XETEX Features Xebra's New Stripes
Richmond, Va., was the site of the well-received 2005 XETEX Users Conference, where 45 attendees learned about enhancements to XETEX Business Systems Inc.'s Xebra software. Richmond is historic, but XETEX is making some history of its own on another continent.

Last year, the fastest-growing segment of XETEX, based in West Lawn, Pa., was its business in Australia and New Zealand. The software supplier entered the promotional products market "down under" in January 2005, launching product sourcing software called XebraSource™. XETEX, which targets members of the Australasian Promotional Products Association, already has 57 supplier customers and 85 companies with one or more distributor subscriptions to XebraSource. "In the Australasian market, this represents the critical mass needed for a successful launch," said Charlie Hickey, treasurer of XETEX. He added that ASI isn't a factor in the market. Pantheon Systems, New South Wales, is the marketing and support agent for XETEX in Australia and New Zealand. Its principal, Jim McLaren, demonstrated XebraSource to conference attendees.

XETEX Users Conference View conference photos.

XETEX is also making news at home. At the beginning of the conference, held June 16-17 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, the company announced that Fred Hickey, who has been with the firm since 1996, has assumed leadership of XETEX. He recently bolstered the firm's programming staff to meet with technology demands and client requests, a move that helped the company increase revenue by 18 percent in 2004. His father, Charlie Hickey, now primarily develops partnerships (including the one with Pantheon Systems) and limits his participation in the firm's day-to-day activities. George Hutchison, general manager of XETEX, now focuses more on sales and marketing and less on management.

In Richmond, Fred Hickey joined Charlie Hickey and XETEX programmers Scott Coleman and Terry Cosentino to demonstrate Xebra software upgrades. Many enhancements involved the company's "Uniform System," a concept for taking Xebra systems with no or minor customization and making them universal. Xebra users now can interface with UPS WorldShip and access an improved updating procedure, and they now can run reports and enter orders and releases in real time. XETEX posts system updates as soon as new features are available, and customers can download them at their convenience. "Before, a 10-minute programming change required a hundred hours of work," Charlie Hickey said. "The Uniform System concept lets us respond to your needs much faster and gives us more time to develop enhancements."

Another feature, Document Editor, allows Xebra users to modify the presentation of their documents and reports without the need for custom programming. Attendees also discussed Xebra's e-commerce enhancements, progress the industry is making toward communicating electronically with suppliers directly from Xebra software, and the possibility of expanding access to Xebra from PDA devices and Mac computers.

View photos from the XETEX Users Conference.

WorkflowOne aims to be a single source for companies that want to reduce their print and promotional product spending while increasing supply-chain management value. The company says its purchasing power, sourcing abilities, technology and nationwide network of fulfillment and distribution centers enable customers to concentrate on their core businesses. "Our new management team and our new focus have extended an already powerful organization," says Greg Mosher, WorkflowOne's chairman and CEO, in a press release. "We are now well-positioned to raise our profile in the industry and better serve our clients with one voice and one vision, as one company."

Online Ordering Offers Control
In mid-January, Tom Gurd received a call from the managing director of Mortgage Intelligence: "We've got a problem," she said. "How quickly can you implement the solution?" That's music to the ears of any solution-selling distributor like Gurd.

Mortgage Intelligence, based in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, provides home-buyers guidance and arranges mortgages through a network of 3,200 independent advisors who are registered to use the firm's services. Prior to Jan. 1, British mortgages were unregulated. But legislation changed, and all mortgages now fall under the governance of the country's Financial Services Authority (FSA).

"Mortgage Intelligence woke up in January and one of the directors said, 'What do we have here?'" says Gurd, managing director of FT Print Ltd., a distributorship in Hertford, England. "They had a real culture shock." Under the new law, mortgage companies are responsible for all materials used in their names. Rather than allowing its network of advisors to create their own marketing materials, Mortgage Intelligence now needed to control print materials and ensure they met FSA criteria.

An employee at Mortgage Intelligence suggested the firm call FT Print, which offers an online solution for designing, proofing and ordering printing. The distributorship demonstrated its Equator system. The mortgage company was impressed and signed a deal with FT Print, and the e-commerce package was installed in March 2004. "Within eight weeks of the pitch, the site was up and we were fully operational," Gurd says.

FT Print initially set up an online ordering system for 300 of Mortgage Intelligence's top advisors. The advisors log on to the mortgage company's web site using a protected password and ID to order 16 products, including posters, brochures, fliers and stationery. They click on an icon for marketing materials and are seamlessly transported to FT Print's web site. From there, users are welcomed by name and can view a list of all the marketing materials. The advisors download PDF files, which they can personalize. Mortgage Intelligence controls the system, so advisors are only able to customize select information, such as their fees and interest rates. The system automatically fills in other data, such as the advisor's name and address, based on the log-in information.

Users pay by credit card and send orders to FT Print, where an account manager forwards the order to one of the distributorship's in-house digital printers. The plant prints, packs and ships orders. "The beauty of the system for Mortgage Intelligence is they've gone through a compliance meeting with FSA," says Gurd. "FSA has pre-approved all this documentation."

FT Print received its first order in April. Most are small, averaging approximately $365. A typical order might include a couple reams of letterhead, a few hundred business cards and a few posters. But Gurd expects the advisors will spend a combined $185,000 online this year. FT Print is currently rolling out the e-commerce program to the remaining 2,900 advisors and plans to add more documents.

The distributorship originally installed Equator so clients—many in the airline industry—could check real-time inventory of their items in stock. But it landed Mortgage Intelligence because of the system's online ordering capabilities. "The reason they came to us is not because FT Print is the best thing since sliced bread," says Gurd. "It's because we had a solution in place and it gave them control over marketing materials."

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WHAT'S NEW AT DMIA?

Print Solutions 2005 Conference and Expo
The nation's premier show for the business printing industry will be held Oct. 18-20 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. This year, the emphasis is on in-depth training and usable solutions. You will gain the expertise and know-how to do your job better and grow your business, whether you're in management or sales. For details, visit www.printsolutionsshow.com.

Train First
If you have new employees or veterans who need a refresher course on the basics of our industry, check out the Business Printing Curriculum at DMIA's Print University. The courses combine distance learning with residence training, and the results will put your company far ahead of the "do it yourself " training curve. Don't wait! Class size is limited for this once-a-year opportunity held in conjunction with the Print Solutions Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, Oct. 18-20. Click here or call Harriet Carter, CDC, at 800-336-4641.

TOP TEN

Here are this week's top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. 3-ring Binder Inserts; Heal-seal vinyl; Holds 4 CDs (similar to a page protector); QTY: 500 - 1500
2. College Transcripts; 8 1/2 x 11 LCS; Phantom logo and VOID pantogragh; QTY=2500-5M
3. "Take One" Boxes; 12 pt. C1S; 4/0 with bleeds; QTY=1500
4. 18" x 17" Cut Sheets; Z-folds; Hot spot carbon applied to front and back of sheets; QTY=1M
5. Magazine Inserts; 6 7/8" x 6 3/8"; 4cp/4cp; C2S; QTY=1.5MM
6. Tabloids; Newsprint stock; 4cp/4cp; Saddle stitched; QTY=12M
7. Environmentally Safe Packing Material; Similar to foam cubes
8. Rack Cards; Laser die-cut; 4 x 9; QTY=35M-75M
9. Four color web presses located in Denver
10. Metal Property Labels; 2" x 3"; Brushed silver polyester; Consecutive numbering; QTY=5M

If you have a source request—for anything—call the Hotline at (800) 333-2828 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or use the Source Hotline Database online. For new sales ideas every day, try our 1,000 Sales Ideas Database. Manufacturers, if you produce any of these items and would like to check your listing with the Source Hotline, please email Cheryl Rush.

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