ADDING VALUE AND SERVICES
TO HELP IN-PLANTS THRIVE
BY: PATRICK HENRY
Many in-plants are securing their futures with the
help of a wide range of value-added services that
their customers need, want, and will pay for. Some of
them are based on graphic production. Others involve
things that in-plants don’t natively offer but can learn
to become successful providers of. Whatever they
include, value-added services are good business and
smart strategy for in-plants.
Providing something internally that departments and
individuals would otherwise have to seek from outside
vendors protects share-of-customer. Those who try
the new services become better acquainted with the
in-plant’s basic menu of service offerings and begin to
consume more of them. The in-plant’s reputation for
user-friendly support goes up, and its ability to withstand
outsourcing and FM pressures grows stronger.
A value-added service can be almost anything that
makes life easier for the in-plant’s customers and lets
the in-plant be more responsive to their needs. The
most comprehensive source of information about the
kinds of value-added service that in-plants provide
is the latest In-Plant Market Statistics report from
In-Plant Graphics magazine. The survey it is based on
shows value-added services to be well established
among in-plants and likely to be expanded by a
significant number of them in the near future.
Although the term “value-added” generally refers to
services that are not derived from printing, some
in-plants include certain kinds of print and related
activities in the definition. According to the In-Plant
Graphics survey, value-added services such as design,
web services, garment printing, scanning, and CD/DVD
production accounted for 5% of all services provided
by the respondents. But if wide-format inkjet printing
and mailing and fulfillment are also counted, the total
increases to 20%.
The range of value-added services that in-plants offer
their customers is remarkably wide.
In-plants that have not yet diversified beyond basic
printing should be looking seriously at doing so with
value-added services. The ROI they produce helps
in-plants cover their operating expenses and remain
financially self-sustaining. Attracting customers with
new offerings gets them better acquainted with the inplant and its full menu of services.
The more things that customers know they can ask for
in a one-stop shopping environment, the more things
they are likely to think about purchasing.
Parent organizations always have the prerogative of
asking their in-plants for the value-added services
they want, but in many cases, the in-plant will make
the overture. Succeeding with one value-added service
improves an in-plant’s chances of winning approval
for others.
Nevertheless, value-added services don’t blossom
overnight—there are learning curves to master,
marketing outreaches to make, and customer
hesitations to overcome. ROIs can take time to develop.
But, even if a value-added service isn’t a strong
generator of profit initially, it can still be important as
an internal marketing tool that the in-plant can use to
introduce itself and promote its basic menu of services.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE PRESENTS THE APPLICATIONS
AND THE PERCENTAGES OF RESPONDENTS WHO
REPORTED PROVIDING THEM IN 2016:
(65.3%)
(24.1%)
(12%)
(7.9%)
(5.6%)
(60.7%)
(23.6%)
(12%)
(7.4%)
(2.8%)
(41.7%)
(19%)
(8.8%)
(6.5%)
(2.3%)
(39.8%)
(17.1%)
(8.8%)
(6.5%)
(6%)
Wide-format inkjet
printing
Mailing
Fulfillment
Scanning for
archiving
CD/DVD
production
Photo printing
Copyright clearance
Promotional items
Web site design
and maintenance
Garment printing
Dye sublimation
printing
Engraving
Photography and
videography
Contour cutting
Cross-media
publishing
Digital publications
and e-books
Digital asset
management
3D printing
App creation
Other*
*Embroidery, flexo printing, flash drive duplicating, warehousing, lamination, document storage, messenger service, vinyl sign making
Although printing remains vital to in-plants, printing
by itself is no longer enough to sustain the in-plant
business model. Customers’ expectations have changed,
and so must the in-plant’s conception of its role. Today,
part of an in-plant manager’s job is to find and fill gaps
in the supply chain of services that his or her customers
want to purchase.
Any print- or media-related product that customers are
buying externally should be on the in-plant’s list of things
to consider adding internally. Proactive recommendations
to the parent organization will help the in-plant retain
the initiative and gain support for the new services it is
targeting. Now, the in-plant can be equipped and ready to
elicit a “wow, you do that too” response that seldom fails
to put customers in a buying mood.
About the Author
Patrick Henry
Liberty or Death Communications
[email protected]
1-917-647-0590
Patrick Henry is a journalist,
an editor, and an educator
who has covered the graphic
communications industry for
more than 30 years. He has
written for most of the industry’s
principal trade media and has
been chief editor of several of
its leading publications. Henry holds
numerous awards for editorial
excellence and has been recognized
for exceptional service to the
industry, particularly in education.
This analysis was commissioned
by Canon Solutions America and
NAPCO Media to help printers
better understand how today’s
technology can optimize their
production and how they can
benefit by adopting these solutions.
Canon Solutions America, Inc., a
Canon U.S.A. Company, provides
enterprise, production print and
large format solutions, supported
by exceptional professional service
offerings. www.csa.canon.com.
Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks
of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. ©2016 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved.
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