Strategy 4

Print-On-Demand – Less Waste, Great Results

A Trail of Waste

Have you ever placed an order for a large quantity of brochures, or forms, or letterhead, and shortly after they're delivered they become obsolete? Your business announces a significant new capability, not mentioned in your brochure. Or, the Terms & Conditions printed on your invoices change. Something happens, and your stockroom full of materials becomes obsolete

Options

What are your options? If the change in your business is very significant you re-order… and throw thousands of unused materials in the trash (not helpful to conservation). If the change is less significant, or you don't think you can justify a re-order, you use the obsolete materials for a while… and then throw thousands of square feet of paper, not to mention your investment, in the trash.

Because 1st and 2nd Generation presses require so much time to begin printing a job, out-dated press technology is not designed for short-run printing. Consequently, printers or print brokers entice you to order larger quantities than you need in order to make their ‘price-per-piece’ seem reasonable. What they're really trying to do is cover-up the fact that their presses cannot print short-runs economically. But that’s their problem, not yours, and shouldn't be a reason for you to purchase larger quantities than you need and ultimately waste thousands of square feet of paper.

What You Want

You don't want large quantities of printed materials. Never have. Never will. Large quantity orders consume capital, take-up storage space, and become outdated. Large quantity orders are the reason you often find yourself throwing cases of outdated materials in the trash.

Print-On-Demand

What you want is Just-In-Time ordering, and Print-On-Demand. You want the ability to order just enough to meet your needs for six months… or maybe just three months… or one. You want flexibility so changes in your business, big or small, can be updated in minutes, and re-printed overnight. You also want to be able to target specific markets. You'd prefer ordering smaller quantities of four different versions of your sales brochure, each targeted to a unique audience. Instead, you're forced to order large quantities of brochures targeting no one in particular.

A Paradigm Shift

Changing your thinking from large volume purchasing to Print-On-Demand requires a paradigm shift. The shift has to begin with your commitment to conservation. Specifying short-run jobs that fit an 18” Press results in saving thousands of square feet of paper every year. If your commitment to conservation is important to you, and your company, your decision is made easy by the other benefits Print-On-Demand and Versioned Printing deliver.

Weigh the Factors

When you weigh all the factors it's clear the new paradigm of Print-On-Demand delivers significant business and conservation benefits when compared with the old paradigm of volume purchasing.

While the old paradigm simply provides ‘low cost’ if you order quantities greater than you need… the new paradigm delivers quick and easy updates to minimize obsolescence.

With the new paradigm you are no longer forced to tie-up capital and storage space with materials that can quickly become outdated. Your brochures and direct mail pieces can be targeted to select markets to produce maximum impact. You can save thousands of square feet of paper on every print job. You can significantly reduce power consumption on most print runs. You're no longer forced to throw away outdated materials. And, minimizing waste shrinks land-fills.

JitPrint

Riverside's unique JitPrint service enables you to blend the benefits of volume purchase discounts and Just-In-Time printing and delivery. The Best of Both Worlds.

Conclusion

If conservation is important to you, 3rd Generation print technology and an 18” Press enables you to maximize your conservation efforts, while enjoying the benefits of 21st Century Print-On-Demand production.

Continue to Strategy 5 - Delivery >

Index - Conservation by Design