Web2print: Taking stress off of print buyers one project at a time
Let’s face it. Companies are constantly being faced with the internal audits that eventually lead them to rearrange certain job positions and titles to accommodate the labor budget. This means less people doing the same, or in some cases, even more tasks.
Look at your print buyers, for instance. They probably have other responsibilities to worry about beyond managing who prints what. By decentralizing print procurement with web2print, your company can streamline its processes while also standardizing administrative details, such as who receives an invoice and what credit cards they can use.
Web2print has been around since the 1990s, but now the vendor landscape has become quite competitive. Here are some questions to ask yourself when shopping around for a solution to take the load off of your busy print buyer:
Where is the technology hosted?
Some printers choose to host their own web2print portal, meaning they own and control the technology behind it. Other printers usually buy solutions from another company and those solutions usually based on an ASP (web-based) model. In other words, the software is controlled and hosted by a third party. It is important to have some assurance that the third party host is a viable, stable business. If that host goes out of business, you and your printer could lose valuable data.
How reliable is the site?
Your company may enable purchasers from a wide geographical area to place orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you’ll want some assurance that they’ll have access when they need it.
How flexible is the solution?
No two companies have the exact same print procurement needs and goals. Therefore, each portal must be set up to fit those unique needs. An important question to ask is, “How flexible is the solution?” Printers that write the software tend to have more flexibility as they can mold the solution to address your individual needs.
How will the technology grow with me as my needs grow and change?
Chances are when you establish portal you will start out with a few products. As time goes on, you will add more and more products. You’ll see the advantages almost immediately: ease of ordering, reduction in internal procurement costs, enterprise empowerment, better control of inventory, brand protection, better utilization of collateral, the ability to immediately update printed material, up-to-date material in the field, etc. You’ll also start to see other opportunities to use web2print for other products, divisions, etc. Can your printer provide you with a growth path?
In terms of “output solutions” will my printer’s printing solutions limit what I can put in my portal?
After your web2print portal is established, you’ll inevitably come up with other products. You don’t want your printer to say, “We don’t do that type of printing.”
How will the portal look to my employees?
Many web2print portals can be tailored to reflect the graphical look and feel of your organization or you can use a standard setting without tailoring. To assure a smooth rollout, make sure you can see a demo of the portal. This way you can adjust anything that is not quite right. Remember, it’s your portal so make sure you make it work for you.
How will I access my web2print portal?
You can access your portal through a separate stand alone site or through your company’s intranet. If you go through your intranet, security is seamlessly passed from your system to your printer’s. If you do not desire that degree of integration, they can provide a separate URL for your employees to logon. Make sure your printer has an approach that suits you.
What type of security is in place?
Your printer should provid a secure site, which has been tested and certified by a third party company that specializes in computer security. Without the appropriate security links and login name and password, your site cannot be accessed.
What management tools are available?
When you launch web2print, it is important to have management tools that enable you to monitor orders, approve orders, monitor inventory, etc. Automatic e-mail notifications, routing and approval, and the ability to update products are all important tools that make it practical and easy to maintain and monitor your portal
What type of reporting is available?
Most organizations have specific reporting requirements. You can access custom reports online through your management tool set or you can receive an automated e-mail with the report.
What are my invoicing options?
Find out whether you’ll have to fit into the printer’s invoicing system or whether they can accommodate yours. Many applications can send invoices to individual departments or a central location. Your invoices can be electronic or paper. Most can even integrate into your PO system so that POs are automatically generated and linked to the order. You can have summaries of invoices sent to whomever you designate. You can even use credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover).
