Customers Demand Instant Satisfaction

On-demand printing threatens to transform the industry

By Eric Fiedler

A multitude of industries have used the "just-in-time" process of supply and demand to reduce inventory and save time. It accomplished its goals, and there have been few side effects.

When integrated into forms, however, just-in-time is commonly known as on-demand printing—a concept that threatens to displace every business forms model currently in use.

"It is more than just a new technology, it's a paradigm shift that will dramatically change the way we do business," said Charles Pesko, president and founder, CAP Ventures, Boston.

Pesko has been following the electronic printing industry for about 25 years and is an enthusiastic supporter of print-on-demand.

"Print-on-demand is an effective way of delivering to the customer what they want, when they want it and how they want it," he said.

Steve Redwine, vice president of sales and marketing for ADC, Raleigh, N.C., said his company has seen tremendous growth with print-on-demand. "We look to just-in-time printing to save companies from obsolete printed materials and get documents to market quicker than in the offset arena," he said.

One of the features ADC has incorporated into its on-demand process is a Web-based order entry system. "It's a shopping cart method that gives our customers a lot of flexibility," he said, adding that this has helped ADC work with companies on both a national and international, scale.

For longer runs, the company breaks jobs down into quarters or months and looks at the volatility of the information. If the information is apt to change regularly, they may break it down into printing every week to eliminate the possibility of obsolescence. "We are able to print the new information and get it out to the end-user in a much quicker manner using the just-in-time process," he said.