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 "Calendar advertising is extremely
effective because its messages are viewed by potential customers every single day of the year, "
says Hans-Dieter Holthuis, managing director of Joh. Brendow & Sohn Grafischer Großbetrieb und Verlag GmbH & Co. KG in Moers,
Germany. Calendars are an effective vehicle for marketing, which is why they have become a flagship product of the Brendow Company. |
Brendow is one of the largest calendar producers in Germany. Originally specializing in
business forms, they have evolved into a universal print house offering a broad spectrum of
products for commercial advertising with a majority of their printed material being calendars.
Brendow's technological efficiency's in the realm of calendar printing has set them apart from
traditional commercial printers. They are able to supply better prints than their competitors
and offer them at a lower price. Since 1971 Brendow has been producing multi-month wall
calendars as their primary commodity in a constantly growing range of printed products.
A diverse assortment of high-quality calendars
Brendow offers calendars in a variety of different forms and styles, including 3-6 month
vertical calendars, horizontal desk calendars, calendars with special finishing or contour
trimming, photo calendars, desk pads, wall planners, flip calendars and metal calendars with
magnetic pointers, just to give a few examples. Calendars are printed on the company's
sheetfed offset or continuous web presses, and completed internally on recently installed
finishing equipment.
At Brendow, the quality of the printed product is of the utmost importance. Hans-Dieter
Holthuis stated that "By utilizing only the highest quality paper, which has been tried and
tested over the course of many years, we are able to promise our customers robust and
dimensionally stable calendars." Hans is able to assure his clients that problems arriving
from low quality production, such as wavy calendar pages and poor hanging properties, will
never be an issue with Brendow products. The calibre of the Brandow materials and the
efficiency of their workflow processes allow them to provide a superior printed product at a
competitive price.
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Calendars are produced exclusively
on the latest-generation equipment,
which allows Brendow to
guarantee the best possible print
quality for their customers..
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The Internet as an Instrument of Sales
Brendow receives the majority of its orders from companies who distribute calendars as
promotional gifts. To expand the market for these products and provide quick and accurate
customer advice, Brandow established a nationwide network of field representatives. During
this time the internet became established as a valuable method for selling products and
distributing information. For this reason, the Brandow Company decided to utilize the internet
as an alternative method for customers to place their orders. Brendow selected the HIFLEX
eBusiness system to facilitate online ordering for their customers, with the added benefit of
removing touch points from their workflow and helping to further automate their company.
Businesses of all sizes are able to manage their print needs via Brendow's eBusiness portal.
The majority of the orders placed for Brendow online through HIFLEX eBusiness are for
calendars, but can include anything from business cards to brochures.
"We have set up a HIFLEX eBusiness portal for our customers, allowing them to access our
services at any time. Through this web-based system, we can accept orders around the
clock and are no longer dependent upon the customer's location or personal schedule,"
explains IT manager Eckhard Luhr, who is the HIFLEX eBusiness administrator at Brendow.
"Customers are able to enter and edit text in various languages and can easily order their
desired final products. Additional functions allow clients to manage delivery schedules and
addresses, as well as the shipment of printed products from our fulfilment storage center."
This innovative solution offers enormous savings potential to both Brendow and their clients.
Over-the-phone orders and product calls can be almost completely eliminated through the
use of their HIFLEX eBusiness system, removing the need for customer interaction in orders
that don't require it. This saves time and money for both the print supplier and print buyer.
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With the HIFLEX eBusiness system,
Brendow PrintMedien is able to
offer its customers a premium
platform where they can order their
printed products. They are able to
enter and edit text, and can place
the order for the final product. This
functionality eliminates the need
for manual ordering, product calls
and excessive administration
procedures.
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Brendow has streamlined the ordering process by promoting dialogue and accepting
feedback from their customers. Clients now have the ability to select cover pages, header
images, individual logos in predefined positions, and a variety of other job details. Customers
can verify their input data and specifications with a PDF preview of the file they created,
which is generated on the fly. Custom tailored envelopes can also be created for various
calendar types. Delivery addresses can be entered manually or selected from a list of
previous entries. A shopping cart function is also included, providing all the necessary
pricing information and allowing customers to place multiple orders.
Tracking systems can even be used to monitor specific orders by customer and determine
the status of individual transactions. The customer benefits from immediate and transparent
information, which simplifies and optimizes the purchasing process.
Built around HIFLEX eBusiness
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"A platform which is to be directly accessed by the customer must be uncomplicated in its
design, while at the same time remaining absolutely secure," says Eckhard Luhr. "For these
reasons we have built our solution around the HIFLEX eBusiness module, and are
continuously optimizing each individual web page." The company's eBusiness system moves
orders right through to the consignment of stock, eliminating touch points in the work process
and drastically reducing administrative costs. Order creation and inventory bookings, as well
as the generation of delivery notes and invoices are all automated in the HIFLEX MIS
system.
The level of automation achieved by the HIFLEX eBusiness system provides substantial
benefits to the user company. The networking of external and internal communication
channels allows Brendow to integrate their unique business processes and production plans
into the eBusiness system. An order which the customer has submitted using the eBusiness
tool, for example, can be passed on to the production department automatically through
HIFLEX. The customer configures a printed product via the internet portal, which calculates
the correct cost using intelligent pricing tables and places the order without any additional
human intervention.
The eBusiness application facilitates integration with the product database, order handling,
scheduling and inventory management systems. Brendow has been working with the
HIFLEX MIS system since 1994, so utilizing eBusiness to its full potential was easily
accomplished. The prepress department has become fully networked with the MIS system,
allowing eBusiness to automatically drop in orders that customers have placed online. The
majority of this process is automated, meaning a job can pass through the prepress, press,
and post press departments much more efficiently than in a traditional workflow. Both the
printing and finishing departments report relevant data back to the HIFLEX system, either
directly from the equipment via JMF, or through manual Shop Floor Data Collection
terminals. The entire company is connected; allowing separate departments to communicate
with each other and complete a job more efficiently.
Caritas Niederrhein prepares Brendow's calendars for shipment. The connection between
these two companies is particularly interesting. The Caritas Niederrhein Company is linked to
Brendow directly, so they are able to view the current job dockets, receive scheduling
information and submit feedback on completion of an order. They know exactly what they
have to do and when, thanks to the automation and integration provided by the HIFLEX MIS
and eBusiness.
The HIFLEX eBusiness system is an effective means with which to strengthen customer ties.
"We are already well beyond the start-up phase," says Hans-Dieter Holthuis, "and the
networking between our company and our customers will, without a doubt, continue to
expand. We are already registering increased interest among our clients because they can
see the possibilities and benefits provided by process optimization. We are all very excited
and look forward to experiencing the ongoing benefits that the HIFLEX eBusiness and MIS
systems have to offer."
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"Calendar advertising is extremely effective because its
messages are viewed by potential customers every single
day of the year" says Hans-Dieter Holthuis, managing
director of Brendow PrintMedien
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