Dale W. Crook, president of distributorship Atlantic
Forms, Atlanta, sold traditional forms to one of the 95 divisions of a Fortune
500 company that offers mechanical and electrical construction and facilities
services. Crook learned that the company's East Coast headquarters, which
employs 26,000 people, wanted to create strong brand identity with consistent
graphic standards for all of its divisions. "They were changing their image,"
Crook says. "They were changing the logo and wanted their divisions to look like
cookie cutters."
BY PREETI VASISHTHA
More by this author
The fifth letter of the alphabet is the first thing many printing pros envision when they think about growing their businesses. The letter "E" is critical: How many times has it been used excitedly--and anxiously--in conference rooms and during industry events? Companies are stimulating their businesses by launching or expanding e-commerce strategies. In this lightning-fast printing industry, "E" stands for energy.
Distributors, manufacturers and suppliers who are plugged in to client needs understand the power of e-solutions. They enable companies to penetrate accounts, gain business from larger firms, remove costs from the buying process and improve supply-chain management. Provide end users a way to procure printed products 24/7, give them access to customized buying reports, and they'll show you more orders.
E-commerce in the printing industry continues to evolve. A few years ago, dozens of dot-coms dotted the landscape. Only a handful remain, and many manufacturers and operations software suppliers have added or enhanced systems of their own. Those firms, as well as distributorships offering e-commerce, know the technology brings about new strategies, painful struggles and impressive triumphs--sometimes in the same day.
In the following pages, Print Solutions features two stories about companies that have energized their businesses with e-commerce. Atlantic Forms, Atlanta, helps a construction company maintain control over its printing needs and decentralize the purchasing process. And Webster Printing Inc., Hanson, Mass., helps a health care provider reduce costs and maintain consistency in its printed products.
Each division handled its printing needs independently, ordering at different costs printed products such as business cards, letterhead, labels, brochures and envelopes. This led to inconsistency with the logo, ink, quality and design of the company's printed materials, Crook says.
Crook discovered the construction company's headquarters also wanted to maintain control over the divisions' printing needs and decentralize the purchasing process. "They wanted to be able to manage across the enterprise," he says. "Every division did its own thing. The headquarters had no idea as to what the divisions were doing, how they were purchasing and what they were ordering."
A More Efficient System
Crook recognized a tremendous opportunity to secure more work from the construction company's other divisions. He previously had worked with manufacturer PrintXcelSM, based in Englewood, Colo., and thought the manufacturer's eMASTERS online print management system would meet his client's needs. eMASTERS allows distributors to create online catalogs so their customers can order printed products 24/7. The system uses technology from Minneapolis-based supplier Four51 Inc., and enables online ordering, order tracking and customized reporting. Fifty medium- to large-sized distributorships use eMASTERS, says Bernie Pasquantino, director of eBusiness at New Albany, Ind.-based Discount Labels Inc., a PrintXcel brand. The companies, which PrintXcel qualifies as distributorships, must have minimum sales of $20,000 per year per online catalog.
Crook asked the division's purchasing manager how much time and money the company spent to procure printed products such as business cards. The purchasing manager said it took the firm at least an hour to order one set of business cards for $50 and another $50 to procure it. Crook introduced eMASTERS to the division's president and purchasing manager. He asked an employee to create a business card and order it using eMASTERS. It took one minute. The purchasing manager, whom Crook says is a man of few words, nodded approvingly. The president told Crook, "I'm sold."
Later, Crook presented eMASTERS to the client's headquarters, and the company adopted the system for widespread use last August. Approximately 175 employees in 72 divisions worldwide now use eMASTERS to order business cards, letterhead, envelopes, labels, traditional forms and tax forms. (Divisions in Europe, Middle East and Canada haven't adopted it.) Since August, the company has placed more than 3,500 orders online, and its printed products have consistent graphics.
Manufacturer PrintXcelSM, based in Englewood, Colo., introduced its eMASTERS online print management system last year. eMASTERS uses technology from Minneapolis-based supplier Four51 Inc. and allows distributors to create online catalogs so their customers can order printed products 24/7. From left: Joey Feliciano, director of eBusiness sales; Brian Douglas, eBusiness account executive; and Bernie Pasquantino, director of eBusiness at New Albany, Ind.-based Discount Labels Inc., a PrintXcel brand. Feliciano and Douglas are responsible for online sales, and Pasquantino focuses on system implementation.
eMASTERS generates revenue, product usage and personnel buying reports, among others. Atlantic Forms' construction-industry client knows what each of its 95 divisions has ordered, as well as when and for how much.
Here's how the system works: An authorized user at the construction company accesses the online catalog and keys in a user name and password (assigned by Crook). To place an order for envelopes, the user chooses the size, quantity and other specifications, and clicks "submit." Crook receives an email generated by eMASTERS notifying him about the order. Crook then decides which PrintXcel plant is best suited for supplying the envelopes and sends an email to the plant to request the order. He includes specifications such as quantity, size, date of delivery and shipping address. The plant acknowledges receipt of the order through an automated email that's sent to both Crook and the user. The system assigns a tracking number to the order, allowing the user and Atlantic Forms to check order status. Once the plant completes the order and ships the envelopes, the distributorship and the user receive an email saying the order is complete.
Better Business for Both Sides
E-commerce has changed the way the construction company conducts its print buying, and eMASTERS provides more than just an easier ordering method. The system generates reports on revenue, product usage and personnel buying. The company's management knows what each division has ordered, as well as when and for how much. "It's good for the company because it's efficient ordering," Crook says. "It's good for the headquarters because everything is centralized. The headquarters knows exactly what each order looks like. Only one person there needs to spend, at best, one hour each day to manage the entire enterprise."
Crook says e-commerce also can change the way distributors conduct business. The technology offers them a huge opportunity to sell non-traditional print products, he says. "From a distributor's standpoint, there are lots of products that work on the same business model. The distributor can sell using an online catalog," he says.
Although systems like eMASTERS are becoming increasingly popular among distributors and their customers, Crook says their success depends on manufacturers. Manufacturers should remain flexible and open to distributors' needs, he says. "There are manufacturers who say they're creating systems to support products they manufacture," Crook says. "That doesn't really help the distributor. When his customer says he wants labels, but the manufacturer doesn't produce them and isn't willing to support the distributor, the system doesn't work. Everyone has to be a player in this game."
During the recession-hit summer of 2002, Ernest Foster, owner of Webster Printing Inc., Hanson, Mass., was looking for ways to grow his business without adding costs. Eric Braun, president of technology company TeamShare Solutions Inc., Hanover, Mass., was looking for customers in various industries, including printing, that wanted to use technology to streamline business, improve customer satisfaction and offer cost benefits.
Foster and Braun didn't know it, but their wives played tennis together. The women discussed their husbands' businesses and the opportunity for the companies to work together. Soon, Foster and Braun met and decided their business needs matched.
Ernest Foster (left), owner of Webster Printing Inc., Hanson, Mass., and Eric Braun, president of technology company TeamShare Solutions Inc., Hanover, Mass., look at proofs of post cards created for a national occupational health provider. Webster Printing offers the health provider approximately 100 printed products, including business cards, brochures, labels, post cards and pocket folders. The company can order the items online using TeamShare Solutions' ProzettaPrint® e-procurement system.
Webster Printing primarily offers mailing and commercial printing services to the manufacturing, education and financial markets. The 49-year-old company was looking for ways to help its customers--mainly large companies in the Boston area--to better manage their printing materials. "We wanted to use technology that would make it easier for customers to purchase printed products," Foster says. "We wanted to combine old [commercial printing] and new technology, and also wanted to increase our customer base."
Braun knew his company could leverage its existing technology to develop an e-procurement system for ordering online printed products. TeamShare Solutions developed ProzettaPrint® for Webster Printing so the printing firm could create online catalogs for its customers, send RFQs to manufacturers, create and view dynamically created PDF proofs, access current and past orders and RFQs, and more. (Distributorships also can use ProzettaPrint.)
Centralized, Consistent Ordering
Webster Printing began selling printed products such as business cards, brochures, labels, post cards and pocket folders to a leading national occupational health provider two years ago. The company, which provides occupational therapy to patients, wanted to have better control over its 35 branches nationwide. Each branch ordered printed materials from different vendors, Foster says. The branches had unique versions of business cards and labels instead of consistent design.
Foster deals mainly with CFOs and CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, including the health provider. "Inventory control for CFOs is a huge thing," he says. "They want to consolidate ordering in one place and keep track of who's ordering what. They also want to analyze mailing issues and see reports."
Foster introduced ProzettaPrint to the health provider's headquarters, and now all of its branches use the system to order printed materials. A user from any branch visits Webster Printing's web site (www.websterprinting.com) and clicks on a link for customer logins. (A Webster Printing employee assigns users names and passwords.) The user sees thumbnails of about 100 printed products, including business cards, brochures, labels, post cards and pocket folders, then clicks on the item he wants to order. The user types in the quantity needed, plus comments, and clicks "submit." ProzettaPrint sends an email to a designated employee at Webster Printing, who processes the order.
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