Product of the Week

Three years ago, CCS Digital was looking for a web-to-print system to drive the next stage of its development, and it decided on digital print fulfilled via the web. The firm is unusual, as a big part of its business is personalised printed products for the consumer, such as calendars and photo gifts. Back then, it decided to upgrade its service with a change in production equipment from colour copiers to an Indigo digital press, and by moving customer interaction to the web.

“We saw the internet coming and needed something that exploited it,” says RedTie product development manager Phill Rodgers. He claims the firm’s requirement for a system that could handle high volumes of personalisation with minimal operator intervention wasn’t met by existing commercial products, which led to the move to in-house software development. “No one does it like we do,” says Rodgers. “We’re printers and we were worried about the workflow, phone calls and overheads. If I have to explain something to a customer for 10 minutes, that’s 10 minutes I’ll never get back.”

Going commercial
CCS didn’t just want an automated system to deal with customers though; it wanted the internal workflow to be as efficient as possible, especially when handling personalisation.

Initially, CSS developed the software for its own use, but the firm decided it was good enough to sell as a commercial product. RedTie was born, and the products were launched last autumn. At its show debut at Digital Print World, the RedTie stand was swamped with printers looking for an affordable way to adopt web-to-print.

There are two products in the firm’s portfolio: an online template-based quoting system RedTie RTQ, which boasts more than 30 users, and the web-to-print package RTT, which has 25-30 customers.

Rodgers says RTQ takes unknown jobs, while the template tool handles known jobs. Often they are bought together, allowing printers to price up more complicated work using RTQ while standardised items go through RTT, although some firms have simply opted for RTQ to turn around quotes. Rodgers says that at CCS, RTQ does the job of three estimators.
But what’s so special about RedTie’s RTT?

“Competitive systems made a PDF, which is no good if you’re producing calendars for consumer print,” he says, adding that if it had worked that way, “we’d still be ripping the 100,000 13pp calendars ordered [from sister firm Create a Gift] for Christmas”.

In fact, Rodgers goes so far as to classify products that just deliver a PDF, rather than hooking directly into the front end of the digital press, as being web-to-file, rather than true web-to-print.

“You can have a PDF, but I would encourage users to create JLT if they are using Indigo presses, and PPML for 99% of other presses,” he says. And if JLT or PPML don’t fit the bill, RedTie is now a Creo PODS partner, and working on exporting VPS, VDX and VIPP files.

For digital work, the variable data format output is ideal as it drives the press directly with imposed pages, but for litho print RedTie has yet to crack imposition, although it plans to develop this feature.

Customer satisfaction
Reacting swiftly to its customers’ wishes is something RedTie prides itself on. It employs three full-time developers, three web artists and three support staff, plus two full-time workers driving work on to CCS’s Indigos, for those operations starting their digital business with web-to-print, and installing production hardware once the business model is proven and volume justifies owning production.

“People come here and see a business idea, and, until they are big enough to buy a press, we fulfil that role,” says Rodgers. “It’s not our main focus, but it’s often part of our customers’ plans.”

RedTie software attempts to provide everything needed, and following customer requests, CSS is developing integrations with accounts packages and MIS.

RedTie operates on the application service provider (ASP) model: you pay a fee to use the software, which RedTie owns, hosts and manages. This in itself isn’t unusual as many of the company’s rivals operate the same model, but other firms also offer customers the choice of buying a software licence and running the system on their own hardware, at their own premises or the data centre of their choice. RedTie will dedicate a server to firms that want a managed service, but only in the data centres it uses.

Standard or bespoke?
There are two versions of the RTT web-to-print software: standard and bespoke. In the standard version, there is only one administration area, or hub. While that can support unlimited multiple customers, it only offers one central administration area, so to allow customers administration rights, for example so the procurement department can vet and monitor spending, the bespoke product would be the best option, as it offers multiple hubs.

The price of RTT includes two days’ training at RedTie’s Northampton offices, which provides users with the skills to create their own templates and build customised sites for each of their customers. Onsite training is available for an additional £150 per day, as is extra training at £600 per day.

Should customers be unable to produce their own templates, which Rodgers says can happen due to time pressures, the firm has a template-creation charge of £40 per document up to 4pp, and by negotiation if bigger. The system itself has no restriction on document size or length, and the latest update to the software is a blank template that allows customers to upload any content, with as many pages as they like, as long as it fits the defined page size.

Three years after CCS invested in software development to build its consumer print business, it has transformed the firm, taking it into commercial print and, with RedTie, supplying commercial printers with a product that takes away many of their headaches, from a firm that understands.

“It was a shock to us just how good it was,” he says. “Three years ago, I didn’t think we’d be selling it outright.”

With many more customers wanting to join those already signed up, RedTie’s home-grown approach is proving popular with those who want a service that has been developed from a printer’s point of view.

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SPECIFICATIONS
Type RTT, hosted web-to-print application; RTQ, online quoting tool
Support for variable data yes, HP Indigo JLT, PPML and Creo formats
Price RTT standard version, one-off set-up fee of £6,750, bespoke version from £15,000, monthly hosting fee of £150 plus per-transaction charge of 5% of order value up to £20, or £1 for orders of £20.01 and over. Personalised jobs attract an additional 1p-per-document charge. RTQ, one-off set-up fee of £4,750, monthly hosting charge of £150
Contact Red Tie 01604 234456, www.red-tie.com

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THE ALTERNATIVES
EFI Digital Storefront 3.0
Last year’s upgrade to DSF 3.0 focused on making the software as easy to use as possible for those ordering print. DSF is available from EFI as an ASP version, DSF Express or via its resellers as a self-hosted product. EFI claims that, with 40 people, it’s got the largest team of developers working on web-to-print. There are no transaction charges, but customers are required to pay an annual maintenance fee.
Type ASP or self-hosted
Support for variable data yes, via XMPie or Printable Fusion Pro
Price DSF Express (ASP) from £6,000, full product (self-hosted) from £14,000
Contact EFI 01753 283 676 www.efi.com

Press-sense iWay
Transeo offers an ASP version of the popular Press-sense iWay package, with prices starting at £9,000, which can be upgraded to a self-hosted version if that better suits the business in the future. iWay can handle litho and digital jobs including personalisation, non-print items and multiple languages. The full version enables integration with MIS, personalisation software and workflow systems.
Type ASP, managed service or self-hosted
Support for variable data yes, via XMPie and Creo PODS
Price managed service from £9,000, plus £280 per month for up to 50 jobs, then transaction charge by negotiation
Contact Transeo Media 0845 017 8660, www.transeomedia.com

Xralle
After nine years on the market, Xralle is going strong, with 300 sites using the software and £250m worth of print processed via the software in 2006. It is available in ASP, partially hosted (where you buy the software and hardware to run it and Xralle hosts it) and self-hosted configurations, which the firm claims offers flexibility and scalability. Tight integration with accounts and MIS packages and variable data support via Pageflex dot edit.
Type ASP, managed service or self-hosted
Support for variable data yes via Pageflex dotedit
Price ASP from £ 9,000 maximum transaction charge £1.65
Contact Xralle 01354 659636 www.xralle.co.uk