APS Group: Print Management done properly

APS Group’s refreshing approach to print management is proving that there’s much more to delivering value for money than simply offering good prices on print.

A discussion with APS about how its print management services might deliver benefits for a business never begins with any hard numbers – at least not in the first instance. Its service offering is based on a strong ethical platform of transparency for the customer, a committed environmental stance throughout all its operations and is backed by a committed supply chain of best-in-class manufacturers.

The company steadfastly avoids brash upfront promises of big savings on print costs because, as APS has proved for so many of its customers, the true benefit of any efficient print management service is always likely to far exceed the savings achieved on the price of print itself.

Nick Snelson, MD of APS Group explains: “If an organisation’s sole aim is to source cheap print and nothing else, then that’s not for us because we won’t be able to add value that way. But if a customer is seeking to work with a supplier that can look at all the processes involved and offer support that will help drive down costs and create greater efficiency, then that is what we do, and we’re very good at it.

“For example, organizations frequently incur wastage and carry tremendous in-house support costs associated with the production of printed material – lots of people can be involved; valuable offi ce space is occupied; equipment may not be the most efficient or cost effective, and all of these things add to the overall cost.”

The philosophy of APS is that until the whole picture can be captured and fully understood, no one can say what savings can be achieved. And it’s a methodology that it says has achieved outstanding results so far for its impressive list of blue-chip customers.

Nick Snelson explains further: “Although we have been able to achieve some significant results for our customers - and savings have often been of the order of 10% or 20% to well over 30% - what we say in the first instance to customers is to let us have a look at what you currently do, let us show you where your costs are being incurred, and then allow us to put together recommendations about how you might go about doing things better.”

APS can call upon some substantial resources to facilitate this process. The company has made major strides since embarking on its transformation from good quality printer to UK-wide print management company. With employee numbers now exceeding 300 and a successful track record that goes back well over 50 years, it is clear that APS’s approach to print management is also capable of satisfying the needs of different disciplines within most organisations.

The simple fact is that more than one manager often has responsibility for sourcing print and managing budgets. In this sense the print management company is often in a unique position, placed as it is between a company’s procurement department that might seek to commoditise print, and the marketing department whose focus it is to look at the value of a piece of print and the job it is required to do.

APS recognises that the outsourcing of print is a major step for any corporate organisation. There may have been good reasons why, in the past, the management of print and marketing collateral has been retained in house with brand integrity and quality control coming close to the top of this list. APS’s systems and processes have been developed to be watertight to help safeguard each customer’s brand guidelines.

APS categorises its print management services, as “print management done properly”, and APS Group’s headquarters at Cheadle Heath in Cheshire emphasises the company’s strong commitment to delivering on what it promises. A visit to APS reveals just how much the company has invested in its resources in order to underpin its activities.

The reason behind this is clear. If an organisation chooses to outsource its non-core activities, APS realises that it is important to be able to provide services that are not only equal to the service that customer enjoyed prior to outsourcing, but better. And, IT is pivotal in this process because it allows customers to drive out further costs.

The criticism levelled at some companies purporting to offer print management services is that all too often they are selling ‘vapourware’ (promises of services that are not fully developed and are often never supplied). But APS only ever provides quality systems that are capable of improving the service to customers.

APS MD Nick Snelson explains further: “Our systems work in an incredibly efficient fashion. We make it simple and intuitive, and we keep the bells and whistles out of it and the functionality we provide for a customer depends on the capability of the user. You’ve got to pitch IT to the person who is going to be using it.

“Also, the consultancy part of our business, which enables us to work with a customer prior to the start of a formal contractual relationship, quickly changes their perception of what a proper print management service should look like…just speak to any of our customers.”

The advantage for any organisation contemplating bringing in an external company such as APS to put its print production and procurement under the microscope is that more incisive questions can be asked which might otherwise be too technical or politically difficult for anyone who is operating within that business to ask.

The bottom line is that many companies are now looking closely at how effective their marketing activity and print procurement is. A modern print management company can work with an organisation to appraise some of the decisions it makes and help the business determine how best to maximise its return from the budget available.

In a marketplace in which several print management suppliers have merged to form larger entities, many operators have now turned their attention to the sacred cash cow of pan-European and global business process outsourcing (BPO). APS, however, is determined to continue to develop its services as a niche player in the field of print management. Some of the organisations that APS is already talking to find that they no longer receive the same level of service that they once enjoyed from their current supplier and have become disaffected. This scenario has undoubtedly contributed to the success of APS in attracting new business.

And the evidence of why APS has been successful is quite clear - APS says it has not only been able to achieve major savings for its customer but the processes and the management information that underpins all its services, as well as its commitment and environmental ISO14001 accreditation, are far superior to those which some customers experienced prior to appointing the team from APS.

Nick Snelson concludes: “In the final analysis what is important is how you bring everything together to ensure that the overall benefit for a customer is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The message to businesses is clear; a good print management supplier should be able to add value in a whole number of areas. It’s all about doing things properly.”