The Power of Integrating Fulfillment and Print Services

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, efficiency and cost-effectiveness are paramount to staying competitive. As a seasoned Executive with over two decades of experience in the print and fulfillment industry, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of integrating fulfillment and print services within a single company. In this article, I'll delve into the significance of this strategic approach, emphasizing the many benefits it offers while shedding light on the pitfalls of separating these essential functions or hiring management companies who outsource.? Most vendors in mature industries such print and fulfilment have not kept up with technology.? AI will further render many suppliers inadequate for current and future needs.?

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Cost Savings Through Synergy

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Leadership is reducing headcount to manage marketing execution. The days of multiple resources to support print and fulfillment projects are gone. In short, all companies are tasked to do much more marketing execution with much fewer internal resources. You now require a vendor that can support all the tactical tasks required and need to consolidate to a reasonable number of vendors. ??These vendors must use technology to improve efficiencies and give instant access to insights and data of how your business performing.?

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One of the most compelling reasons to consolidate fulfillment and print services under one roof is the significant cost savings it can yield. By streamlining operations and eliminating redundancies, companies can capitalize on economies of scale, driving down production, shipping and management costs which ultimately enhances profitability.

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Consider the scenario of managing print and fulfillment separately: it entails engaging multiple vendors, each with its own set of overhead expenses. From coordinating shipments between different facilities to managing disparate billing systems, the logistical challenges can quickly add up, resulting in inefficiencies and unnecessary expenditures such as shipping fees.? Outsourced print by management companies sometimes hide these fees and make them up in other areas.? Shipping can account for 25% to 40% of the cost of a print project.? Then once it hits the fulfillment warehouse, field sales reps are overnight shipping it to their homes and conferences, because it took several days transit and several days receiving & setup time.? If it was ready a week earlier the rep could have ordered it anywhere in the US via ground.?

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When you look at your budget during monthly accrual meetings is your company getting the complete picture by splitting these capabilities?? Probably not.

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In contrast, a unified approach empowers businesses to optimize resource allocation, reduce monthly management fees, and waste obsolescence. A solution provider with both capabilities and no outsource, can help you with literature rationalization, teaching your company print less while providing valuable insightful metrics for senior leaderships.? A catalog of 75 items can quickly become 50.? The cost of creation of each item is typically 5 to 10 times greater than it is to print.? The agency then gets valuable feedback and reallocates the resources to other tactics that are more effective.? You save tens of thousands in print and the agency puts their savings towards strategic efforts.? Both direct and indirect savings are created all around.? When these businesses are separated the incentive to teach these efficiencies is outweighed by the loss of revenue.? Management companies who outsource have put many of their print vendors out of business through aggressive bidding and moving the work to other vendors at the drop of dime searching for their own higher margin.? This worked well in early 2000’s, until the internet consolidated as much as 57% of the industry.? Imagine coming to work each week and being asked to do the same job for less?? Now imagine that’s where your projects are being produced and you want them fast with high quality.? The vendors of management companies are on to the game and increase costs for anything that’s not predictable.? Add up all the people and resources and you paid more for what you thought was costing you less and it delivered to market slower than your competition.?

Seamless Integration for Enhanced Efficiency

Beyond cost savings, integrating fulfillment and print services fosters operational efficiency and agility. By breaking down silos and fostering collaboration between teams, companies can streamline workflows, reduce lead times, and adapt quickly to changing market demands.

Imagine the complexities of managing inventory levels, deciding print quantities, and coordinating shipments when print and fulfillment are outsourced to separate entities. Any miscommunication or delay in the handoff between these disparate providers can lead to bottlenecks jeopardizing customer satisfaction and brand reputation.? Now consider what happens when management companies or an in-house team at your company involves 3 to 10 print vendors trying to coordinate it all together and then pass it on to a fulfillment vendor.? The results are underwhelming clients everywhere.? Companies that have reduced the amount of print they produce with digital marketing coming of age, are now faced with hiring in house personal to manage the process or the vendors even with the diminished print volume.? Companies are being sold a management approach, but it is nothing more than project by project auction and the protection against things going wrong is boots on the ground in the form more people from vendor side.? The more people and companies the less synergies, the slower the turnaround time and the higher hidden costs.

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In contrast, a unified approach enables seamless integration across the entire process. From initial design concepts to final delivery, to data metrics in a dashboard letting you know the results, you have a single point of contact that ensures greater accountability and visibility at every stage.? This not only accelerates time-to-market but also enables businesses to respond swiftly to customer feedback and market trends, gaining a competitive edge in the process.? You and your marketing team are working strategy not vendor or project management.? Your product launches or label updates become less stressful.? ?

The Pitfalls of Fragmented Solutions

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While the benefits of integrated print and fulfillment services are clear, it's essential to acknowledge the drawbacks of adopting a fragmented approach. From increased administrative overhead, endless emails chasing small details, to logistical headaches, managing multiple vendors can introduce unnecessary complexity and risk into the equation. If you hire a management company for this, the same risks exist, you just can’t see them and speak to them directly to ask for help or find out what is going on.?

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For instance, relying on separate providers for print and fulfillment often results in disjointed communication channels, leading to errors, delays, and missed opportunities. Moreover, navigating disparate systems and processes can hinder collaboration between internal teams, hindering productivity and innovation.

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Furthermore, outsourcing print and fulfillment to multiple vendors can expose businesses to greater security and compliance risks. With sensitive customer data and proprietary assets scattered across different platforms, ensuring data privacy and regulatory compliance becomes a Herculean task, potentially exposing companies to costly penalties and reputational damage.

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Final Thoughts

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In today's hypercompetitive marketplace, companies must prioritize efficiency, agility, and cost-effectiveness to thrive. By consolidating print and fulfillment services under a single provider, organizations can unlock a wealth of benefits, from cost savings and operational efficiency to enhanced customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.? Management companies have attempted to do this with boots on the ground and aggressive bidding strategies.? This increases overhead that is passed on to client and leaves little leverage for ultimate end user clients to request promotional materials in market or field quicker.? Product launches especially suffer, because the business was mostly won at auction not by merit, service and capabilities.? All factors must be considered in these decisions.? The speed at which digital marketing will continue to move does not allow the time for print and fulfillment/distribution to be separate capabilities. Integrating with digital literature solutions such as CRM and Digital Asset Manager (DAM) is vital.? You cannot do this with a broken workflow.? Anyone can diagram a workflow, but are they using technology to pass back data to your systems or automate many of the processes that need to happen through the entire process?? The answer is usually no if you hire a management company or print and fulfill with different companies.

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As a visionary leader in the print and fulfillment industry, I urge businesses to reevaluate their approach and embrace integration as a strategic imperative. By doing so, they can position themselves for sustained growth and success in the digital age.?

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How many products do you buy from one company and then pay a separate company for storage and shipping of the same item?? Imagine if Amazon charged you for the product and Fedex charged the shipping.? Problems with the product call Amazon, damage during delivery call Fedex.? It wouldn’t make sense.? Today’s world is moving too fast for this business model.? AI will make speed even more important in the future.?

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I am happy to talk to you about Superior using technology to create a customized best in class solution combining your print and fulfillment programs. I can be reached at: [email protected]