A customised software solution from specialists Mapsoft results in a more streamlined and efficient production process for Hallmark, saving time, money and resources.
Hallmark, the UK’s leading greetings card publisher, has introduced a customised software solution which has automated the card design process – increasing efficiency, saving time and money, and streamlining the annual production of 2.2 billion cards.
Mapsoft software specialists custom-designed a solution for Hallmark. This solution automates composing individual design layouts for about 8,000 cards onto templates before printing, streamlining production.
Card Create, a PDF server-based solution, has replaced Hallmark’s old paper-based, manual system. It enables automatic insertion of barcodes and pricing onto card templates.
Hallmark has deployed the solution at its Hambledon Studios produces wholesale cards. Its Card Create system streamlines design and production. This server-based solution cuts administration and reduces errors.
Hambledon Studios, with its wholesale nature and high-volume production, needed a solution capable of automatically inserting the necessary card information for designs that might include up to 200 individual permutations and variations. Card Create now ensures that graphic designers don’t waste valuable time sifting through thousands of variants of editorial content to link them with the appropriate barcodes and design information. Instead, they collate the information just once at the beginning of the design process, allowing for automatic insertion into individual cards.
The previous paper-based system consumed a lot of time and operated inefficiently, requiring up to five inputs of the same data during the design and production process. With five stages of inputting, the system also presented five potential occasions for errors, particularly when reproducing 8-digit barcodes – this significantly increased the margin for error, reducing business efficiency and, consequently, business margins.
Hallmark needed a PDF-based solution which would remove this margin for error, reduce the level of manual input required, and standardise and automate the high-volume production at Hambledon Studios. Vanessa Redshaw, Digital Technology Manager at Hallmark said: “As a registered Adobe business partner, Mapsoft had the experience and expertise to create a solution tailor-made to meet our specific business needs.
“Card Create has now become a standard and indeed essential element of the card production process. It has successfully reduced not only the margin for error, but also the amount of administration required. Our Repro Graphics Operators are now free to do what they do best – Repro!
“We hope to extend the solution to other business divisions within Hallmark, to further streamline and automate the production process, increasing efficiency and equipping Hallmark for the future.”
Contact:
Michael Peters
mpeters@mapsoft.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpmapsoft/
www.mapsoft.com
