Case Study March 2007

With the help of the web-to-print solution, eNCOMPASS, Modern International Graphics created 1-to-1 marketing pieces for paint retailer Sherwin-Williams.

The history of Modern International Graphics goes as far back as 1958, but it wasn’t until 1996 that the company added web-to-print capabilities to its list of solutions.

“That year we had an offset customer who came to us with a problem,” says Eric DelColle, director of technology at Modern International, a manufacturer in Eastlake, Ohio. “They continually had to get business cards printed for their 10,000 associates and 2,000 distributors. They were taking fax orders and we were printing the runs.”
Modern International, whose customers include mostly Fortune 500 companies, decided to use an ASP. “We set up the program in 45 days,” DelColle says.

We came up with our own solution for two reasons: We wanted to control our own destiny and we didn’t want to rely on any ASP. Our customers told us over and over again that they had distinct expectations of the system.”
David Margiotta, President
Modern International Graphics, Eastlake, Ohio

But after three years, Modern International realized that it would have to provide more sophisticated applications for its clients. “We decided to go with our own customized solution. So we created eNCOMPASS,” DelColle says.

“We came up with our own solution for two reasons,” says David Margiotta, president of Modern International. “We wanted to control our own destiny and we didn’t want to rely on any ASP. Our customers told us over and over again that they had distinct expectations of the system.”

eNCOMPASS handles business cards, stationery and static documents along with data management. Some end users log onto eNCOMPASS to create personalized collateral that is then printed on Modern International’s Xerox iGen3 and Xerox Nuvera. One of those clients is Sherwin-Williams. The manufacturer, distributor and retailer of paint and coatings once had hundreds of thousands of direct mail pieces completed on four-color shells produced on offset presses with the variable information added later.

“The time to market was much slower,” Margiotta explains. “And it didn’t look quite as good when we used all those different production media.”

"A printing company even came to us to set up an online storefront for them. Now we're acting as an ASP. We're building it now and preparing to roll it out."
Eric DelColle, Director of Technology Modern International Graphics, Eastlake, Ohio

To make the process more efficient, nearly four years ago Modern International “built a portal for the Sherwin-Williams sales people to order direct mail pieces, mostly postcards,” DelColle says. “The program allows for customized content on the back of the postcards, including the name of the event, the store hours and location. The end user can review a proof of exactly how it will print and pull a mailing list from the Sherwin-Williams database. They submit it for corporate approval, which is usually done in about a day.”

Modern International handles the mailing and fulfillment of these postcards. DelColle says at any one time, the company is sending shipments to as few as five or as many as 100 stores.

Margiotta says eNCOMPASS has allowed his company to open doors that other print solutions had not. “This technology allows us to become a marketing solutions provider,” he says. “We want to become more upstream with the customer. We are able to open doors and see people who won’t talk to the other print vendors and we’re interacting on a marketing level rather than just a print purchasing level.”

It has also helped the company enter the software technology business. “A printing company came to us to set up an online storefront for them. Now we’re acting as an ASP,” DelColle says. “We’re building it now and preparing to roll it out.”

LaShell Stratton is assistant editor at Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to lstratton@PSDA.org.

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