Communisis is to implement Ricoh Process Director (RPD) software to enhance its omni-channel communications services, enabling Communisis clients to blend physical and digital customer communications intelligently and ‘at pace’.
Continuing a 12-year relationship with Ricoh that was initially based around the latter’s digital printing equipment, Communisis will use the RPD workflow and process management platform to help give its clients the ability to provide their customers with a ‘seamless, flexible and efficient omni-channel experience’.
Cara Walker, executive director of digital solutions at Communisis, told Digital Printer that this will involve processing large volumes of customer data that arrive from multiple sources and in a wide range of formats, from mainframe line listings to AFP and PDF, into a single Communisis-defined format that will suit both print and digital distribution channels, from email and web pages to SMS, working in conjunction with Quadient software.
RPD will use software automation and AI techniques to ensure that communications are sent on time, to the right recipients and via the most appropriate communication channel, whether that is print or digital, with the ability to mix the two depending on recipient response. The project is part of a larger 18-month digital transformation process at the customer communications provider, and after the initial input conversion phase, which is expected to go live in June 2022, will aim to add shopfloor automation across Communisis’s print production sites.
The use of RPD is expected to add flexibility to processes, allowing Communisis clients’ end-customers to ‘self-serve’ where appropriate, to increase production efficiencies and reduce lead times significantly. This will also support wider objectives at Communisis, such as improving sustainability through better use of materials and energy, in addition to providing high levels of data security via compliance with standards such as PCI and Cyber Essential Plus. These are essential for operating in highly regulated sectors such as transactional mail, which forms the majority of Communisis’s business.
Ms Walker said, ‘We are delighted to be able to take our clients’ omni-channel capabilities to the next level and enhance their brand engagement.
‘The pace of our ever-evolving digital transformation has helped us enhance the service we provide, not only to our clients but to their customers. This is just one example of the investment Communisis is making in our products and services to ensure we are always improving the customer experience and making lives better.’
Simon Isaacs, national sales director at Ricoh UK, said, ‘This multi-year investment in RPD will give Communisis greater flexibility, cost efficiency, and total output integrity.’ He also noted the modular nature of RPD which will enable the software to keep pace with Communisis’s requirements over time.
