Print & fulfillment is what happens behind the scenes once a customer places an order for printed materials, such as marketing collateral, promotional items, or mailings that are printed, prepared, and shipped to the customer or their clients. It typically follows a process that begins upon approval of the design of the printed piece and ends when the order leaves the print facility. Here’s an overview of the stages involved in a print fulfillment program:
- Order Placement: Customers work with their commercial printer to receive a quote and place their order for the project.
- Printing: Printing methods vary depending upon factors such as size of the print job, level of personalization, and print material. Projects are printed per customer request.
- Finishing and Binding: Following the print production, projects move to finishing processes such as cutting, folding, binding, or laminating.
- Fulfillment: Produced material is either immediately shipped or mailed or moved into inventory for fulfillment with a later order.
- Packaging & Shipping: Items are packed for shipment, orders are carefully put together using appropriate packaging materials and protected with padded envelopes, boxes, or tubes and labeled for easy identification and tracking.
Print fulfillment services are commonly relied upon by businesses who have outgrown their ability to efficiently manage all the steps involved with print production and fulfillment needs in-house. It offers streamlined printing, inventory, fulfillment, packaging, and shipment services that help control costs and free up time and resources.Here’s an overview of the stages involved in a print fulfillment program.