| Our proprietary software
provides equal or greater functionality compared to the
higher-cost and "packaged" POD products that
are on the market today, In addition, it allows for a
great deal of customization to enable business solutions
that appear to be uniquely tailored for a particular customer
account. Our solutions are in use today by several Fortune
500 corporations in the financial, pharmaceutical and
media/entertainment industries.
-
Create customized
sales collateral online (e.g. brochures, sell sheets,
proposals)
-
Generate 1:1
direct mail/email communication pieces
-
Upload contact
lists from marketing data market to personalize custom
direct mail/email communications
-
“Soft
Proof” online
-
Automated approval
processing
- Direct integration with distribution
services (print/mail and email campaigns)
 |
Two Categories
of Applications for POD
Looking at our POD services, it is easiest to divide our
technology into two general categories from a business
application perspective, though some of the technology
spans both. First is what we refer to as Web-To-Print
(W2P): solutions that are delivered through a browser
interface within a larger business application. Here,
customers have the ability to create highly customized
and formatted print deliverables with a direct interface
with digital print facilities.
The other general category is what we refer to as Automated
File Interfaces (AIF), which are typically scheduled "batch"
processes, driven by customer-supplied input files, that
use pre-determined business rules to create variable print
deliverables in a wide variety of formats.
Complete Business Solutions
All of the flexibility mentioned in section
5.0 above not withstanding, the majority of the POD engagements
supported by Macrosoft Inc. have seen us provide the complete
business application. This approach leverages our decade
of experience in delivering business applications to Fortune
500 customers. In the area of W2P, our solutions are typically
provided via a stand-alone website or as a link from a
customer's Intranet or corporate website (movement
between customer and Macrosoft-provided websites can be
supported in a number of ways, from secure logins to dynamic
re-direction).
In all cases, we can design the "look and feel"
of these applications to conform to the standards of our
customer. Over the past six years, we have delivered POD
services within business applications that include e-commerce,
sales staff support, marketing collateral support, fulfillment
services, direct mail applications and other campaign-based
business processes, and booklet/financial services document
management systems.
Flexibility - The Macrosoft Advantage
We have all heard of
some big-name products that are on the market today -
packaged solutions that allow for variable document generation.
While these products do offer a degree of POD functionality,
a customer is required to work within the confines of
the package, and only within the application and approach
the package provides. While the default approach and end-user
interface provided by a package may meet some of the demands
of some customers, in most situations this requires a
degree of compromise in order to use these capabilities.
All too often, we have seen customers needing to alter
their requirements (and potentially modify supporting
business processes) in order to make use of a standard
package.
With Macrosoft's POD
technology services, we provide both canned-solutions
as well as the ability to integrate our functionality
within other applications. This is accomplished through
the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to
our software, whereby another business application can
"call into play" the exact functionality they
want, when they want, where they want, and how they want
to use it. In the end, you truly have the "best of
both worlds": customized solutions that meet 100%
of a customer's business requirements that are supported
by standardized and proven software libraries.
High Level Summary of POD Functionality
Our
POD technology services allow for the dynamic composition
of variable outputs. All aspects of an output can be variable:
text (and all of its variability), images, charts, graphs
- you name it. Our W2P solutions allow for a composed
piece to be validated on line (we refer to this as a "soft
proof") prior to print-approval (or submission for
approval in those business applications that require an
internal authorization process). While our solutions allow
a customer to customize an existing variable output template,
we also have the ability to allow the customer to modify
the template format dynamically, without the need for
additional programming (e.g. move the location of an image,
add new text areas, remove a chart/graph, etc.).
It is this ability to support changes to variable templates
without the costly and time consuming need for re-programming
that sets us apart from the field. Similarly, we have
the ability to allow a customer to dynamically create
a new template from scratch, on-line, and define all variable
attributes, again without the need for programming support.
Some of the W2P features mentioned above cannot
be applied to AIF interfaces, given the automated "batch"
nature of these types of applications. Instead, Macrosoft makes
use of our proprietary rules-engine software that allows us to
define any number of variable format options. Here again, we can
dynamically generate text, images, charts, and graphs within the
context of defined business rules and driven by input received
within customer-supplied files.
|
Typical Variable Output Formats
Our solutions have covered a wide range
of formats and output-types. In the area of marketing
collateral generation, we have produced postcards, brochures
in numerous formats, as well as posters and signs. Direct
mail applications have been supported in the standard
8.5 x 11 inch format as well as other variations that
can be required (the size is not
an issue to our software).
Highly customized and variable booklets are a common output
from our services, including items such as welcome and
enrollment books. Lastly, both our W2P and AIF solutions
can produce Financial Services documents such as prospectuses,
annual reports, and fund fact sheets (these
outputs often make use of our capability to dynamically
generate charts and graphs from user-supplied data).
Digital Press Interfaces
Over the course of the past six years, Macrosoft
has needed to design interfaces with a variety of digital
presses and multiple RIP engines. We have the ability
to provide what is known as a "book ticket"
interface for those business applications and RIPs where
this is required (e.g. large print
runs where each piece can have its own variability).
We also have a great deal of familiarity with the use
of XML and can use this to provide similar interfaces.
Print Output Examples
- Standard Direct
Mail
- Sales Brochures
- Various forms of
Marketing Collateral
- Event Invitations
- Post Cards
- Various forms of
Wide Format
(e.g. retail signage, "wall hangers" for professional
offices)
- Welcome Kits (various
industries and products)
- Benefit Summary
Booklets (i.e. Insurance industry)
- Annual Reports
- Prospectuses
- Fund Fact Sheets
Firms Utilizing Macrosoft Print-on Demand
- Merrill Lynch
- Cendant
- Pfizer
- Novartis
- United Health Group/AARP
- CIT
- United States Golf
Association
- Datek
- WellChoice Insurance
- Command Financial
For more information
please contact:
John Kullmann
jkullmann@macrosoftinc.com
Phone: 973-889-0500 x272
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