Over 750 diverse printCafe users captured center stage at the World Disney World Dolphin Hotel this past week in Orlando, Florida for Connect 2001. It is a rare event that brings a $300,000 local quick printer in direct contact with representatives of some of North Americas largest printers. According to Marc Olin co-CEO, the message they hoped to convey to attendees is that "printcafe is concerned about the well being of their users and wants to enhance the value of the varied product offerings to not only the printer but to the printer's customers. The best method of achieving that goal is by education."

By all indications printCafe has come a long way from their first users gathering last year in Las Vegas. At that time management received a message from the users that made them pause and rethink their strategy. One printer in attendance at both events indicated that last year he felt the program was led by arrogant ‘dot commers’ looking to make a fast dollar for themselves at the expense of printers. This year the feeling was more humble and was characterized by "how can we best meet your business needs" attitude. A great many of the participants were happy to see the dedication being made to upgrading existing print management systems instead of only pushing e-Commerce. Marc Olin emphatically stated that printCafe is committed to supporting all the print management systems.

Clearly, the printCafe perspective was that seamless integration of e-Commerce and print production is an important part of the future of the printing industry. Printers like Stephen Whitman of Whitman Communications in Lebanon, New Hampshire, a very early adopter of Logic over 25 years ago and now with printCafe’s PrinterSite web toolsets agrees. "These systems work and with the total integration of the print management system with the printCafe web enhancements a significant value for my company and my customers exists".

The one program that most exemplified the printCafe commitment to the printer was the announcement of the "Printer Success Program". This program is designed to educate both the internal printer organization and printer customers to the value of e-Commerce and how it can mutually benefit all. While the announcement sounded good, many attendees were skeptical. The underlying feeling was that printCafe was using the printer to get to its customers and possibly disintermediating them from their account base. A new challenge will beckon.

A notable demonstration of a unique scheduling package for Hagen OA and Programmed Solution users was Print Flow. This intuitive software was awesome. Hagen and PSI users should see it. Sorry Logic users it is still in development.

While most in attendance felt printCafe has made great strides to convince them of their commitment to the printers well being whether they adopt e-commerce or not, the general feeling was still a "wait and see" position. The consensus was that if a printing company was going to move into e-Commerce, printCafe certainly had the tools available to seamlessly integrate order processing from the web directly into the plant's MIS system. However, the price tag to get started was still an imposing barrier. Printers want to see proof of savings before they move. Yet, some are reluctantly introducing web enabled capabilities due to customer demands.

Connect 2001 clearly demonstrated that printers to survive must develop a business model that includes e-Commerce. The message is simple, now is the time to reflect on potential opportunities to make a strategic growth plan. Do not wait for your customers to ask for e-procurement. Be proactive, educate yourself to the nuances of a complete digital workflow and be connected.