Are you a Distributor looking to branch out and embrace—or at least investigate—the world of digital printing? Where do you start? What do you need? Who should you talk to? Randy Hardy, principal officer for Kings Park, New York-based Randy Hardy Associates, offers some suggestions.
Digital Print Management Issues
The first conversation should be with your staff. Discuss who has some knowledge and the desire to acquire more. Think about what you would like to accomplish, then develop a game plan, establishing dates for reaching goals, as well as identifying target customers who would be good prospects for the new services. Think about what are you looking to distribute, whether letters; direct mail; transactional print such as bills, statements and invoices; marketing materials; booklets/manuals; or imaged labels. In addition, are there vertical markets you have knowledge of and want to target?
The easiest way to begin is if you have some customers who have a specific need. They can usually describe what they want and give you some specifications. This will make it easier to have the conversation with your vendors once you’ve found them.
There are basic issues that you should know. For example, PDF resolution needs to be set for printing rather than display; otherwise the resolution will be poor. There are transactional print languages, such as AFP, an IBM print language; Metacode and LCDS for Xerox equipment; PCL for HP and other printers; ADOBE Postscipt, which most production printers support; and PPML, developed by industry consortium PODi .
Then, there is the data. How will it be sent, already formatted into one of the languages above, or will your vendor need a composition tool to format the data? Is the job a one-time effort, or will it run continuously, with new data being sent each time. Perhaps it is a static document, and you will want it electronically warehoused and available for On-Demand print.
There will be other issues that will be familiar to you, such as paper choices and finishing. Remember, you are ultimately doing what you already do well—understanding the client’s needs and communicating them to a vendor. Your key role, leveraging the relationship and trust already earned from previous success with your client, remains constant.
There are a number of resources that you can turn to to learn more, such as Webinars offered by Print Professional magazine, Xerox Corporation and Xplor International; DMIA education programs, The AIIM/On Demand Show, industry consultants, and partnering with major print vendors, including InfoPrint (formerly IBM), Xerox, Kodak, HP and Océ.
To contact Randy Hardy, call (516) 449-5154 or e-mail randall.hardy@saperion.com.