Lock In Repeat Business by Offering Inventory Solutions

By: Sue Hein, President, and Russ Haines, Vice President of Production,
Rapid Bind, Inc. Published In: Printing Journal

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In a highly competitive market, it's not enough to win business from customers and prospects: You need to win their repeat business. Offering services that add value to the relationship gives you an opportunity to earn their trust - and more of their work.

One way post press companies can provide additional value and win repeat business is by controlling and managing customer inventory. While many customers may think of "inventory management" as simply storing excess printed pieces, there are several ways post press companies can build additional value into these services.

Intelligent Inventory
Marketing professionals know that maintaining a consistent appearance and message is key to building an identity with prospective customers. For that reason, it's common for printers and their customers to produce and store printed materials for future distribution. This solution saves time and money by reducing reprints and having products at the ready as soon as they're needed.

However, many of these products require additional post press production, such as die cutting, folding or gluing, before they reach the hands of prospects and customers. For products such as direct mail pieces, additional laser printing may also need to be performed. In many cases, these processes should be performed just prior to delivery rather than just after printing.

A savvy post press services provider can offer additional value by helping printers and their customers design and produce product templates that take advantage of this "intelligent inventory" solution. Here are a few planning suggestions to keep in mind:

Minimize dust - One of the biggest issues with performing work on products that have been in storage is the presence of dust, which can impair the quality and production speed of every process. For example, rotary perforating and scoring machines tend to blow dust over the paper's surface, which must be removed prior to printing. Laser perforating may be a better solution, as it creates an equivalent-quality perf without nearly as much dust.

Don't get stuck - Adhesives can behave unpredictably when placed on products that will be stored for an extended period of time. Almost all post press providers have a horror story about retrieving a quantity of envelopes or self-mailers for distribution, only to find that the adhesive has activated and caused the stacked products to "brick". To avoid your own such misfortunes, work with your post press provider to determine how your glued products should be inventoried. Remoist, spot and fugitive glue application is often a snap to perform just prior to distribution.

In some cases, it may be a necessity to leave glue application until the last minute. For example, many remoist glue formulas are unable to handle the heat of laser printers, creating a sticky mess that can take hours to clean and correct. This is an important for direct mail pieces such as BRC's and BRE's that will receive variable data personalization prior to hitting the mailstream.

Avoid the rush - It is important to discuss with the client how often stock reprints or reorders are needed. Some companies like to change their look every few months; others prefer to have a range of stock available for multiple purposes. Two to six weeks of inventory is a good place to start, but you may want to ask your client how much they might like to hold in reserve at all times should "emergency" distribution be required. Also, by collecting adequate inventory quantity, scheduling and destination information in advance, "rush" orders won't feel that way.

After a few months, it will become easy to evaluate each client's usage patterns and inventory needs. Ideally, reorder "suggestions" will then be initiated by the post press provider, rather than frantic reorder "demands" coming from the customer once they realize they've mailed their last portfolio. The result is a less-stressful, mutually-beneficial process.

Know When to Hold 'em
While products such as envelopes, brochures and direct mail pieces are those typically inventoried, post press providers are in a unique position to offer added value by offering inventory solutions for much more complex products.

Consider a presentation folder or ring binder. These products often consolidate several additional printed items, such as saddle-stitched booklets, index tabs and loose-leaf sheets. If a customer requires that their binders include customized information on an as-needed basis, a post press provider is often a natural fit for the inventory and assembly or "kitting" of these products, since a full service provider is likely to perform most or all of the final production processes necessary to create the finished product.

The result to the end customer is rapid turnaround on the finished product, allowing them to get information into the hands of key prospects quickly. A post press provider who can offer that level of service gives customers the advantage of speedy delivery, while providing themselves the advantage of repeat business.

While superior service and production quality are also key components to winning repeat business, they're no longer a perk but an expectation. By providing customers with intelligent inventory solutions, you position your company to be not just an attractive option to your most important customers, but the only option.

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.

©Copyright 2011, Rapid Bind