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PRINT.IT
01732 759725
MFP
Growing use of the
Internet has resulted in a
dramatic change in how we
communicate in all areas
of life. In the commercial
print world, web-to-print has
streamlined the process of
submitting print jobs, from
the initial order to previewing
and proofing and then final
output, often putting the
responsibility for the end
result into the hands of the
customer and not the print
house.
Web-to-print solutions like
EFI’s Digital StoreFront have
enabled commercial printers to
improve efficiency, grow their
business, remove the margin for
error and streamline incoming
jobs. They are also of benefit to
inplants in private and public
sector organisations, where it
is the print department, not the
customer, that controls the print
parameters.
Design and Print Services
at Loughborough University
sits within the University’s
Marketing and Communications
department and has been
offering in-house creative
services for more than 30 years,
including digital print, print
finishing and photographic, video
and web design services.
Following a review of printing
across the Loughborough
campus, it helped develop
From web to print
Loughborough University’s web-to-print service simplifies online ordering, increases
value for money and has the potential to improve visual identity management
a print strategy designed to
ensure that printing and copying
is always done on the most
appropriate and economical
device by moving activity from
less efficient distributed printers
and MFPs to cost-effective,
centralised high volume devices.
To make this process as
simple as possible for users,
Design and Print Services is
using Digital StoreFront, branded
as Online Printing, to provide
a simple web-based workflow
for submitting print jobs to the
EFI Fiery front-ends used by the
department’s Canon imagePress
1135 and Canon imagePress
C7000 production engines. Jobs
can be submitted from campus
locations and from off-site via a
virtual private network.
Introduced in June 2011,
Online Printing has proved to be
an effective way for academics
to submit lecture notes that are
now printed and and supplied
as a delivered service according
to the needs of each lecturer.
More than half the faculties have
signed up to the service and
since the summer Design and
Print Services has been actively
encouraging others to make
use of the system. As a result,
in its second year of operation,
the number of completed online
orders has increased by 82%
and income taken through the
service has grown by 88%.
Brand Standardisation
Being part of the University’s
Marketing and Communications
department, Design and Print
Services shares responsibility
for the production of marketing
material, such as prospectuses,
research magazines and
course-specific advertising.
The University is rigorous about
maintaining its visual identity
and deviations from the agreed
standards are monitored
and managed to ensure that
colours, typefaces and design
are consistent across all
communications.
Design and Print Services
is considering making this
part of its job easier by using a
new Design Studio feature on
version 5.6 of Digital StoreFront
to produce pre-set document
templates. This will enable it to
control exactly how a finished
document appears by ensuring
that all incoming jobs match
the specification set out in the
University’s brand guidelines,
which will be available as a
complement to Online Printing.
The use of templates
should save time and costs by
reducing the margin for error
and by providing an easy online
environment through which
users can work. Thanks to Digital
StoreFront’s support for XMPie
and FusionPro variable data
printing solutions that let users
merge customised data with
static content, it can help with
the production of personalised
one-to-one marketing – an
increasingly important
requirement as universities seek
to attract the best students.
It also removes the need for
specific design tools, thus
streamlining job submission
and automating workflow, with
online proofing and previewing
available both for the client and
the print department.
Seamless integration
Digital StoreFront is designed to
integrate seamlessly with EFI’s
other products including Fiery
and MIS/ERP systems, utilising
JDF to deliver job ticketing
information within the workflow
operation. It can be cloud-based
or hosted locally, and is suitable
for any size of organisation
requiring an online storefront.
In addition to template
catalogues, it offers billing
configurations including account
codes, purchase orders and
online payment methods such
as credit cards or tokens;
online reporting and analytics;
and status tracking so that
customers can check their job
progress, view job history, re-
order and even cancel.
The installation of EFI’s
Digital StoreFront has enabled
Loughborough University to drive
its print and design services
from a front-end that is simple
to use yet extremely powerful,
in an environment with multiple
output devices and diverse print
requirements.
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