Let us look at the client s objective.
'To build up a structure to organise, perform, monitor and control the local advertising and direct marketing support for resellers of the MNC s products in the Asia Pacific sales region.'

3A. Background Information

• Challenges - 15 countries, 15 currencies and 10 languages.
• Operating out of Singapore, the MNC manages thousands of resellers of their products in the Asia Pacific region.
• The resellers are managed by an Area Manager in charge of a designated territory.
• The MNC has a Marketing Support Fund (MSF) for resellers to assist in producing their co-branded promotional materials such as brochures and advertisements.
• The MSF subsidises a percentage of the resellers cost in producing these promotional materials which must follow corporate guidelines.
• The Area Manager will approve the use of the MSF for the resellers marketing efforts.

• Currently, the local reseller seeks approval for subsidy from the Area Manager for MSF support in his marketing program.
• After approval, the reseller then proceeds with customisation of his logos and promotional message on the artwork.
• The materials are printed after approval of artwork by both the reseller and the Area Manager.
• The printed promotional materials are then distributed regionally and locally.
• The print vendor then bills the reseller the total cost.
• The reseller then submits a claim for the MSF subsidy.
• The current paper-based process of seeking approval from the Marketing Support Fund to the processing of the claim takes at least 4 weeks.

Problems with current process

• Co-branded materials may not follow corporate guidelines.
• Area Managers deal with thousands of such claims every month.
• Lack of systematic tracking of budget, usage and claims.
• Large amount of administrative time and resources spent managing this process manually.
• Current process open to abuse.

3B. An online solution for the MNC

Features

• The online server will host digitised templates of all approved co-branded designs by the MNC.
• Reseller data and logos and language of usage will be incorporated into their user profiles.
• Management profiles for the approval process will also be mapped.
• Budget allocation as per Area Manager is designated.

An online workflow

• Reseller logs onto the network with the appropriate language platform.
• Reseller customises a pre-loaded design template with his logo and a suitable promotional message.
• Reseller requests for quote from pre-selected vendor.
• Reseller submits quote and promotional material online to the Area Manager for approval of a MSF subsidy.
• Area Manager gives online approval to both reseller and print vendor to proceed with job.
• Data is automatically entered into the budget that has been pre-set into the online solution.
• MNC is able to monitor budget and usage patterns of the Marketing Support Fund.
• Print vendor submits monthly billing to the reseller and the Area Manager, thereby greatly reducing the number of claims to process.
• This new online workflow cuts down the entire process to only 1 week!

3C. How will the new online solution benefit the MNC client?

• Access and storage of digital assets online
• Database management online
• Digital proofing online
• Request for quotations and award jobs online
• Distribute corporate material from central control but print at remote locations
• Print on demand with an international network of print partners all over the region
• Speed, reliability and up-to-date tracking
• Budget accountability and expense control
• Convenience with self-service automation
• Centralised control with decentralised usage

This is only the tip of the iceberg. I believe there are many organisations which will recognise and adopt this new online process to increase their efficiency and competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Because the future lies in providing comprehensive print solutions for customers to manage the entire print procurement process from sourcing to final delivery. Therefore, you have to be a total print solutions provider and not just a printer.

However, this is easier said than done. The development cost is prohibitive for any one company or country to develop such a technology on its own.

Due to our good transport and communications infrastructure, Singapore is privileged to play host to the regional headquarters of hundreds of MNCs, especially for the Asia Pacific region. There is strong governmental support, especially financially, for research and development in industrial competency. As a regional hub, Singapore used to print a lot of materials and distribute to the Asia Pacific countries where the MNCs also operate in.

However, with the advent of the internet, they are moving away from the 'print-and-distribute' methodology by employing 'distribute-and-print' technology. Our comfort zone as printers is no longer so comfortable. Since we can't beat the technology, we have to join it!

Printers in Asia Pacific need to build up an alliance. We can create a pan-Asia printing network comprising of printers from every country. Linked by the internet and the growing use of English as a business language, communication barriers will cease to exist.

There are many multinationals operating in Asia Pacific, with regional headquarters in Singapore, Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia etc. These MNCs will eventually migrate their procurement system to an online platform. Now is the time for us printers to decide how we want to be a part of their future online solutions.

FAGAT is a great event for you to network. Build some friendships during your stay in Singapore. Or even form an alliance. And let's see if we have can have a regional network by the next FAGAT.

I hope that you have the vision, creativity and courage to grab hold of these new opportunities presented in this electronic age and turn them into growth and profitability for you.

2003/01/27 00:00:00