Welcome! Come on in and make yourself at home! Feel free to take your shoes off or leave them on – whatever makes you comfortable. And please help yourself to a slice of birthday cake on the table!

Some people have extravagant celebrations, others prefer to turn their birthday into a week-long festivity…but here at the Digital Printing Hot Spot, we have decided to celebrate our one-year birthday all month long! (…although the cake may not last)

So what does our one-year birthday really represent, and what’s up with the silly cake, you may ask? I am very excited to say that with this birthday we are celebrating our commitment to you, our customers, as this marks a full year of delivering you tips and helpful information to get the most out of your production print equipment. Our goal is to help you meet your business objectives and succeed, while making your day-to-day operations run as smooth as possible.

Through the sharing of success stories, industry trends, best practices, technology, workflow efficiencies, and much more – we truly hope that when you visit this site, you are able to walk away (or close out of your browser) with a helpful piece of information previously unbeknownst to you. We know that you face business challenges that keep you up at night. Our objective is to equip you with all the necessary information to help you best handle these challenges.

In our one-year of existence, we have shared many exciting success stories of customers much like yourself, discussed many fascinating issues within the industry, and shed light to various best practices and helpful tips.

In case you’ve missed some, here’s just a small sampling of a few of the many stories that have been shared:

• Digital packaging opportunities
• How to design for digital
• Tips for printing on textured stocks
• How to design for Clear Dry Ink with the Xerox Color 800/1000 Press
• Running lightweight paper on your Continuous Feed device
• An award-winning 100% variable magazine
• Book printing: It’s easy being green
• Achieving new levels of productivity with automation
• Front-to-Back registration suggestions
• The story of a digital printer banking €150,000 a month with digital book venture

I would really like to take an opportunity to thank you, our readers; because if it wasn’t for you consistently visiting this blog and providing us with great feedback, we wouldn’t be able to share this very special birthday celebration with you right now!

If you are interested in keeping up-to-date with our latest stories, please subscribe to this blog and/or follow us on Twitter (@XeroxProduction)!

And what would a birthday celebration be without gifts?! We have an assortment of giveaways that we’d love to share with you, including: Print Providers Guide to Social Media written by Peter Muir, ProfitAccelerator Data-Driven Print Book, a Customizable Calendar Kit, ProfitAccelerator Individualized Media Essentials Book, and a Best-of-the-Best case study/success story book. Quantities are limited and will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To receive one of these fantastic resources, please comment and let us know what information you find helpful from this blog and what topics you’d be interested in hearing about as we begin the exciting journey towards our second-birthday!

Thank you for stopping by and celebrating with us!

Sustainability is a topic that people tend to have a wide spectrum of opinions about. Some think it is a fad while others give priority to products that have environmental advantages.

We asked our customers and people on the street to share their thoughts about printing, if they think books are going away, if they read their “junk mail” and how quickly they think corporate brochures become obsolete.

So, what do you think?

We’ve already talked about the environmental advantages of transactional-promotional documents and digital packaging, so now it’s time to shine some light on yet another application: Books and Manuals.

In the trade book segment alone today, about 2.3 billion trade books are sold each year in the U.S., accounting for about 500 billion offset pages. That is beginning to change, however. In my previous post about how monochrome continuous feed printers are supporting a shift in the books industry, I mentioned the number of digitally printed book pages in the United States will grow from about 80 billion in 2008 to more than 140 billion in 2015, including about 20 billion new color pages.

Environmental Advantages
Digital printing offers the potential to eliminate the traditional book publishing supply chain’s wasteful practices of returning and destroying unsold books. In-store book manufacturing solutions also eliminate transportation energy expenditures from the supply chain, potentially optimizing environmental sustainability in book manufacturing. Xerox is a member of the Book Industry Environmental Council, which is trying to green book publishing. Here’s a closer look at the specific environmental advantages of digital book manufacturing:

On-demand production—Printing to fulfill orders eliminates tremendous amounts of costly waste. Rather than making educated guesses about how many books to print, POD enables books to be printed after they’re ordered. Roughly 30 to 40% percent of books produced in traditional processes are destroyed or returned. Thus, energy and cost associated with returning books can also be eliminated.

Distribute-then-print—Minimize cost and environmental impact for physical distribution. Today, small-footprint book production systems like the Espresso Book Machine can be found in stores and libraries, expanding the number of available titles in a location, and eliminating all waste and distribution from the supply chain, resulting in significant cost savings and revenue opportunities. Other distribute-and-print solutions include having production systems in warehouses and networks of regional printers, for producing books nearest the point of need.

Electronic job ordering and submission; paperless workflow and soft proofing—These processes reduce paper usage, and associated costs, while boosting efficiency.

Green paper choices—Offer recycled paper or paper with chain-of-custody certification designating it has been produced in a supply chain that promotes responsible forestry practices from harvesting to packaging. Some customers are willing to pay extra to include a chain-of-custody logo on their printed books.

In light of our recent announcement to release weekly success stories leading up to Graph Expo, I wanted to share how a 2010 Best-of-the-Best Contest winner, DMM Inc., helped a non-profit organization by increasing donations and helping preserve our wild-life with a photo publishing direct marketing campaign.

Located in Scarborough, Maine, DMM Inc. is a direct marketing communications firm that specializes in fulfillment solutions, transactional promotional, and direct marketing campaigns. DMM was approached by the BioDiversity Research Institute (BRI) to help create and produce their annual Adopt-a-Loon fundraiser, all the while making it more successful then the past year’s campaign. The mission of BRI is to assess emerging threats to wildlife and ecosystems through extensive and collaborative research, and to then provide decision-makers with the necessary data to advance environmental awareness. To help accomplish these objectives, DMM worked with BRI to create a direct marketing campaign targeting both past and present donors, as well as a version targeting new prospects.

One of the immediate challenges DMM faced was that the imagery to be used on the postcard was real wildlife photography of loons, which consisted of dark colors and very little contrast. This translated into an incredibly high area coverage of black. In order for this to meet the quality expectations of BRI, the final output was going to need consistent ink distribution. Further complicating matters was BRI’s desire for this project to stay within the mission statement of the organization and be produced as sustainably as possible.

DMM knew that they could rely on their Xerox iGen4 Digital Press to meet the quality standards which BRI expected. By using non-toxic dry inks and 97% recyclable components, the iGen4 also helped DMM meet the sustainability objectives that characterize BRI as an organization. DMM took it even further by choosing to produce the campaign on FSC-certified paper, as well as designing the cards to fit six-up on the sheet, further adding to the sustainability story.

The campaign itself was produced using GMC Software Technology’s PrintNet T, which is a variable composition software used for the creation and production of high impact, personalized campaigns. Using database information provided by BRI, two versions of the postcard were created. The version targeting past and current contributors provided information for how the donor can find out what is happening in the life of their adopted loon, and also requests for a renewal of their adoption. The version targeting prospective donors provides information on how they can help wildlife conservation by adopting a loon in the name of a loved one.

By effectively segmenting their database, using the right messaging, and creating an aesthetically pleasing postcard; DMM was able to help BRI accomplish their goals by achieving a 6% response rate and increasing donations by 14.4% over 2009. The Adopt-a-Loon campaign is an excellent example of how the use of personalization, even in a simplistic manner, can be very effective when done properly.

To see more successful direct marketing campaigns, and to learn more ways to get the most out of your direct marketing efforts, I strongly suggest checking out our Direct Mail section on the Digital Print Hot Spot Blog.

If you’d like to receive a complementary 2010 Best-of-the-Best Case Study spiral bound book printed on our iGen4, be one of the first 10 readers to add your comments below!

Also, learn more about this campaign from DMM Inc., please read the case study. If you are interested in ways you can help foster wildlife conservation, awareness, and education, visit the BioDiversity Research Institute. And for more information on our content, visit the Xerox Best-of-the-Best Contest page.

Stay tuned for another outstanding customer success story to be featured next week!

Digitally printed packaging is an emerging application that is in an early adopter phase. First movers can still gain powerful advantages in a worldwide market that is expected to grow from $580 million in 2005 to $6 billion by 2015, according to Pira International.

Digital printing delivers a nice set of competitive, cost and environmental advantages when compared to traditional package printing technologies, and it’s surprisingly well suited to many packaging applications. Digital print production can use the just-in-time, print-on-demand approach; and with shortened setup requirements and automated makeready, short runs are typically less expensive on digital presses. And variable data printing can bring new value through personalization and customization for regional versioning, novelty items and for meeting pharmaceutical and healthcare needs for individual and custom-made packaging.

Environmental advantages
Packaging accounts for as much as one-third of solid waste in U.S. municipal landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, making it a visible target of green activism. Today’s environmentally preferred packaging uses minimal materials, which are recycled or made in environmentally responsible ways, and which are biodegradable and easily recycled or reused so they aren’t dumped in landfills. Digitally printed packaging plays well with green packaging strategies to meet growing demand.

Among its environmentally sustainable qualities are these:

On-demand production—Orders can be placed in the precise quantities needed, eliminating or reducing warehousing and associated cost, energy requirements and waste from obsolescence.

Electronic job ordering and submission, paperless workflow, and soft proofing— These processes reduce paper usage and associated costs while boosting efficiency.

Green paper choices—Offer recycled paper or paper with chain-of-custody certification designating it has been produced in a supply chain that promotes responsible forestry practices from harvesting to packaging. Some customers are willing to pay extra for green paper and board.

Eliminate varnish—Varnish is required for offset printing and adds cost and, in the case of UV varnish, an environmental hazard, small amounts of ozone that need to be ventilated. Offset ink takes 24 hours to dry and harden, so it needs a coat of varnish for mechanical handling and to seal the surface of the inks, preventing bleeding and smear onto the back side of the next sheet in the stack. In contrast, digitally printed pieces have a dry and hard surface immediately, with low risk of scratching and color setoff, making varnish necessary only to achieve visual effects.

Non-toxic glues—These are available for most binding techniques, eliminating the need for ventilation of toxic fumes and waste management issues.

Distribute-then-print—Minimize environmental impact by distributing electronically to your print center or partner nearest the customer for printing and the fastest, least environmentally disruptive delivery.

As stated in a previous post related to sustainability, there are several applications that can deliver profit and growth opportunities for print providers, cost savings, improved business results for their customers, and environmental advantages as well. Packaging printed using digital press technology easily inherits the environmental advantages digital printing already brings to the table.

A common myth is that being green is difficult and costly; which couldn’t be farther from the truth. There are many opportunities to reduce your environmental impact while driving business results and growth.

I can easily talk to the inherited environmental advantages of digital printing, but what’s one way you can make money and provide a green solution to your customers, simultaneously?

The first suggestion on the list: Transactional-Promotional Documents

What is Trans-Promo?
Transactional-promotional communications—Trans-Promo for short—provides a significant opportunity in a large, growing market. In North America, full-color page output is projected to grow by 154 percent annually from 2007 to 2015, when nearly 40 billion pages will be produced, according Caslon, Inc (a market research firm).

Trans-Promo communications serve two missions. Like transactional documents, they present data from financial and other transactions in the form of an invoice, statement or report. But unlike traditional transactional communications, they also incorporate marketing messages that are targeted to be relevant to the recipient.

Environmental Advantages
Therein lies their key contribution to environmental sustainability—and to the bottom lines of print providers and print customers. By combining two documents that have been traditionally produced and mailed independently of one another, Trans-Promo cuts print and mail volume, thereby reducing production and postage costs, paper usage and delivery-related carbon emissions. And another great opportunity InfoTrends discovered is that transactional documents are opened and read at least once by 95 percent of recipients!

Some additional ways to derive environmental advantages from Trans-Promo communications:

Electronic job ordering and submission; paperless workflow and soft proofing—These processes reduce paper usage, and associated costs, while boosting efficiency.

Optimized page real estate—Designs that make the most of the available space can reduce paper volume. Costs can also be saved with clearer designs that reduce call center volume from confused customers.

Green paper choices—Offer recycled paper or paper with chain-of-custody certification designating it has been produced in a supply chain that promotes responsible forestry practices from harvesting to packaging. Some customers are willing to pay extra to include a chain-of-custody logo on their printed materials.

Duplex printing—Cut paper usage and associated costs by as much as half.

A solution that uses less paper—Imagine a single software module that can generate both paper-based and paperless transactional documents. Xerox FreeFlow VIPP Pro Publisher makes it possible, saving steps and paper.

Transactional-Promotional documents are one of several applications that can deliver profit and growth opportunities for print providers, improved business results for their customers, and yes— environmental benefits as well!

Do you print Trans-Promo documents to send customers, and/or offer it as a solution for your customers?

Do you use its environmental advantages as a selling point?

This is a question I never liked, because I didn’t know the answer. I still don’t know the answer. That’s because when it comes to carbon footprint, there is no universal definition on WHAT is being measured and HOW it must be measured.

And when I’m asked for the carbon footprint, am I supposed to explain:

1) The carbon footprint for one product life cycle phase (ie. product use)?
2) All carbon or only emissions from energy use of fossil fuels?
3) The total amount of carbon & greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of the product?

With all of the variables that go into the entire life cycle of a product/service it is nearly impossible to provide an accurate number— from the sourcing of raw materials, the manufacturing of those materials, the manufacturing of the product, product use, product end-of-life disposition, and ALL of the transportation and packaging that occurs during every phase. Over time, materials may be sourced from different locations and manufacturing processes change, making the equation even more challenging. For the reasons I just stated, there is no consistent methodology for reporting a carbon footprint.

My recommendation is to not be so concerned about the numbers, but to put efforts in place to reduce your environmental footprint by being more energy efficient, reducing waste, and recycling. That’s where the real magic (and change) happens.

- Lindsay Lamb