time employees managing
this program and no central human
resources database,” says
Steve Enstad, co-founder of Printra.
“So everyone was emailing
spreadsheets from Japan and Europe
to this poor group of two people
to manage what became a simple
pick-and-pack order.” Now
the spreadsheets are sent to Printra,
which standardizes the data fields
and sends email notices to eligible
employees. Employees click on
a link to redeem their gift, which
initiates the pick-and-pack order.
“The main thing here is
that the salesperson who was listening
to a problem came to us and said
‘How can we automate this?’”
Enstad says.
Some
web-to-print software providers
work together to develop better
print solutions for end users.
Kramer Smilko has seamlessly integrated
a complete web-to-print application
for 1:1 marketing into an ordering
system using a “punchout”
solution owned and supported by
Printra. John Smilko, vice president
at the company, says Kramer Smilko
“chose to integrate with
Printra software for higher end
web-to-print solutions rather
than re-invent the wheel. Basically,
‘punchout’ allows
multiple sites to be integrated
as one.” In those instances,
when users want to design a marketing
piece, they are re-directed to
the Printra online ordering system
where they can configure and proof
their item. Once they approve
the proof, they are returned to
the Kramer Smilko system. The
Kramer Smilko system then releases
the order and sends Printra’s
system a message letting them
know that this order is ready
to be released to production.
All of this occurs along an integrated
supply chain of software, reducing
the possibility of mistakes occurring
in the workflow.
Web-to-print
software allows for basic functions
such as online ordering and scalable
features as customer needs evolve.
Customers start by ordering business
cards or promotional postcards,
and soon might want to upload
mailing lists for a direct-mail
campaign.
[With
web-to-print,] the value
proposition is to increase
sales through new online
offerings without having
to increase incremental
costs. Web-to-print programs
are creating new revenue
streams, but also are
being designed to connect
with networks of suppliers
who are located all over
the country and not just
in their geographic area.
Rich
Landa, CEO
Four51
Inc.
Eden
Prairie, Minn
|
Based
on customer input, software providers
frequently modify their applications.
Landa says that Four51 does almost
90 feature enhancements to its
web-to-print software per quarter
and the company manages a product
development roadmap based on its
own assessments and customer feedback.
One change that they made five
months ago to the software platform
allowed end users to purchase
a mailing list from U.S.A.Data
for direct mail campaigns. The
end users could integrate that
data into Four51 software, which
then took that information to
create variable marketing pieces.
Marketing
departments in end user organizations
drive the demand for web-to-print
applications, says Fackre. And
companies that want to deploy
products for their customers are
most concerned about the flexibility
of the software. “They want
to know how much control they’re
going to have over the technology
once it’s deployed,”
she says. “They want to
make sure that once they make
the investment that they can evolve.
Most of the people we’re
talking to really want control
over the templates.”
End
users will continue to drive interest
in web-to-print capabilities,
and distributors will expand the
product offering from simply printed
products to a full range of marketing
services, office products and
more. “I think we’re
going to see more people shifting
from the dabbling stage to an
embrace of something they need
to be successful,” Fackre
says.
Andrew
Brown and LaShell Stratton are
assistant editors at Print Solutions
magazine. Email your comments
to bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
Web-to-print
Software Solutions
Here
are some software companies that
offer a variety of web-to-print
solutions for distributors and
manufacturers.
Pageflex
Printable
Technologies Inc.
Kramer
Smilko Inc.
Printra
Inc.
TopForm
Software Inc.
e-Quantum
Inc.
Four51
Inc.
