Ricoh announced on January 18th that they had taken their strategic investment into Avanti Computer Systems to the next step by acquiring the company. The acquisition is not a surprise for those that have been watching the workflow story develop at Ricoh.
There are still a few more items in the Workflow Quiz to work through before we can say that every stone has been turned over in the quest for optimization and documentation. In this segment it’s time to look at what processes you have that might qualify as islands of automation that should be linked together.
Touch points are the discrete processes required to move a job through the workflow.
In this series we are looking at the world of workflow. Based on your feedback it is a hot topic, especially during the budgeting season. One thing that emerged from the conversations is that we are all using the word workflow, but we don’t all mean the same thing.
We are smack in the middle of a massive shift from offset to digital print.
Clearly, the idea of documenting your workflow architecture and environment resonated with those who read the last installment. It is not surprising! We all know that every business process should be backed up with documentation, but it is easy to push it down the priority list. Perhaps raising the visibility will help raise the priority!
Lots of companies are willing to tweak a process step or two to streamline their production workflows a bit; but who is willing to rip out existing equipment and processes and suspend business for three months to fundamentally change how they do business? Barksdale Portraits balanced the potential of leapfrogging ahead of the competition by three years to the risk of losing the company within a year and made the right call.
Companies really need help managing their collaterals and marketing assets. And they are willing to pay for this help.
Interview with Erica Derrington, graphic communications manager, Olathe Unified School District in-plant print shop.
There has been a lot of change in the printing and marketing services industry’s use of the cloud and SaaS since 2012.
