Our Daily Bread Calls Avanti Slingshot a “Game Changer” Our Daily Bread Ministries is a non-denominational, non-profit, global ministry with staff and volunteers in over 35 offices working together to distribute more than 60 million resources in 150 countries. Its U.S. headquarters is located in Cascade Township, on the southeast side of metro Grand Rapids, MI, and is home to almost 300 full-time staff and 100 volunteers. In 1938, the ministry started with a radio program called Detroit Bible Class. Today, its Grand Rapids print production facilities generate 62 million devotional booklets and boast 72 million impressions, with more than 10 languages printed in the U.S. The ministry’s Heidelberg Harris M1000 web press consumes six million pounds of paper, an Akiyama sheetfed press consumes 11 million sheets of paper, and an HP Indigo 7000 and 5500 digital presses consume 6 million sheets of paper. Since 2011, the plant has grown by 10%. The challenge A bulk of Our Daily Bread Ministries’ production costs support a direct mail workflow. Our Daily Bread Ministries’ main objective was to capture the scheduling and cost performance of all their mailings. They had access to information coming from a variety of departments, disparate islands of automation, and “spreadsheets all over the place,” says Ron Underwood, Supply Chain Team Leader. “We had postage stats in a spreadsheet over here, our third-party inserter had its own measurement over there, but there was no holistic view in terms of management.” In addition, the ministry was in the process of reorganizing work roles to further streamline efficiencies, yet they were missing the key component in the cost collection and tracking paradigm. Every fall, Our Daily Bread Ministries produces a fund-raising calendar which has become extremely popular among its members. This mailing initiative, produced and mailed alongside millions of printed materials, is fulfilled upon receipt of a return postcard. Given the breadth of products and the ministry’s global presence, it needed a solution that could not only manage the printing requirements of the individual items, but provide the production staff with a comprehensive, real-time view of the project—including costs—as a whole. “Each mailing project is made up of individual components like booklets, brochures, address cards and envelopes,” states Underwood. “Our challenge was how to oversee the entire project, with each component having individual requirements. We needed the ability to measure…everything.” The solution Our Daily Bread Ministries looked at several Print MIS vendors. The ministry had history with Avanti (Booth 654); they have been an Avanti Classic client since 2006. “We felt that the approach Avanti took in rewriting Avanti Slingshot from the ground up was the right one,” declares Underwood. Our Daily Bread Ministries liked the user interface for its simplicity and organization. The fact that Slingshot is browser-based was particularly appealing. “There are tremendous advantages to a browser-based solution,” continues Underwood. “The visibility we get from real-time access to our information from both within—as well as outside—the plant is game-changing.” The impact The ministry now has real-time access to all costs, from set-up to fulfillment, and visibility into where they align to each specific mailing. This enables Underwood and his team to set goals for improvement, flexibility, and efficiency in scheduling and costs. With the ability to capture the data, they are in a much better position to identify cost-savings opportunities as well as to analyze and set goals for future growth, retention, and membership loyalty. “Avanti has been very responsive to our requests,” claims Underwood. “It is clear they have a passion to make their system the best on the market, and have a desire to treat every customer request with respect and dignity.” Simplify Print On Demand with award-winning technology and innovation Experience live, on-demand printing, featuring the award-winning Sharp Pro Series MX-7500 Color Document System with edge-to-edge, full-bleed printing, and get a sneak preview of the upcoming Sharp MX-M1055 and MX-M1205 monochrome document systems. Both feature EFI’s latest Fiery® digital front end (DFE) platform, and boast the Sharp signature 15.4” touch-screen display with full control of Fiery® Command Workstation® at the operation panel of the machine, a capability unmatched in the industry! Then, further streamline your operation by letting Formax take you through the rest of the steps after you press “Print.” From cutting, to folding, to mailing, to specialty print. Find your solution at Formax booth #2243! Enter to win a Sharp 55” Class AQUOS® HD Series LED TV! at Formax booth #2243! Partners Drawing is open to show attendees. You must be 21 years or older to participate in the drawing. Exhibitors, Formax employees or Sharp employees are not eligible. One winner will be selected after the close of the show. TV can only be shipped to U.S. address. Sharp reserves the right to substitute a comparable model TV. Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com GRAPH EXPO | September 13, 2015 | 19
GraphExpo Show Daily Day 1
To see the actual publication please follow the link above