Technology is revolutionizing printing

Is your print vendor running at the speed of your business? See what Nordis can do for you.

Technology is revolutionizing printing, and you don’t want to find yourself stuck behind the times. After all, print remains a dominant force in customer communications. The 2019 Keypoint Intelligence Annual State of Transactional Communications found the share of print transactional communications increased to 49 percent, up from 45 percent in 2017.

The latest printing innovations can significantly improve your operations and customer experience. Use these four criteria to assess print/mail vendors:

Customer communications management software

The most efficient print and mail document production environments are driven by a single, cloud-based customer communication management (CCM) application.

Too many organizations and lettershops still use multiple applications for document creation and processing. This approach adds complexity, delays and loss of control and opens the door to security failures and exceptions.

High-speed inkjet

With today’s high-speed, high-volume color inkjet systems, organizations can transition from toner technology and monochrome documents to color communications at no added cost. Plus, no upfront investment to produce and inventory preprinted stock.

Inkjet’s variable data printing capabilities give you the flexibility to dynamically change your messaging on the fly. Text, colors and images, type, size and weight can all be modified. It’s seamless to personalize educational content, program benefits, loyalty status, and graphics to create high-impact documents that get read and acted on.

Complementary technologies

High-speed, roll-fed printers can be paired with inserters that keep up with equipment’s blistering pace. For the highest quality output, check that vendors’ inserting technology offers:

Page barcoding: ensuring all pages within a package set are present and belongs to that individual
File-based tracking: which allows you to reconcile each record inserted against the print file, confirming all records are accounted for
Camera vision inspection: which reads every unique sequence number on every record, so there are no gaps, double insertion or missing pieces

These elements combine in a system that ensures 100 percent accuracy, accounting for every page produced for each communication.

Manual processes still exist in the industry, including insertion tasks that can migrate from a secure production floor. Safeguarding Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is crucial. Look for HIPAA compliant processes and SOC 2, Type 2 certification, which confirms a vendor can safely and securely handle your data and has the control systems to do so.

Mailing expertise

No surprise, technology comes into play here, too. Save on production material, time and postage if your vendor has an automated processing system that handles returned mail. The system scans the items and provides a file each day so you can update your database and reduce undeliverable mail.

Your print and mail services vendor should be able to split your data and mail those records from the geographic location that makes the most sense. You’ll gain the ability to speed up mail delivery depending on the area from which the data derives. This will accelerate receivables collection and improve cash flow.

Nordis is state-of-the-art

Nordis is a leader in both omnichannel CCM and high-speed color inkjet printing, driving digital transformation and enhanced customer experience. Our cloud-based Expresso customer communications management system integrates with our digital production and print and mail services, giving clients control and flexibility to develop, customize and distribute letters, statements, marketing pieces and much more.

From a single dashboard, our clients streamline, simplify and automate omnichannel communications creation, updates, approvals, reporting, delivery and archiving. These capabilities support customer expectations: 76 percent of consumers want the power to decide which channels—including print, email, text, digital wallet–providers use to communicate with them, according to Keypoint Intelligence research.

Want to take advantage of advanced printing options? See what Nordis can do for you.

About the Author

Mike oversees production operations, warehouse facility and data processing. He is a 25-year direct-mail industry veteran whose focus on streamlining production has helped the company and its clients reduce cost while increasing efficiency and output. He earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing, with a minor in management, from Colorado State University. Mike is a member of the Mailing Fulfillment Service Association and the Postal Customer Council.