Tackling Transpromo

There’s no getting around it: Overall transaction volume has slowed. There’s a momentum around print suppression in the transactional space and, while the overall market remains very large, it’s not likely to return to its growth heyday anytime soon, market experts indicate.

Still, there are reasons for optimism in the transaction space.

Yes, overall transaction volume is flat or in decline, says Jim Hamilton, group director, InfoTrends Production Group with Keypoint Intelligence, “but much of that [decline] is in B&W pages. Color is actually growing in transaction thanks to high-speed inkjet devices that allow sites to move away from mono toner devices and offset pre-printed color shells.”

Plus, despite the publicized trend to “going paperless,” says Eric Wilson, inkjet sales – Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division, Kodak, the majority of consumers still don’t rely solely on e-delivery of their transactional/transpromo communications. Only about 12% of those who opt for e-delivery choose only to get email – the rest get both email and paper statements.

Privacy implications also play a role in print retaining its grip in this market, says Wilson: “Every time a data breach or some other electronic glitch occurs, people tend to reconsider the value of having a paper statement in hand or on file at home should something need to be clarified down the road,” he notes.

And, of course, combining the more staid transactional documents and information with promotional and marketing material – turning these into “transpromo” efforts – has aided the cause. While “pure” transaction printing will continue its decline into 2020, reports Keypoint Intelligence, transpromo will accelerate in that time frame – color transpromo at a CAGR of 10.5%.

Consider the infrastructure

Even as commercial and transactional (transpromo) print technology needs are converging in the inkjet space, making the jump into transactional-style documents from the commercial side can certainly be tough – it’s a lot of data to manage, comments Ed Wong, product marketing, Production Printing Business Group, Ricoh. But data management is not completely foreign to many commercial printers.

Many print shops have the capabilities today to manage transactional print with varying degrees of data complexity, security, volume capacity, and service level agreements for deliverability, says David Murphy, HP PageWide Industrial WW director of marketing & business development. As these factors increase in scale and sophistication, one scenario for managing transactional print contracts is to engage service bureaus, in-plant data centers, or very large commercial printers with skilled resources dedicated to secure data management.

Print services providers that don’t have the IT chops to drive transactional may also look to partner with digital marketers that can handle big data and create targeted campaigns, adds Wong.

While commercial printers that use a digital workflow also likely have the IT and data-handling knowledge to take on transactional and transpromo work, particularly if they are doing data-driven direct mail, they have to consider the other infrastructure issues.

“It is just a small part of the equation for commercial printers choosing to take on transactional work,” remarks Wilson. “The transactional print business carries different physical structure demands (e.g. building security regulations and specs), added reporting regulations (e.g. having to notify when specific transactional documents are shipped) and new processes (e.g. if a transactional piece is not delivered and is returned) that are additive for a commercial printer.”

Of major concern to any shop involved in transactional communications is that there is no margin for error, says Murphy. “Production schedules cannot be delayed, mail deadlines cannot be missed, data cannot be anything less than perfect, and personally identifiable information cannot be compromised in any way,” he notes. Group together these requirements can be daunting to a more traditional commercial shop.

Still, says Murphy, there are many print providers who capably and securely deliver their clients a blend of data-driven transactional and promotional mail services. Bills and statements have long ago extended into customer communications like fulfillment kits, regulatory compliance, educational materials, and promotional offers.

VDP, a mainstay of transpromo, also offers commercial printers a way to add value to what is perceived to be a commoditized service.

“VDP-enabled customization helps engage audiences, tailoring messages directly to regions, demographics or even individuals,” says Wong. “This kind of customization is proven to increase engagement, so commercial printers are naturally eager to tap into it. As enabling digital printing technologies like inkjet have evolved to enable VDP to be done efficiently and cost-effectively, transactional print’s targeting capabilities have been married to commercial-grade output quality. That’s letting commercial printers get involved with VDP, to great effect.”

Print production also requires redundancy – with a second press available if the first fails for any reason. “Every statement or invoice must have the same consistency in image quality and color from the first document in the run to the last and from one period to the other,” Murphy explains. “Providers must also determine their workflow for transactional print – be it AFP/IPDS, PDF or other. These factors, investment decisions, and more must be considered by commercial printers offering transactional print.”

Leveraging transpromo

Brands could certainly be leveraging printed transpromo mailings better than they are today. Brand owners are often several steps removed from the printer and can feel uncomfortable with the idea of potential issues stemming from even mildly inaccurate or dated data.

“This is an area where a data-driven mail/commercial printer may have a strong opportunity to use printed samples to really show brand owners what is possible with the technology and how it can be used to increase brand visibility and revenue,” acknowledges Wilson.

Advancements are ongoing in the inkjet space, and some continuous-feed inkjet technologies have recently allowed for higher-quality graphics design with heavier coverage and the ability to print on standard offset coated media.

“These capabilities enable more creativity and attractiveness in design, while also lowering the total cost of print and postage,” Murphy says. “With reduced media costs and increased photo quality, the transactional statement or bill can be embedded with or included in a customized product catalog.”

Retailers are now including targeted coupons and specials with billing statements. They evaluate individual buying trends using shopper data or on demographics or historic purchasing patterns to leverage and entice the consumer to buy more.

There are a lot of brands that do a great job of this. For instance, reports Wong, “the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the country’s biggest municipal utility, revamped their approach to paper bills to include eye-catching, informative infographics to help drive conservation and answer common billing questions.”

This opportunity to provide data-driven, promotional content in the transactional statement is huge. While this trend not new – it’s entering its second decade of use – the obstacles of secure data management, along with the use of appropriate and relevant content, continues to constrain marketers and technology leaders.

Vendor solutions

Kodak’s solutions are focused on having high-speed options that allow for high throughput in short periods of time and are able to drive production at lower costs when necessary. “We also strive to have the lowest ink costs in the industry, allowing the running cost on our equipment to be highly competitive,” says Wilson.

Kodak’s transactional workhorse, the VERSAMARK VL series of presses, has a standard mode of about 10,000 3-page statements per hour; but, for a high capacity or fast turn run, it can print about 16,000 3-page statement per hour. These throughputs hold regardless of whether the print is black, color or includes MICR, Wilson reports.

Kodak’s PROSPER 5000 and 6000 presses also have transactional and transpromo capabilities with even higher throughputs (up to 40,000 statements per hour) in black only or color. The PROSPER press can be equipped to run transactional IPDS or AFP workflows and can assist commercial printers in adding transactional capabilities to their production. The presses have various quality modes and can adjust ink loads to optimize the cost and quality mix to the needs of the brand owner. This means a Kodak PROSPER press can switch between high value/high ink coverage applications like glossy direct mail or marketing materials to transactional applications (sold more on a cost per 1000 image basis) on the same press with little or no changeover time.

“You need a powerful, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective platform on which to print it all, such as the forthcoming RICOH Pro VC40000 or InfoPrint 5000,” says Wong. “As more and more transactional printers embrace transpromo, color continuous-feed inkjet printers have become more popular. “

The recently announced Pro VC40000 delivers a significantly enhanced color experience, leveraging separate black and color printhead arrays to allow cost-effective printing of color and monochrome applications.

The InfoPrint 5000, now an established industry staple, has continued to evolve to address changing industry needs. Recent upgrades have included paper saving mode, to nearly eliminate white paper from start of a print job. Additionally, Ricoh has introduced new inks, DFE enhancements, enhanced JDF support, new color management tools, and many other improvements.

Once the hardware is in place, it’s absolutely essential you have a solid workflow – usually by way of a software solution, says Wong. Offerings like the compnay’s ProcessDirector include multi-channel options that allow communicators to manage multiple channels simply, centrally, so customers get their documents in their preferred medium. Printers may want to enlist outside help, either in the form of consultants or management, to help ensure their operation is run as effectively and efficiently as possible. Ricoh provides both services.

Last year, Xerox introduced its new Brenva HD Production Inkjet Press and the Trivor 2400 Inkjet Press at drupa – the former press for cut-sheet applications, and the latter for the continuous-feed inkjet market. Both machines are aimed at high-value applications such as transactional as well as direct mail, catalogs, and books.

Xerox indicates that the Brenva HD targets the space that sits below the gap between high-end toner and low-end inkjet presses and that it combines the cost effectiveness of inkjet with the flexibilities of cut-sheet to address the needs of print providers in the light direct mail, transactional, and book markets. The Brenva HD features an inline spectrophotometer, object-oriented color management , and a K-only mode (enabling it to run as a cost effective monochrome press). Meanwhile, the Trivor 2400 press combines high performance and increased speed (551 ft/minute in color; 656 ft/minute in monochrome) in a small footprint, and is designed to allow print shops to move into catalogs, magazines, and color books. Its features include inline density optimization, clear pixel technology, and missing jet detection and correction; in addition, the Trivor features a new print server developed in partnership with EFI, the Xerox IJ Print Server powered by Fiery, designed to handle multiple data streams for various application types.

“We are focused on expanding our inkjet portfolio with more choices and greater capabilities for print providers to grow their businesses,” says Robert Stabler, senior vice president and general manager, Global Graphic Communications Business Group, Xerox. “With the addition of Brenva HD and Trivor 2400, we’re making inkjet more accessible and affordable to a larger number of print providers.”

HP’s PageWide Web Press commercial HDNA press series features multiple offerings: the T200, T300, and T400 HD Color Series presses, as well as the monochrome T260M, T390 Mono, and T490 Mono presses. The High Definition Nozzle Architecture in the PageWide series of presses allow for faster speeds (up to 1000 ft/minute) as well as improved print quality – smoother transitions and color fills, enhanced shadow details, and more even skin tones.

“Service bureaus, print service providers, and data centers should look for an inkjet technology partner offering a proven record and a forward roadmap of technology upgradability,” Murphy says. “Manufacturers will keep improving print quality, productivity, workflow, and media versatility and the client needs to take comfort that its million-dollar-plus hardware investment is going to be protected against technology obsolescence.”

One example is O’Neil Data Systems, which purchased the first HP T300 Inkjet Web Press in 2008. With HP’s continuing innovations in inks, printheads, software, drying, media versatility, and productivity, O’Neil was able to upgrade its T300 to a T350 and again recently to a T360 – all with minimal disruption. Today, O’Neil has state-of-the-art HP inkjet technology on its production floors with peace of mind for its future ability to remain at the forefront of innovation, the company reports.

Factors Shaping Transactional Print

In its new research report, “Service Provider Market Pricing Study, 5th Edition,” Madison Advisors (madison-advisors.com) identifies the cost trends and pricing models that are shaping today’s print and mail-service provider market (transactional print).

Five significant factors affecting the current direction of the transpromo market include the following, reports Roger Tapke, principal analyst at Madison Advisors, and author of the study:

• Ubiquity of color inkjet printers: “This capability has become ‘table stakes’ for PSPs in the marketplace. Not only do color inkjet printers allow expanded flexibility and product offerings, they have driven per image prices down by approximately 50% from historical laser printing.”
• Expanded multi-channel delivery: “Although print remains the most common communications channel, service providers continue to see print volumes eroded by electronic delivery methods, including websites, e-mail, text messaging, and mobile. Print suppression is typically in the 15 – 20% range but can go as high as 95% for businesses set up primarily for electronic communications.”
• Online message management: “Service providers offer a range of personalization services, including message creation, message campaign management and response management, which offset some of the revenues lost through online delivery.”
• Wider variety of electronic delivery: “Today’s end consumers are demanding the flexibility to receive communications from the companies with whom they do business in more and more ways. They are not only expecting delivery via traditional emails and pushed pdfs, but also through methods such as mobile devices (e.g. iPads, ‘wearables,’ etc.). Consumers increasingly want to pick and choose which communications are delivered using the various methodologies. This trend is forcing providers to invest more heavily in the electronic delivery space and take steps to keep up with the technological advances. They must decide whether they will develop the solutions themselves or partner with someone else who already provides these services.”
• Enterprise electronic solutions: “Larger companies want to maintain control of the electronic link to their customers. As such, they are requesting that an ‘as mailed’ version of documents be sent back to their internal archives for storage and presentment. This limits the revenue available to PSPs from the electronic channel.”

In the report, Madison Advisors reviews the market and highlights its findings on competitive pricing across five major categories of service offered by PSPs in transactional print, including: Design Services, Digital Print, Insertion, Postal Services, and Electronic Presentment Services. The full report is available directly from Madison Advisors: madison-advisors.com/shop.