However, you might be asking yourself, why does Crawford Technologies go to GRAPH EXPO?

It has been said that GRAPH EXPO is a big hardware show; that is completely true. Hardware comes with a number of complexities that drive the need for cost-effective and flexible solutions. In other words software, services and solutions for problems that new hardware can introduce into your business processes.

Some attendees may be looking to add transactional printing to their arsenal by buying hardware; that is just step one. Step two is getting the new hardware to work seamlessly with your print environment including current and future customers' print files. Print files can be a significant challenge if you don’t have the workflow to support them.

So, here are six reasons you need to look at software at GRAPH EXPO this year:

1.    Print-stream blues

AFP, PDF, PS, PCL, Metacode (LCDS, DJDE); this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what a high volume transactional output (HVTO) customer can throw at you. Sure, you might have the high-speed cut-sheet or roll feed printer, but can you get the data to the printer in a language it can understand?

The answer lies in print-stream conversions, something Crawford Technologies has been specializing in for over 15 years. Even more important, CrawfordTech software can work on and with almost any operating system and hardware.

2.    Production jam

With increased customers and increased volumes comes the propensity for a workflow traffic jam. For this exact reason, CrawfordTech announced PRO Production Manager at GRAPH EXPO 2010 and this year is following that with an announcement of new enhancements you won’t want to miss. What is PRO Production Manager?

PRO Production Manager offers end-to-end workflow management and reporting within any transactional or POD document production environment including full proof-of-process reporting. Stop by Booth #258 (add us to your event planner here) [link] to find out how a workflow jam turns into a production super highway.

3.    Run down print data

With legacy systems sometimes the print data you receive isn’t quite what it was 20 years ago. This outdated data makes it difficult to optimize your print and mail processes, leverage document data for opportunities (a.k.a. Transpromo) or utilize the flexibility of many machines in your workflow environment. In many cases it might keep you from bidding on new business.

The answer is in document re-engineering, something CrawfordTech offers in the PRO Document Enhancer Plus product. PRO Document Enhancer Plus combines the rapid and cost effective one-to-one marketing capability of our Transpromo Express product with the ability to deliver operational efficiencies found in our Operations Express product. Experience white space management for Transpromo, add barcodes (regular, 2D and QR), transform print-streams in super-fast time and more.

4.    Postal cost cutting

Many print and mail operations are plagued with high postal cost caused by a lack of operational efficiencies. You need the tools to effectively manage and minimize those costs while maximizing the value of those mailing expenses. CrawfordTech’s cutting-edge solutions provide cost cutting and ROI maximization by optimizing your mailing facility processes.

When working with print-ready files, you can suppress documents that do not need to be printed and mailed, invoke postal sort and optimization software to reduce postage costs, adjust mailing manifests so you do not pay postage for mail pieces that have not been mailed due to suppression or errors and manage inserts to optimize your postage while increasing your marketing reach.

5.    Postal intelligence revolution

With the USPS implementation of the Intelligent Mail barcode and related OneCode provides a wealth of information potential. CrawfordTech’s solutions allow organizations to easily convert to IMb and take advantage of the tracking and notification capabilities built into the new barcode. PRO Operations Express makes it easy to replace the old POSTNET barcodes with the new IMb barcode without costly application programming efforts.

PRO Mail Tracker allows mail tracking from door-to-door, as well as, return mail piece tracking. PRO Unique ID Manager is a reliable multi-platform, multi-threading server application designed to handle the needs of large enterprise environments where multiple applications are creating mailings simultaneously.

6.    Customers with disabilities

Did you know that an estimated 26.3 million North Americans are in need of alternative format bills, statements and invoices? This is something you have to think about when taking on new transactional business; remember, buying the big hardware at GRAPH EXPO is one step, but the software, services and solutions to real business challenges are another.

More importantly, companies and outsourcers may be required to produce alternative formats by law. CrawfordTech’s Document Accessibility Services provides an outsource service to produce and mail documents in alternative formats such as Braille, Large Print, Audio and E-Text. With the help of the CrawfordTech DAS division and our PCI-compliant facility, you can reach all of your customers, not just those for who regular print poses no barrier.

So there you have it, six reasons you should look at software, services and solutions at GRAPH EXPO 2011.

CrawfordTech’s full line of software, services and solutions take the guesswork out of hardware and workflow implementation and let you compete for business you might not have been able to in the past. Find out how HOV Services benefited from this approach by following the link.

Crawford Technologies will be at booth #258 (add us to your event planner here) with our team of experts, including Ernie Crawford M-EDP.

At GRAPH EXPO 2011, come to explore new hardware, but stay for the software that can take you from a capital expenditure to a return on investment.