Top Challenges in Variable Data Printing and How to Overcome Them

Blog Summary: Facing challenges in growing your Variable Data Printing Business? Most custom print shop owners step down after facing challenges, and that’s why this is your opportunity to outshine by knowing the common challenges and how to tackle them.

Variable Data Printing (VDP) is transforming print shops across the USA by enabling highly personalized marketing materials that drive better customer engagement.

According to Epsilon research, 80% of consumers prefer to bring their business to brands who offer personalized experience. For print shop owners like yourself, VDP means offering customized solutions that enhance relevance and effectiveness for clients.

Embracing VDP is essential for staying competitive in a market where personalized marketing is increasingly crucial. But at the same time, many printing service providers are reluctant to leverage VDP, thinking it’s too complicated. Therefore, this blog delves into the key challenges of VDP and discusses how the new-age variable data printing solution is the key to streamline your processes, maintain data quality, and achieve superior results.

Variable Data Printing Challenges: Common Issues & Solutions

The only way to overcome any challenge is to be aware of it, accept it, and implement the solution. Thus, here are some of the top Variable Data Printing challenges with their solutions for custom print service providers to overcome and grow their business.

Challenge 1: Maintaining Data Quality

The quality of data is one of the biggest challenges in Variable Data Printing. It is common to have data quality issues whenever a large volume of data is involved in the picture. Any error in the data ends up inflating your printing cost due to wastage. And if the print mistake is not detected before delivering the order, it will directly affect customer satisfaction.

As the print shop owner, you need to be aware of the generic errors in the variable data processing. Therefore, here are the most common errors that can hamper your printing process.

• Irrelevant data: Outdated data due to irregular data updates.
• Discrepancies: Misspelling of name, address, id number etc.
• Duplicate data: Repetition of same data for more times than it should be.
• Incorrect formatting: Data for different fields gets misaligned.
• Poor quality: Inadequate image quality that affects the print quality.

Solution:

To avoid compromised data quality, you need to

• Update the data regularly to keep it relevant.
• Review data for mistakes prior to printing.
• Clean data every now and then to delete repetitive data and dead data.
• Make sure data is in the desired format and is unaffected by processing like data merger.

Challenge 2: Ensuring Customer Data Security

The consequences of losing customer data do not limit to loss in the business, but it can also invite a lawsuit against your print shop business. Therefore, safety of variable data should be one of the highest priorities.

Solution:

The most secure way to handle customer data for print shop owners is by using secured data print data management solution by OnPrintShop. It handles all your valuable data without the risk of data breaches. Moreover, getting all your data at one place helps you get the customer information and order history easily.

Moreover, using a print shop automation solution makes the data encrypted and protects it against unauthorized access.

Challenge 3: Keeping Print Quality Consistent

Maintaining consistent print quality is a challenge for different data, especially for the image formats. The variable data printing process may include printing different images on the same template. Moreover, if the images to be printed have inconsistent quality, it becomes impossible achieve print quality consistency.

The same is true for other data formats too. For example, take text format. To fit every customer’s name in equal space without changing the font style and size is a challenge.

Solution:

For maintaining the print quality, you need to first make sure the data quality is consistent.

Other than that, using a web-to-print software solution can streamline your printing process and drastically increase your print quality consistency. Moreover, if your business has multiple franchisees, a web-to-print for franchise business is the most effortless way to maintain the print quality across all your franchisees.

Challenge 4: Integrating with Existing Systems

For the variation in multiple types of data, the print shop owners need to upgrade from regular printing technology to variable data printing technology. These include software and inventory. And the print shop owners often face the challenge of their existing printers not supporting the new software or the material for printing. This integration challenge discourages many aspiring print-shop owners to step into the VDP market.

Solution:

You can rest assured with the web-to-print software by OnPrintShop as it is one of the most popular software in the industry and already has been tested for functioning seamlessly with all sorts of printing setups. Moreover, it helps you with the live support that will guide you setting it up for your business.

Challenge 5: Managing Variable Data Printing Cost

Variable Data Printing is often costlier especially when the print run is large. This can be a challenge for printers aiming to manage budgets and maximize profits. Unlike traditional printing jobs, VDP involves personalization for each piece, which can lead to higher costs due to additional resources required.

Solution:

• Invest in Efficient Software: Investing in a web to print solution that supports print workflow automation that brings down your labor costs for processes like handling data, and preparation for print production.

• Manage Inventory: Inventory takes up a huge part of the cost. Therefore, manage your inventory to be most efficient.

• Track and Analyse Cost: Tracking your workflow and analyzing the cost cutting opportunities makes your printing workflow cost efficient. However, it is a lot of work. Thus, using a reporting and analytic tool that helps you make smarter business decisions with deep insights is a great idea.

Challenge 6: Minimizing Turnaround Time

Variable data printing is not as fast as conventional printing. Thus, turnaround time is a challenge for variable data printing companies. This is related to the challenges discussed above too. Everything right from complex data management, print quality assurance, synchronization of different technologies, and the cost of the project affects the cycle time.

Solution:

Deploying advanced print order management software is the easiest solution to minimize the turnaround time for variable data printing projects. It helps you make your entire print order process seamless.

OnPrintShop as a Solution to All Variable Data Printing Challenges

OnPrintShop offers an all-in-one variable data printing solution for business owners like you. It helps you overcome every barrier to business success by automating data management, streamlining workflows, enhancing security, and optimizing print quality. With OnPrintShop, you can efficiently tackle challenges and boost your productivity.

So, what are you waiting for, book your live demo now and make your Variable Data Printing business an industry leader.