MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Thursday, August 19, 1999 Output & Xerox Color Your World Millions of colors can help capture the attention of your clients and reduce costs, according to Xerox and Output Technology Solutions, a producer of financial statements and prospectuses.
One money saving idea Output is talking up is its "replenishment on demand" printing process. The process begins with the bulk printing of documents --when inventory starts getting low, the press is started again automatically. This is ideal for documents with a short life span, such as mutual fund prospectuses, which are mostly used in a pre-sale environment where the demand is unknown, said Garet Hil, division president of marketing services at Output Technology Solutions. A more traditional printing process is "real-time on demand" which Output uses for order confirmations. Although printing in real-time costs more overall, it does cuts down on the cost of warehousing the documents and over-printing. Real-time printing has spread to the mutual fund industry for the use of financial intermediaries, Hil said. He gave the example of a client sitting in an advisor's office and requesting information on Dreyfus funds. The intermediary simply has to call the printer and the client will have the information custom-printed for him the next day. If this is taken one step further, Output's eLLITE product allows an intermediary to use the Internet to view, print and order marketing and compliance literature in real time on demand. This new technology is slated to go live in the next 60 days. "With this technology a phone operator is cut out and mistakes can be avoided because the intermediary can see the document he is ordering," Hil said. For 401(k) plans, Output offers Rapid Enroller. The technology uses variable data to create enrollment booklets that provide customization for each plan sponsor and individual participant data. "This is important because a lot of times you get a lot of pre-printed materials and you don't understand what it means to you," Hil said. "Our documents show a participant how much money you will have if you invest blank amount of money. It will also go on and tell you what happens if you wait until next year to start investing. Once people see this information, they are more inclined to enroll in the plan." In regard to the relationship between the printing industry and the Internet, Hil believes it will be another generation or two before we will see a significant decline in paper. In September, Xerox will be launching a new printer called, 600-DPI Hightlight Color Production Printer. The new unit can print as fast as 92 pages-per-minute for a cost just slightly higher than black and white printing. In an age of omnipotent advertising, color focuses the viewers attention, said Gary Mardorf, vice president and general manager of printing systems operations at Xerox. "Highlight color cuts down the number of calls from customers seeking help from a call-in center," Mardorf said. The theory is that color is able to direct the eye and visually explain the message reducing the number of questions and in turn bringing down costs. "Studies show that direct mail packages using color have four or five times the response of those in black and white," Mardorf said. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=24546 Copyright 1999, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |