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Getting the message

In the world of both internal and external communications in the public sector, there has been a longterm trend away from paper and towards digital and internet-based methods. But Andrew Pearce, chief executive of the Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA), here explores better uses for print.

The paperless office is an ideal rarely achieved in practice, but some say the shift to email and computerised document management has its downsides anyway.

Andrew Pearce, chief executive of the Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA), says that physically mailed communications are more likely to make an impact on the reader: “It does have a cutthrough. What we’ve noticed in the direct mail sphere is that, especially in certain demographics – for instance 18-25 year olds – people spend their lives online. To get a piece of mail is both surprising and delightful: the messages cut through.”

When it comes to the vast amounts of email received by the typical member of staff at a large public sector organisation, he said: “I’m not sure how much of it ever gets read. But, certainly, to reinforce important messages, then internal printed documentation, especially on certain key items, does I believe cut through to people.”

Cutting costs

There have been more cost-effective ways of printing springing up in recent years, as Pearce explains: “Web-to-print is often a useful technique. If, as a simple example, you wanted some business cards for yourself, then the template would be set up in your brand by the printer, and then every time you changed your phone number or qualifications or anything like that, you can go on and simply type it in yourself into the template.

“It would come out in the correct font, in the correct size, and you’d approve it online, which would send it to print – rather than sending it to print on the desktop printer. The printer would then print it and deliver it.”

Brand focus – one NHS

Pearce gave the example of the NHS as a public sector organisation with a brand to protect and promote. He said: “Those systems mean that everything stays on brand. In the NHS everyone thinks they’re a print buyer and everyone thinks they’re a designer, when they’re not. It can play havoc with brand perception. So, this makes sure that you can monitor the spend, but also means that anyone ordering stuff can’t drift away from the brand that’s been set.

“Because it’s web-to-print, a lot of input is done by the client themselves, which reduces the costs. It also means a print manager can easily see the overall picture, and audit print usage for the whole trust, for example.

“At the moment, in many trusts print usage will have grown uncontrollably as people think they need different documents when often they didn’t realise one was in existence already.

“So, a print manager will go in, audit all of the documentation series, look for duplicates, look for the ones that perhaps could be merged together, and then recommend that certain ones are sliced out of the mix, merged, deleted – which overall makes a saving, without losing efficiency.

“They can give that overview, which nobody else can do, or has got time to do in the organisation.”

Diversification

But many print management firms are also expanding and diversifying into document and data management more widely, as well as more innovative ventures, Pearce explained: “Diversification absolutely is happening. In retail, for example, print managers are moving into information kiosks, to help people find their way around, or if there’s a product in store they let people know what its price is.

“That idea could be used in a hospital: people often get lost in hospitals – there are opportunities there.”

Print management companies are even moving into social media, he said, for example running social media campaigns for public sector clients.

He said it’s about “not only writing the wrongs, but reassuring people and putting their fears at rest”.

Trends

Pearce said: “Costs are a big issue. Prices are constantly going up – printers are stuck between a rock and a hard place: prices of consumables constantly rising, while the client doesn’t want to pay any more. Something has got to give. But one area worth mentioning is hybrid mail.

“Lots of different people in different departments will be sending out external post – writing it out themselves, printing it out locally, folding it, putting a stamp on it, and walking down to the post room – all of which is costly. But with hybrid mail, everyone at the trust would be given a template so they could input a letter, and when they are happy it would be sent to print in a central area, or with an outsourced printer, who would then print it out on their letterhead, or in colour and drop their logo on, folding it, bundling it all, and franking it, and making sure they got the best postal discount.

“They would collate all of the day’s mail, and rather than people paying 46p for a stamp, you’d pay only 35p, say. Plus, think of the price of ink cartridges for desktop printers – almost more than gold – it’s also reducing those costs, and crucially, reducing people’s wasted time from walking to the post room. There’s also the opportunity, if there’s an internal magazine, for that to be digitised, with links and video streamed into it. That’s a c o m p l e m e n t a r y service.”

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