PARTNER CONTRIBUTION — Germen Kroon of GrafiStore notices that, due to the corona measures, companies are paying more attention to smart automation solutions within existing workflows. The constraints — partly working from home and manual processes at the office — often do not connect seamlessly.
Original article: 'More demand for automation due to corona measures' — interview by Peter Luit, Printmedia Nieuws.
Germen Kroon argues that the demand for more automation is also driven by the trend that orders are decreasing in size but increasing in number. "That means precisely that large quantities of small orders call for advanced solutions. More actions per day must pay off in order to stay affordable."
Investments in software, and therefore automation, are becoming ever more important due to market developments.
What kind of tasks are we talking about?
Kroon: "These can be very simple actions, such as fully automated file checking, combined with email notification and placing approved files in the right print queue. Speed is exactly what you want for such tasks, but we see that the vast majority of SMEs in the sector still often overlook this. If you do such tasks a few dozen times a day for a couple of minutes each, you are shocked by the simple sum of how many hours that adds up to per year."
Fewer manual steps simply saves a great deal of money per year.
Why do companies not do this proactively?
Kroon: "They do buy the standard tools, which can in principle be linked together, but by no means always work really smartly. Companies — especially the smaller ones — then go into habit mode and leave opportunities on the table. I often hear: 'We have done it this way for years' or 'We do not think that is possible'. They often think it is complicated and expensive to solve certain challenges."
I often visit companies to really understand the entrepreneur's language and translate the question into the right solution.
Is it really expensive?
Kroon, now laughing: "No, for many small smart solutions you are often talking about a few thousand euros. Companies with large high-end workflow solutions often think that 'developing something' immediately runs into the tens of thousands of euros. What matters more is what the investment yields. Many solutions pay for themselves within a few months to one year."
We notice a clear distinction between how larger players and the SME graphic business view this. In projects with, for example, MultiPress, Canon, HP or larger online players such as Print.com, the conversations are different at every level. They often have their own IT knowledge, so development projects can be designed properly. But we also encounter that at smaller companies; for them we can be a sounding board, with various service levels.
For a few thousand euros, smart solutions can be offered that save many times that cost per year.
Kroon stresses that by no means everything has to be custom-built. "With our years of experience we have, as it were, built a library of countless routines that we can easily string together to meet almost any standard question."
Do you have a few practical examples?
Kroon: "In our country, a few hundred companies work with Prindustry software, often in combination with MultiPress. We are often asked whether an order in Prindustry can be pushed into the administrative system of MultiPress. An obvious question, because re-entering an order already entered in Prindustry is not a smart activity. We offer such a solution for a one-off 1,600 euros plus a fee per entered order — to be seen as a maintenance contract, because the software on both sides is regularly updated and we then have to adjust our connection accordingly."
Another example is the connection via an FTP upload on the company website, through the Switch workflow and Enfocus PitStop Server, for file checking, email notifications and workflow setup. This costs (apart from the annual subscriptions for the base software) 1,600 euros to set up the complete workflow. This provision also pays for itself quickly.
Finally, we develop fine solutions for the large-format market, for example complete nesting solutions for labels. We then look for the most obvious solution, which by no means always has to run via Switch. With such solutions we also drive the finishing, such as Zünd equipment for the cutting files. There are already independent solutions for a few thousand euros per year.
At large companies we often sit among the developers across various aspects of the chain.
Advice and consultancy
You mentioned a sounding-board or advisory agreement. How does that work? Kroon: "We offer collaboration agreements from 250 euros per month. With that, we can give our customers answers to their questions for a number of hours — general, or support for, say, a malfunctioning script in a workflow."
Challenges
What challenges do you see ahead? Kroon: "I would invite everyone to just ask us a question about something they think cannot be done, or that habit patterns keep them from considering. We are specialists in creating solutions; we are not afraid of challenges."
Please note: the prices mentioned in this article are from 2020 and may no longer apply. Ask us about current prices.
