Me & my: Vpress Coreprint

Nevertheless, that is what commercial printer In2Print went through in order to secure a contract with N5 group, an organisation with many umbrella companies and a business directory subsidiary, Thebestof, with 400 franchisees, many of which need marketing materials printed on a regular basis. It was for the latter that the W2P system was essential.

"We do all of the stationery, business cards, letterheads, compliment slips andforms that they print out themselves and give to their clients to fill in, certificates, postcards, leaflets, flyers, adverts and posters for Thebestof franchisees," says Sarah Jones, account manager at the Cheltenham-based commercial printer and design agency. "It was a huge task installing the system, but it’s been a very successful investment."

Daunting as taking on a whole new system might be, installing the Vpress Coreprint W2P system was vital to securing the N5 contract as the client felt it was essential for the work for Thebestof franchisees. The printers who previously produced this part of the N5 company’s marketing materials used this to quickly interact with those franchisees and N5 required that In2Print do the same.

Not that In2Print was complaining, as it needed a way to properly process the large volume of orders the contract would bring and Jones says that the Vpress system was perfect for that role.

"We had to be able to assure the client that we could provide this system for their franchisees to use and that there would be a seamless handover when we started doing the printing," says Jones. "We were happy to do this as the system has been crucial in organising such a large workload."

The software enables In2Print to group all similar orders together, explains Jones, with the company operating a rolling two-week deadline, giving ample time for work to be ganged. This saves In2Print time and the client money, and the franchisees still get their print within the two-week delivery period specified.

Brand monitor
Where Coreprint also comes into its own is in protecting the brand identity of the client, explains Jones. While Thebestof directories vary in name according to the location they cover, so Thebestof Croydon or Thebestof Telford and Wrekin, the company as a whole has a very distinct branding that must be maintained. Hence, templates are created that can be filled in by each franchisee, which ensure standardised colours, text type and relative sizes of the printed item’s components.

While the software enables users to make certain changes, like the company name and the amount of text on the page, the space parameters are set and so text and logos are sized automatically to compensate. Hence, the system balances adapting the template with keeping it uniform very cleverly, says Jones.

"The way the logo can be adapted for different franchisees is particularly impressive," says Jones. "The system is really quite adaptable when you consider that it has to cater for Thebestof Ely, but then also Thebestof Brancaster and The Burnhams."

This sounds technical, but central to a W2P system’s success is its ease of use for the end-user, and the Coreprint system certainly delivers on this front, says Jones.

"It should all be very straightforward," says Jones. "There are mandatory fields which users need to fill in and they can see and print a high-resolution PDF at any stage – that’s exactly the same proof that they will be printing."

The user then goes through a simple three-step ordering process, where all of the prices are on the system and are added up as they order. Once a client has ordered a job, their delivery address will be saved on the system. Or they can choose to pick the job up from In2Print.

Straightforward as this process is in theory, helping some customers make the switch from the older version of Coreprint used by the previous incumbent printer to the newer version used by In2Print has not always been easy, reports Jones.

"Advising customers on how to use the system is an ongoing job," she says. "There are 400-odd franchisees and some of them order things regularly and so have got to know the system, but there’s always another one who hasn’t actually used the system yet and so I’m still constantly answering questions."

Emma Mortiboy, marketing manager at Vpress, explains that clients such as In2Print can make things easier for their customers by including directions on how to use the system on the ‘splash pages’, while also working with Vpress to create bespoke downloadable PDF worksheets that talk users through the system.

Knowledge base
Jones says that she has certainly been impressed with the Vpress training for her own use of the system, labelling the support she has had as "excellent". She explains that there is always someone there to answer any queries that still arise as an inevitable result of working with complex software. Jones and two of her colleagues were provided with extensive training when the system was first installed in February – that established a firm base of knowledge.

"That said, I’ll often sit there and try and work something out and then think ‘no it’s not working,’ so I call them and they talk me through how to do it," says Jones. "If something they’re telling me is very confusing, I always feel very comfortable going back to them and saying ‘I didn’t understand that. Could you explain that in words of one syllable?’"

Aside from a couple of technical glitches, which Vpress has been quick to iron out, the Coreprint system has so far performed very well, says Jones. There was one niggle when the system was first installed, she reports, but Vpress has since developed the software to resolve this.

"Before, if a user uploaded a CMYK image they wouldn’t be able to see it as a thumbnail and check its dimensions, whereas if they uploaded an RGB image they would," says Jones. "So that used to panic people into including RGB images instead, which I would have to convert to CYMK manually. That can be a very longwinded job and you then get issues with colour because an RGB image converted to CYMK is always going to look different."

Vpress was, however, very helpful in working to resolve this problem, reports Jones, and came up with a update solution that was rolled out to In2Print in the last month. Mortiboy points out that, when issues like this do arise, Vpress is keen to find a solution as quickly as possible and is always willing to listen to issues.

The only other complaint Jones has about the Coreprint system is one which inevitably applies to all W2P systems: the fact that no B2B or B2C system is at present capable of measuring the quality of an image – it could have a low resolution but still be a large image.

"If someone could magically come up with a way of policing the quality of images uploaded by clients, I’d want it as soon as possible because it does mean that with every single file that’s ordered I have to open it up and run an eye over to see that it looks alright," says Jones.

Overall, Jones is very pleased with In2Print’s investment in the Coreprint system. Although as with any business there are quieter and extremely busy weeks, the ongoing contract with N5 has given In2Print a good level of business security. It has also opened the door to working with another two of N5’s subsidiaries, who use their own Vpress systems, but outsource their printing to In2Print.

As yet, the company only offers a W2P service to Thebestof franchisees, but they would certainly be open to using this system with other clients, where suitable.

"The system only suits businesses that have a corporate identity and businesses offering print items that need to be printed over and over again," she says. "There’s no point creating templates for one-off items, but the system with N5 is working so well that we would like to be able to offer it to other customers."

Of course the bottom line for In2Print has to be that the Coreprint system has allowed them to process more jobs. "We’ve printed thousands of jobs for Thebestof since we first installed it in February," says Jones. "If we didn’t have the system, we simply wouldn’t be printing this much."

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SPECIFICATIONS
Compatibility Any operating system
Reporting Full reporting available from orders/job tracking and further management information –
all can be exported into MS Excel
Digital asset management Free DAM tool for images
Price £5,500
Contact Vpress 01242 246970 www.vpress.co.uk

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COMPANY PROFILE
Company profile
With a team of 30-plus staff, in2Print is one of Gloucestershire’s largest printers. It was founded in 1996 and provides commercial design and print solutions to clients throughout the UK. Its range of presses and finishing kit produce a wide array of materials, from 250 single-colour business cards up to high-volume five-colour brochures and large-format print jobs.

Why it was bought…
In2Print purchased the Vpress Coreprint web-to-print system in order to secure a contract with N5 group’s Thebestof business directory subsidiary. Thebestof subsidiary used a Vpress system with their previous printer to ensure all marketing materials were standardised and that repeat items, such as letterheads, business cards and compliment slips could all be quickly and cheaply ordered. Installing a similar user-friendly system was vital to In2Print securing this contract.

How it has performed…
In2Print has been impressed with the way that the Coreprint system has allowed it to easily and efficiently process large numbers of orders. "The overall package is fantastic at protecting brand identity and to my client that’s incredibly important," says account manager at In2Print Sarah Jones. "We’ve printed thousands of jobs for Thebestof since we first installed it in February - if we didn’t have the system, we simply wouldn’t be printing this much."