RTM: I gather that you are going through a similar exercise now?

BM: Yes, that is right. We have a lot of digital print technology and this of course completely changes the business model for commercial printing companies. Up until now, companies have tended to print runs of tens or hundreds of thousands.

Now you can print single brochures. And, of course, often you can use much simpler mailers combined with an on-line catalogue. All this has serious implications for how commercial printers operate.

RTM: So you are trying to help people establish a viable business model based around the new technology?

BM: Yes, that is right. For example, digital printing means that it is easy to generate address labels at the same time as you print the brochure. This in turn means that some printers can move into fulfilment and packaging.

RTM: Hmm, I see what you mean. With the old system you had huge wastage, but also sales people often just don’t get round to sending off the brochure. If you could make that something they can do simply by clicking a key, with the fulfilment carried out by the printer, then you should be able to make printing more effective.

BM: Yes. The business opportunity is huge. Using digital print, HP has dropped its print volume by 70% and is on the verge of saving $50 million a year. I can’t think of many processes that offer that kind of saving these days, can you? We showed Subway how it could save $3 million over 2,000 stores by moving to digital print for promotional posters.

But all this means that we need to move to another business model. Commercial printers and agencies used to make their money by boosting volumes.

Say you needed 500,000 brochures but you could get a 50% price cut by printing a million. The agency and the printer would always encourage over-production by arguing that if you underestimated the run you might have to do a second one.

RTM: A bit like the mustard company: they made their money on what was left on the plate!

BM: Exactly! And we want to help our partners move to the new business model.