Internet Service Providers--Need for Speed

Increasingly, printers are using e-commerce to streamline their businesses.

BY CAROLINE MILLER

Efficiency is the newest buzzword in the Internet realm. In the world of commercial printing, everybody needs it yesterday. And with deadlines shrinking by the minute, efficiency can be a printer's best friend or worst enemy. So where does a printer turn when he wants to improve his business efficiency and distinguish himself from his competitors?

The World Wide Web.

"The Internet is just an even more powerful tool that will provide cleaner data and better data mining capabilities. People have always wanted to manage things in one bucket; I think that is the power of the Internet," reports Glenn Trout, president of Fobpaper.

In the third installment of our series, looking at how three printers are utilizing the Internet in their operations, Printing Impressions sits down with Fobpaper.com, Prtplanet.com and Printable.com to explore how their e-commerce solutions are impacting the graphic arts industry.

fobpaper.com
Fobpaper.com is one way that printers can build efficiency into their business, contends Glenn Trout, president of Fobpaper. "I firmly believe that customers don't want to go to 10 different sites to meet their paper needs," he remarks; instead, printers want to log onto one site when procuring paper. This concept of one-stop-shopping is what drives Fobpaper.

Fobpaper is a vertical purchasing hub. It differs from other exchange and catalog Websites in that Fobpaper also replaces the traditional, internal, off-line system that sourced input materials, according to Trout. Fobpaper aggregates, collates and stores purchasing data, while providing its users with an outsourced purchasing option.

So what are the benefits to using Fobpaper? Simply put, increased efficiency.

Trout claims that users of Fobpaper can cut their transaction costs by up to 75 percent and users can also reduce input material prices by 10 percent to 20 percent.

Also, Fobpaper offers the printer the ability to log on and order any time of day. Access and the selection drew the attention of one Midwestern printer, who asked to remain anonymous. "They have a great collection of paper. It is just as good as any local merchant. And being in Chicago, I've got [access to] them all," the printer reveals.

However, Fobpaper offers printers access to more than just paper. A printer can purchase other needed consumables, such as ink and film, from Fobpaper sister sites Fobplastics and Fobchemicals. "We can customize the site for them to input any raw material that they might need," Trout discloses. Fobpaper also offer printers a variety of features that enables them to track their orders.

While Fobpaper offers printers a wide variety of services and features, the most important thing it offers printers is a way to keep costs down. "Fobpaper quotes very competitively And it's not seconds; it's first-run sheet," says the Midwest printer, who has already placed several orders through Fobpaper.

"The pricing alone is a big savings and benefit," he discloses, especially when it comes to larger orders.

printable.com
Printers who are looking for a more productive way to connect with their clients should consider Printable.com, according to Mike Corson, president of NJC Printing & Graphics in St. Louis.

"We want each of our clients to have a dynamic Web interface, which allows them to make the whole printing process much more simple and more productive," he describes. And Printable is making that happen, Corson says.

Printable enables printers to develop a Website with e-commerce capabilities, explains Stu Clifton, the company's president. "Everyone can get a generic Website. This is a very print-centric model," he reports.

The idea behind this Web solution, Clifton reveals, is to reduce the Internet to a tool for printers that is just as easy to use as the phone or the fax. "Not only are we providing a Website, we are providing them with e-commerce capabilities."

At the center of Printable's e-commerce solution is the Printer's Dashboard, which enables printers to pick and choose a variety of tools they can add to their customized Website. For example, a printer can add tools such as the ability to review activity, portfolios and file transfers.

"The Printer's Dashboard is really the printers' control panel into what, where and how his business is running," Clifton says. Printers can also create a customer care center where clients can track their jobs, input job specifications, reorder repeat runs and much more.

It is these kinds of features that are key if a printing operation wants to distinguish itself from the competition, according to Corson. In fact, he sees NJC Printing's move toward e-commerce as a necessity, not a luxury, in today's marketplace.

"In the past year or so I've noticed a real critical mass in how my clients have been handling their own technology. I've seen a lot of people come online. We've seen many more online transfers," he reveals.

For Corson, integrating Printable into his business is the best way to meet the needs of his customers as they come online. "We are giving our clients a new and powerful tool that can increase sales and reduce administrative burden— and that's what is really behind it all," he notes.

prtplanet.com
Prtplanet.com is the perfect example of how the Internet is bringing buyers and sellers together—no matter where their location. Prtplanet is a Web-based classified section for printers, according to Dion Solihin, vice president of marketing.

Prtplanet enables printers to place classified ads online to sell their used equipment to a global market, as well as to seek out equipment to purchase. Recently, one classified advertisement on the PrtPlanet site offered a China-based printing facility for sale, Solihin reports. Printers can also search for qualified employees using Prtplanet's HR executive search, Solihin remarks.

One company that is taking advantage of Prtplanet's global audiences is Intergrafica Print & Pack located in Singapore, according to Toon Santen, director of Integrafica Print & Pack.

Santen has used the Website to sell his company's used equipment, and he has also utilized the site to purchase hard-to-find items. "It provides an alternative platform to our existing channels for selling used equipment. And the easy-to-reach regional and global marketplace of both dealers and end-users adds to our business opportunities," he describes.

The speculation continues over which e-commerce companies will survive in this new age, and what their ultimate impact on the printing industry will be. One thing is certain, according to Santen: e-commerce is here to stay.

"The Internet is creating additional products and services that will give rise to marketing opportunities for new and existing players," he says. "It also can enhance how things are done internally and, in the big picture, creates a more global marketplace."