The transactional print industry has been part of business communications for decades. In the 21st century, it has evolved rapidly as a result of new technology, innovation, and requirements. So, what does the future look like?
Let’s explore some emerging trends and how they’ll continue to shape the industry.
Digital Printing Technology Delivers Fast, High-Quality, and Personalized Communications
Digital printing is relatively new in the transactional print industry. Since its introduction in the 1990s, the technology has continued to improve, delivering cost-effective, high-quality results.
Currently, digital and inkjet printing technology provides numerous advantages over traditional printing equipment, including:
- Faster turnaround times, creating an on-demand print environment important in transactional communications
- Lower setup costs, as there is no need for stopping and starting runs based on specifications
- Improved quality and full-color options
Most importantly, digital and inkjet printers can handle large volume runs while also providing the opportunity to personalize through the White Paper Factory model. The process marries fully digitally composed files with in-line print production and intelligent insertion. Each statement or letter can include specific messaging relevant to that customer, eliminating the need for inserts.
Print and Mail Automation Delivers Efficiency
The modern world enables smart automation in almost any process, including transactional printing. Applying automation to workflows has many benefits, such as fewer errors, time savings, improved efficiency, and increased productivity.
The most common print and mail automation use cases include:
- File processing: Every job begins with a data transfer. Automating this eliminates manual work and accelerates job runs.
- Dynamic print: Dynamic printing via the White Paper Factory is another example of automation. Large rolls of white paper feed into the printers, removing the need for templates or changeouts.
- Intelligent insertion:Accuracy is critical in sending transactional letters, and specialized insert equipment automates this into a reliable process. In addition to the inserter, each document contains a 2D barcode that’s scanned to ensure its placement in the correct envelope. Another camera automatically captures the image to validate.
- Presorting and postage optimization: Automating presorting at a high volume provides the best postage rates and seamless routing. Regular mail andcertified mail can use this process.
- Address hygiene: You can reduce undeliverable mail using a technology tool that scrubs address lists using the USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb). This happens before anything goes into print, updating addresses as necessary.
Resiliency Becomes Part of the Service for the Transactional Print Industry
Any organization has concerns about downtime. When communications are time-sensitive, a backup plan is a must. Transactional printers are becoming leaders in creating disaster recovery and business continuity, with lots of safety nets, including redundant facilities that are geographically diverse.
These plans allow companies to outsource transaction mailings to have greater peace of mind. This can also be a solution for those still producing the work in-house. Traditionally, they’ve contracted with companies for immediate backup should an emergency occur. However, it’s not flipping a switch. These vendors charge high fees and still need considerable time to set up their equipment to an organization’s needs.
A new approach is to partner with businesses for planned and unplanned business disruptions by generating a small portion of your runs each month. The program is always active, so there’s no annual or declaration fee. The printer can immediately take over your entire job smoothly without a major disruption to your operations.
Data Insights and Smarter Decision-Making
Data has become a valuable asset for generating insights and improving decision-making. Access to it has become more available regarding transactional operations. For example, we have an online business document management platform, trakPCI.
trakPCI allows customers to view data and import reports related to everything about their jobs, from postage costs to delivery and more. As a result, these companies can analyze it to understand performance. Combining this data with other internal sets can bring clarity to trends, costs, and customer interactions.
The Transactional Print Industry Is Evolving
We’ve been in this business for over 50 years, so we’ve watched its evolution. We’re glad to be a leader in this industry to move it forward through technology, innovation, and a commitment to principles like Lean Manufacturing.
We’re always planning for what’s next. If you’re ready to future-proof transactional communications, connect with our experts today.
