5 WAYS TO BENEFIT FROM A CONNECTED PAPER PROGRAM

Working Together To Impact Casper Sleep.

Paper is expensive. It makes up between 25% and 33% of the cost of a typical print project. And an estimated 40% of waste in the United States. So what can you do to manage paper?

Rebate and direct-buy programs tend to limit choice and require large volume. They use price brackets and you never really know if you get the best price. The reality is most companies see little to no value from these programs.

So we worked with a specialist paper merchant and paper mills to create a program that benefits all of our customers, whether they have large volume or not.

These are the 5 ways you can benefit from a connected paper program:

1. IT’S ABOUT YOU

When we first met with the Casper team our goal was to learn about a specific project, and gain a better understanding of their brand. Casper presented designs that combined solid ink coverage, creative illustrations, and a lot of white space. And, most important, explained why “a commodity paper won’t do” as their brand stands for better value and a high touch customer experience.

When it comes to paper, often a print service will suggest to use their ‘house’ stock. The reasoning sounds like this:

• It’s similar to what your design team wants.

• There’s a cost benefit.

• Or, we have it in stock.

What they are asking you to do is compromise, and waste time as you go back and forth with your design team to decide on a different paper. We think a print service should use your brand house paper. With a clear picture of Casper’s objectives we recommended Carnival Bright White Vellum Cover, from Mohawk Fine Papers, because it best represents Casper’s brand, and perfectly handles their design elements. And it is now Casper’s house stock.

2. ELIMINATE WASTE

For most print projects a standard size paper is used. At fast-growing companies like Casper, or an organization with a lot of print activity, there may be an opportunity to be more efficient. To do so we look at the amount of paper needed, review specifications from past projects, and prepare a press layout. Then we meet with our paper merchant and mill to see what’s possible. Working with the team at Mohawk, and our merchant – Bulkey Dunton / Veritiv – we came up with a custom making-size for Casper that resulted in 22% savings in paper usage and environmental impact.

Optimize paper usage with a program that allows for custom size orders.

3. SAVE MONEY

When you buy paper your price is based on weight. So a making-size order improves the environment, and it has just as big an impact on cost of paper. Also, the more paper you buy the greater the discount you get. And since we combine the amount of paper Casper needs with the amount of paper needed for all customers, our collective buying powerenables us to achieve even greater discounts for you.

4. MAINTAIN COMPETITIVE TENSION

One of the big challenges of a making-size order is what to do with the paper. Where do you store it? If you ask a print service to store it they will be happy to do so as it positions them to print upcoming work. You’re not going to ask someone to hold paper and then not print with them. So all the effort to save on paper may just shift to higher production cost as competitive tension goes away.

We talked about this with Mohawk who offered to ‘make and hold‘ Casper’s paper. It solved the problem. You keep competitive tension, and flexibility to print in a location near delivery. And since we reduce the need for trucking we lessen carbon emission and cost.

What makes a paper program connected is all parties working together, and a flexible production model. It gives you choice and buying power to gain value. And information and knowledge to make better decisions. The impact is clear to see on a Casper project from earlier this year:

The value of a connected paper program extends to production process and delivery of material.

5. CREATE MORE VALUE IN YEARS TO COME

But there’s more. As a connected print service we combine our customers’ spend so you get great resources at reasonable rates, and an expert to manage your end-to-end process. As we grow our buying power grows, and we deliver more savings to you in years to come.

Casper’s Annual Impact Report describes a “Vision of building a business that works for people, the planet, and the bottom line.” PrintElements is proud to support these goals by bringing expertise to work with the Casper team, manage paper and logistics to minimize impact on the planet, and use our collective buying power to impact their bottom line.

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PrintElements is a modern, connected print service. Learn more at www.PrintElements.com.