News
30/9/2008 - New Australian client goes live.
Claritum are pleased to announce their new client deal in Australia has successfully gone live.
The new client is part of a leading $5 billion global media group who handle complex retail point of sale materials on behalf of companies such as K-mart and Coles as well as major Hollywood Studios such as Disney, 20th Century Fox and Paramount.
The solution handles retail profiling, identifies their POS and merchandising requirements and streamlines the process of producing POS kits.
The system is able to combine the ability of getting a contract price and submitting a RFQ for a spot price and real time management information is accessible 24/7 for the company's US owners as well as their clients.
Claritum has helped to streamline the process of dealing with suppliers both in Australia and across AisaPac.
29/9/2008 - Another University signs up with Claritum.
Claritum have secured yet another University contract within the London area.
Following successfully winning a number of University Contracts, including the University of Hertfordshire, Claritum were shortlisted and invited to tender for the business. After a lengthy and detailed process Claritum were again successful and are currently in early stages of implementation.
The University hopes to see the same success as other Public Sector Clients with savings and efficiencies across their print and document procurement process, at a time where Universities are under pressure to improve standards and drive better value for money procurement.
Phil Martin, Marketing Manager of Claritum said:
"I am delighted we have yet another public sector client on board. It is clear that the successes we have seen within this sector provides proof that significant, measurable and sustainable value for money can be achieved from print and document services. As our market share continues to grow, we look forward to the possibility of shared services. This will benefit all Public Sector clients who are using the Claritum system".
26/9/2008 - Claritum Director to speak at Stationers event.
Claritum Director, James Samuels has been approached to speak at the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers debate on the future of print management. (www.stationers.org) on the 29th of September
The proposition for the debate is "Online tools will cut out many in-house print buyers and print management companies to the advantage of printers through process efficiencies, transparency and the creation of a level playing field".
Organiser of the event Martin Bloomfield, global procurement director, Reed Business Information, said: "This provides a great opportunity to both network and join in a topical debate around an area of change that so many print buyers, print management comÂpanies, tool providers and printers face today,"
James Samuels said: "I am very pleased to have been asked to speak at this event. I hope to be involved in a lively debate.
It is very much our viewpoint that streamlining the print supply chain provides big opportunities for cost saving and efficiencies. The dominance of the big Print Management Companies is being eroded by alternative models such as Procurement Process Outsourcing, shared services in the public sector, aggregated buying platforms, and in-house buying being spun off into commercial profit centers.
At the heart of this movement is the combination of supply chain expertise and operation efficiencies offered by such platforms as Claritum.
Expertise has always been available from print management companies such as specification analysis, supplier audits, logistics and print buying, however this can now be sourced from specialist groups and individual consultants.
However the cost savings and efficiencies can only be achieved through implementing an end-to-end, procure-to-pay solution such as Claritum."
18/8/2008 - The debate rages on - Print Procurement? In-house or out-sourced
"The proliferation and testimony of print management companies has squeezed out print buyers jobs and printer margins, but do they add value? If outsourced print management is better than in-house print buyers, then is it time to raise the game of the in-house print buying community and to leverage online procurement management tools more effectively" - Martin Bloomfield, global procurement director, Reed Business Information
Future of print management to be debated at Stationers event
The Worshipful Company of Stationers and News?paper Makers is to hold a debate on the future of print management. (www.stationers.org)
The debate will be held on 29 September, with a 6pm for 6.30pm start, at Stationers Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London. Tickets for the event, which ends at 8pm, cost £15 and include refreshments.
Anyone who is interested in taking part in the event or wishing to obtain tickets should email Bloomfield on martingrbloomfield@hotmail.co.uk.
12/8/2008 - Growing Demand for Claritum
As more and more organisations feel the effects of an economic downturn, demand for cost savings and process efficiencies are growing rapidly.
Claritum have announced they are currently experiencing rapidly growing demand for their Print Procurement Software which is proven to deliver significant, measurable and sustainable cost reduction and efficiencies to corporate and not-for-profit purchasing, business process outsourcers, print management and print groups and their suppliers.
The software streamlines the complex processes involved in procuring, managing and paying for a broad range of printed materials, and have saved some of their clients up to 25% off their print spend through efficiency savings.
The growth is not just based within the UK market. Claritum is seeing interest from both Europe and US and have recently won a contract in Australia
James Samuels, Director of Claritum said: "We have seen good first quarter results, and our sales pipeline is increasing by the day, the growth can be attributed to a combination of economic downturn, our market leading status and increasing evidence of cost savings. We are having to take on more employees and expanding office space to cope with demand"
5/8/2008 - Claritum expand their Client Services team.
Claritum are pleased to announce the appointment of former client, Ted Roberts of Océ who is set to join their to client services team in August.
Having worked with Claritum over the last 5 years, Ted has built up extensive experience of deploying Claritum into major corporate clients.
James Samuels, Director of Claritum said 'It's great to have Ted on board with us. His addition will add to our service provision to our key clients. His previous experiences in quality processes with major financial software players could prove invaluable. His previous knowledge gained by using and deploying the Claritum system will not only allow him to hit the ground running, but it will aid us in adding value to our growing client base'
29/7/2008 - Claritum set to announce client win in Australia
Claritum are set to announce they have secured a client deal in Australia.
The new client is part of a leading $5 billion global media group who handle complex retail point of sale materials.
The initial deployment will allow them to deal directly with their retail customers within Australia, including the provision of point of sale kits. This will be followed by rolling out the solution to their suppliers in South East Asia.
James Samuels, Director of Claritum said 'This contract win shows the validity of our expansion into international markets. Off the back of the interest shown in Australia we are actively seeking partners within the country to help satisfy demand and support further contract wins'
30/5/2008 - Capturing your entire print spend
In most organisations print is a category neglected for cost savings and process efficiencies. Typically the print buyers only have time to support the marketing function, leaving the rest of the business to fend for themselves. This can result in high levels of ad hoc buying from local suppliers, often at inflated prices. If a departmental manager needs some letterheads or a branch manager needs promotional POS, there's always an eager supplier willing to take their business. Non-expert buyers are often blind to the impact of late changes to specifications or amendments to artwork, and suppliers are only too happy to help.
Commodity print can quickly and easily be standardised into commonly available specifications and pre-negotiated contract prices set with approved suppliers. Items such as stationery, business cards, forms, documents, point-of-sale and marketing merchandise can be provided in an easy to use online ordering portal and rolled out across the entire organisation. By mandating its use, volumes increase with approved suppliers with resultant savings and quality improvements.
It may be tempting to take advantage of 'free' portals provided by suppliers. But the cost of providing service is just added to your print invoice, further masking the true print cost. Locking yourself in to a single source supplier just to get access to online ordering is a costly strategy. Claritum's self-service customer portals not only automate the ordering for non-expert users but streamlines the entire order-to-pay process for a wide range of print and documents.
Whether the type of print ordered, the vendor independent system can route press ready artwork and appropriate purchase order information directly to the right supplier for the job. The system can automate the supplier selection process based on pre-set parameters of price, capability and performance.
20/5/2008 - Transparency is the key to cost savings
Ask a senior procurement person how much they spend on print and you'll usually get a bit of blank expression. "It's about X or Y" is the usual response. For most organisations, print accounts for between 0.7% and 3% of turnover, it's often one of the largest indirect categories but often neglected as an area for cost savings and efficiencies. The reason most organisations can only guess at their print spend is that print can often be purchased by anyone in an organisation, with few purchasing controls. Often departmental managers allocate print under a range of cost centres and are blind to the impact of late changes to their requirements or authors corrections, and local suppliers are all too keen to help. Where print has been outsourced to a print management company getting a true picture on cost is not easy.
Claritum provides absolute transparency of print costs down to the penny. Not only will procurement be able to assess the total cost of the job but assess the impact on cost of late approvals, rush charges, changes to specifications, compare different production processes at different suppliers and a host of other factors which impact on cost. Buyers can interrogate thousands of production options at hundreds of suppliers and compare with pre-negotiated contract rates within around 60 seconds. This means they get to the right price without the multiple mark-ups and rebates built in by a print management company.
By providing supply chain partners (customers, managers and suppliers) with access to an end-to-end print specific platform, management gains visibility of every element of cost and performance in granular detail. And if you can't measure it, you can't save it.
9/5/2008 - Is software-as-a-service right for your business?
For most business users IT is a needless hassle. It is complex and expensive to specify, purchase, install, maintain and the IT department are just too overloaded to keep up.
So why not have your applications delivered as easily and as reliably as your electricity? Software-as-a-service (SaaS) means just that. You pay for what you use, without the big upfront investment which on premise software requires.
This means you're not trying to get large capex approvals from under pressure senior management, you're up, running and seeing a benefit faster. SaaS doesn't require any more hardware or software than a recent browser and so the IT guys don't need to worry or get too involved.
Increasingly business applications such as CRM and HR are being delivered this way. Claritum has been delivering its print procurement software as an online service for over 6 years - so we know how it works (and how it doesn't).
28/4/2008 - The "wherever, whenever" solution
What do you do when a key customer calls when you've left the office for the weekend and needs vital information for before you return on Monday morning? Or your boss calls chasing the latest management statistics while you're on holiday?
With Claritum's Software-as-a-Service procurement platform, your customer can access their own information in real time from their own browser, similarly your boss (if you've allowed him or her access) can instantly view the Management Information they need, when they need it. However, customers and bosses don't always follow the rules. So long as you have access to a recent browser and your secure password, you can log in from wherever you are.
One Client CEO checks progress back at the office from his yacht in the Mediterranean while on short breaks. Claritum is the "wherever, whenever" solution for print procurement.
24/4/2008 - Store profiling solution launched
Claritum have extended its market leading self-service capabilities even further to enable detailed profiling of end user requirements with resultant cost savings and efficiencies. Based on the customer self-service portals for commodity print such as variable data point of sale and promotional print on demand, the solution provides detailed profiling capabilities for marketers to select bands of stores, outlets or branches.
The user (store manager, franchise owner, branch manager etc) can only view items with direct relevance for their outlet and with content specific to their profile. For example, point of sale kits can be sent directly to the outlet based on their instore POS profile and furniture.
Similarly a tactical promotion may only be made available to outlets regionally or to 'premium' outlets within an overall estate of outlets or branches. Artwork content of print can also be banded appropriate to the outlet's profile, so a tactical price promotion can be tailored to more price sensitive locations or more strategic differential pricing policy can be employed across banded outlets.
Claritum's solution, not only controls the spend across approved profiles but eliminates wastage, minimises delivery charges and produces highly tailored campaigns to improve marketing effectiveness.
14/4/2008 - Healthcare Group deploys Claritum
One of the world's largest healthcare groups is deploying Claritum's procure-to-pay solution in order to deliver cost savings and efficiencies from its multi-million dollar print spend.
The first phase of the global roll-out will be in the UK, with European and US operations to follow. The solution is being deployed as part of a managed services contract.
7/4/2008 - Software-as-a-service ensures a greener print supply chain.
Print buyers are coming under increasing pressure from senior management to ensure that all parts of the supply chain are as environmentally friendly as possible. It is imperative that buyers, managers and suppliers alike don't focus their thoughts solely on manufacturing but take the supply chain and internal processes into consideration. This is why many print buyers and suppliers are adopting software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications such as Claritum.
Claritum's on-demand software is proven to deliver significant, measurable and sustainable cost reductions and efficiencies to corporate and not-for-profit purchasing, business process outsourcers, print management and print groups and their suppliers.
The browser based application helps to streamline the complex processes involved in procuring, managing and paying for a broad range of printed materials.
Automating this process frees up buyers from administration (between 40% - 80% time savings) enabling them to focus on green issues and adding value to their business.
Automisation will also help to reduce paper requirements through auto-generation of RFQ's, order conformations, purchase involves, sales invoices, delivery notes and box labels and eliminate errors, obsolescence and wastage due to fewer re-keying errors. A reduction in paper requirements not only reduces costs for buyers and suppliers alike it also helps reduce carbon emissions.
Improving specification processes can help eliminate the need for excessive print runs; optimisation of stock levels, predicting re-order levels and help reduce delivery costs.
Research by Gartner outlines the fact that the IT industry now accounts for about 2 percent of global CO. 2 emissions, almost equal that of aviation. Adopting a SaaS application such as Claritum means there is no additional hardware or software reducing the pressure on corporate infrastructure and helping to maintain chemical and mineral resources.
SaaS also supports distributed workforces and supply chains, as the application can be accessed from any browser, employees have the option of working from home and commuting to and from work or between corporate locations can be reduced.
Streamlining the supply chain enables organisations to manage suppliers, in different locations more effectively, cutting transportation, and subsequently carbon emissions. It can also help buyers to decide whether to "print and distribute" or "distribute and print" which is fast becoming and important concept.
At a time where environmental issues are firmly at the forefront of the print industry's thoughts, Claritum's efficiency savings will go some way to help reduce the carbon footprint throughout the print supply chain.
31/3/2008 - Major pub group streamlines print spend using Claritum
One of the UK's leading pub groups has rolled out Claritum across its estate of pubs and bars to improve profiling its 460 outlets.
This capability delivers significant marketing improvements and cost saving efficiencies through more tactical use of targeted variable data promotions and eliminating wastage of print and promotional materials and delivery costs.
26/3/2008 - Marketing portal for UK's largest jewellery retailer
The UK's largest jewellery retailer has deployed Claritum's software-as-a-service print ordering capabilities to all 160 of its UK retail outlets.
The marketing portal allows branch managers to order a range of promotional print, stationery, merchandise and other items through an intuitive and secure online solution.
Orders are sent directly for fulfilment and delivery with minimal manual intervention.
18/3/2008 - One of the world's largest media groups optimises its print spend
By moving away from manual print order processing to managed services using Claritum's procure-to-pay print platform, this global leader is on target to achieve considerable cost savings and efficiencies. Internal customers responsible for multiple brands, design agencies and print suppliers located across the UK are managed by a small but highly efficient expert team.
13/3/2008 - Why software-as-a-Service is essential to print category cost savings and efficiencies
With so much talk of economic downturns, cost savings and efficiencies are high on the list of priorities for most organisations. According to Aberdeen Group, print represents between 1-3% of an enterprises turnover, it's a significant and often forgotten about expense.
Procurement professionals have a range of choices when reviewing the print category from direct supply, outsourcing to print management and increasingly managed services. Whichever route is selected print procurement software has to be delivered via the internet. Installed applications are too cumbersome and often too production oriented for purchasing, buyers and internal customers to use. Software-as-a-service can be delivered to thousands of users and multiple locations at minimal incremental cost.
No additional hardware or software is needed, so often lengthy evaluations by over stretched IT departments are not required. Most vendors, including Claritum, offer pay as you go pricing models that avoid large upfront investments, so Return on Investment can be greater and payback faster.
So, in these times when there is even more pressure on cost, take a look at Software-as-a-Service.
4/3/2008 - 800 user document management system proves a success for University
A leading south coast University has rolled Claritum's highly intuitive document services portal out to 800 staff across multiple faculties and different sites. The system maximises efficiency of processing high volume / low value individual orders such a copying, scanning, laminating, print on demand, stock orders and variable data orders. Users see a price based on their requirements, so they can flex specifications in real time to fit their budgets. They can also see the impact on cost of specifying different shorter deadlines. Users can upload various file types (such as MS Word, MS Powerpoint) which are converted into press ready PDFs for production.
Once they have the right specification for the right price, they can quickly and easily place orders which are produced on demand by the incumbent supplier. The back office order processing has been streamlined to reduce administration and rekeying for the supplier, as well as auto-generating consolidated sales invoices and monitoring service performance through real time management information.
"It's great to see thousands of orders being handled efficiently by just one or two managers, with minimal intervention. Only by automating the process from specification to invoice can you optimise the savings and efficiencies from print spends" said Phil Martin, Claritum's Marketing Manager. "This solution was specified and delivered within 4 weeks, so the University achieved fast payback and substantial return on investment"
28/2/2008 - Ealing Council makes it three for Claritum
Claritum have secured their third Local Council contract in the London area.
Following the successes with the London Borough of Enfield and Greenwich Council, Claritum were shortlisted and invited to tender by Ealing Council.After a lengthy and detailed process Claritum were successful and are currently in early stages of implementation.
Ealing hope to see the same success as Enfield and Greenwich with savings and efficiencies across their print and document procurement process, at a time where local governments are under pressure to improve standards and drive better value for money procurement.
Phil Martin, Marketing Manager of Claritum said:
"I am delighted we now have our third London Council on board. It is clear that the successes we have seen at our other public sector clients provides proof that significant, measurable and sustainable value for money can be achieved from print and document services. We look forward to the possibility of shared services. This will benefit all local Councils who are using Claritum".
26/2/2008 - Leading Wealth Management Company rolls out marketing portal to 2,400 users
Claritum has rolled out a self-service marketing portal to 2,400 users of a leading wealth management company on behalf of a London based communications management group.
The solution streamlines the process of ordering, approving and budgeting for marketing print, stationery, variable data print and stock items.
Back-office order processing is automated to eliminate cost, improve response times, provide a comprehensive audit trail and extensive management information.
22/2/2008 - Global pharmaceuticals company improves value to customers
The UK division of a global pharmaceuticals company has provided its customers with personalised marketing portals to order co-branded marketing literature and stationery.
Customers receive materials personalised to their business as part of a value added offering.
The print orders are routed directly to appropriate production facilities or are fulfilled from stock without manual intervention, reducing costs, improving turnaround response times and eliminating errors.
Claritum's marketing manager Phil Martin commented, "This deployment illustrates Claritum's competitive edge. Our client had tried for 6 months to re-engineer an existing solution to have the required capabilities, without success. We solved the problem in 7 days. Our experience in providing sophisticated solutions to handle complex spends sets us aside. With more and more multi-site print spend management solutions out there we have the toolset to quickly deploy powerful, proven self-service capabilities".
8/2/2008 - Claritum First User Event a Success
Claritum held its first User Event on the 17th January 2008, at the Holiday Inn, Heathrow
The Event was well attended, with delegates from Print Management Companies, Procurement Process Outsourcing Companies, Print Groups as well as local Government all in attendance.
In the morning session, a number of expert users conducted presentations on how they use the end to end system as well as specific features. This enabled the sharing of best practice and delegates were able to discuss benefits of the system, they also had the chance to raise any issues they had, and request future development.
In the afternoon, Paul Barker (Technical Director, Claritum) took the delegates through The Claritum Roadmap, this generated much enthusiastic discussion where ideas, suggestions, improvements and benefits were tabled, all of which were noted and will be addressed on an individual basis.
From the feedback surveys returned so far, all delegates rated their satisfaction of the day either "excellent" or "good" which is pleasing.
The high level findings have outlined the need for a well planned, defined documented process. This will aid both new and current users to adhere to the full end to end processes through the system.
It was widely agreed that this will drive compliance among all users, and will enable useful, relevant, timely and accurate management information. Compliance will also allow managers identify potential bottlenecks and inefficiencies which will help them to further optimise the process.
Claritum feel the day was a great success and it is hoped that the knowledge gained on the day will continue to help their clients maximize the benefits of using Claritum.
It was clear that the delegates felt this was a useful exercise and so Claritum will be planning future events in due course.
8/2/2008 - Claritum secure Greenwich Council Contract
Claritum are pleased to announce they have been successful in winning another local Government contract in the London area.
Greenwich Council selected Claritum after a lengthy research process in a bid to increase efficiencies and streamline their whole print management process.
Greenwich hope to see considerable savings and efficiencies and are about to implement a customer portal where users can directly order a range of documents; print and variable data (e.g. business cards) through the council's intranet, with order processing fully automated through to invoicing and file submission.
Phil Martin, Marketing Manager of Claritum said:
"I am very pleased we now have Greenwich on board. Since we won the London Borough of Enfield contract, we have been working hard to raise the profile of Claritum in this sector, at a time where local governments are under pressure to improve standards and drive better value for money procurement. We now have a number Councils that have signed up in the London area, we can look into the possibility of shared services, which is an exciting prospect"
16/1/2008 - Claritum to hold Annual User Event in January 2008
Claritum are to hold their annual User Event, at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Heathrow in January 2008.
It is a chance for users to meet and share best practice and experiences and gain a better understanding of the Claritum system from other users.
A number of expert users will be conducting presentations and illustrating how they use various aspects of the software, including job pricing, job management, invoicing, management reporting, customer portals, artwork templates and document services. Delegates will also be introduced to Claritum's vision of the future, many new features and future development roadmap.
James Samuels, Director of Claritum said "We've always valued the feedback from clients, it's helped us achieve our leading position in the market. The day has been oversubscribed and has been met with huge interest and enthusiasm - the users who are speaking on the day have great experience to share and have seen significant benefits. We also have lots of new and exciting things to present to our clients. It should be a good day for all involved"
21/11/2007 - The London Borough of Enfield convert in-house print cost centre into dynamic profit centre through implementing Claritum.
As a consequence of the spending review, The London Borough of Enfield had already implemented an e-procurement solution, however it was soon apparent that print was too complex a spend category to manage because every job is unique, specifications vary, prices change and supplier performance is variable.
Enfield's in-house printing facility had dated and inefficient machinery. Manual processes resulted in low utilization, only servicing a limited number of council employees.
Enfield decided to proactively transform the print unit into a dynamic profit centre by separating print services and focusing on copying, scanning, 1 and 2 colour print, digital and outsourcing litho to a framework of approved printers.
To facilitate this change meant Enfield had to implement a sophisticated print procurement solution, to streamline the print supply chain and aid procuring, managing and paying for print.
Enfield investigated the options available to them, and invested much time and effort evaluating possible solutions. After extensive research the decision was made to implement Claritum.
Claritum also adhered to the business processes within the Office of Governments Commerce document "E-procurement Functional Requirements Specification" which specifies the requirements for e-procurement interoperability.
The time taken to specify and gain prices either via contract prices or RFQ from the approved roster have been significantly reduced, and the print team has total transparency of the prices quoted. The purchasing team is satisfied that the prices submitted by suppliers in the tender are the maximum the Council will pay.
Enfield are seeing the benefits of increased efficiencies and savings.
Customers can directly order a range of documents; print and variable data (eg business cards) through the council's intranet, with order processing fully automated through to invoicing and file submission.
After the success of Enfield, Claritum has won more Local Government and Public Sector clients and is assessing the potential of shared services to further drive value for money in the sector.
25/10/2007 - Web-to-print installations are set to grow by 68% in five years
In a recent InfoTrends study, featured in www.printweek.com, also revealed that in the same timeframe, European printers with web-to-print systems expect to receive more than a third of their print volume via web-based applications.
The 264% increase is estimated to be worth in excess of £7.25bn (€10.5bn) by 2010.
Of those UK printing companies surveyed, 20% currently have a web-to-print solution, a figure set to double during the next five years.
European printers with a web-to-print solution in place currently receive an average of 14% of their job volume through such systems, but expect an increase in demand in the coming years as customers become accustomed to online ordering.
The study, sponsored by Cano, carried out 650 interviews with commercial printers, digital specialists, copy shops and pre-press bureaus in 13 European countries.
InfoTrends European On-Demand Printing Service associate director Ralf Schlozer said: "The predicted growth of £7.2bn (€10.5 bn) of print products handled by web-to-print systems by 2010 illustrates that this is a substantial opportunity for European print service providers. But those choosing not to invest in web-to-print will not be able to take advantage of this growing market." (For more information please log on to www.infotrends.com)
11/10/2007 - 25% savings can be made using Print Procurement Software, according to EDSF (The Electronic Document Systems Foundation).
The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF) have released results of research into print procurement software. The document "The print e-procurement marketplace: 2007 print buyer survey results" has been produced in conjunction with both Gartner and George Mason University.
The survey was conducted with print buyers worldwide ranging from small companies to large multinationals.
The Document states "Our study finds conclusively that e-procurement systems offer tremendous benefits over traditional paper and email procurement"
The detailed findings within the report clearly indicate the print e-procurement marketplace offers buyers tools that improve the purchasing process and reduce costs. Providers offer tools that facilitate print buying at every level while current users reap quantifiable savings and qualitative process improvements.
39% of large businesses reported that that they had made a 10-25% saving thought implementing an print e-procurement system. While 13% have made over 25% saving.
Other figures showed 47% of those companies surveyed stated that the e-procurement solution had met their expectations, and 40% stated the solution far exceeded expectation.
Print Procurement solutions clearly are a main driver in the reduction of errors, and is a key dimension on which companies are most satisfied. Respondents reported 54% fewer errors on order submission where the solution exceeded or far exceeded their expectations, as well as 50% fewer print provider errors.The report goes on to explain that end users wishing to streamline their print procurement process should consider a solution tailored specifically for print procurement. Such solutions not only facilitate internal procurement processes but also handle complex print production workflows and generate significant cost savings and quality improvements.
For more information on the EDSF please log onto www.edsf.org
19/9/2007 - Compare fixed price print contracts with the spot market.
Buyers can operate a more efficient supply chain if they mix fixed-price contracts with buying on the spot according to researchers at Stanford's Graduate Business School.
By strategically using both fixed-price contracts and open market trading, supply chain participants can create greater efficiencies.
Claritum's Contract Pricing capability enables print buyers to enforce pre-negotiated prices from approved suppliers for a wide range of print specifications. Once set up, a manager can enter a print specification, Claritum will calculate the best price and will auto-generate the pricing range, from multiple approved suppliers' contract rates. This ensures the agreed pricing is maintained for the life of the contract and will not be flexed up at the supplier's discretion.
Print Suppliers are more likely to achieve contracted turnover, as well as a volume commitment from the buyer, over set period of time. This will allow the supplier to plan their time and resources and improve efficiencies and profitability. Price compliance provides complete visibility to both buyers and suppliers.
Claritum's Print Procurement software also has the capability for users to "spot buy" a broad range of printed materials, through both instant estimating and Fastrack RFQ platform.
Instant Estimating interrogates thousands of options at hundreds of suppliers to deliver optimum prices within seconds. Suppliers can flex their prices up or down to reflect changes to capacity on an hour by hour basis, if required.
For more complex specifications, Claritum's Fastrack RFQ profiles supplier capabilities against the production requirements to ensure only appropriately profiled suppliers are sent a request-for-quote. Spot prices can often be lower than contracted prices, comparing both will give the buyer the best price possible.
To see the full Stanford report, please click the following link:
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/tunca_mendelson.html
The Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the leading business schools in the world, Stanford has been in the business of management education for over 75 years.
17/8/2007 - LPD sign up to Claritum's, "Pay-As-You-Grow" subscription service
London Print & Design, who are a Print Management Company based in Oxfordshire, have seen a large growth in the last decade, so much so it was decided that a more professional approach in procuring and selling print was needed.
More and more clients were demanding efficient processes, online ordering and more comprehensive management reporting. In such a demanding marketplace LPD recognised the need to keep one step ahead of competitors.
LPD researched their options extensively however found the costs of implementation were high, and could not justify the expense.
LPD were recommended by a close friend and previous user, to contact Claritum, who had just launched their "Pay-As-You-Grow" subscription service.
The Claritum solution ticked all of the boxes of what LPD wanted to achieve, and with no set up cost they would be able to spread the cost over the course of the year with a low monthly fee
As the key business processes within LPD have been automated and bottlenecks removed, the profitability of the company has grown. They are able to demonstrate proven cost reduction, efficient management and deliver comprehensive real time management information for a wide variety of job types.
Critically, LPD's employees have eliminated many of the repeat or administratively intensive processes to spend more time with clients or applying the brains to deliver added value, so satisfaction has increased.
8/8/2007 - Claritum supports Aberdeen Group's research on print management and procurement.
Corporate spend around marketing (including print, marketing and advertising media and services) is significant within organisations, driving efforts to reduce costs in this complex category of spend. Approximately 40% of enterprises previously reported having poor visibility into expenditure around this category and another 31% have multiple functions or departments involved in purchasing printing needs.
Claritum is proud to support Aberdeen Group's new benchmark study which will show that a more centralised approach to the management and procurement of this category combined with more formal processes and a higher level of automation will help enterprises realise cost savings on print, marketing and advertising materials and services and reduce or eliminate the multiple buying methods for the category.
Aberdeen would like your insights into this crucial area of spend. All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the final report upon publication on September 4, 2007. Click here to participate in the survey.
Thank you for your time and participation.
23/7/2007 - Pressure on local governments to adopt print spend solutions
The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review is putting pressure on the public sector and Government Offices to improve standards and drive better value for money procurement.
A recent survey from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in the UK suggested that as much as 60% of corporate spend is uncontrolled, meaning it does not have proper management approval and it cannot be properly accounted for.
As a consequence, many not-for-profit organisations are adopting Print Spend Management solutions in a bid to take control of expenditure, improve cost-base visibility and ensure that value for money is truly achieved.
By deploying Claritum's Print Spend Management significant, sustainable and measurable value for money can be achieved from a combination of price reductions, process improvements and minimised wastage, avoiding costly and disruptive outsourcing.
A variety of public sector and local government authorities are already using the system and Claritum are currently in talks with a number of others.
6/6/2007 - Claritum is pleased to support research conducted by Gartner Inc and George Mason University.
Hosted Print Procurement solutions have been proven to drive both cost savings and efficiencies, providing a lower cost and lower risk alternative to outsourcing to Print Management.
Claritum is pleased to support research conducted by Gartner Inc. and George Mason University on behalf of the Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF; www.edsf.org). These reputable institutions are researching the print e-procurement tools marketplace to determine user preferences and to recommend the most productive and cost-effective ways for print buyers to leverage print e-procurement tools.
As a procurement professional, we invite you to participate in the study. The survey asks questions about the features and functionality that you want in a print e-procurement solution.
Gartner, George Mason University and EDSF are justifiably proud of their fact-based insight gained in part through confidential surveys such as this one. Please rest assured that your answers will be kept in the strictest confidence. Their report will include only aggregated answers along with their thoughts based on the research.
EDSF plans to publish the research report by the end of July. If you provide an email address, which will remain confidential, then you will receive a copy of the report and will be entered into a drawing for one of ten $25.00 Amazon.com certificates.
We understand that completing a survey may the last thing you want to do during a busy business day. However, the resulting market research report warrants your input as an industry professional, so please take about 10 minutes to complete the survey.
Click here to go to the survey.
Thank you for your time and participation.
31/5/2007 - Claritum updates Price Compliance capability.
Claritum has recently gone through the processes of updating its price compliance capability in order to drive adherence to contract prices.
Price Compliance enables buyers to enforce pre-negotiated prices from approved suppliers for a wide range of specifications. Once set up, a manager can enter a specification, and Claritum will calculate the best price and will auto-generate the pricing range, from multiple approved suppliers. This ensures the agreed pricing is maintained for the life of the contract and will not be flexed up at the supplier's discretion.
Suppliers are more likely to achieve contracted turnover, as well as a volume commitment from the buyer, over set period of time. This will allow the supplier to plan their time and resources and improve efficiencies and profitability. Price compliance provides complete visibility to both buyers and suppliers.
20/4/2007 - Claritum Extends Document Services
Claritum's highly capable and flexible solution streamlines print workflow and communications with customers via an end-to-end secure trading platform, and can handle a broad range of complex print specifications such as direct mail, personalised print, POS materials and brochures. Claritum has extended this capability to cover an even broader range of specifications, such as stapled booklets, bound booklets, laminating, photocopying and acetate binding, helping to streamline document management processes even further.
19/3/2007 - Monitor Service Level Agreements
Claritum's vendor management capability enables real time monitoring of supplier performance against service level agreements. The solution enables buyers to rate performance against pre-agreed criteria such as quality, response times, adherence to delivery schedules and compare quote, order and invoiced costs. Not only does this ensure supplier performance is monitored on a job-by-job basis, buyers can assess changes in performance over time.
19/3/2007 - Claritum enables buyers to view multiple supplier estimates in 30 seconds or less
More and more buyers are benefiting from Claritum's unique ability to display actual prices from multiple suppliers in 30 seconds or less. Claritum interrogates every method of working from the clients approved roster or from a marketplace of over 100 digital and litho printers, and displays the lowest 3, 5 or 10 to the buyer. This approach differs from merely looking up pre-negotiated contract prices or online auctions as it reflects the real time capacity and availability from approved (or non approved) suppliers. Printers benefit as it frees up estimating resources, they remain in control of their prices and gain a full works ticket for every method of working.
19/3/2007 - Pay-As-You-Grow service launched
Claritum have launched a low cost, Pay-As-You-Grow solution for fast growing businesses. From only £75 per user per month, clients can add new users and new capabilities as their business grows. The online service requires no additional hardware or software and streamlines the complex processes involved in procuring, managing and paying for a broad range of printed materials. Claritum's on demand software is proven to deliver significant, measurable and sustainable cost reductions and efficiencies to corporate and not-for-profit purchasing, business process outsourcers, print management and print groups.