A Web-to-print Dream Fulfilled in Boise

Sylvia Marmon says she and her staff have wanted to get a Web-to-print system for about 15 years, but they could never justify the cost. Then last year a consultant reviewed all of the City of Boise’s printing and copying activity and recommended that Print & Mail Services add online job submission software, along with some digital printing upgrades. The mayor’s office approved it in a heartbeat.

In April, EFI’s Digital StoreFront went live in Boise, immediately reducing the workload at the six-employee in-plant.

“We have less order entry because the customers are actually attaching their files and seeing the proofs at that point,” Marmon says. “Business cards are the biggest area where we’ve seen improvement because they are actually typing their information into the template.”

The new Web-to-print system is handling everything from letterhead to dog license renewals, she says. The shop even sells paper through the system.

“The majority of people love it,” Marmon contends.

Despite shifting order entry tasks from the in-plant to the customer, however, Web-to-print doesn’t mean employees can stop paying attention. Sometimes customers forget to check a box, and it’s up to the in-plant to anticipate what they really want.
“If something isn’t ordered the usual way, we’ll verify with them,” remarks Marmon. “We’re not so busy that we can’t follow through with our customers and make sure we’re doing what they really want.”

The in-plant, located in Boise’s city hall annex, recently had to endure some major construction in its facility during a seismic retrofitting project to make the walls more resistant to seismic activity. Equipment was crammed together to make room for the work.