The hidden overheads in every job – Part Two: Reduction

Dave Bell of Quote & Print shows how by implementing online ordering printing companies of all sizes can provide better service and slash the costs of doing business.

In my last article I showed how the administration overheads contained in every job could easily add up to over $120,000 a year for a typical printer. Today I would like to show you how to reduce those overheads.

On the front end of your business put in an online order entry system.

This will enable your customers to submit their print jobs over the internet. They will get a price in advance and if the price is acceptable then they can automatically upload the PDF files. A job is then created on your MIS (management information system) and your production staff is emailed to notify them that a new job has arrived. As the print job progresses through your factory your customer can also track its progress over the internet.

I am not suggesting that your fire all your sales reps immediately, but technology can certainly assist them in their job. It takes the same amount of time for a sales rep to visit a customer to collect a $1,000 order as it does to collect a $10,000 order. Automating the order submission process frees up your reps and lets them concentrate on those print orders and print customers who they know will require that personal touch.

Other processes, which traditionally have been very labour intensive such as business card ordering, can also be automated. Templates are set up for each style of business card a customer requires. The customer enters in the variable data online such as name, title, telephone number and email address. He then proofs the business card online to ensure that the spelling and layout is correct. He can also make any changes online. Once your customer is happy with the layout he submits the order and the approved PDF file is sent to your prepress department ready for printing.

Automating your front-end order entry system saves time for your sales reps, prepress department, estimators and production planners. It also means the job can be printed and dispatched in a shorter time.

Not all of the above will happen over night. You will need to explain the benefits to your customers, then have a well-designed training and support programme so that they can easily implement it. However, once your customers see the benefits of faster turn around times and lower printing prices they will be eager to use the system.

Once a job is printed and delivered there are the administrative costs of producing an invoice, then a statement then processing the payment when it comes in. Not to mention the time taken if you have to chase your customer for payment. All this can be eliminated if you allow the option of payment by credit card in your online order system. The job is paid for before it is even printed.

Some of the larger corporate customers will welcome this as it reduces their own administrative costs. They are trying to reduce the number of their accounts staff.

Again, the implementation of credit card payments requires an education process with your customers. They will need an assurance that the system wont be abused and that you will honour any credit requests due to faulty printing or short delivery.

To achieve all this, your online ordering software will need to integrate with your management information system. This is obviously easier done if it is all purchased from the one vendor – such as Quote & Print. You will also need to invest in a high-speed internet connection and a file/web server with a large capacity hard disk.

Remember that online order entry is just as useful for a printer with five employees as it is for a printer with 50 or 500 employees. With proper user training it will be an invaluable aid in retaining existing customers and attracting new customers. In two or three years it will be seen as an essential item for any print shop in a similar way that CTP is now being accepted.

PostScript

Last week Quote & Print hosted its annual dealer conference.
Quote & Print has dealers in every state of Australia. The annual conference provides an opportunity for them all to get together. It is an ideal forum to discuss future trends in MIS systems as well as comparing notes about what is happening in each state. More on this in the next article.