Web-to-Print

Headquartered in Lewiston, Maine, One Right Business Printing upgraded its Web site with an award-winning online order system to better serve customers. The state-of-the-art e-commerce system provides greater control over ordering, including secure access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Said Mark Hartnett, president, “Customers should be able to place orders when it’s convenient for them, not when it is convenient for us. Our new system was even awarded ‘Product of the Year’ by PrintImage International and was named ‘Best of Breed’ by Xerox.” Now, users can view and approve proofs of jobs immediately, attach files to job tickets, view previous jobs, place

Headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., WorkflowOne received a print fulfillment, business communications and Web services contract for Rita’s Water Ice franchise, a 350-unit, Pennsylvania-based Italian-ice franchise operating in 12 states. Rita’s Water Ice re-launched its online merchandise store powered by WorkflowOne, which will also provide management of brand-related promotional materials for stores, and deploy a Web-based ordering and fulfillment system covering everything from uniforms to signage. The first Rita’s Water Ice store opened in 1984, and the organization plans to have 1,500 locations by 2010. WorkflowOne purchased Relizon in November. The newly-expanded company was projected to have an annual revenue in excess of $1.2

we live in electronic times. Because text messaging, e-mailing and video conferencing are modern modes of communication, many businesses have adapted new technology to better serve a quicker pace of information exchange. Yet, has the business forms industry been dragging its feet? Some say “yes.” As the demand for traditional forms continues to decline, many in the industry have adapted to modern forms, but have not necessarily delved into e-forms. Why? According to Mike Miller, vice president and general manager of the custom solutions division, Cardinal Brands, Lawrence, Kan., and William Akel, president, Synapsis, Las Vegas, it all comes down to the myth that

Headquartered in Fenton, Mo., FormStore has signed agreements to add Four51 Internet-based technology as an expansion and enhancement of FormStore's Web-to-print platform. “FormStore Incorporated has invested significant resources in recent months on digital printing equipment and technology,” stated Paul Edwards, president. “Four51 has innovative Web-to-print network capability and a strong distributor following that integrates strongly with FormStore’s long-range strategic objectives.” Installation of the Four51 techology is scheduled for May and will allow FormStore and its Four51-enabled distributors to enjoy efficiencies and cost reductions by leveraging Four51 for day-to-day communications and transaction processing, while accessing the company's powerful digital print solution center. FormStore manufactures laser printable membership ID

The focus has shifted from implementing to perfecting the electronic tools now in place. Businesses unwilling to alienate significant subsets of their customer base have added offering e-commerce to that list of things one simply must do in life. And not unlike their mission statements, the chosen solutions must be uniquely suited to the organizations and support their fundamental marketplace objectives. Here, three technology solution providers discuss their products, and some of the ways e-commerce and online management are enhancing business efficiency and customer satisfaction. Contributors include Darren Atkinson, CTO for FormScape, Morrisville, N.C., Dave Clark, director of product marketing for PureEdge,

Print experts report that business and e-commerce evolve together. The bar for good business within the print industry has been raised for some time now. Since e-commerce opportunities infiltrated the print arena in the 1990s, many distributors have felt compelled to utilize Internet technologies in order to conform to modern business practices—a logical decision since so many consumers are demanding faster, more efficient print solutions. Still, e-commerce is considered to be a new application, and those who use it continue to adapt to its ongoing evolution while those deciding to use it search for suitable modules. The question for those who do utilize e-commerce,

Which model to choose, however, is the question. It's not quite daybreak when the buyer of one of TopForm Software's clients sits down at a computer to get an updated report on the status of the company's print product orders. Without a single phone call or fax, the buyer retrieves the information and is free to start the day. That is just one of the great benefits of online forms management, said Julie Pritchard, president, TopForm Software, Norcross, Ga. "Customers can check a real-time status of their orders whenever, and from wherever, they want." This no fuss, no muss solution explains much of on-line

Taken as a technology, not a business sector, e-commerce is an unmitigated success. As Industry analyst Eliot Harper tells it, the birth of e-commerce can be traced to 1986 and Henry Freedman's "829" patent—a pioneering invention allowing for the interconnection of printing requesters to printing facilities on telecommunications networks (visit www.henryfreedman.com). "However, we started to witness the real introduction of print dot-com providers in 1999 at Seybold in Boston, when we saw Collabria, Impresse and others springing up," said Harper, on staff with WhatTheyThink, Lexington, Ky. "There were a total of nine new dot-com companies at this show. Today, there are more than

Industry professionals talk about the reasons and the results behind their interactive Web sites. Make no mistake. The World Wide Web has become the impetus behind greater business communication. And, although the initial incorporation of the Internet into daily business practices can be long, tedious and quite expensive, many distributors are more than willing to foot the e-commerce bill in return for e-business potential. Interactive Web sites that allow customers to in-put and retrieve information on the status of their orders, as well as communicate with distributors, are proving to be efficient tools that should eventually level out upfront costs. To find out

Expanded manufacturer sites add convenience and resources By Janet R. Gross Manufacturer Web sites have offered distributors product information, e-mail communications, even marketing support for several years now. Some forms producers, though, have begun expanding their sites, promising added convenience and resources for distributors. For instance, a few manufacturers allow end-users to enter reorders through their Web sites and credit the distributors with the sales. Roger Buck, national sales manager and vice president at Ward/Kraft, Fort Scott, Kansas, said he expects this capability to be added to the company's site by the first quarter of next year. "It's a development issue," he said. "We