Over the years, InfoTrends has focused a considerable amount of attention on the total cost of business communications. Conducted back in 2001, our initial landmark research entitled The True Cost of Business Communications revealed that for every $1 spent on print, another $6 were spent on the non-print related activities required to produce a given document. Back then, digital on-demand printing technologies were still in the early stages of adoption, but the use of digital technologies has since become commonplace in most production printing environments.

A lot has changed since 2001. Print-on-demand and digital technologies have become a market reality. The print-on-demand concept allows for shorter and customized print runs, greatly reducing or even eliminating the need for inventory. Print-on-demand also enables updates, edits, and revisions on-the-fly. Nevertheless, our ongoing research with print buyers consistently shows that the document design and internal approval processes remain labor-intensive. Smaller firms also report that job specification, inventory management, and print job management consume a significant amount of time and labor.

e-Procurement (Web-to-print) applications expedite the document submission process; simplify order tracking; and may also provide online layout, design, and editorial capabilities. Some of the more-advanced Web-to-print tools are closely integrated with back-end, production workflow systems—enabling print service providers to operate more efficiently. Web-to-print tools, along with the latest digital printing technologies, have become a standard among successful print service providers.