Apr 1, 2008
Speed and Versatility
A custom-tailored solution simplifies workflows, lowers costs and eases electronic distribution for a CT-based publisher
If ever there was a reason to abandon the status quo when upgrading printing equipment, it may well be the remarkable improvements achieved by Business & Legal Reports, a Connecticut-based publisher of business information.
The 30-year-old and steadily-growing firm recently faced a decision that is not uncommon among users of high-speed printing equipment: whether to re-up with the incumbent print vendor or seek out better value from a new one.
In the case of BLR, the existing print equipment had been on-site for several years, so the firm had more than received value for its investment. But technology advances rapidly and what was once considered state-of-the-art had become something less. And new considerations, such as streamlined workflows and set-ups, along with easy distribution via electronic channels, are now just as critical to superior performance as speed, reliability, versatility and image quality.
Of all the key objectives, improved versatility may have been the most important to Chuck Drube, Operations Manager for BLR. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s print and distribution function, which exceeds 65 million impressions a year across dozens of applications, document formats and page counts -- all processed on two shifts a day, five days a week.
“Our firm provides updates and advisory information in the four key areas of human resources management, compensation, environmental compliance and workplace safety,” he explains. “Some of our material is state-specific, some is related to national standards, some is distributed via 900-page three-ring binders, and some via monthly or quarterly newsletters or special bulletins. Clients can subscribe to virtually any mix of data, in either print or electronic form, can sign up at any point during the year, and are assured of receiving only the most up-to-date data and report commentary.”
Given the huge print volumes involved -- roughly 250,000 pages a day -- any solution that required printing and storing, and subsequently destroying, obsolete pages was unacceptable. But implementing a custom-tailored print-on-demand capability is more complex than what might appear on the surface.
“The previous vendor’s workflow was proprietary and excessively cumbersome,” says Isabelle Smith, Content Management Services Manager, who heads up the graphic design and layout function. “We needed a workflow solution that was fast and easy to use, and not tied to a specific vendor. There are plenty of opportunities for BLR to offer new and enhanced products, and we needed to boost our productivity so we can easily absorb a growing and evolving workload.”
A Comprehensive Solution
Drube issued an RFP and invited four vendors to respond, including the incumbent. The winning solution came from IKON and centered on a combination of Canon imageRUNNER technology for print, PlanetWatch software for streamlined workflows, and IKON expertise for implementation and services.
Cost is a critical issue to any upgrade effort. BLR installed four Canon devices, two with booklet makers, at less cost than the existing vendor’s offer of three new units, with only one featuring a booklet maker. The speeds of the Canon printers, as well as the added capacity of the additional device, allowed Drube to bring in-house three newsletters, representing more than two million pages a year in volume, previously outsourced to an offset printer.
Just as significant is the streamlined ‘up-front’ workflows. Only six graphic or layout artists handle every page created by BLR. All are far more productive now, thanks to the easy to use PlanetWatch software and the automated workflows.
“The time we need to create pages has been reduced by about half,” says Smith, and the savings now enable her people to add more design quality to each job, absorb new work as it emerges, and even take an occasional and long-overdue vacation.
“Our graphic artists now can easily take files from our writers in word or excel, convert them to Quark for layout or update, and then to postscript and PDF for distribution via paper reports or electronically,” she explains. Updating existing materials, such as the lengthy 3-ring binders, is easy as well. The process is automated via the use of hot folders, so there is no manual dragging, dropping and deleting of material, which is an exceedingly tedious, error-prone and carpel-tunnel-causing procedure. Instead, all updated materials are numerically coded and linked to the existing sections, and the entire collection is updated and electronically re-assembled at the push of a button.
Three other, lesser-known benefits also add to the overall boost in productivity for BLR. The first centers on production time. Previously, sending files to the printer required time, and ripping the data once it arrived took time as well. Now, as soon as the data is sent it starts printing. Many applications print in about a third less time as previously required, according to Drube.
The second advantage involves consistently superior image quality. Previously, occasional print samples were required to assure image quality, especially for any job that was printed by an outsourcer. Now, the quality is so uniform there is no need to review or proof samples. Which means time to market is compressed by as much as a day for some applications, a savings that is significant and helps assure that all jobs are distributed on time.
The third edge lies with operator ease. “The ergonomic design of the equipment is a real plus,” says Drube. “The waist-high paper path offers easy access, and especially eliminates the need for the operator to bend over, making it fast and easy to clear any jams that may occur.”
“We were also limited in our choice of papers before,” add Drube. Now, he has a wider and lower cost selection of papers to choose from, so “flexibility in both appearance and cost is improved.”
Real-world Commitment
Of course, shifting 65 million pages of production, along with dozens of applications and document formats, from one output platform to another doesn’t occur with at least a few speed bumps. That’s just to be expected in the real world. The real keys to a successful transition lie in the quality of advance planning to minimize possible set backs, and the quality of response to correct unforeseen problems as they emerge. Drube says IKON excelled on both counts.
“Jeff Snyder, our IKON account representative, was tenacious in working to fully understand our business and our many different applications,” he says. “That was a big factor in contributing to their successful proposal. But Jeff also made sure that all of our key disciplines were involved in the conversion planning effort, so all could contribute their expertise.”
The meetings included BLR people from layout, operations, IT, programming and print production, and helped assure that the solution was completely tailored to the firm’s needs – and that it “would work once the engineers left.”
The meetings were successful because they were “open and welcoming,” says Drube. “Suggestions from our people were quickly accepted and acknowledged as good ideas. It wasn’t a vendor saying, ‘well, this is how the equipment operates, so your applications will just have to conform.’”
“The implementation process was more involved than anyone initially envisioned,” adds Drube. “But the engineers from IKON stuck with it” and were on site virtually non-stop for several weeks to assure the success of the transition. “The complexity of our files is hard for someone from outside our group to grasp,” adds Smith. “Every topic in every report or publication is an individual Quark file, and some were in earlier versions. The process was lengthy but effort the paid huge dividends via improved productivity and workflows.”
Another dividend for BLR centers on greater flexibility to distribute data electronically. “Five years ago, people were just starting to sample the Internet,” says Drube. “The shift has accelerated tremendously in the past three years, especially as broadband has become more universally used.”
“Many of our customers prefer to receive our material in hard-copy form, because they use the information in meetings, want to be sure it is circulated and read, or because some workers lack easy access to computers or printers.” Other customers like to receive the data in a digital format, either via e-mail, posting on the Web or DVD, for faster delivery or ease of use. So BLR must make the content easily available in all formats, at least for the foreseeable future.
One last hidden benefit of the new output configuration involves a possible shift to TransPromo messaging. Drube says BLR is considering how best to migrate the firm’s billing function, which is also handled on the Canon equipment, to the more powerful TransPromo capability that features the use of variable data and imaging directly on the statement or billing document
“If we can use the Canon devices to help cross-sell our many reports and newsletters,” adds Drube, “we’ll be able to boost revenue as well as improve productivity and lower costs.”
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