Software - Web-to-print

In April, IPG reported that Penn State’s Multimedia & Print Center had just launched a Print Portal, an e-commerce site through which all PSU printing would flow. Since then, more than 100 jobs have been bid through the Portal, according to Director Abbas Badani, and customers are pleased with the efficiency of the process and the cost savings. The process has generated known savings of over $35,000 (based on identical jobs done in the past) with actual savings estimated at around $50,000+. Most customers are pleasantly surprised at the ease of use and the long-term adminsitrative efficiencies possible. The PSU Print Portal puts all vendors

To compete, your in-plant must offer Web-based file submission. Customers are expecting it. By Heath Cajandig In the past five years, a new category of print product has emerged, as increasingly more print is created from digital "originals" instead of hard copy documents. With customers submitting job files via e-mail, floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD, USB drive and countless other media storage devices, print operations needed a way to consolidate the methods customers used to send digital files while improving quality, speed and customer service. As a result, Web-based file submission has emerged as the on-ramp to the production workflow. In the future,

In-plant managers share how they've convinced customers to leave hard copy behind. By Mike Llewellyn It's a shame some customers have to make it so difficult for a manager who's trying to make their lives easier. For example: you know that sending a job electronically to the in-plant over the network is far easier—and faster—for customers. But still some of them insist on bringing you hard copy or dropping off disks. You can't really blame them—they're not trying to make your life miserable. They're just afraid of using the network. It's your job to put them at ease. One-on-one Interaction Most in-plant managers

If you want to keep your customers, you'd better make life easy for them. Many in-plants say online job submission is the answer. by Mike Llewellyn Just try telling a Los Angeles city employee he's got to get in his car, drive across town during rush hour and drop off a print order at the municipal in-plant when there's a quick printer right next door. Great price or no, he's not going to do it. "One of the challenges for in-plants is to offer the most convenient service possible," says Mike Leighton, director of Publishing Services for the City of Los Angeles. "Customers

Some in-plants have designed their own Web-based ordering systems. Find out how Brigham Young University did it—inexpensively and successfully. by Eduardo Godinez While processing dozens of paper forms with requests for stationery materials from our campus, some questions came to mind: How can we speed up the process of ordering stationery? Can we utilize the Internet to facilitate the process? We browsed the Web in search of some answers. Looking at the available options, we noticed all of them had the same common denominator: They were expensive for what we thought of as a simple process. At that point, we felt that

To keep business from going to quick printers, in-plants need Web-based ordering capabilities. Here's how one in-plant went online and some leads on how you can, too. by CAROLINE MILLER THREE YEARS ago, the University of Colorado at Boulder's printing and copying services department realized it needed to hone its competitive edge to remain viable against local competitors such as Kinko's. The $3.2 million operation's core business—course packs, stationery, business cards and flyers—could easily be sent to outside shops, since the university does not mandate the use of the in-plant. "It was very easy for people to go off campus," admits Newell Fogelberg, director

In-plants worry that e-commerce may erode business relationships. The dotcom vendors have a different story to tell. Picture yourself in a small room with your computer. You shop for groceries online. You shop for clothes online. And in your spare time, you get your college degree online. Sound a little isolating? So does dealing with a dotcom to many in-plants. Whatever happened to human interaction anyway? Many in-plants feel that by doing business with e-commerce companies, they will destroy the traditional relationships they have built up with their vendors and customers. E-commerce vendors, however, feel otherwise. "E-commerce automates processes, creates opportunities for

In-plants are cautiously examining e-commerce offerings. But many aren't ready. And others already offer the same services. You might expect a state-of-the-art in-plant like the Brigham Young University Print and Mail Production Center to have all the latest e-commerce solutions in place. But look all you want; you won't find Noosh, printCafe or any of the other e-commerce vendors in BYU's Provo, Utah, facility. Instead, BYU uses a home-grown solution to provide online ordering for business cards, letterhead and stationery. "The whole bottom line is, there's nothing new in what these guys have to offer," says Director West Barton of today's crop

With the Washington State Department of Printing's Internet-based storefront, customers can now order business cards, stationery and other items online. Service has always been a major part of the printing business. However, in these days of e-commerce and the Internet, providing service from 8 to 5 at the front counter isn't good enough anymore. Customers have grown accustomed to ordering, reviewing and paying for goods and services at any time of day from the convenience of their homes or offices. And they expect no less from their printer. To remain competitive, printers must figure out how they can use the Internet to respond

At least 60 print-related Internet companies offer services in-plants can use. Find out how they can help your operation. The Internet has changed much more than the way we tell jokes, spread rumors and waste time at work. It's also reformulated the speed at which businesses must operate. New companies used to take years to work up business models, secure funding, market themselves, hire a staff and enter the market. Now that whole process has to happen within months—even weeks. The ability to transmit messages, text, graphics and more instantaneously has also created new business operations—operations that can help businesses squeeze the potholes