Posted on Mon, Feb 20, 2012
The high-volume transaction output industry’s Women of Distinction continue to gain global attention, this time as they share their 2012 predictions on document output trends.
The group of distinguished experts look into their crystal ball for a DOCUMENT magazine feature article (see the complete article here >>>), by Katherine O'Brien, the senior editor of the American Printer division of OutputLinks Communications Group.
What are the Women of Distinction predicting?
Mary Garnett
"Evaluate and capitalize on inkjet technology as application opportunities increase to meet or exceed customers' expectations," advises Printing Industries of America's (PIA) Mary Garnett.
Marianne Gaige Marianne Gaige, president and CEO of Cathedral Corp. (Rome, N.Y.), cites continuous-feed color as a key trend. "Focusing on print quality in full color continuous printers will allow print service providers to turn financial communications, such as monthly statements, daily notices and invoices, into true marketing documents that will help our customers grow," she says.
Meegan Hinds"Full-color inkjet technology has enabled printers like us to offer color cost effectively (e.g., replacement of forms that were previously done by commercial printers), but clients also are interested in enhancing their statements because it is now cost effective," says Meegan Hinds, senior vice president, general manager, Symcor (Mississauga, Ontario).
Cheryl Kahanec
"One of the biggest shifts in our supply chain role is that in addition to delivering a quality product, we are increasingly responsible for the ultimate success of the product in the marketplace," observes Cheryl Kahanec, executive vice president, Earth Digital, EARTHCOLOR (Moonachie, NJ).
Chantal Juvet
Chantal Juvet, director of development for DOCAPOST, echoes Kahanec's sentiments: "Technologies are now mature and the outsourcers have developed the best services,” she says, "This will be the year of agile customer communication in which each of us will have to answer, with the most appropriate and responsive solution. We must address the organizations' special needs."
Kathleen McHugh
Kathleen McHugh, VP and chief marketing officer at Presstek (Hudson, N.H.), concurs with Kahanec and Juvet about the expanded marketing role. "Today's printers must work to build relationships further upstream in the marketing communications supply chain in order to influence projects early on," she says. "This will allow printers to integrate new services or techniques, like QR codes with print, to make it more effective and interactive. This enables a stronger, more profitable business that is well-positioned to retain existing customers and gain new ones."
Elvire Del Fondo
Overall, 2012 will be the "year of awareness" for companies in terms of their employees, says Elvire Del Fondo, chairman of Audigny. Del Fondo believes businesses need to be aware and face the reality that they're going to have to do more with less in 2012, especially in terms of staff. Nonetheless, the best strategy is for companies to focus on its team members — people power.
About the Women of Distinction
The Women of Distinction program was established in 2002 to recognize the many contributions, achievements and successes of stellar women in the industry. This special recognition spotlights the rich history and ongoing contributions of a unique league of high-profile professionals. Each year, the honorees represent a diverse group of executives, educators, technical consultants, document managers, and other HVTO luminaries. For a complete list of all past and current Women of Distinction or to nominate a 2012 candidate, visit www.OutputLinks.com/WOD
See the complete article here >>>.
Share your comments and kudos below.
Posted on Mon, Feb 20, 2012
The consequences of producing non-compliant HVTO documents can be severe.
By Joe Pigeon, Paloma Print Products
In a regulated industry, the consequences of producing non-compliant documents can be severe. Fines and law suits can be financially damaging. Poor publicity can result in lost business. And those responsible can lose their jobs.
Do the high-volume transaction output documents or other documents produced by your company comply with the laws and regulations that apply to your industry? How can you be sure?
If you answered, “Because we checked the documents when they were designed,” you might be in for a surprise. Content that was perfectly fine when the documents were first developed may no longer meet the letter of the law. For lots of different reasons.
In some industries, the number of regulations has recently increased or will soon increase (as the result of regulations such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), as have enforcement activities. Making sure documents are fulfilling all the current requirements for disclosure, language, and readability is becoming increasingly more difficult. And the trend is toward more regulation – not less.
Here are just a few ways to generate non-compliant documents by accident:
- The system that was used to create electronically-delivered documents was different from the system that generates printed output
- The developers changed one version of the documents but others (such as a year-end version) were not updated
- Manual document change verification failed to catch language/wording errors
- Changes verified in the test environment were never migrated to production
- New versions accidently got rolled back due to a system or server problem
- Regulated text was pre-printed on documents and a carton of old material somehow got used in production
- Resources were stored on the printers as forms and some printers were not updated with new versions
- Hardware or software changes resulted in different fonts, margins, or layouts, resulting in truncated content
- The logic to place variable text blocks unknowingly failed under certain data conditions
- Private data became visible through the envelope window when inserter operators loaded the wrong material
A complex problem
The list of potential accidents could go on and on. Conditions that result in regulated documents falling out of compliance or breaching customer privacy are numerous and vary from company to company. Would your current procedures keep you from making mistakes like those above? If not, will you accept responsibility should something like this happen on your watch?
While I’d like to tell you that software alone can make regulatory compliance errors obsolete, it just isn’t possible. Automated solutions can be an extremely effective first line of defense. But reducing your exposure to accidental non-compliance can involve some manual procedures as well. Some disasters, like those caused by printing on the wrong paper stock for instance, could still occur if you rely on automated testing software alone.
What automated testing CAN do for you
Installing an automated testing process will improve your chances of catching most kinds of unpredictable errors before they become an insurmountable problem. Here’s why; organizations that use automated document testing solutions test their documents more often. This allows them to catch errors sooner and minimize the damage. They can also test for more conditions such as the accuracy of variable text blocks. And they can compare every page instead of just a select few. Manual document verification can never approach this level of thoroughness.
Failing to comply with regulatory requirements in some industries carries significant penalties. In other cases, the financial risk may be lower. But generating inaccurate documents has a negative impact whenever it happens. Whether it is a direct financial fine, increased calls to customer service, reprinting and re-mailing, or a blow to the company’s reputation, there is a price to be paid. Document producers today have the ability to minimize their risk. Making the necessary investments to do so seems to be a prudent move.
Joe Pigeon is the sales and marketing director at Paloma Print Products.
Posted on Thu, Feb 16, 2012
Scott Draeger, M-EDP
Customer Communication Strategist
HP Exstream
In today’s multi-channel world, many leading businesses are struggling to deliver compelling customer experiences across a growing mix of consumer touch points. Today, most businesses have cobbled together an odd combination of outsource providers, design agencies, and internal teams to execute their communication strategy.
In this article, we will look at the different types of communication outsourcing options that are available today for print and electronic communications. Then, we will raise some important questions that could help you to optimize your current and future customer communication sourcing strategy.
How did we get here?
In the 1980s and 1990s, customer communications were fairly simple, and whether to outsource customer communications was a basic “yes or no” decision. This worked fairly well until the mid 1990s, when a convergence of technologies expanded the frontier of customer communications.
During this time, the fields of colour print technology, global data transmission, finishing equipment, communication design software (then VDP software), and business thinking made some major advances. The CRM industry also gained traction during this period. Despite these major shifts, many businesses kept their same sourcing arrangements in place.
The outsourcing continuum
The decision to outsource requires an understanding of the effort, control, and cost that you expect from each of your projects. It also requires deep knowledge of the business objectives of your customer communication projects.
Today’s software technology empowers marketing, legal, design, and copywriting teams to create, edit, and implement changes to customer communications across all channels with instant implementation, even when significant portions of the project are outsourced.
When you think about your entire customer communications strategy, it’s important to include all of the projects that communicate with customers. At a project-level, and at a strategic level, you should assess your ideal sourcing arrangements. There are five basic categories of outsourcing that are available:
- In-House Operation owns the entire production process, including print capabilities within the business. This includes design, testing, implementation, and physical production. At low volumes, correspondence and quotations are executed and sent from the business’s mail room. At high volumes, some projects generate billions of full-colour pages per annum.
- To the Factory outsourcing keeps everything within the business except final production. These businesses generally create, design, and deploy an entire customer communications solution. They own their software and generate their own print files, and then transmit the files to a dedicated Document Process Outsourcer who physically produces and delivers the communications.
- To the Data Centre outsourcing allows businesses to own the entire design process, but does not require ownership of the capabilities to produce print-ready files or produce physical output. Businesses in this model might not own full licenses for Customer Communications Management software, but they do own design capabilities.
- To the Designers outsourcing is centred on the concept of a tight partnership between the outsourcer and the business. This model creates a rigid design architecture that is co-operatively developed between the business and the outsourcer. After the architecture is established, the business can update and edit certain areas of the applications from a web browser.
- Totally Outsourced is the extreme position for businesses who see customer communication as a non-core activity. In this model, the design is completely guided, created, and owned by the outsource provider, starting with some powerful, industry-proven templates.
What should we consider?
When a business chooses to outsource a customer communication project, there are many aspects that need to be understood before the final negotiation, which is usually conducted by the purchasing department. Before you let it move to purchasing, you must fully describe the project and its importance to the larger strategy before it can be effectively outsourced. Otherwise, purchasing may agree to terms that save money at the expense of project success. The following questions might help to define these considerations:
- Are you (and only you) the expert on the content? The harder it is to explain the legal and marketing complexities that drive your communications, the more difficult you will find outsourcing. You might want to outsource to the factory.
- Are you an expert on the specific channel technology? If you don’t know about a new technology, hire an expert and totally outsource it until you gain experience. This is the default decision for many microsites and multi-touch campaigns.
- How often do you redesign communications? If you redesign things every morning, you will find it expensive (and frustrating) to outsource designs.
- How often would you like to refresh messages on the communication? If you constantly make minor text and graphic modifications, consider outsourcing to the designers. They can give you access to content editing tools.
- How important is the communication to the business? If the communication is critical, and your competition is fierce, you might want to operate an in-house project. This way, you can immediately implement radical adjustments.
- Do you see communications as a differentiator? If you do, you must have a solid sourcing strategy that matches the unique needs of your business.
With all of the technology available to create, produce, and deliver your customer communications, you can easily support your strategy. With all of the sourcing options available, you can certainly develop an execution plan that delivers a unified customer experience that your competitors cannot match.
Scott Draeger, M-EDP recently moved to Sydney to become HP Exstream’s Customer Communication Strategist for the Asia Pacific region. This move immediately follows the completion of the HP Exstream’s Design & Production version 8.0. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has worked in the digital document industry for 15 years. In 2007, he earned an International MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and joined HP Exstream as the Product Manager for the HP Exstream Design & Production product during the 7.0 Development cycle. In 2009, he became the Manger of Product Strategy for the entire HP Exstream software portfolio. This included the definition, development and release of the 8.0 portfolio. In 2010, Scott earned his M-EDP (Master Electronic Document Professional) designation from Xplor International. In 2011, Scott earned Xplor’s coveted “Chairman’s Award” for participation in the organizations efforts to deliver vendor-neutral continuing education in the customer communications and electronic document industries globally.
Posted on Wed, Feb 15, 2012
By Mark Maragni, Compart
Electronic documents are proliferating, and Adobe Systems’ Portable Document Format (PDF) is an established output management standard for both printed and electronic documents in many industries. A number of specialized PDF versions have been adopted as ISO standards already, and additional versions are in the wings.
With the growing volume and diversity of electronic documents, ensuring barrier-free access for anyone and everyone is taking on an additional sense of urgency. An individual with impaired sight has the same right to access document content as a sighted person. In fact, providing barrier-free access to electronic documents is not just a “nice-to-have” feature. In many jurisdictions, it is a legal requirement.
The focus for output management today has moved from producing as many documents as possible as fast as possible to building intelligent documents with content that is both generally and inclusively accessible. Freedom from physical barriers is the goal.
Metadata and Intelligent Document Output
Intelligent, efficient output management that supports universal accessibility requires one thing above all: metadata that can be read and saved as it travels with the document throughout the entire generation and conversion process. Metadata provide the foundation for downstream or parallel processing, such as when a document not only needs to be printed but also must be output as an electronic communication, interpreted by a screen reader, presented on a refreshable Braille screen, or archived.
Accessibility Starts with Document Design
The electronic PDF document format provides an inherent advantage over paper documents for total accessibility, since electronic PDF documents can be designed to accommodate synthetic speech or refreshable Braille. A new PDF version, PDF/UA (universal access) is emerging as an industry standard for providing barrier-free document access.
Although PDF/UA is not yet an official ISO standard, it addresses several important – and essential – design requirements for creating barrier-free documents. Underlying document design is essential to making a document accessible. Key design requirements for creating barrier-free PDF documents include:
- A logical structure and reading order. Tags define reading order, and tell a screen reader how to interpret elements such as headings, tables and multiple columns on a page. Screen readers depend on tags to enable presenting documents in a way that makes sense to a listener hearing the text read aloud.
- Text descriptions for figures, forms, and links. Visual elements such as graphics, figures and forms need to have descriptive text associated with them in order to present their content to listeners and Braille screen users.
- Navigational aids such as links, bookmarks, and tables of contents. These make it possible for users to direct the screen reader or Braille screen to a particular location in a document rather than requiring going through the document in page-by-page order.
- Security that doesn’t interfere with creating a barrier-free document. Sometimes security restrictions placed on use of documents can limit screen readers or interfere with conversion of a document for reading on a refreshable Braille screen. All content must be available for the interpretation that creates accessible documents to take place.
A Document Format and Much More
With its expanding range of versions and applications, there is no doubt that PDF is far more than a pure document format. Because of its ability to include attributes such as the document structure, reading direction, and alternative explanatory text for images, PDF is well suited as the vehicle to deliver barrier-free documents. It is a valuable and high-power format with the flexibility to accommodate evolving requirements, as its emergence as the standard for universal accessibility attests.
Mark Maragni is Vice President for Compart North America. Compart is a leader in promoting effective use of PDF in applications, including those involving document accessibility. Compart’s DocBridge software suite helps customers process and optimize documents and data streams from different sources and for all common output channels. Mark Maragni can be reached at >>>.
Posted on Mon, Feb 13, 2012
Integrate personalized maps into 1:1 cross-media campaigns with a new Mapping Service.
XMPie, A Xerox Company added the XMPie Mapping Service to its line-up of 1:1 cross-media products and services.
A joint development and cooperation with locr GmbH, a supplier of geo data and personalized street and city maps based in Germany, the new subscription-based service will allow XMPie users to easily incorporate personalized, high-resolution maps into print, HVTO and/or online media.
Jonny Miller, vice president, customer operations and business development, XMPie, said, “When suitably incorporated into 1:1 multichannel campaigns, personalized maps have the potential to act as a very powerful call-to-action, driving more response and revenue.”
Maps can be generated for more than 100 countries worldwide, with various route options connecting a starting point and destination if desired. Maps can also include graphic elements, such as pre-defined icons for the target location or nearby places of interest. Since map material is based on the most recent raw data of the leading navigation supplier, NAVTEQ, and updated on a quarterly basis, the XMPie Mapping Service ensures up-to-date and reliable data.
“Personalized maps deliver attractive and valuable information that gets consumers’ attention, which has resulted in a significant increase in direct mail success and conversion rates for our customers,” said Rolf Richter, CEO of locr GmbH. “Now, through this new integration, XMPie users who are already creating response-generating cross-media campaigns have another proven element to offer their customers with little additional investment.”
The XMPie Mapping Service is now available worldwide.
What are your thoughts on mapping? Share your comments below.
Posted on Mon, Feb 13, 2012
Yes, they are! Consumers can now receive, view, organize and manage HVTO with a single application. Here’s what’s developing in this space.
Pitney Bowes Inc. announced it has signed agreements with 40 service bureaus and large-volume mailers to offer its Volly secure digital delivery service. The agreements provide access to more than 5,000 companies and consumer brands.
Together, these mailers send out over five billion bills, statements and account communication annually for their customers across major mailing segments (automotive, banking, brokerage, cable, credit union, consumer products, direct mail, financial services, state and local government, healthcare, insurance, loyalty, marketing, mutual fund, non-profit, payroll, publishing, retail, telecommunications and utilities industries).
What’s the future of cloud-based digital mail communications? Share your comments below.
“We closed 2011 with accelerating momentum to build participation in the Volly secure digital delivery system,” said Chuck Cordray, president, Volly, Pitney Bowes. “We know that success in this emerging industry depends on mailer density –the amount of mail the average household can receive digitally -- and delighting the consumer with a great experience. Mailers want a secure digital delivery system that supports the mailer’s brand while offering a new, powerful channel for customer communications. With Volly, brands control their messaging, and consumers control their chosen senders, creating a powerful, interactive marketplace.”
The Volly secure digital delivery service is a cloud-based digital mail communications platform that will empower consumers to receive, view, organize, and manage bills, statements, direct marketing, catalogs, coupons and other content from multiple providers using a single application. Volly is an opt-in, consumer-focused consolidation service which also includes online bill pay, and will be made available at no cost to U.S. consumers.
Pitney Bowes provides software, hardware and services that integrate physical and digital communications channels.
Learn more here >>>.
Posted on Mon, Feb 13, 2012
The U.S. Postal Service ended the first three months of its 2012 fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2011) with a net loss of $3.3 billion. Management said it expects large losses to continue until the Postal Service has implemented its network re-design and down-sizing and has restructured its healthcare program. Additionally, the return to financial stability requires legislation which gives the Postal Service typical commercial freedoms, including delivery flexibility, returns over $10 billion of amounts overpaid to the Federal Government and resolves the need to prefund retiree healthcare at rates not assessed any other entity in the United States.
Complete financial results are available here >>>
What are your thoughts on the USPS? Is it doing enough? Share your views at the end of this post.
“Technology continues to have a major impact on how our customers use the mail,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe. “While it has helped us grow our Shipping Services businesses, it has had a significant negative impact on some of our much larger sources of revenue, particularly First-Class Mail. Revenue from Shipping Services represents about 17 percent of total revenue and, even with continued growth, cannot fully offset the decline in First-Class Mail revenue.”
USPS said stronger than expected holiday shipping activity, driven by strong growth in online merchandise sales and successful USPS marketing efforts, helped the Postal Service grow its competitive Shipping Services business in the first quarter, with revenue totaling $2.8 billion, an increase of $179 million or 7 percent over the same period last year. However, declines in First-Class and Standard Mail of $650 million were 3.7% percent of total revenue and greatly exceed the gains made in the package business. First-Class Mail declines due to electronic migration of transactions are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Mailing Services revenue, excluding First-Class Mail parcels, totaled $14.5 billion, a decrease of 2.9 percent. First-Class Mail continued to decline, with revenue decreasing 4.1 percent compared to the same period last year. First-Class Mail revenue has declined nearly 15 percent and volume has declined 25 percent since volume peaked in 2006. While some of the decline is attributable to economic weakness since 2007, the more significant factor is the continuing transition to electronic alternatives.
To return to profitability, Donahoe has advanced a plan to reduce annual costs by $20 billion by 2015. The plan includes continued aggressive actions to generate additional revenue and reduce operating expenses. To reach the goal, the Postal Service also needs changes in the law. “Passage of legislation is urgently needed that provides the Postal Service with the speed and flexibility needed to cut costs that are not under our control, including employee health care costs,” Donahoe said. “The changes will give the Postal Service a bright future and provide the nation with affordable and reliable delivery for generations to come.”
Other details of the first quarter results compared to the same period last year include:
- Total mail volume of 43.7 billion pieces, a 6 percent decrease.
- Operating revenue of $17.7 billion, a 1.1 percent decrease.
- Operating expenses (before prefunding of retiree health benefits and the impact of discount rate changes for worker’s compensation liability) of $17.8 billion, a 1 percent increase.
- Transportation expenses increased by $105 million, or 6.3 percent, due to rising fuel costs. The Postal Service continues to decrease controllable costs, including an 8 million decrease in work hours, or 2.8 percent. Total compensation and benefits expenses decreased by $180 million, or 1.4 percent.
The Postal Service continues to suffer from a severe lack of liquidity. “Absent significant changes in the law to allow normal commercial freedoms, the Postal Service will default on both retiree health benefits pre-payments to the federal government due this year,” said Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett. “Even if legislation changes or eliminates the prefunding payments, we may reach our $15 billion debt ceiling in the fall of this year.”
Share your comments below.
Posted on Mon, Feb 13, 2012
Reigning class of Women of Distinction shine in Digital Document Magazine.
OutputLinks Communications Group’s Women of Distinction were featured in the European industry publication Digital Document Magazine. Congratulations to these leading professionals for this high-profile honor!
Check out the Women of Distinction feature here >>>.
The Women of Distinction program was established in 2002 to recognize the many contributions, achievements and successes of stellar women in the industry. This special recognition spotlights the rich history and ongoing contributions of a unique league of high-profile professionals. Each year, the honorees represent a diverse group of executives, educators, technical consultants, document managers, and other HVTO luminaries.
Kudos to the current OutputLinks Communications Group Women of Distinction, which include:
Jackie Connor
Digitalpress
General Manager
Australia
Elvire Del Fondo
Audigny
Chairman
France
Mary Garnett
Printing Industries of America
Vice President
USA
Marianne Gaige
Cathedral Corporation
President & CEO
USA
Meegan Hinds
Symcor Inc.
General Manager
Canada
Chantal Juvet
Docapost DPS
Directeur du Développement Division des Opérations Commerciales
France
Cheryl Kahanec
EARTHCOLOR
Executive Vice President, Earth Digital
USA
Kathleen McHugh
Presstek, Inc.
VP and Chief Marketing Officer
USA
Posted on Mon, Feb 06, 2012
Many say you can’t teach and old dog new tricks, especially when trying to get printers and print/document professionals to evolve with the industry.
Do you agree or disagree? Share your view below, but first take a look at this
brief and inspiring video, then ask yourself:
What new “tricks” am I learning? Do high volume transaction output professionals need to break free from old habits and evolve? Is that more difficult than it sounds? What advice do you have?
President Bill Clinton said, “The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.”
And Henry David Thoreau said, “Things do not change, we change.”
In the evolving print world, learning how to “dance the new dance” is critical.
Agree or disagree? Share your comments and suggestions below.
Posted on Mon, Feb 06, 2012
Yes, the term is trademarked. Here’s what you need to know.
Share your thoughts and comments below.
Did you know that the word “QR Code” is registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED in Japan, the United States, Australia and Europe?
DENSO WAVE’s registered trademark, however, applies only to the word QR Code®, and not the QR Code® pattern (or image). The technology is, in fact, open source.
DENSO WAVE is asking companies to make sure all future references of QR Code® have the registered trademark symbol (®) after the term “QR Code,” and the following text is placed somewhere on the same page as the term: *QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.
A registered trademark is not required when publishing the QR Code® image, just the name.
Share your comments and thoughts below.
A quick response code, as most in the industry know, is a 2D barcode that can be scanned by a smartphone, to instantly link to websites for more information, coupons, videos, special offers, etc. Essentially, it’s a way to make printed documents more dynamic and powerful. You can find them in bills/statements, billboards, magazines and many other kinds of communications and promotional materials.
CodeZ QR says quick response codes are enabling innovative, high-volume 1:1 campaigns, and some of the world's most recognizable names in business are using quick response campaigns to improve their interactions with customers and enhance their brands – Ralph Lauren, Sprint, Subway, to name a few. Certainly, quick response codes are well-known in the high volume transaction output industry, so it may come as a surprise to some that the term is trademarked.
Additional information here >>>.