Recently, SAP announced their entry into the print ERP and business management space with unit inc. as their service and channel partner. In August, WhatTheyThink.com spoke to Pat Hickey of SAP. Today, we take the opportunity to speak with Uwe Goehring of unit inc. to get the details of the print.IT product.

unit inc. (previously UnITconsulting) is an IT and E-Business consulting firm and SAP service and channel partner. The company provides services in all aspects of enterprise transformation, from strategy and processes to information technology, systems integration and systems implementation specifically to the commercial print industry.

Uwe Goehring, president, has been associated with SAP since 1986. He moved to the US in 1992 to provide SAP system integration for Deloitte & Touche Consulting (now Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu). Uwe continued to do SAP consultancy, and opened unit inc.

WTT: There have been some major changes in your business since we last spoke in November 2001. What are the relationships between SAP, Steeb GmbH, and unit inc.?

Uwe Goehring: Steeb, developer of as//print and acquired by SAP in 1992, has been serving the print industry middle market in Germany for some time. as//print, which requires SAP as a platform, was rewritten in 1999 with a clear focus on the commercial print industry. unITconsulting signed an agreement to offer customized integration of as//print and brought the solution from Germany where a number of customers have implemented it, to the US in 2000, targeting both large and small companies.

unit inc. developed a package consisting of a pre-configured "wrapper" around SAP and as//print and has been marketing this solution since May. The new solution, called print.IT was certified and approved by SAP who embraced the solution as an industry-specific "all-in-one" package.

The idea is to meet printing industry needs with a full range of functions from A-Z, integrating best of breed functionality into a system built on mySAP.


WTT: Our members would like to know a little more about unit inc. Tell us about your depth of experience in the development, sales and support functions. Are your developers and support staff located in the US or in Germany and what kind of sales force are you fielding?

Uwe Goehring: unit inc. is a small but growing American company with a staff of 20, based in New York City, and with development and implementation staff located nationally. Our sales staff is currently fairly small and includes outside sales agents. unit inc. has a strong pipeline of prospective customers – good, qualified prospects, not just "suspects." We are ready to staff up as the need arises and increased sales will quickly drive staff growth.


WTT: It’s rare that a consulting firm or systems integrator will tell a client right up front how much a solution will cost or how long it will take to implement. Tell us some more about the print.IT the solution.

Uwe Goehring: Because print.IT is a "fixed scope" vertical implementation, with packaged functionality, based on a well-established platform, mySAP, we can also determine a cost for both the software license and the implementation, and provide a solid calendar for deployment. As a result we can offer a "fixed price/fixed scope/fixed implementation" vertical solution to companies with revenues under $500 million.


WTT: print.IT is described as having the following functionality: estimating and quoting, order entry, job planning specifications, job costing, inventory management, fulfillment, loading and scheduling, shop floor data collection, billing and receivables, budgeted hourly rates, sales analysis, purchasing, accounts payable and general ledger, financial reporting, and multi-divisional accounting. While there are basic similarities between all commercial print operations around these activities, each company has its own special needs. How much can a "turn-key" solution be customized? What kind of flexibility do you offer?

Uwe Goehring: If you want to pay a fixed price, have all the print.IT functionality listed, and have your implementation completed in 14 weeks – there can’t be much flexibility. The idea is to offer a "fixed price/fixed scope" integration so the buyer knows exactly what she or he is going to get, how much it will cost, and when their company will be up and running with the new solution.

It is important to note that you are never limited with the SAP print.IT integration. We can provide any SAP functionality or integrate your print.IT solution with existing applications and we will specify the requirements and provide a quote for the implementation.


WTT: You publish an average installation cost of $290,000 and an average license fee of $150,000 for print.IT. Is that what our members should expect to pay for the print.IT solution?

Uwe Goehring: While we are winning smaller print companies, our typical customer is in the $70 - $100 million range. As far as the price quoted, that is the estimated cost for a $100 million printer. A smaller company with fewer users will have lower licensing fees and the implementation time will be shorter. So the price scales with the size of the company – smaller company, lower cost The payback thus depends on the size of the print company and their print processes.


WTT: What other modules and functionality are available with print.IT?

Uwe Goehring: Because print.IT combines "best of breed" industry solutions one of the most powerful ERP systems available we are able to offer unique functionality. Please note that these solutions are separate from, though integrated with, print.IT, and are priced separately.

For example, we have integrated a solution from a German company, bbk, called jdppi, that is a scheduling tool which provides a graphical replication of the traditional "magnetic board" historically used to schedule print jobs. The scheduler is displayed in a Web browser and connected to SAP in real time. While this functionality is currently a separate module we expect to integrated it more tightly and provide it with the package in the future.

A second application, DENEX, comes from Interflex and is a certified interface for data collection. The solution is primarily a hardware solution for collecting shop floor data from printing and mailing hardware. It is an add-on integrated and sold separately.

unit inc. also has a joint marketing/joint development agreement with E-Lynxx for the PrintLynxx print buyer specification engine that will allow printers to download standard capability specifications to print buyers in order to provide standardized quotes and bids.


WTT: Funding for start-up companies, such as unit inc., is difficult to come by these days. What can you tell us about your investors? Are you partially funded by SAP?

Uwe Goehring: unit inc. is totally independent and internally funded. We have been growing organically with no outside funding and our staff is committed to growing the company. We are looking for outside investors now to allow us to grow as quickly as we need to as business ramps up.


WTT: Your company and SAP are new to the commercial printing industry and many of our members wonder how serious your effort will be. What is your commitment to the printing industry?

Uwe Goehring: unit inc. has had a printing focus for 2.5 years. We’re very serious about the printing industry, after all, our only solution is for the printing industry. We have just been quiet and not wasting money on lots of advertising during this time.


WTT: There are a number of ERP/MIS solutions for the commercial printing industry, such as Printcafe, Prism, Pace, Radius, CRC Information Systems, and others. How do you differentiate your offering to the same audience? What value proposition do you offer that will compel someone to choose your solution over your competitors?

Uwe Goehring: print.IT is made up of "best of breed" industry solutions combined with one of the most powerful ERP systems available. While the solution provides sophisticated ganging, versioning, and estimating tools that prospects tell us they need, print.IT also meets the industry ERP needs better. For example, we provide financial functionality, multiple-languages, cross-facility planning and scheduling and we provide those all in the same format with the same standard across an entire printing enterprise.

While certain "point solutions" may be stronger in a limited number of functions, print.IT has best of breed functionality embedded in SAP. By implementing standardized processes and information collection in the IT environment, the system provides transparency into profitability. By adding just a few user licenses the printer can add a CRM system that rivals Siebel, an enterprise portal, advanced planning and optimization, a business information warehouse, and supply chain management.


WTT: What is your view of efforts like PrintTalk, CIP4, and the push for open-ended systems?

Uwe Goehring: As far as "open systems" print.IT is based on JDF and is extremely open to exchange data with other applications. While unit inc. is not currently a member of either group, we are considering getting involved.


WTT: What if a printer has particular systems that they have been using and feel are right for them, would they need to be replaced? What about other vendors such as hardware vendors?

Uwe Goehring: No one has to rip out anything – print.IT is very open and very integratable. We can integrate with other systems, and we are looking to work with Printcafe, for example. We can integrate end-to-end communication and would like to have all hardware vendors integrated for example. As much as we want to make this solution even better, we must move a little at a time.

We are just starting out as a new company and we have the backing and the potential. While we have built a customer base, unit inc. must be "enabled" too. We are looking for companies willing to look at this type of solution. We, and it, are not really new – the technology on which this solution is built is all tried and proven.


WTT: What is your position on print buyers? Will you be selling a buyer solution as well?

Uwe Goehring: We would like to approach print buyers with a specification engine, however they do need to have a SAP system in place. SAP has provided lead generation for us, and we have access to SAP customers and will be rolling out products to the buy side as well. We also believe our partnership with e-lynxx will provide solid functionality for the buy-side.


Thanks, Uwe, for your time providing us with the details about print.IT and SAP.