tui integrates doc1 suite to create new, colorful … · communication management background tui, a...
TRANSCRIPT
CUSTOMERCOMMUNICATIONMANAGEMENT
BACKGROUND
TUI, a leader in the European travel market, provides a broad
range of offerings, including more than 10,000 holiday options
in its 49 catalogs (summer season), with hotels, tours, holiday
villages, holiday homes, and clubs at all important holiday
locations around in the world.
With the introduction of a new in-line printing system, TUI also
decided to switch over to complete color printing. This meant
that the company would now be producing its travel information
booklets for customers in color.
TUI Deutschland’s supplemental booklets contain many important
travel details. These booklets must be made available to end
customers as travel documents are handed over. After evaluating
several solutions for the creating color booklets, TUI selected the
DOC1 Suite from Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software.
REPLACING A NINE-YEAR-OLD SYSTEM
TUI Vertriebs und Service GmbH manages travel booklet printing,
which had so far been printed in black and white. “However, the
nine-year-old in-line printing system was getting along and had
to be replaced,” explained Frank Kendberg, Account Manager and
Project Manager for IT Operations at TUI InfoTec GmbH.
TUI Integrates DOC1® Suite to Create New, Colorful Travel Booklets for Enhancing Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
“ With the new in-line printing system, we wanted to switch over to complete color printing, which would enable us to design travel documents that could generate recognizable added value for the end customer, as well as creating an additional quality feature and unique selling point for TUI. That meant redesigning the product, the customer documents, as well as the production process.”
– Frank KendbergAccount Manager and Project Manager
IT Operations, TUI InfoTec GmbH
“With the new in-line printing system, we wanted to switch over
to complete color printing, which would enable us to design
travel documents that could generate recognizable added value
for the end customer, as well as creating an additional quality
feature and unique selling point for TUI. That meant redesigning
the product, the customer documents, as well as the production
process,” said Kendberg.
SOLUTION CONCEPT WORKSHOP APPROACH
TUI InfoTec was in charge of system selection and installation
at TUI Deutschland GmbH. It was therefore looking for a high-
performance and cost-effective output management solution for
its customer.
Four output management solution providers were invited to
present their product and concept for a comprehensive solution.
These solutions were developed in separate workshops with the
suppliers and the requirements defined in a criteria catalogue.
“The solution was supposed to be able to generate the output
data flow in variable PostScript files and the input data flow in
XML, and enable the booklets to be rendered as PDF files. In
addition, the following features were important to us: a high
carrying capacity, sorting options, a graphic user interface, spool
selection, archiving for reproduction prints, colour printing,
single-sheet printing in DIN A3 paper sizes, as well as analysis
and accounting,” said Kendberg.
After comparing the supplier solutions, the DOC1 Suite from
Group 1 emerged as the winner. Comprehensive tests were not
necessary. “Only the test data deliveries and test prints were
performed in order to confirm the technical feasibility of the
solution. Because DOC1 Suite had already replaced black and
white production, there was sufficient experience on hand to
be able to assess any risks. Moreover, the DOC1 Suite met all
technical requirements with the highest performance and lowest
cost compared to the competition. This is why we decided to opt
for this solution so quickly”, explained Kendberg.
The DOC1 Suite is a software package that makes it possible to
generate personalized and needs-based documents on various
platforms that can be subsequently provided to the customer via
hard copy or electronically. The DOC1 Suite has various modules
that enable TUI – through its TUI Vertriebs und Service GmbH
subsidiary – to use the DOC1 Designer/Generate/Print.
“With the DOC1 Designer module, the travel document layouts
can be designed using drag-and-drop. The design component is
used to define the data structure, generate and manage graphics,
images, address fields, as well as to determine logic or conditions
as a set of rules for generating personalized travel documents.
Using the DOC1 Generate production platform, the corresponding
logic and conditions of the set of rules are then linked to the
transaction data to be processed. The module generates the
print data flow in PostScript format. DOC1 Print subsequently
generates the travel booklet that is issued to the customer,” said
Kendberg.
A SMOOTH INTEGRATION
“The DOC1 Suite proved itself right from the start. Integration
went smoothly without any problems. The system is operating
under Sun Solaris on Fujitsu-Siemens servers. All interfaces to
the upstream systems are based on XML. The data is expertly
prepared in a proprietary, rule-based pre-processing process
created especially for this purpose and which uses Java EJBs
and JBoss as middleware. The VPS print data generated by DOC1
is then forwarded to an Emtex or Freeflow Spooler, prepared for
print in a Creo Spire RIP and printed out on one of three Xerox
color laser printers. This IT architecture corresponds to the
current standard at TUI Deutschland for systems of comparable
magnitude, where interfaces and links to legacy systems, such
as mainframe, are more or less standard requirements and
are part of current practice at TUI InfoTec,” said Kendberg. The
system is used exclusively for producing color travel documents
for end customers. The documents are printed and shipped by
TUI Vertrieb und Service GmbH. System hosting is handled by TUI
InfoTec GmbH. TUI Deutschland is responsible for designing the
layouts.
“…the DOC1 Suite met all technical requirements with the highest performance and lowest cost compared to the competition. This is why we decided to opt for this solution so quickly,” explained Kendberg.
POPULAR WITH USERS
Right from the start, the solution was widely accepted by the
employees. As part of the project, Rasterpunkt, a Group 1 partner,
provided training in DOC1 for layout work. Training sessions
lasted about a week and were held in TUI’s own training rooms.
During training, employees had already begun practicing on
concrete booklet pages, thus promoting acceptance of the new
system early on. This was particularly important because the
users of the color system were not the same as the previous
users of the black/white system. “Our long-term experience and
excellent cooperation with Rasterpunkt provided a lot of support
during the process,” commented Kendberg.
“We are very satisfied with the solution because our requirements
were able to be fully implemented and the system is also running
very reliably. First and foremost, the solution we selected allows
us to change over to color printing at the required standard
cost effectively. The difficulty was that the layout of the print
system for realising the overall system and for the software
specified a narrow solution corridor. The high complexity of
individual technical requirements in some areas, along with
the simultaneous need for the greatest flexibility possible for
future requirements further complicated the project. Only by
systematically laying out all the components to form a highly
efficient ‘motorway’ or overall process was the end product finally
able to be implemented as an attractive, cost-effective solution for
the customer,” said Kendberg.
MORE PERSONALIZED, CUSTOMIZED DOCUMENT
CREATION
Even in terms of the commercial benefit, the solution has
proven itself again and again. “The end customer is addressed
directly and personally, and customized travel information can
be incorporated into the travel booklet. This contributes to
stronger customer loyalty over the long term. TUI Deutschland
is again able to offer the end customer tangible added value that
underlines its own quality demands and represents an advantage
over its competitors. At the same time, it enables TUI to have a
great deal more influence on the design of the end product than
before. This is because it now has its own internally developed
control option for business logic and can prepare the layouts
independently using the DOC1 Designer module,” said Kendberg
in explaining the benefits of the solution.
ON-TIME DEPLOYMENT
Last, but not least, the project was successfully implemented
on time, thanks to the excellent cooperation with the technical
consultants from Group 1 Software. “The project was completed
fully within the budget and quality framework. Everyone involved
has considered it a success and is completely satisfied with the
results. The new color booklets have been very well received by
travel agencies and customers. Currently, other corporate brands
and operators are migrating to the new system, which will mean
expanding our own brand-specific booklet layout in the future,”
said Kendberg in conclusion.
MORE ABOUT TUI
TUI InfoTec GmbH is a joint venture between the leading Indian IT
consulting and software company Sonata Software Ltd. and TUI
AG, Europe’s largest tourism company.
At its corporate headquarters in Hanover, 420 employees develop
innovative IT solutions that are available to customers in computer
centres and networks. TUI InfoTec ensures the operation of 900
servers and data networks at 2,300 locations worldwide. Through
a joint venture with Sonata, the company provides customer
support in the form of more than 1,900 additional IT specialists
from India.
The company reported revenue of 5.8 billion euros for the first half
of the 2006 fiscal year.
“ Even in terms of the commercial benefit, the solution has proven itself again and again. The end customer is addressed directly and personally, and customized travel information can be incorporated into the travel booklet. This contributes to stronger customer loyalty over the long term.”
About Pitney Bowes Group 1 SoftwarePitney Bowes Group 1 Software turns data into results, providinginnovative software solutions that enable our clients to betterunderstand and connect with their millions of customers,prospects and partners. Group 1 helps over 3,000 organizationsmaximize the value of customer data to improve profitability,increase effectiveness and strengthen customer relationships,through consolidating, cleansing and enriching corporate data, andgenerating personalized business documents for multi-channeldelivery, customer care and efficient business processing. Ourcomprehensive Customer Communication Management (CCM)solutions span from database to delivery, adding value to everyaspect of communication and allowing clients to integrateintelligence throughout their mailstream.
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