The company
One of Europe's top five mailers, GHP Direct Mail GmbH specialises in large-account customers. Every day, some 1.3 million direct mail items with up to five million leaflets, brochures and other enclosures leave the company's plant. Sales revenues in 1999 will be in excess of 200 million DM. Apart from its headquarters in Bamberg, Germany, GHP operates three branch offices in Germany and the Czech Republic, employing over 1,000 people.
Today's GHP company goes back to 1988, when Günter Schuster founded Hansa Werbung GmbH. With Schuster as CEO and 60 employees on the payroll, the company's activities (processing of addresses, personalisation, letter-shop and mail consignment) were already the core component of direct mail production.
Günter Schuster was an archetypal entrepreneur—dynamic, ready to roll up his sleeves to keep the job going. He always was an attentive observer of trends in the direct mail business. Jürgen Helmes, head of sales: 'The more services we take on, the closer we tie our customers to the company.' Consequently, in 1998, Hansa Werbung GmbH acquired two companies which were active in other key areas: Günther Druck (printing) and Pflüger Kuvertfabrik (inserting). In 1999 Günther Druck and Hansa Werbung GmbH merged to become GHP Direct Mail GmbH: another step in the commitment to being a full-service provider that can offer customers an integrated portfolio of services—from the concept, personalisation and comprehensive finishing through to mail consignment.
GHP's customers in Germany include two regional lottery organisations (Süddeutsche and Nordwestdeutsche Klassenlotterie), the leading mail order companies such as Quelle, Neckermann and Otto, top-ranking financial service providers, and publishing houses such as Bertelsmann, ADAC and Reader's Digest.
Personalisation with Océ printing systems
The relationship with Océ Printing Systems (then Siemens) goes back to 1988. 'The 240 dpi ND2 printing system used to be simply the machine for personalised mail', recalls Jürgen Helmes.
Prepress programming is growing in complexity, because GHP's customers wish to target their mail more and more precisely within specific groups. As selection criteria become more finely granulated, the result is a steady and permanent increase in diversity within each mailing. Just one of the selection criteria is the so-called 'Robinson list'—a list of the people who do not wish to receive direct mail. The names of recipients are cross-checked against this list. Only when this step is complete is the data routed to the production line. There's virtually no limit to the diversity of the products, since there's a wide range of finishing options such as folding, perforating, punching, adhesive bonding, etc.
Most of the personalised mail is produced on the Océ Pagestream 700 TWIN systems, the Océ printers for doubled-sided output. Synchronization marks ensure that the front and back pages are always matched correctly.
- Proofs on the Océ Pagestream 88
The customer gives the authorisation for the full production run after having inspected proof prints. The proofs are printed on an Océ Pagestream 88. Hans-Jürgen Postler, who heads the IT operations, is full of praise for this system: 'I'm delighted with the excellent print quality of the Océ Pagestream 88. It's the ideal system for making our proof prints.'
- Pinless technology for a wider choice of paper
Customers are now demanding greater flexibility in terms of the choice of paper. Many specify exactly what type of stock they want, and some even provide their own. To respond to these demands, GHP has also installed two Océ Pagestream 500 web printing systems in its print center. These systems process roll-fed webs without pinfeed margins. Postler: 'These are great systems because of the range of grammages they can print. The three running speeds are also a benefit for the different types of job we handle.'
- Highlight colour printing with Océ Demandstream printers
Founded in 1995, the GHP card division chiefly handles print jobs for publishers, clubs, retailers and financial service providers. The plastic cards are printed conventionally and then blocked—or stamped—by GHP, which has the capacity to block around 300,000 units per day, more than any other company in Europe. GHP also uses thermal transfer printing to personalise cards. The Océ Demandstream 8000 web, a PoD printing system, prints the corresponding personalised letters at 600 dpi. The second printer in this twin system prints the signature on the letters in blue toner. The company was among those who beta-tested this system for Océ.
Postler: 'We want to anticipate our customers' needs and keep increasing our flexibility. So the wider choice of paper we can print on the Océ Océ Demandstream 8000 with pinless technology is a decisive factor.'
100% data security for personalized cards
'Data security is a highly sensitive issue for our customers, so we have zero tolerance of defects in this area,' says Postler. A bar code is printed on the paper at the first pass, and this—together with camera tracking and the security features of the print software—guarantees absolute correspondence between the cardholder's number and covering letter, and absolute completeness of the consignment.'
Reliability and service quality
Whether the job entails multipart sets, adhesive labels, letters on 50 gsm or 200 gsm stock, Océ printing systems enable GHP to meet virtually every demand. With its 11 Océ printers, the company processes some 250 million personalised prints each year, producing up to four million pages each month on a single system. As Helmes points out, 'The consignment deadline—the time the prints have to be ready to leave the plant—is sacred.' And, to keep these all-important deadlines, GHP's printing and engineering personnel work in three shifts per day, sometimes even on Sundays.
Hans-Jürgen Postler assesses the co-operation between the IT manager and the Océ service engineer Renaldo Parissi as 'always highly positive. And that's not just smooth talking.' Printer settings have to be adjusted exactly to the requirements of the job in order to produce optimum results every time. New printing systems are installed in record time and go straight into continuous productive operation. Today, all the Océ printing systems at GHP work with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. There is a clear trend toward higher-value print products, enhanced imaging quality and further diversity of output.
'There's no direct mail company in Europe with the product diversity to rank with ours', says CEO Helmes. 'And Océ is exactly the company to meet our demands.' |
Solution at GHP Direct Mail GmbH
