Optimizing Software Technology: Changing Book Printing at Publishers' Graphics
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An informative look at how Publishers' Graphics has optimized their software and hardware technology to simplify, automate, and reduce costs and shorten turn around by an astounding 87%!
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Optimizing Software Technology: Changing Book Printing at Publishers' Graphics
- 1. Optimizing Software Technology: Changing Book Printing at Publishersâ Graphics Presented by Nick Lewis, Founder, Publisherâs Graphics Tony Leccese, Rochester Software Associates
- 2. Presentation Agenda ď¤ Topic Introduction- Optimizing software and hardware to grow efficiently and change book printing ď¤ Speaker Introduction- Nick Lewis ď¤ Publisherâs Graphics Overview ď¤ Discussion: How weâre changing shortârun book printing âone book at a timeâ ď¤ Conclusion and Questions
- 3. PublishersâGraphics Challenges â˘Reduce costs and find ways to achieve best practices while supporting growth â˘Support volume current workflows couldnât meet â˘Manual, error-prone, time-consuming process for job processing Solutions â˘RSA QDirect â˘RSA QDirect Make Ready integration module Results â˘87% reduction in turn around- 5-7 days VS 40 â˘Jobs can be easily directed to any printer anywhere as needed, including ticketing â˘300-800 titles profitably produced daily â˘65% volume increase without adding staff âRSAâs QDirect enabled us to bring it all together. It doesnât see any boundaries. There are no barriers to keep us from constantly moving forward.â Nick Lewis, President
- 4. A Dialogue with PublishersâGraphics ď¤ Why Nick founded Publishersâ Graphics ď¤ Who is Publishersâ Graphics? Why are you different? ď¤ How are you changing shortârun book printing âone book at a timeâ? ď¤ What was the impetus to seek out new technology? ď¤ What has this technology enabled? ď¤ Lessons learned? ď¤ Interactive Q&A
- 5. Who is PublishersâGraphics? ď¤ One of the largest short-run book printers ď¤ Focus on innovation, quality and customized services drive our success ď¤ 2009: Best year ever! 2010 even better ď¤ âA Book of Oneâ production facility ď¤ Data stream distribution system (global) ď¤ An electronic book repository ď¤ An online bookstore ď¤ Short run book production
- 7. Traditional Process Customer Orders From Publisher Publisher Orders From Printer Printer Produces Books Printer Sends Books to Distributor Distributor Ships Books Books Delivered
- 8. New Process Customer Orders From Publisher Publisher Orders From Printer Printer Produces Books Printer Ships Books Books Delivered
- 9. Technologies
- 10. Key Technology QDirect ď¤ Organizes large job volume-1,000-2,000 jobs/day ď¤ Automate & route jobs to various printers (from different manufacturers) with automatic re-ticketing
- 11. Lessons Learned/Tips ď¤ Need strong IT support staff ď¤ Orchestrate through the complexity of a multi-tier multi-vendor platform project
- 12. Summary ď¤ We succeed because we: ď§ Listen to customers and identify unmet needs ď§ Understand, design, communicate, and develop systems and processes needed to bring software and hardware together ď§ Innovate- Crafted a top-tier platform uniquely delivering the service ď¤ The results can be astounding: ď§ Process efficiency- 87% decrease in turn around time, easily operating in a multi-location multi-vendor environment ď§ Cost effectiveness- handling 65% volume increase without adding staff ď§ Profitably printing every book- 350-400 orders daily in multiple locations
- 13. Questions & Contact Information Contact Info: Nick Lewis President, Publishersâ Graphics Carol Stream, IL nlewis@pubgraphics.com 888.404.3769 Rochester Software Associates: www.rocsoft.com aleccese@rocsoft.com
Editor's Notes
- Hi, I am Tony Leccese, Product Manager of Output Solutions for Rochester Software Associates. This wonât be your typical âPresidential presentation.â No teleprompters, no memorized speeches or wooden delivery of a raft of slides. We thought the audience would appreciate an interview style session- a conversation, really- between Nick Lewis, founder and President of Publisherâs Graphicsâ one of the largest short-run book printers in the US- and myself. Nick has been in your shoes, and felt that you would most benefit from an âinside a print operationâ case study discussion. What you WILL get is an informative look at how Publisherâs Graphics has optimized their software and hardware technology to simplify, automate, and reduce costs and shorten turn around by an astounding 87%!
- Hi, I am Tony Leccese, Product Manager of Output Solutions for Rochester Software Associates. This wonât be your typical âPresidential presentation.â No teleprompters, no memorized speeches or wooden delivery of a raft of slides. We thought the audience would appreciate an interview style session- a conversation, really- between Nick Lewis, founder and President of Publisherâs Graphicsâ one of the largest short-run book printers in the US- and myself. Nick has been in your shoes, and felt that you would most benefit from an âinside a print operationâ case study discussion. What you WILL get is an informative look at how Publisherâs Graphics has optimized their software and hardware technology to simplify, automate, and reduce costs and shorten turn around by an astounding 87%!
- For those of you yearning for an idea of what weâll cover, here is what Nick and I will discuss:1) Why Nick founded Publishersâ Graphics and how itâs like a restaurant2) Who is Publishersâ Graphics? Why are you different?3) How are you changing shortârun book printing âone book at a timeâ?4) What was the impetus to seek out new technology?5) What other benefits of leveraging technology have helped you optimize the workflow?6) What did you learn from the process that you feel members of the audience will benefit from knowing?7) Q&A
- Who is Publishersâ Graphics and how are you different?A Book of One Production FacilityData Stream Distribution System (Global)An Electronic Book Repository An Online BookstoreShort Run Book ProductionCustomized Services for...Individuals/Self-Published AuthorsSmall Publishers/PressesLarge PublishersWe print soft cover, saddle stitch, color books, kids book, mechanicals⌠all types of books. Each has different paths and set workflow. Providing Print-On-Demand and Global Distribution Services through Partnerships in London, Australia, and GermanyWe currently have about 30 employees in two US locations.
- I founded Publishers because I saw a need for printing one book and shipping it to one end customer. There are not a lot of book printers doing that. After talking to customers we saw a need, saw what wasnât being done and what publishers wanted, and built a platform that only top tier companies could create. Our unique understanding of the software and hardware needed to deliver on those needs is why we are where we are today.Our company is like our restaurant⌠our best trait is our ability to talk with customers and communicate. We learned this from our restaurant. We do it âold style.â The restaurant is like Publishersâ. Itâs a combination of communicating, hardware, and software- good product in a market with an unmet need (quality fresh local organic food), good âhardwareâ (physical building, dĂŠcor, kitchen equipment), good âsoftwareâ (service, systems to make it all work)- need it all to make it work
- How are we changing book printing, and why are we different? Why did we seek out the technology?We saw the world of book printing changing. Because of our experience and understanding of what it takes for a workflow to be profitable, we look for the best way possible to drive costs out of the process.
- In printing, everyone had their own song to sing. It takes more than a press, It takes embracing technology. We âget it.â We have a lot of experience, did our homework, and understand technology. Not a lot of book printers are printing one book and shipping that one book to an end customer. We take the order, print it, and then ship it to the end customerMore effective processes are those that deliver the desired result with fewer steps, require the involvement of fewer people, and reduce the amount of resources needed. By using software that works across various hardware, automatically routing jobs, we are able to use the most effective path to get an order in, print it, and get it back out.Our average run is three books. The biggest benefit Iâve received is being able to make printing one book profitable by using the software that I have. I can just push all those orders through.
- We built a system and process specifically for the business, rather than adapt a current process. From there, we have built and are growing the company around it.Based on our research, we liked RSAâs QDirect for its versatility and the way we saw that we could grow with it. With all the systems working in place, itâs scary how easy it is!
- With QDirect we can push work wherever we want to go based on best practices.It has enabled us to bring it all together across a multitude of printers in any array anywhere we want to print.RSA simplifies sending to a backend wherever it is- it doesnât matter where it is. It does not see boundaries and there are no barriers from moving forward. Some vendors have processes that are proprietary to their systems. Not RSA. It unlocks the barriers that can occur in the workflow. When I buy additional equipment, RSA writes the back end and weâre online. I go into QDirect, make a simple change, make it applicable, and Iâm up and running.Itâs robust and RSAâs service is great. RSA is willing to customize the software based on what I need and helped me optimize it for my situation. Not many vendors will do that.
- Strong IT support staffWhen deploying a project, particularly one with multiple vendors, you need to understand how to orchestrate through the complexity- in this case three large companiesBe sure there is a leader for the projectâ a centralized company who will follow through. You also need an internal central driver for the projectâ someone who understands technology. We drove the process and knew what we wanted to accomplish. We documented the process and we all learned from it.There will always be trails and tribulations in a project. Every project is different, so there are always new things to learn. During this process RSA was great. Other firms just did not seem to have resources, but RSA did.
- Few book printers understand both hardware and software. We know both. Being able to optimize how the two work together is KEY to the success in this business. We know how to make the software talk to the various equipment and then get the book out the door to the customer.Because we keep growing, itâs really important that we optimize our workflow and processes using software that works with the hardware that we have. The solution we have affords itself toward growth. When we last added a new location, it went from eight months to two weeks to get the new site up and running.I donât see any boundaries between me and Publishersâ Graphics meeting our goals.
- Thank you for your time. Feel free to pick up a copy of the case study on your way out, or contact RSA for a PDF of the case study.