Premier Press, a $20 million commercial printer has always stressed continuous improvement in its internal operations and in the service it provides customers. In October 2006, the Portland, Oregon, printer implemented new technology -- a comprehensive end-to-end business flow automation solution. Press-sense iWay has positively impacted by cutting thousands of dollars out of operating costs and dramatically increasing customer loyalty.

“From a business standpoint, web-to-print makes a lot of sense,” says Chris Feryn, General Manager. “It’s an easier way for our clients to do business with us. It’s a comprehensive system from the front end -- what the client sees -- all the way to the back-end workflow and imposition side.”

Premier Press, a family-owned and operated commercial printer since 1974, operated a less robust web-based solution a few years ago, but when its largest client made new requests that the system couldn’t handle, Premier Press knew it needed to upgrade to a system in that could host the database and control the data. The print provider found a customer-driven, print-on-demand solution in Press-sense iWay.

The system drives costs down by reducing the number of interactions. Customers type in the data and submit job orders online from any location. PDF files then flow automatically through the proofing process, printing, and delivery. Receiving PDF-ready files saves on the small and large jobs.

“For the smaller jobs, it keeps our transaction costs down,” says Feryn. “Instead of us typing in names and sending out proofs, that whole part of the job gets compressed from a two-day process to a five-minute process, so to us that’s our biggest internal savings. Each time a person touches a job that’s $5 to $10 dollars. That all gets cut out. So for all those small jobs, the system cuts out one-third to half of our costs.

In addition to handling small jobs cost effectively, the system will soon be slashing tens of thousands of dollars off the processing of a product line of fold-over appointment cards. Customers use the cards to print information such as hours of operation and a map with directions. Once those products are online, Premier expects even bigger savings.

Another feature that saves time for the printer and its customers is that customers can track jobs online. When Premier receives jobs, they’ll be automatically routed to one of the digital presses—an Indigo 3000 and 5000, or one of the many offset presses which range from a 40-inch six-color Komori to an 18-inch one-color Hamada.

Premier Press collaborates with clients to improve efficiencies and satisfy customers. Last year, the company processed 2,000 orders for 11 different customers through the Press-sense iWay.

Premier’s largest customer using the system is a veterinary clinic with 400 locations. The client accesses iWay to order about 10 different products including business cards, business letters, and customized packages for when different sites may be celebrating an anniversary or the launch of a new location. The printer is in the process of switching over other product orders that it now receives via fax.

“The veterinary clinic client does a lot of printing and mailing with us and if we didn’t have this service, they could switch to another vendor,” says Feryn. “The system protects a lot of revenue by helping to keep that client locked in.”

Another customer found the system beneficial when it was sending out Christmas cards. It was a $20,000 job that was printed conventionally, explains Feryn. “The tricky part was that they wanted the distribution list by people ordering by credit card. We set that up on the iWay system and people could order them online. We never would have gotten this $20,000 job if we didn’t have this service.”

Other clients use the system for static fulfillment and might print 5000 pieces, for example, and then order 50 at a time.

“I think we’re going to see even more benefits in the coming years as people push more and more for this type of service, and we wanted to be ready when customers request it,” concludes Feryn. “We’re one of the largest printers in Oregon and have always been leading in technology. It just seemed like a natural to enhance the web-to-print capability. I’m convinced that if you don’t have a system like this in a couple of years you’re going to have a tough time being in the printing industry. It makes too much sense and it makes things so much easier.”