Case Study: How a full-service university print and publishing service, processing 10,000 to 15,000 print jobs yearly, reduced its prepress problems by 75 percent by restricting its file intake to PDF and EPS and by dedicating its efforts to movingThe University of New South Wales Printing and Publishing division supports a university populated by over 40,000 students in 600 undergraduate programs and postgraduate academic programs, with over 5,000 full-time staff housed in 76 schools, 69 research centers, six institutes, four teaching hospitals and eight residential colleges.
Charting a long-term future toward all PDF
Most large print and publishing agencies make it their primary focus to lower costs associated with print jobs and reducing overtime labor costs while managing those jobs.
For the University of New South Wales Printing and Publishing division, supporting and meeting the challenge of operating a full-time publishing and printing division meant embracing the power and functionality of PDFs and charting a long-term future toward an all-PDF workflow.
Simon Corderoy is the prepress coordinator and network administrator of the Publishing and Printing Services for the University. Corderoy relates the problems his department aimed to address by making the move toward a full PDF-based workflow.
"When I joined the department it was a motley mix of 'off the glass' work, native electronic DTP files, MS Word and PowerPoint files and a small proportion of PDF and postscript files. These were submitted directly to the appropriate RIP (rasterized image processor), prayers were said and proof was printed.
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"Depending on the results the file was either printed or passed back to prepress for amendment. If the file was unfixable it would be sent back to the client with a list of faults."
At many print shops, the impetus for changing the workflow is economic, but it was different for the University Press, according to Corderoy. "We were a cost recovery entity. We were not allowed to register a profit and we were required to provide the lowest price possible to university clients. Our driving force for change was simplification. We wanted to reduce the number of file formats we were receiving. Changes in funding policy over recent years have shown our decision to be a fortuitous one," said Corderoy.
Initial Challenges to Change
Corderoy and his counterparts initially recognized the need for refining their print workflow in 2001: "There was a big shift in the makeup of jobs submitted. Off-the-glass work began to reduce dramatically while MS Word files and native DTP files increased, especially Word files. We were also dealing with the usual culprits. Missing fonts, text re-flowing, RGB images in color jobs, broken image links," said Corderoy.
The University Press faced significant client challenges in moving toward a wholly PDF-based workflow.
"Some of the major challenges came straight out of the Microsoft format and its lack of CMYK support. A lot of our clients use MS products to create documents. We also had to deal with RGB images, lack of postscript support, and an unwillingness to follow print industry standards, etc. Other challenges were clients who were unfamiliar with PDFs, technological inertia and embedded practices in various departments (i.e. 'We've always submitted hard-copy' mind set.)
We addressed these issues by narrowing our file acceptance standards. Client education was essential. Where necessary, we even went out on-site to show clients how to create PDFs from their MS files."
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At the onset, Corderoy recalls that comments ranged from extremely positive with some clients finding the commenting feature to be the best thing ever, to the mildly negative, "Why should we have to buy extra software?"
In response to clients and easing the transition, the University Press continued its training and education initiatives for clients on how to best utilize and capitalize on PDFs.
Corderoy consistently encouraged clients to use PDFs wherever possible, and also made sure that he and his staff were available 24/7 to field technical questions from clients in order to further ensure a smoother client transition.
In addition, all the university staff involved in client contact attended a one-day Acrobat training course, two-thirds of which was aimed at a general overview of PDF functionality and one-third devoted to a Q-and-A session regarding the university's specific print shop and client circumstances, according to Corderoy.
Determined Effort Brings Results
The results of this dedicated campaign toward all-PDF have thus far been remarkable.
Now in its fourth year of moving toward a wholly PDF workflow, Corderoy's mission is to continue to capitalize on the prevailing and growing use of PDF files and moving clients and the university shop toward all PDFs.
"On a good day we'll get 70 percent PDF. I expect this to increase to 85 percent if we continue in our present mode," said Corderoy.
Other benefits from the dedicated push toward an all-PDF workflow included: better use of commenting, boosted e-mail submission of jobs, and faster proofing turnaround.
"A good example of faster proofing turnaround is best shown in our contract to supply official stationary to all university staff. Previously we would receive an order form with details via internal mail. We would typeset the document, print a hard copy and send the copy via internal mail to the client. The client signed off the proof and sent it back in the mail. Total time if the client was off-campus could be as long as two weeks, as we have some very remote research centers in desert areas.
"With our new process we typeset the document, create and e-mail a PDF to the client. The client sends approval back via e-mail and we drop the PDF directly into the production flow. Best case scenario, we have a job approved and printed within four hours as opposed to weeks," said Corderoy.
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Another success of the PDF campaign, according to Corderoy, is an overall reduction in time lost to technical problems.
"We didn't benchmark for time lost before starting the changeover, but I can state there has been almost no returning of PDFs that won't RIP to clients, whereas prior to the changeover returning unprintable files to clients was an almost daily occurrence," he said.
"The biggest plus clients have commented on is related to proofing by e-mail. Some of our clients are on remote campuses and facilities, and they appreciate the ability to proof a document on the same day that they submit it."
Corderoy said the university is also planning to continue boosting its client and agency PDF training initiatives. And he's also quick to note that the university had a big advantage in being able to capitalize on Adobe's reduced educational licensing programs.
"Acrobat was reduced to a price that our clients could afford."
For companies that want to begin a campaign toward transforming their workflow to mostly PDF-based, Corderoy has this advice: "Spend time bringing your big clients onboard and make the job submission process as seamless as possible. All client-facing staff should have a sound knowledge of PDFs in general and your workflow in specific.
"This gives you the ability to address clients' questions as they arise. Also organize your business so that there is somewhere for technical questions to be directed to. Clients need to feel confident with new technology, and that won't happen if you are unable to answer their questions in a timely manner."
