Prepress includes tackling topics, such as automation, standardization and in-time production. zipcon consulting ascertains the status quo and devises corporate optimization proposals.

Target audience: print and media service providers, production agencies.

Topic: automation, standardization and in-time production – these are current prepress issues. Media-neutral data storage, database/layout linkage as well as thoroughly topical issues like remote publishing, workflow architectures, color and quality management, augmented reality, cross media et al are increasing the pressure on modern companies to perform.

Objective:  zipcon consulting paints a picture of the status quo during its on-site analysis and drafts a series of optimization proposals to extensively automate and standardize production. Workflow systems as well as color and quality management can be included in the analysis and action recommendations as an option.

Production focuses on analog-to-digital transformation and the development of hybrid production facilities (offset and digital print). zipcon ascertains what the status quo is and highlights changes.

Target audience: print service providers, in-house printers, digital print providers.

Topic: analog-to-digital transformation in the industry is causing one or two problems. Even the development of hybrid production facilities (offset and digital print) requires new workflows, new materials route planning and sophisticated logistics. If you add color and quality management and gearing up for PSO- and ISO-conform production, this means that many companies are confronted by massive challenges.

Objective: the zipcon team conducts an on-site status quo analysis, highlighting the tasks/changes that need to be performed/made and drafts an implementation plan that details how and when each step needs to be taken. Workflow systems as well as color and quality management can be included in the analysis and action recommendations as an option.

Publishing includes a large number of topics and challenges, which need to be tackled by publishers. zipcon consulting provides support in the form of briefings on various solutions and action recommendations.

Target audience: publishers, publishing companies, editorial teams, media service providers.

Topic: cross-media, multichannel production, iPad and iPhone apps, web-to-print, remote publishing – digital approval workflows – the wealth of topics that publishers have to deal with currently is inexhaustible. If you consider these issues in conjunction with online technologies and modern automation workflows, many publishers are confronted with requirements that they can hardly cope with.

Objective: the clear objective of the zipcon consultants on site is on the one hand to brief clients on the various solution options available, and on the other to verify what a company can action on its own or what further steps need to be taken to ensure that it can do so on its own. Analysis is followed by action recommendations and “hands-on” instruction/guidance.

Management Information Systems (MIS) and JDF make significant demands on print companies. zipcon consulting analyzes JDF suitability and provides assistance in selecting the appropriate MIS.

Target audience: print service providers, in-house printers, digital print providers.

Topic: management information systems (MIS) and JDF roll-out make significant demands on print companies not only during the roll-out process, but further back during preliminary checks and preparations and when selecting the right system. The exact description of processes and defining what is to be automated in particular often overwhelms both print company practitioners and management.

Objective: “helping companies to help themselves” – that is the credo behind this offering. The zipcon team maps the most important processes together with the company’s project team, analyzes the “JDF suitability” of the entire company and provides assistance with selecting the appropriate MIS. Optional on-site coaching is provided during MIS project planning and roll-out phases.

E-Business Print includes topics like online print stores, remote publishing, online customer portals, web-to-print, which are causing a stir right now. zipcon consulting analyzes potential, ascertains the effort and expense involved and makes recommendations.

Target audience: print & media service providers, publishers, online providers.

Topic: online print stores, remote publishing, online customer portals, web-to-print – all these issues are creating a major stir. People often only realize that launching a store involves a great deal more than renting an existing online offering and that the path to commercial success forces them to rethink once their first project has failed. Even researching into the right market niches and appropriate products is drastically underestimated.

Objective: zipcon consulting ascertains which online offering is best suited to the company’s existing customer base and analyzes which potential new customers can be gained with what offering/effort and expense. A call-to-action document and a specific recommendation for a suitable offering are produced once the analysis (company and market) has been completed.

Entrepreneurs often need to give thought to the right strategy and the future of their company and make decisions. Together with the company’s senior management team, Bernd Zipper maps its status quo and defines change management processes.

Target audience: print & media service providers, publishers, online providers.

Topic: what potential does my company have? What’s next? How do I earn money in the future? How do I need to position my company? All these (usually unanswered) questions indicate that an entrepreneur needs to tackle the issue of strategy and vision. Yet just attending a workshop/seminar won’t do the trick, and creating a strategy and vision alone or together with your management team is often not enough to help achieve objectives.

Objective: Bernd Zipper identifies the company’s status quo together with its senior management team and evaluates markets, products and potential. Once that analysis has been completed, the necessary change management processes and tools are defined and submitted in the form of a call-to-action document. Optional on-site coaching is provided during the project planning and roll-out phases.