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Mimeo.com helps corporate users beat the document clock.

By Katherine O'Brien

Mimeo.com helps corporate users beat the document clock.

In Memphis, TN, some things can't be hurried. Diners at the Blue Plate Café, for example, savor every bite of their country ham, biscuits and gravy. Tourists at Graceland meander along, pausing occasionally to gawk at gold records and jumpsuits on their way to the Jungle Room. Even the barges on the Mississippi seem to move sedately. But at Mimeo.com, the pace is considerably faster.

DIGITAL DOCUMENT FACTORY

Founded in 1998 by Key Compton, John Delbridge, David Uyttendaele and Jeff Stewart, Mimeo.com combines the efficiencies of Internet-enabled online ordering with a “print factory” strategically located in the shadow of FedEx's main hub. Mimeo.com's customers can order presentations, RFPs, brochures, instruction guides, manuals, posters and other products as late as 10 p.m. EST and get their completed jobs delivered as early as 8:30 the next morning to multiple locations in North America.

“We specialize in complex documents that can be delivered overnight,” explains Charlie Corr, Mimeo.com's vice president of corporate strategy. “We also offer some related services, like kitting.”

All of Mimeo's production equipment is toner-based. “We're all digital,” says Corr. “We do some work with partners for offset jobs and pocket folders and other jobs that wouldn't fit well on [our equipment].”

Operating 24 hours a day, five to seven days a week, Mimeo's 500-employee, 104,000-sq.-ft. facility churns out customer orders using cutting-edge color and monochrome printers. Seven Kodak NexPress digital production presses are used for color jobs while a fleet of 21 Xerox DocuTechs handles the black-and-white work.

ON-DEMAND PRINTING FROM YOUR DESKTOP

Mimeo.com can work with most application programs, even those that aren't designed for page layout. Its proprietary technology lets users combine pages or files originally created in programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel or Quark into a single document.

After signing up for a free account, users install Mimeo's print driver on their Window-enabled desktop. (One user describes this as essentially a simplified and secure way for users to FTP files to Mimeo.) The online interface walks users through the creation process, step by step. Even novice users can design and preview their documents quickly.

Print jobs can be stored on Mimeo.com's secure online server, facilitating reprint jobs or providing ready access to pages or sections that will be incorporated into new projects. Digital asset management tools let users collaborate with another department or group, regardless of location.

PROCESS CONTROL

Corr says workflow and good people are what differentiate Mimeo.com from other on-demand print providers. “A lot of [online print companies] can do a nice user interface,” he says. “And a lot of the equipment is [similar]. What makes us different is our commitment to utilizing technology to automate the back end of the process. We have engineers who look at workflows and others who work on programming. Wherever possible we utilize technology to maximize automation. When we can't automate, we rely on good old-fashioned engineering. That's typical of a factory environment, but not what you usually find down the street at a copy or print center or in most plants. It's really about engineering in the right results.”

Mimeo is geographically well positioned to handle rush orders — the real challenge is producing them. “I'm a process person,”says Skip Trevathan, Mimeo's executive vice president, global operations and engineer-ing. “I love this type of environment.”

Calling on his prior experiences as vice president and global offering director for Electronic Data Systems and managing director of logistics operations at FedEx, Trevathan and his team designed a process tailored for bursts of short-run activity. Human intervention is minimized and all employees follow a logically defined workflow.

Based on an algorithm, Mimeo's adaptive document assembly process (ADAP) defines printing as a manufacturing operation comprising interdependent components. When a job comes in, it is prioritized automatically using such factors as turnaround time, job complexity and run length.

Trevathan constantly reviews job cycle times. “I'm a zealot about shaving off tenths of seconds,” he says.

A rigorous in-process inspection system ensures an error rate of less than ½ of a percent. “Our customers want perfection on a deadline,” says Jeff Grill, Mimeo's vice president of marketing. “We're not only providing critical business documents, we're providing trust and confidence.”

TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT

The company carefully monitors customer satisfaction, seeking monthly feedback on such questions as, “Would you recommend us to a family member?” According to Corr, the results are gratifying. “Most people don't love their printers. They might like them or be happy with them. But, we've tested it: A lot of our customers really love the Mimeo.com experience. People tell us we saved their lives, and now they are able to spend more time with their families. That's pretty exciting.”

After an initial positive customer experience, customers tend to expand the range of work they send to Mimeo.com. “It spreads organically,” says Corr. “We help them save time, ensure everything goes right, we get things there as promised. That helps us grow within an account.” While a few might hesitate to exit the comfort zone of a face-to-face interaction, Corr says a free trial often convinces them. “You have to experience it. It's a bit of a leap of faith, but people do see that it actually works. It's a little like changing the way you bank, from visiting a teller to doing everything online. Once you've tried it, you won't go back.”

Contact O'Brien at KOB@americanprinter.com

BUILDING A BRAND

Having implemented a successful ordering and manufacturing process, Mimeo.com is concentrating on building its brand. CEO Adam Slutsky might be just the right person for the job. Slutsky joined the company in 2005. He's probably best known for creating Moviefone.

Moviefone, a showtime hotline (or “national interactive telephone information system,” as Slutsky describes it) went public in 1994. In 1999, Slutsky and his Moviefone colleagues sold the company to AOL for $550 million. In 2003, Slutsky decided to leave. He had no immediate plans but was intrigued when some investment banking friends told him about Mimeo.com.

Slutsky has pledged to continue Mimeo.com's innovative spirit while getting the word out to a broader audience. “A lot of people don't know about Mimeo, but those who do and use it can hardly remember how they did without it,” Slutsky said in an interview with whattheythink.com's Cary Sherburne. “We will build a brand that represents convenient, high-quality, fast-turnaround production of documents online. We will communicate the total cost value proposition that goes well beyond the traditional printing measure of cost per piece. When you count in the cost of human capital, errors and maintaining heavy-duty internal print capabilities, Mimeo.com is the preferred solution due to its convenience and lower cost.”

THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY

Has this ever happened to you? The entire sales department has been working non-stop all day on a critical but extremely complex presentation for your company's top client due the following day. You're on your way to the office supply store because you've run out of binders and tabs. Your heart sinks as you head toward the door. Two colleagues are crouching over the only “good” printer in the office, cursing as they open doors and pull out trays in search of yet another paper jam. A nearby garbage can is overflowing with toner-streaked sheets and crumpled paper that was yanked from the maw of the machine. Looks like another late night, culminating in an exhausting collation session in the conference room.

PAIN RELIEVER

While Mimeo.com serves many Fortune 2000 customers, company officials say scenarios like this have won it many fans and customers among executive assistants and others responsible for producing time sensitive corporate materials. In some cases, customers have an in-plant operation but a prior poor experience or schedule crunch prompts the customer to log on to Mimeo.com.

“With our centralized print production and distribution facility, what you see is what you get,” says Mimeo's Charlie Corr. “Our soft proof isn't just a representation, it's what you're going to get. We use that same document through our quality control procedures. We help our customers overcome the potential pain of a job being wrong or late

The Mimeo.com interface also simplifies the ordering process. “You can create fairly complex documents with a few mouse clicks,” says Corr. “Tabs and covers can be done in no time at all. Describing that to someone at an in-plant typically is both painful and fraught with error.”

WHAT'S NEXT

Posters and signage are a natural extension of Mimeo.com's product line. The company soon will expand its capabilities with the addition of some HP wide-format digital inkjet printers. Expansion at home and abroad is also in the works with new facilities planned in the Northeast as well as Europe.

MIMEO.COM BY THE NUMBERS

Target market segments for Mimeo.com include training and human resource applications, sales and marketing, retail/franchise and operations/IT. The company reportedly produces about 500 jobs per day and 3.5 million bound documents annually. Its 3,000 corporate accounts include companies such as GE, Siemens and Morgan Stanley. About 35 percent of its orders are placed for next day delivery; 30 percent are shipped a few days later and 35 percent have a longer-term ship date.