Save Time and Money: Let Your Finisher Perform Fulfillment

Printers and their customers are always looking for ways to save money and reduce turnaround time on their projects. While electronic prepress systems and the latest production speeds certainly help, even greater savings can be realized when you consolidate post press production and fulfillment processes with a single provider. But first, printers and their post press partners need to ask the customer how the project will be used and what fulfillment steps are required. This information can be easily uncovered by asking one simple question…

"What Happens Next?"
Consider a basic portfolio, which requires die cutting, folding, gluing and trimming to be performed at the post press stage. But what happens next? There are likely subsequent fulfillment steps that must be completed before the products are sent to the end user. If additional materials will be inserted into the pockets of those portfolios, for example, who will perform that process? If several versions of the portfolio will be sent to different locations, will they be shipped back to the customer for final packaging and distribution? The answers to these questions will often highlight inefficiencies in the production process that customers may not be aware of.

Here's a hypothetical example. Let's say you're producing a self-mailer that will include a CD-ROM disc and instruction booklet. Once the folding, gluing and die cutting has been performed, the customer is planning to have the incomplete mailers sent to another provider for insertion of the CD and booklet and hand application of wafer seals. The finished products will then be sent back to the customer for final distribution. Under this scenario, the products will need to be packed and repacked twice before being sent to the end user. These extraneous steps can tack days to the production schedule of a high-volume project.

Save Time and Money, Improve Quality
An alternative solution is to have the post press services provider handle all of the fulfillment functions, which saves a great deal of time. In many cases, the CD-ROM discs and booklets can be inserted as an offline process immediately after folding and gluing. Wafer sealing, spot gluing and tape application can also be performed automatically once the self-mailers have been filled. If shipments will be made to multiple locations, packing specific quantities can occur as soon as production is complete. Since all of these functions are performed under one roof, a great deal of non-production time can be saved.

There are plenty of cost advantages to consolidating these services as well. One of the most easily overlooked is the reduction of transit spoilage. Product will be spoiled each time a job is packed and unpacked - even if the next provider is two blocks away. There are also freight costs to consider. A project that will pass through multiple providers will require multiple hauls on a truck. Although the transportation costs may not seem excessive, they're still unnecessary if production stays with a single provider.

In addition to hard savings in both time and money, consolidating post press and fulfillment operations can also improve the quality of the finished products. For example, less handling means that the possibility for damage during transit, packing and unpacking stages is greatly reduced. A single provider is also able to maintain strict quality demands as they're responsible for both the post press production and fulfillment of a project. A bindery may do a great job folding, cutting, die cutting and gluing the CD-ROM self-mailer we mentioned earlier. But a subsequent supplier performing the insertion and wafer sealing tasks will not be as familiar with the intricacies of the project, increasing the likelihood of an inferior finished product. The customer can rest easier knowing one provider will be handling all post press and fulfillment services.

Quality can also differ from one provider to another. That's because not all "single-source" providers are created equal. For example, it's not unheard-of for machine operators to double as the hand assembly team at some companies. While this may not be an issue if a project requires a simple tuck of a flap, it can make a huge difference in quality for projects requiring more extensive handwork or fulfillment services, such as hand folding or inserting multiple materials. Before you commit a project to a post press services provider, be sure they have a dedicated and experienced assembly and fulfillment team to achieve the best quality.

Saving time and money and improving quality are always hot topics with printers and their customers. So are solutions that help these customers respond to market demands as quickly as possible. The idea of sending a project to three or four different providers seems arcane in today's fast-paced business climate. Finding an experienced, quality-conscious provider of post press and fulfillment services can help printers win more business by meeting the challenging demands of customers.

Sue Hein is president of Rapid Bind, Inc., a leading trade bindery serving the northwestern graphic arts community since 1977. She serves as the vice president of the Pacific Printing and Imaging Association. Russ Haines is vice president of production at Rapid Bind and serves on the board of the Portland Graphic Arts Association. Rapid Bind's extensive post press services include remoist and seam gluing, saddle stitching, die cutting, mechanical binding, folding, rotary & press scoring, wafer sealing, index tabbing and much more.