Exploring Web-to-Print and AR in the Modern Print Shop

At a recent webinar, “Smarter Print, Richer Experiences: Web-to-Print + AR for Today’s Print Providers,” sponsored by Ricoh USA, In-plant Impressions Content Director Bob Neubauer sat down to talk to Giorgio Dell'Aiera, senior consultant, Workflow Automation; and Rachel Schmidt, marketing consultant, Marketing Services Practice, both with Ricoh USA, about how to modernize today’s print operations. Specifically, the group focused on two areas — web-to-print and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

The Foundation

Regardless of the size of the shop or the type of printing done, web-to-print is now a necessity for improving workflow. It speeds up everything from order intake, to sales, to prepress, and is the foundation for creating automated workflows that see jobs move through the facility with as few touch points as possible.

Dell'Aiera noted, “It's become the gold standard for how we in the industry accept all of our orders. It's open 24/7, first and foremost, it does automate our sales, and it's a customer service rep that is always there for you all of the time — it never goes home sick.”

But beyond just getting orders into the system quicker, web-to-print offers a jumping off point for facility integration. From there, systems such as the MIS, CRM, fulfillment systems, prepress, and more can all be tied in, creating a powerful basis for automation that allows even a relatively small operation to take on larger volumes of work and more complicated pieces.

It doesn’t have to be an immediate all-in either. Taking the time to start small with a simple solution or solving one specific problem will allow the operation to ramp up as it makes sense.

Dell'Aiera said, “So, so obviously, the first step is identify the issue you're trying to solve with automation. For a lot of people getting into web-to-print is ‘I don't have enough time to put all the orders.’ Then, what's the next logical step? Probably somewhere on the production side. The biggest thing is figuring out if you want to automate, what are you trying to automate? What's that problem you're trying to solve? There's probably closer to two dozen different web-to-print [systems] out there, and there may be one that's more cost advantage to you. Maybe you want to start with something on the smaller side for one to three years, and then, depending on how big your business grows and your budget grows, you might be able to envelop into something different.”

Adding a High-Tech Touch

The panel then moved on to talk about AR technologies, and how they can be used to enhance printed pieces — adding that complexity and unique features to print that adopting web-to-print has freed up the time to explore.

AR is essentially just adding some kind of interactive layer to a piece, whether that is via an app or something like a QR code. It can help boost engagement and create a more tangible emotional connection with the recipient — when done right.

“So AR and immersive technology is not here to replace print,” Schmidt stressed. “It's here to enhance it, to unlock new revenue, unlock deeper engagement and some measurable impact, and really just bring print to life.”

She continued, ““Augmented reality creates the illusion that virtual objects are in the same place as real or physical objects — overlay digital elements like 3D models, people, animations, or videos on top of real world printed materials. Think of AR as a digital enhancement layer that preserves prints power while acting as a launch pad to send customers on a digital journey. Because these experiences are interactive, the dwell time is about 30 times higher than your traditional radio or TV advertisements.”

And it’s not as expensive as you might think. Yes, it is an upsell and a chance to talk to clients about value instead of just bottom line costs, but it can also pay for itself if you’re using it as part of a direct mail campaign, in particular. Schmidt pointed out that AR elements qualify a piece for the USPS Integrated Technology discount, which is 5% off postage for six consecutive months. Now it’s a campaign with multiple pieces going out multiple times, instead of just a one-off print application.

The two panelists agreed that a good place to start with campaigns like this are high education, nonprofits, healthcare, and any customers already using QR codes for various purposes in a campaign. Youth or mission-driven pieces tend to do particularly well with AR elements incorporated, so it is a way to dip in a proverbial toe and get some case studies established as to what the shop is capable of producing.

“I think people tend to think that they would have to adopt an entire platform, that they would have to have a whole year license,” Schmidt noted. “There's a lot of ways to kind of do an almost crawl, walk, run approach of, ‘let's just have one AR experience that's fully managed and then see if this is something we want to invest in.’”

To hear the full conversation, the webinar is available on demand and is absolutely worth checking out. Both panelists had a lot of great advice, and went deeper into use cases with case studies on how these technologies can have a massive impact. It’s worth setting aside an hour to dive into this topic.