Web-to-print is the virtual face and CSR of your company, but don’t wait for solutions to be spoon-fed, you can DIY says Heric
There have been predictions for the past few years that the next brave new world in print is the web-to-print procurement model. In this scheme, the print buyer procures his print and submits his job all through a www browser and an internet connection, through the print facilities’ www site.In a complete implementation of this, the entire transaction is logged and controlled by an internal MIS with a www interface, and materials are ordered or removed from inventory, and shipping arrangements are made. This more complete solution is what nearly every print facility wanting to offer web-to-print strives to attain, but the reality of that implementation introduces complexity that few mere mortals in the industry are ready to take on.
Because of its inherent complexity, few have found web-to-print to be a profit centre as yet, but it is my hunch that with pragmatic planning on building a solution yourself, it need not break the bank, and can be ready when there is enough market to make it a significant player. While web-to-print is still a long way from being the norm, many small to medium-sized print facilities can make use of this type of www presence to showcase their capability and ease-of-procurement to a newly emergent www savvy customer-base.
What it is all going to boil down to is the face you put on your business from your www presence. The more closely one is able to mirror the traditional working of a qualified customer service representative, the more likely customers will feel a level of comfort and convenience for using a www portal to your business. Let’s face it, this is all about putting a virtual face and user experience and establishing it with your facility, as much as your lobby and reception areas of your actual facility. This means make it look graphically appealing, consistent with your corporate identity, and clean. This is as important as the demeanor of the people whom answer your telephone.
What will it take to put something like this together? Building a web-to-print portal for your business is a non-trivial undertaking. While internet presence has been accepted as more important that a fax line, there is a great deal of difference between a basic website, and a complete web-to-print procurement model. Getting to a solid web-to-print solution from the basic site can be obtained in a couple of different ways, but being the tinkerer, I prefer a DIY approach for customisation, and tailored, corporate-branded results.
DIY websites and custom web-to-print interfaces need not intimidate the curious in our industry. In our minds, as owners/managers of print facilities, we know precisely what we would want to accomplish in such a solution. Being able to convey that ideal interface to a contractor is the first essential skill, and it need not be a technical one. Even a simple index-card / flowchart model of what you want your website to do will go a long way to storyboard your website needs to your eventual contractor. Gather a team of your production managers, and have them build a wish-list / www site feature-list with a marker and index cards, and present that to your programming contractor.
Finding a good PHP, MySQL, and Java programmer is surprisingly easy, and establishing a good communication of your needs, will yield a substantial level of immediate gratification. A good programming contractor should be able to put up a good sample website in a couple of weeks, and with a good way to send ideas or bugs from your team in a timely manner, can be up and running as a working prototype in a few weeks. The process of self-architecting your system is also very gratifying, as it gives you an opportunity to ask yourself “What if we could do anything... would we want to do?”
Think about what a website would do in its roles, and plan for them in your solution.
Since only the largest of print corporations have the luxury of hiring in-house programming staff, most printers exploring this option will be relegated to hiring contractual work. This is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if one is clear up-front what they are contracting for. Keep in mind that most people whom are adept at writing database code, www form submissions and interfaces are not the most knowledgeable about print and its specific needs and preferences.
This might mean going outside of the normal circles of print-professionals to obtain a solid working relationship with a programmer, and web-developer, but the good news is, they are plentiful. A Google search for custom PHP and MySQL programming yields thousands of results, and local universities often are great sources for finding programming expertise. Just ask, “Hey, I want to do this website, where a customer fills out a form, uploads a PDF file, and it makes a job in my shop... can you do that?” If they say ‘Sure’ you have your programmer. If s/he then says “Want me to tie it into your MIS?” give them a job on the spot.
We all know that no matter what happens in a virtual internet transaction, the bottom line is that print will still need to be produced, and bills will have to be paid. The nuts and bolts of print will not change, but the method with which a job enters the shop may begin to shift away from the traditional CSR approach. Much like going to a tailor for a custom-made suit, the thought of hiring a programmer to author a custom solution for you to accomplish this may not be as exotic as it once may have been.
My point here is this is really not that difficult, or expensive, and it gives you the advantage of a custom solution that is ahead of the curve, and subsequently the competition. The days of shopping for software coding a la carte are here, and now.
