VARIABLE DATA INTEGRITY — ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

QUALITY CONTROL is a demanding proposition in all printing, but adding variable data to the mix ratchets the challenge up a notch…or three. Since each piece is intended for a specific recipient, there’s no margin for error in any of the steps required to get the right piece into the right hands.

Multiple production issues can impact the integrity of every variable data job. Mailing requirements may be the most vexing component, though.

* It should go without saying that a good database is a must for any variable data marketing. Unfortunately, service providers typically report their experiences with clients remain akin to the industry’s history in receiving “print-ready” desktop publishing files. Clients may simply not know if their databases are good, think the data is good when it isn’t, believe it is their supplier’s job to fix the database or actually provide good data.

* Even if a piece is designed by someone with variable data expertise, there still is a need to check that the layout, template and variable elements all come together as intended by running sample output. This can be done more formally by sampling on a “nth” number basis or shortest and longest record in the case of a “name” variable field. For cost and timing savings, outputting the job as PDFs for on-screen review may be the better option for a thorough review.

* Printing and post-processing have to meet quality expectations from the first piece to the last. Along with doing regular sampling checks, it’s important for everyone who touches the piece in production to take responsibility for overall quality. Implementing a “finder’s fee” for bad pieces can motivate workers and help alleviate apprehension about “squealing” on other departments.

* If assembly and/or insertion into an envelope is required, this process also should be checked even if the work is done by machine.

* With mailings, the post office is the ultimate arbiter of quality. Unfortunately, what’s deemed acceptable can vary from site to site and postal official to postal official.

Not Simple to Start

“It’s still not an easy entrance into the (variable data) business even with the tools getting better,” observes Christopher DeSantis, president of Royal Impressions in New York City. “There’s more to it than just buying into the technology. You must have the experience, the workflow in place and the properly trained people required to achieve a 100 percent mailing with every record processed.”

Increased concern about data privacy, security and disaster recovery (due to terrorism and Mother Nature) have made it even more difficult—and costly—to stay in the business, adds the company president.

The Royal Treatment

For a major program and/or demanding client, the checks Royal Impressions does can get very formalized.

In its fullest implementation, the process for launching a new program starts with up to a full week of complex integration testing, DeSantis reports. The client comes on-site and works with a project manager to ensure all the data are looked at.

“Once that’s completed, we know we can run the program through to the mail stream automatically and don’t have to check the data any more,” says Royal Impressions’ president.

When a program goes into production, a whole different level of checking kicks in, he adds.

One component is color quality control. Since a lot of the programs have daily or weekly production runs, proofing each time isn’t practical, DeSantis says. “You have to lock down the color—the color curves—after making sure it meets the customer’s requirement.”

As a rule, the company produces a reference book that is approved for color when a program is launched, DeSantis reports. Clients then may ask to see a follow-up sample book every month or two to make sure the color stays consistent, he notes.

Reference color books are also used in the shop’s internal QC process. Press operators go through a regimen when they first load a job to get color up to spec, DeSantis relates. The operator runs dummy records to get color up to the reference, signs off on the acceptable sheet and then loads the live data.

Spot checking is required as well, asserts the industry exec. This is done on a less formal basis at Royal Impressions, such as having the operator check the top sheet when the press delivery needs to be emptied during a run. Downstream operators in finishing and fulfillment are also expected to eyeball pieces.

Help from Vendors

For pieces that require assembly, such as 401(k) packets, the shop worked with Horizon and Mail Vision to integrate barcode-based inspection systems into its collating system and perfect binder, DeSantis reveals. Optical readers (cameras) were added to the machines to read an imprinted barcode on every page in order to verify that all of the correct pages are included and that the booklet block is matched to the correct cover.

Since mailings must be pre-sorted and CASS zip-code certified to qualify for lower postage rates, any pieces that are deemed defective or damaged in production must be replaced in perfect record order, DeSantis points out. Royal Impressions has instituted an exact process with check offs for operators to follow if pieces need to be reprinted for any reason, he notes. It also seeds every mailing with records that are delivered to the client and itself as a final quality check and to verify delivery timing.

As a smaller company itself, Summit Print & Mail has identified a tremendous market in small businesses and non-profits that want to advertise with sophisticated (variable data) strategies, says John Butcher, general manager of the Lockport, NY-based shop. How-ever, he has found a need to be more proactive in addressing database issues with this segment.

“Creating a good database isn’t rocket science, so anyone can do it, but you do have to pay attention to detail and be disciplined about data entry,” Butcher notes. To succeed in this market, he believes Summit will have to take a proactive role in training these potential marketers to construct usable databases.

“I’m finding it pays to talk about database issues in the negotiation stage before you accept the job,” Butcher explains. “I’ll tell prospects the estimate is based on getting a workable database and maybe do a quick check of the data they have available. It’s also good to negotiate upfront what will happen if we don’t get good data. Is the client going to correct it, or should we include a price to do the work?”

For a new project, Summit typically gives clients a proof of the database fields to check that they are mapping correctly and will run out a record as a hardcopy sample, reports the company exec.

“A lot of customers don’t understand how bad their data are,” he says. Showing them a piece with a company name in place of a person’s name drives the point home better than just saying they have data out of place, Butcher points out.

Particularly with a smaller mailing, it can be easier to preflight the data in the computer, he continues. “We can look at in a spreadsheet format and kind of run through the columns to check if things are where they are supposed to be. If we are not happy with what we see, we go back to the customer.”

Although not an automated system, Summit also has developed its own method for ensuring a 100 percent mailing.

“We CASS certify the production database and then convert the info to an Excel file so we can add a postal sort information line to the address,” Butcher explains. “This tiny sequence number indicates the tray and package number, so if there’s a jam or misfeed in the printer or in post-processing we can rerun the pieces and know where they go in the postal trays.”

The finishing touch is using envelopes with a 11⁄2˝-deep clear window instead of the standard 1˝ to ensure all of the address lines (up to six or seven) clearly show through, he adds.

In the case of an ongoing program with a tightly defined document structure and established client relationship, it is possible to automate almost all of the required integrity checks.

IWCO Direct, for example, designed and developed what it’s calling a Fulfillment Booklet Manufacturing solution to meet the specific need of a customer in the financial industry. The product it produces integrates variable data in varying page counts.

“Due to the financial nature of the mailing program, validation of the products needs to occur at all phases of the manufacturing process, from data processing all the way into the mail,” notes Marc Hacker, director of data processing for the company’s facilities in Farmingdale and Melville, NY. Product visibility is high and errors are not acceptable, he adds.

Measures taken in the pre-planning stage are key to successfully validating variable data, Hacker asserts. “It is in this stage that the determination of file layout, identification of critical fields and methods of validation are decided,” he explains.

IWCO Direct uses the .NET platform and custom programs to validate the input data. Product managers are automatically sent pass/fail notifications via e-mail upon completion of this process results.

“At this stage, we are specific-ally validating population of critical fields, file layout and record count,” Hacker continues. Both soft and hardcopy proofs are used in this process, he notes.

Following the Rules

Data that passes are loaded into a production database. “Our client’s business rules then are applied to the records using stored procedures. Also, each package is assigned a unique ID code for production tracking,” explains the director of data processing.

For the production run, IWCO Direct worked with Duplo International to develop another version of a barcode-based automated booklet verification system.

“During the bookletmaking stage, an imprinted barcode is read on each sheet as the pages are collated,” Hacker says. “The barcode indicates the package ID as well as its sheet assignment. Successful collation of the booklet is dependent on all sheets being accounted for as well as sequentially verified.

“Any variance from the expected collation results in a machine stop,” he continues. “At this point we employ a ‘Touch-N-Toss’ policy in which the operator investigates the problem and pulls the book in question for reprint. Any faulty pieces are shredded and reprinted.”

The company also modified its inserters to read barcodes and validate the barcode information with the database.

“When the inserter has completed all packages for a lot, we then verify that all pieces expected to be inserted were processed and tagged in the database,” Hacker says. “Successful validation results in automatic generation of postal paperwork for mailing. Should a package be identified as missing, the postal paperwork will not be generated, effectively not allowing the pieces to mail until the missing package is identified and recreated.”

However a supplier chooses to get there, it’s clear that a commitment to quality is the one thing that can’t vary in this market.