The company
At the Day-Timers website, a customer-usually a business consumer-enters up to 100 personal dates occurring over the next twelve months. After receiving the information electronically, Day-Timers uses a streamlined digital manufacturing process to deliver each customised Day-Timers Personal Pages planner. Océ Pagestream® 8080 DI Twin digital printing systems provide the on-demand, variable-data output required for each customised piece. Individual Personal Pages are cost-effective to produce, thanks to an innovative proprietary application developed by Day-Timers, Inc.

 

In fact, patents are in process for some of the technology used to merge data and production information. Each customer's personal events and dates are confidentially stored and made available 12 months later for the customer's review and updating. Customers never have to re-enter their information.

 

Roots in the printing business
Day-Timers was not always involved in time management. The Pennsylvania-based company has been around for 52 years and started as a family-owned print shop. Even into the late '80s, Day-Timers was still doing some printing work. Day-Timers planning products got started when attorney Morris Perkin brought the company a system he had developed to keep track of billable hours. This 'Lawyer's Day' product eventually led to the Day-Timers line. Today Day-Timers' primary business is producing tools for planning and organising, and the company is an office products division of Fortune Brands under the umbrella of ACCO North America. The main market remains the corporate consumer, and the majority of Day-Timers' customers are business professionals.

 

Direct mail has been the company's main channel of distribution, taking products directly to customers. Now the company is expanding through mass marketing and offering products through retail office supply stores. With its progressive Personal Pages planner, Day-Timers is taking advantage of Internet communication to work even more closely with customers and prospects.

 

Proactive partners didn't give up
The Personal Pages project did not happen overnight. In fact, management at Day-Timers had been thinking about the Personal Pages project for years, said Michael Little, Vice President of Manufacturing at Day-Timers, where about 400 employees are responsible for pre-press, printing, finishing and engineering. "We went to the On Demand show in New York years ago looking for ways to do this." However, the company's vision was ahead of its time, and it had to wait for technology to catch up. In the meantime, Day-Timers implemented a completely digitalised front end for electronic pre-press and "kept looking for and talking about ways to make the Personal Pages product happen".

Finding the right printer partner eliminated a major hurdle. Day-Timers was first attracted to Océ printers because of the advanced print engine technology, but they came to appreciate the company's proactive approach. Although Day-Timers looked at other print systems initially, "Océ was the one who kept coming up with ideas to do it," said Little. "They worked closely with us. What we liked most was that they were there with people and answers faster than the competition. I don't think this project would have happened with other vendors. Océ put resources in front of us and did what was needed to make it work."

 

"In December 1997, we did a test run that did not do well, but Océ quickly worked out the problems," Little said, and the project was back on track. Things started moving even more quickly after Day-Timers parent company dangled a marketing 'carrot'. If Day-Timers could hit a target date of July 7, 1998 for the launch of Personal Pages, the parent company would run an advertisement for it in the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal advertising is not cheap, but it was the perfect vehicle for reaching Day-Timers' target business audience. This tempting offer gave the team lots of incentive, but only six months to finish the project. Fortunately, because of the work that had already been done, the rest of the development easily proceeded to the finished concept.

 

Streamlined manufacturing reduces steps
Not only did Day-Timers develop a creative and useful product, but at the same time they developed a highly streamlined manufacturing process to produce it cost effectively. Day-Timers even brought in student researchers from a local university to help simulate and study workflow to and from the finishing cells. "This helped us look at things such as process flow and how many steps we have now compared to how many we could have later," explained Little. Through 'lean' manufacturing, process steps have been significantly reduced. Innovative digital technology allows electronic collation and variable printing, and pre-press plates have been eliminated. The application even permits switching from one person's planner to another's without stopping the printer. The Personal Pages products come off the Océ printers 80% complete, with only minor finishing required. Work that would have taken 48 to 56 hours previously, can now be completed in about eight.

 

Business advantages
Day-Timers has achieved a number of business advantages as a result of the streamlined manufacturing strategy, but the biggest impact has been inventory reduction. Work-in-progress inventory has been reduced by 25% in less than a year. Less floor space is taken up with inventory and work-in-process goods.