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Print
Solutions September 2005
DMIA
INCOMING PRESIDENT
Riding
the Winds of Change, continued.
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Dispatching
Integrated Technology
In
2001, Dispatch installed new e-commerce
software that’s integrated
with the firm’s back-end
computer operating systems. The
Erie, Pa., manufacturer has two
models: a shopping cart customers
can use to order items stored
at the manufacturer’s Fulfillment
Plus facility, and a design interface
that enables clients to create
imprints from a template. Dispatch’s
MIS manager, Leon Bujnowski, developed
the technology with CEO Tim Mehl,
CDC, and it resides on the company’s
server. The two systems are distributor-branded
and usually are linked to Dispatch
through distributors’ web
sites.
Customers
with products on the shelf at
Fulfillment Plus can go to www.teamdispatch.com,
click on “Customer Login,”
and enter unique account numbers
and passwords to access their
real-time inventory. They also
can order products online, download
and upload files, and check order
shipping status. (Dispatch is
one of UPS’ largest clients
in Erie.) “Everything’s
interactive and in real time—we
don’t take a process and
re-key it,” Bujnowski says.
Bujnowski,
who graduated from the Rochester
Institute of Technology, was hired
more than 30 years ago to evolve
Dispatch’s order entry department.
When the company decided to computerize
in 1980, he began working closely
with Plantrol Systems, Westfield,
N.Y., to write custom software
programs.
“When
we designed the workflow of the
system, we had an edict to have
no duplicate keystrokes in the
process,” Mehl says. “I’m
most proud of the fact that we
pulled it off before opening the
Fulfillment Plus facility. That
required significant software
development.”
Mehl
and Bujnowksi believe that printing
manufacturers best suited for
growth are the ones with web-enabled
processes. “Customers are
going to require more and more
interaction,” Mehl says.
“When they’re checking
a status or designing a document
and sending it to be digitally
printed, the web-enabled process
is incredibly important. Our goal
is to make it as smooth as possible.”
For
a demo of Dispatch’s e-commerce
technology, visit www.teamdispatch.com,
click on “Customer Login,”
and use the account number “100”
and the password “10demo.”
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Dispatch,
a manufacturer in Erie, Pa., developed
proprietary e-commerce software
that integrates with its back-end
computer operating systems. Customers
easily can order releases from
storage at Dispatch’s Fulfillment
Plus facility.
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Tim
and Susan Mehl’s house sits
on the southern shore of Lake
Erie. Their backyard backs up
to private Manchester Beach, where
waves gently break 100 yards away
from a stone walkway and patio.
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Tim
Mehl (left) and his older brother
Joe Mehl, chairman of Dispatch,
complement each other’s
personality and management style.
Tim is a detail-oriented planner
and handles the company’s
operations; Joe is more outgoing
and is responsible for sales and
marketing. The brothers are the
fourth generation of Mehls to
run the business, which began
in 1851.
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Mehl:
DMIA Needs Better Identity
Tim
Mehl’s first involvement
with DMIA was a regional trade
show (now called TradeMart) held
in the early 1980s. He was impressed.
Next, he went to his first Mid-Year
Planning Conference (now called
the Spring Management Conference,
or SMC) a few years later. “Then,
I was hooked,” he says.
Mehl,
CDC, CEO of Dispatch, a manufacturer
in Erie, Pa., serves as DMIA’s
vice president and will become
president in October during the
association’s Print Solutions
2005 Conference & Expo in
Orlando. In 2003-2004, he was
treasurer of DMIA. In 2001-2002,
he was a member of the Board’s
Planning and Resources Committee.
At the 2002 SMC, Mehl helped to
facilitate the “Promotional
Products” and “Commercial
Printing/Direct Mail” meetings
and served on the Distance Learning
Committee. He also is a former
member of The International Association
for Document Technologies’
board of directors.
“The
most valuable service the association
provides are actual events—the
Print Solutions conference in
October, the Spring Management
Conference, the Small Distributors
Summit and the CEO Summit,”
Mehl says. “The networking
opportunities alone are worth
the trip. Members should absolutely
participate in one or two of these
a year.”
During
Mehl’s upcoming 1-year term
as DMIA’s president, he
aims to create a better identity
for the association, which he
expects will bring an influx of
new members, especially from the
commercial printing industry.
“Because it’s not
simple to define what we do, we
have to have an identity that’s
not product-based,” he says.
“So many times I’m
asked about DMIA in passing, and
everyone wants the 1-minute version.
I can’t give a good 1-minute
version; I can give a pretty good
5-minute version, but that’s
not brief or succinct enough.”
Mehl
also aims to encourage current
members to get more value from
DMIA’s education sources
and to encourage the industry
to develop better process-improvement
procedures. “I’m looking
forward to the term, and I’m
a little nervous, to be honest,”
he says. “There’s
a lot to do, and these are challenging
times for the industry and our
association. I’d like to
leave something behind that’s
meaningful.”
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Recognizing
the potential of variable imaging
and one-to-one marketing, Dispatch
invested in digital technology
and now operates a division specializing
in on-demand printing and mailing.
Credit:
Rob Engelhardt
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Tim
Mehl (middle) checks a printing
job with Dave Larson (left), press
operator, and Dan Morschhauser,
Kim Kraft plant manager. Business
forms and other traditional products
still represent a majority of
Dispatch’s $6.5 million
in annual sales. The company’s
Kim Kraft Business Forms division
produces medium runs of custom
continuous forms, unit sets and
cut sheets.
Credit:
Rob Engelhardt
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