There’s more to the digital print revolution than direct mail. Traditional forms applications are often data-oriented and typically involve the communication of complex data, or a high quantity of data, to a list of people who are already known. There is traditionally no marketing intent (although that’s beginning to change as we witness the convergence of marketing and transactional documents). The value proposition of this type of personalized print is generally a reduction in the cost of process or cost of manufacturing through automation.

Ventura County, CA Jury Summons

This application demonstrates the great value that can be achieved through good design of such pieces, integrating all the different benefits of a fully computerized production flow. The postage savings alone produced tens of thousands of dollars in savings, and there were additional benefits beyond that.

• Clearly defined, measurable objectives: The project’s goals included reducing postage cost, improving accuracy, and reducing turnaround time. All of these are easy to measure, so management can monitor the success of the project.
  

• Use Appropriate Production Methods: This application involved a total rework of how the data flowed out of computers and into the print system; that was the source of most of the savings, enabling the postage savings and other process savings. (The same principle is being discovered by graphic arts shops who get into personalized print: when the job is data-driven, designing a good data flow is vital.) Furthermore, the pressure seal equipment produced a substantial reduction in process cost by eliminating manual envelope stuffing.
  

• Using personalization technology effectively: In addition to the normal imprinting of name and address, the variable-print technology was used to efficiently print the juror badge (including bar codes) right onto the summons.
  

• Effective Design Techniques: A key to the effectiveness of any document is its clarity: how easy is it for the reader to notice the important information? In this project the form layout was professionally redone for clarity and to draw the reader’s attention to the relevant information. A revised edition of the form is now in development, which will produce further improvements by using highlight color to emphasize important information.
  

For more information on the Print-on-demand initiative, go to www.PODi.org

This article was reprinted with permission.

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