Web to Print software from Vpress empowers Apogee to pivot and prosper

With the global pandemic declared and its clients sending all their staff home for safety, Apogee (An HP Inc group company) needed a solution that would enable their customers to maintain a full spectrum of customer communications without interruption. Enter Vpress, who has been working closely with the print management heavyweight to support its critical mission.

The startling rise in demand placed on Vpress Coreprint Web to Print software is a testament to it scalability –– as Apogees clients went from a few jobs per month that needed to harness its full capabilities, through to 1,000 as the pandemic progressed and home-working became the norm.

“When Covid came along Apogee suddenly realised they had a lot of corporate clients that usually printed the majority of their output within their office environments or would draw down on older pre-printed brochures or marketing collateral to maintain communications with clients,” explains Neil Bridgland, Key Account Manager at Vpress, adding: “That all changed of course as Covid-19 meant staff had to be sent home to protect them.”

Louise Newton, Head of DDS Pre Sales at Apogee explains the challenge it faced: “We are Europe’s largest multi-brand provider of managed print services, document and process technology and outsource services. The key value we represent to our clients is that we offer a 360 degree solution for our clients when it comes to print-based communications and marketing –– both internal and external. And as such with the pandemic causing such seismic shifts in how our clients work, we needed to rapidly develop our services to ensure total continuity of support and get them up and running almost overnight.”

Louise explains that Apogee’s core support needs from this point were for a solution that was secure, and they could trust as it was rolled out to their clients with the goal of maintaining business continuity. It also needed it to connect their clients through to its print operations –– and in turn join its separate sites into one virtual hub, while integrating with its MIS and workflow systems. And finally, Apogee needed a platform that would be scalable as they pivoted to meet the challenges of the pandemic and provide a new suite of communications solutions to their customers.

Neil continues: “There was also a realisation that suddenly none of their staff were going to be able to access stocks of branded stationery or brochures, or the ability to print at home.”

Apogee were using it in two ways to support their clients, several of which are major financial services providers. The first was so they could use unique artwork, already created, and add it to an existing job specification–– so in this application it was a job submission tool.

The other critical way they were applying the technology was to deploy its Elements module, which gives their client the ability to take artwork and tailor it as they need to –– based on the format it will be printed in, whether it is a letter or an A4 landscape brochure.

Neil adds: “Once the job has been tailored and created into a bespoke item it is then channelled through Apogee’s print operation.

“The outcome of harnessing the full capabilities of the Coreprint system means they are now doing a huge variety of work with clients that they had previously never done, right from printing through to fulfilment.”

Louise explains that the value that has been delivered to Apogee’s clients is their teams now have a virtual print room to call on whenever they need it. For example, when they want to send a prospective client a brochure, they simply log-in to the portal, choose its format and then press go. They critically have maintained that communication and confidence link with existing clients and maintained the ability to educate and inform prospective ones.

“Apogee were attracted to our proposition and technology due to its flexibility. And that is not just in its usability and application scope, but importantly, connectivity through to its print rooms,” says Neil, who continues: “The value we added to its operation is providing Apogee with a tool that helps their customer’s overcome key challenges and that provides solutions to communication issues that have been created by the Pandemic. It underpins their One Source platform and means Apogee can continue to grow and develop their client services portfolio with confidence.

“Vpress Coreprint Web to Print software is not just a powerful tool in terms of its application scope, one of its most critical advantages is that we are here to ensure its long-term stability, security and continued evolution in line with market demands.”

Louise continues: “I think what really sets Apogee apart is our unique approach to managed print services provides clients unrivalled uptime, super-efficient processes and innovative technology. Being an HP Inc company we also have that immense resource at our disposal.

“Vpress is part of that story now, their flexible development strategy helps them stand out from the crowd as they will work side-by-side with you, as if they were Apogee themselves. That means every piece of efficiency gain can be identified and addressed in granular detail.”

Louise concludes: “The feedback we get back from our clients is that the combination of hardware and software solutions we offer allow for a tailored package to fit their specific needs. This is then supported by our market-leading remote monitoring and onsite service, which further optimises their performance.

“The technology we provide onsite is then perfectly complimented by our range of specialist outsource services that include digital print, scanning and graphic design –– to ensure we keep our client’s organisations running around the clock.”

Neil concludes: “It also highlights that Web to Print long ago stopped being a solution to simply facilitate the online ordering and specification of stock print products.

“Today it is an advanced technology that can support the growth ambitions of an SME print house into e-commerce, through to underpinning the outbound communications structure of a multi-national conglomerate.”