Why Killing E-Mail Orders Matters for Your Recovery

By Howie Fenton for RSA – As we continue to prepare for a recovery from the pandemic and rebuild our business, we have to recognize that while commercial companies have begun to recover, in-plant’s business usually lags behind commercial companies for several months. This does not mean that in-plants are laggards, but that volume growth and declines in in-plant service providers tend to be delayed compared to commercial companies. In addition, it means that the recovery for in-plants will be slower to develop. This is the first of two articles discussing the costs and production challenges of accepting e-mail orders and how Web to Print solutions can contribute to your recovery beyond accepting online orders.

In a recent webinar, Andy Paparozzi from the PRINTING United Alliance found that over half (52%) of commercial graphic and sign producer companies predict that their businesses will improve in the months ahead. This is noteworthy because it is the most ambitious prediction since the beginning of the pandemic. But for many in-plants, especially Universities, September looks like a good target to relaunch the business.

Ryan McAbee, the Director of Production Workflow at Keypoint Intelligence (KPI), recently published the 2021 North American Production Software Investment Outlook: Exploring the value of workflow automation and print e-commence. While the title is a mouthful, the main point is simple; there is a high cost for companies accepting orders from e-mail instead of automating the front-end processes with Web to Print software.