• Reduction in lead times – The eProofing program now means that clients are in a position to get proofs signed off within 30 minutes whereas before it may have taken 2-3 days.
• Ease of distribution – Prior to eProofing, a hardcopy would have been physically circulated round the various departments of an organisation for signoff. With the new system, files are simply emailed direct, from person to person, reducing cost of shipment of the proof and a further reduction in time (regardless of geographic location)
• Trust – Direct contact allows the operator to build up a level of trust and rapport with the end client – something that wasn’t there when Reprographic Systems had to go through the printer.

6.2 Benefits for Reprographic Systems

Besides the benefit of retaining a key operator through implementation of the eWorking program, there were a number of benefits from the introduction of eProofing:

• More competitive – The implementation of this new system has allowed Reprographic Systems to look for clients in international markets, a place where UK-based repro houses had been for some time.
• Profile enhancing – the introduction of the eProofing program has raised the profile of Reprographic Systems in the eyes of the end-client. The fact that these clients are now aware of Reprographic Systems (rather than all proofs being put through the printer) puts them in a stronger market position.
• More proactive – The introduction of new technology has improved the organisations image and made it look more pro-active in the eyes of the customer.
• Labour saving – Although this implementation of PDF hasn’t truly provided labour saving results (due to operators still having to check PDFs), it certainly provides a platform on which to build future services to clients. As the PDF format evolves, checking of files will be required less and labour savings will be realised.
• Time saving – Although it is still easier to output a hardcopy proof than a PDF proof, the associated time and hassle of distributing a hard copy to the client means that eProofing works far more efficiently.

7. Lessons Learnt

Frank Greene considers the following to be some of the most important lessons learnt from his experience in Reprographic Systems:

• Seek advice – One of the most important learnings of the project is to seek good, solid, independent advice before the proposal is even considered. A supplier will always provide an organisation with a skewed story – he’s trying to sell that product or service. Any advice taken from suppliers should be verified with a body such as Enterprise Ireland or, in the case of Reprographic Systems, PIRA (the Print Industry Research Association). This is essential advice for any small organisation.
• Be flexible – have a plan but be prepared to change it if clients demand the service sooner
• Know your people – In the case of the eWorking project, it was important that the Dublin team had 100% trust in the operator they had working from Wexford. “You need to think differently about the type of person that is – and you must understand their strengths and weaknesses”, said Greene.

8.0 Future Plans

Through the introduction of both the eWorking and eProofing initiatives, Reprographic Systems has positioned itself as a leader in the Irish market and is now able to look for further business outside Ireland. The solution they have put in place will take some time to prove itself and, with that proof, the organisation will be in a position to invest further and strengthen its position in the worldwide reprographics sector.