MAILCENTER: Adding Verifiable Value, and Print

We've all heard about printers who've added mailing and fulfillment services, but here's a twist: a fulfillment company adding digital print. Marketing Support Services (MSS), Cincinnati, installed its first HP Indigo press (a 1000 model) about three years ago. It subsequently upgraded to a 5000, then added a second press—a 5500—last year.

In addition to literature on demand, the firm now takes Web-to-print orders online (business cards, for example) and offers limited bindery services. Printing now accounts for some 40% of its overall sales, and that figure is growing, according to sales manager Mark Goodwin.

Last December, MSS became the fourth fulfillment business in the U.S. (and the first in the Midwest) to earn accreditation from the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Assn. (MFSA). The process took 10 months of intensive work, documenting procedures and implementing check points in 168 elements of operation at the company.

“We undertook accreditation to assure customers and prospects that their materials, mailings and reports are handled to the highest standards of professionalism and accountability,” says Greg Fischer, owner/president of MSS, which has grown from eight to 60 employees and to 100,000 sq.ft. since its 1987 founding. “We didn't expect it to be such a transforming experience in self-improvement and team-building. We found we were doing a lot of things right, but also many ways we could be even better—especially in documentation of procedures and staff training.”

Accreditation enhances MSS's ability to provide greater value-added service to customers, he notes. “It's not enough to just manage inventory and distribute customer materials when requested,” says Fischer. “Our focus today is on asset management and optimization. We try to be proactive, provide insight on trends and seasonality and advise on inventory on demand versus bulk purchasing and long-term material storage.”

He cites data management as a key area. Fulfillment businesses are expanding their range of services to perform functions that can be difficult for companies to staff and operate on a full-time basis, Fischer explains. “We want to be a trusted extension of our customers' businesses, letting them concentrate on core competencies.”

Fulfillment and tracking of marketing leads may not present the volume and regularity to justify a full-time person, he adds, so these services can get neglected as peripheral duties.

Four Vertis Communications direct-mail production facilities, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are officially Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody (COC) certified. The designation enables Vertis to offer customers the option to select FSC-certified products for their direct mail and printing efforts, contributing to environmental awareness.

To maintain FSC certification, Vertis says its direct-mail facilities will adhere to the requirements defined by the SmartWood Rainforest Alliance program. COC certification allows manufacturers and marketers of forest products to brand them as FSC.

Scott Gerschwer, global marketing VP at Megaspirea, is chairing a course on mail communication at the 2008 Xplor Document University Global Conference and Exhibition. Xplor is co-located this year with the On Demand Conference and Expo in Boston, March 3-6. (See p.40.)

The seven-part course, entitled “Mail in the Middle,” will take place on Wednesday, March 5, from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and will feature presentations from leading and a panel discussion on the future of mail.

“Mail is the new middleware for leading edge companies that want to communicate most effectively with their customers,” says Gerschwer. “Once thought to be the culmination of a number of connected processes, the mail is now best viewed as the middle cog in a communication loop that continuously links business with customer. New technology makes it possible for mail to drive consumers to their own page on your company Website and to seamlessly connect online and hard copy communication and customer relationship management processes.”

Megaspirea introduced a significant innovation in mail technology with its Mailliner 100 (see GAM Nov. 2005, p.14) and Dynamic Envelope Creation, in which a complete mail piece (envelope and content) is created from a blank roll to ensure accuracy. This automates key assembly functions and enables on-the-envelope messaging.

A recent report by Madison Advisors finds that there is a strong business case for the Dynamic Envelope Creation mail-finishing process. Competitive Intelligence: Industry Costs for Traditional Inserting focuses on cost savings achieved by eliminating the need for pre-manufactured, pre-ordered, stored and staged envelope stock. Obtain a copy by e-mailing scott.gerschwer@megaspirea.com.

Domino Printing Sciences will bring four significant products to drupa. First is the latest Bitjet (v.4.5) binary inkjet inline digital printer, featuring fast-drying solvent ink for text, graphics and 2D barcodes.

Second is the third-generation, solvent-based K150 drop-on-demand printer for personalized addressing applications in direct-mail and catalog binderies. Its entry-level, $21,000 price is 50% lower than competing products, the firm says.

The L400 thermal inkjet addressing system (shown on facing page), which made its debut at Graph Expo, also will be in Dusseldorf this spring. Made with partner Lexmark, its Duojet twin-nozzel print head is 30% faster and yields sharper print quality with drops that are 20% smaller.

The BaseLine off-line inkjet mailing base, the firm's first materials-handling solution, also will be shown.