The Graphic Communications industry continues to reinvent itself. Today’s print service providers (PSPs) continue the artisan traditions of Gutenberg while leveraging modern technologies to advance print, mail, and marketing services. Much of the innovation is driven by the changing needs of their clients who need an integrated and efficient partner to procure print and marketing services. Changing client demands bring the new challenges of faster turnaround times, lower costs, and dealing with a higher number of jobs. WhatTheyThink’s 2023 Printing Outlook found that 36% of printers see pricing as a core business challenge, while 29% cited increasing plant productivity — two sides to the same cost issue. Printers looking to succeed under these market conditions should respond with customer enablement, digital printing, and intelligent workflow automation technologies.

For decades, Ricoh has been providing leading edge digital print technologies and software solutions for the graphic arts industry. The degree to which the technology is implemented into the PSPs existing infrastructure and client mix is just as critical. PSPs can leverage Ricoh’s depth of experience in implementations and support staff to get the most out of the technology.

Pacful leveraged Ricoh’s PTI MarcomCentral® and Ricoh Pro C901s Graphic Arts+ color production printers to provide their clients with custom online ordering across their organizations while controlling costs and marketing guidelines. Read on to discover Pacful’s transition to a marketing service provider.

50 Online Customer Storefronts Powered Pacful’s Transition to a Marketing Service Provider

 

Pacful Inc. is in an elite group of printing companies that successfully transformed from a commoditized printing company into a value-added marketing services provider. The transition allows the company to better serve clients that need customized marketing, print, and fulfillment. This strategic pivot was not without its challenges, but through its partnership with Ricoh Production Print Services, Pacful has not only overcome these challenges but has also leveraged them into opportunities for expansive growth.

After years of competing in the crowded and commoditized commercial printing industry, the company grew to 230,000 square feet of print and fulfillment space across four locations. Yet, Pacful’s management knew the company had to transform for continued growth. Leveraging the existing client list of well-known companies, the transition from print to marketing services required a delicate balancing act to select the right technologies and expertise — a path that quickly led to Ricoh.

Ricoh’s PTI MarcomCentral® web-to-print solution, paired with the Ricoh Pro C901s Graphic Arts+ color production printers, provided the technological backbone for Pacful’s reinvention. Today, nearly 50 of Pacful’s clients use the web storefronts to specify and order everything from business cards to multi-piece mailings. Through the storefronts, the company also provides tracking and status updates to clients, fulfills orders, and stores materials. Digital printing from the Ricoh Pro C901s Graphic Arts+ color production printers also allows Pacful to turn work around faster for clients and pass along cost savings as compared with their prior conventional print process.

Customer Benefits

For Pacful, success is being embedded in their client’s business processes to order marketing and print services instead of one-off transactions including:

  • Offering brand-approved marketing and fulfillment items through unique online portals
  • Becoming a trusted partner within the client’s business processes
  • Clients having the ability to click, print, and ship locally or to one of Pacful’s facilities
  • Delivering on-demand printing for faster turnaround to clients with print quality rivaling traditional offset printing