The complexities and resources required to print and mail transactional documents can strain organizations considerably. These mailings are different from promotional ones, as they contain personal or protected data. As a result, outsourcing transactional printing can alleviate this and provide many benefits.
However, transitioning from production in-house to a partner requires a lot of due diligence. As you evaluate providers, you’ll want to review these critical FAQs on outsourcing.
What types of transactional documents can businesses outsource?
The umbrella term of transactional includes an array of communications, including:
- Statements: banking, credit cards, bills, insurance, and more
- Invoices
- Debt collection letters
- Insurance policy documents
- Healthcare: EOBs, referrals, approvals, denials, and more
- Financial: Compliance notices, loan documents, tax forms, and more
Transactional print and mail companies can produce any document containing PII (personally identifiable information) or PHI (protected health information). It’s critical to work with a company that focuses on these types of mailings versus a printer that does everything. The reason is that transactional print and mail providers have the protocols, policies, and processes in place to deliver compliant, accurate, and quality communications.
How does the printer transition you from an implant to an outsourcing model?
Moving from an implant to outsourcing can be a complex initiative. By working with a seasoned team, the move can be seamless. Some things to consider in evaluating your options include:
- The outsourcing company should have a proven history of successful transitions.
- An assessment of current workflows should occur, and the print and mail company should provide recommendations for improvements.
- Your partner should have dedicated resources to support implementation, testing, and onboarding.
- Document integrity review, quality assurance, and ongoing customer service support should be part of the process.
- A compliance team to evaluate and ensure that your data is protected and are compliant with all the latest regulations associated with printing and mailing your communications.
In researching options, be sure to request their template for getting a new customer up and running, ensuring there are many checks and balances along the way.
Video: https://pcigroup.com/ask-the-experts-in-plant-operations-transitioning-best-practices/
What cost savings can you expect from outsourcing?
The desire to save money is a key driver in moving from in-house to outsourcing. The capital and operating expenses for implants are only increasing. When you outsource, you can realize savings in so many ways, including:
- Equipment and technology: Millions of dollars go into the purchase and upkeep of printers, inserters, and servers. You’ll be able to remove those from your budget for good.
- Labor: Moving to outsourcing allows you to reallocate workers to other business needs.
- Overhead: Remove rent, energy bills, security needs, and other hard costs when you cease operating your implant.
- Postage: You’ll get the best rates from a professional print and mail company because they have such a high volume. They are postal experts and use tactics like presorting, using the USPS IMb (Intelligent Mail Barcode), commingling, and addressing hygiene tools to reduce undeliverable mail.
- Paper, toner, and ink: Materials are no longer your responsibility, and you’ll benefit from the economies of scale rates that large production facilities purchase.
These savings can be enormous and allow you to reinvest in other parts of the company to spur growth.
Video: https://pcigroup.com/ask-the-experts-cut-costs-transactional-print/
How do transactional printers ensure accuracy?
In compliance-related communications, accuracy is critical. One mis-mailing can trigger scenarios of noncompliance and reputational harm. If accuracy has been a pain point for your in-house operations, you’ll want to assess this with great scrutiny. The keys to accuracy involve equipment, processes, and people.
In the equipment realm, professional transactional printers use intelligent inserters and barcodes for verification. Sophisticated inserting machines and mini cameras scan a 2D barcode on every page to ensure the right document goes in the correct envelope.
Additionally, strategies like Lean Manufacturing and standard works document every task that goes into a workflow. It’s a repeatable, reliable process that doesn’t change across operators, shirts, or locations. With these robust controls, print and mail companies can continuously improve compliance. By using these principles, PCI Group has an accuracy rate of 99.9999%.
Video: https://pcigroup.com/how-does-lean-manufacturing-impact-accuracy/
How does outsourcing transactional printing ensure quality?
Any organization wants the communications sent to customers to be of high quality. In the print and mail world, there are two types of quality to consider.
First is how the documents look and if they adhere to your branding and requested design elements. To be confident in this type of quality, you’ll be able to see proofs during the onboarding process.
Second is the reliability of quality. A quality assurance (QA) model is much more beneficial than quality control (QC). QA is a continuous process of baking quality into the process through the refinement of standard works via regular auditing. QC occurs after job completion, so there’s no way to mitigate the issue.
Video: https://pcigroup.com/ask-the-experts-quality-control-quality-assurance/
What are some advanced techniques that only transactional printers offer?
Beyond postage optimization and frameworks for transitioning, you can gain more advantages with outsourcing, such as:
- Dynamic printing: With a White Paper Factory (WPF) framework, each document can be unique. The process marries fully digitally composed files with in-line print production and intelligent insertion. The result is ultra-secure, highly accurate, variable data-generated documents. It allows you to insert customized messaging to each recipient to highlight other products for upselling or disclose pertinent information.
- Job and mail tracking: When moving to outsourcing transactional printing, you don’t give up control. With the right partner, you’ll have complete visibility via an online document management platform. It allows you to monitor jobs, track letters through delivery, run reports, and view real-time dashboards.
- Document design: If you want to change or redesign your letter templates, your outsourcing provider should be able to handle this. The requests are trackable, and your staff doesn’t have to complete these.
- Compliant eDelivery Solutions: An effective way to defray postage costs is to convert some of your communications to email. Transactional communication providers make sure these communications are effective and compliant
Outsourcing Transactional Printing: More Questions? We’ve Got Answers
Deciding to transition to outsourcing makes sense, fiscally and operationally. It is a big decision that requires lots of evaluation. Whatever questions you have, we’ve got the answers. As a transactional print and mail company with decades of experience, we’re here to help.
Contact us today for a discovery session to learn more.
