Kabel Deutschland - Swiss Post Solutions
Transcription
Kabel Deutschland - Swiss Post Solutions
Case Study 08/2013 Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service Page 1/2 Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH & Co. KG Flexible output management for customer communication Since 2010, Kabel Deutschland (KD) is relying on the flexible output management solutions from Swiss Post Solutions (SPS) for its customer communication. As a result, the highly complex projects of the largest German cable TV provider have been greatly optimised – especially with regard to process costs and turn-around times. The challenge For KD, customer communication is no easy task, for a number of reasons, in particular the broad range of products (cable TV, telephony, broadband internet access) and marketing measures (acquisition, cross-selling, up-selling). While the content of these mailings obviously varies greatly, communication must also be customised to reach the targeted consumer group. In other words, the company needs a system that caters for both mass mailings and personalised letters. To ensure that customer communication is effective, turn-around times must be kept short, and all material must be produced and dispatched according to tight schedules. KD therefore decided to take on board a partner who would be in a position to minimise the internal costs for standard mailings. Standard mailings are the most important customer acquisition tool of KD for all product ranges. The solution Thanks to its flexible output management services, SPS has been able to optimise KD‘s customer communication, meeting the complex requirements of the client: several million mailings to various separate target groups are produced every year. The partnership with KD has been highly successful in various projects: „Thanks to the proactive approach of SPS who submitted a number of suggestions for process and cost optimisation, and the move to alternative materials and printing technologies, we have successfully improved the costs structure of our mailings.“ Thomas Maier, Procurement Manager, Services & Marketing, Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH & Co. KG „SPS is a highly reliable partner and the quality of its mailing processes is second to none. Even in cases where we need to make changes or reschedule a mailing, SPS has always responded with the flexibility that is crucial for our business.“ Isabelle Seemann, Head of Direct Marketing, Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH & Co. KG – Establishment of digital printing process The partners implemented a four-colour digital printing process that enables KD to produce small mailing print runs on demand. This flexible option allows the company to target selected groups in the market by producing mailings with tailor-made content and layout, for example for new customer up-selling campaigns. – Outsourcing of sub-processes The programming and pre-print tasks are now fully in the hands of SPS. By adapting a number of master files, SPS is able to produce various versions of a standard mailing. This optimised approach was developed and implemented in close cooperation between SPS and the relevant administrative departments of KD. This solution was delivered to Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH & Co. KG by Swiss Post Solutions GmbH, Germany Case Study 08/2013 Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service Page 2/2 – Establishment of online portal Together with KD, SPS developed an improved clients-pecific online portal: The portal environment is fully integrated into the automated workflow, and the migration of all applications to the new standardised process has been completed. The new portal caters in particular for approvals for printing and the exchange of files. It also provides an activity and event log and allows for a link-up to external data storage providers. – Continuous process optimisation In the course of the project, the partners were able to make significant improvements along the entire process chain, whereby SPS acted as the expert adviser. One particularly successful example here is the process outsourcing. The new solution guarantees that all mailings are ready for dispatch on time. The optimisation process also led to more efficient production, savings in postage costs and IT as well as shorter turnaround times. – Organisation of creative workshop SPS supports its client also in the field of creative content and layout: SPS organised a creative workshop aimed at improving the existing mailings and their format, taking into account the latest production technologies, creative design, formats and layouts, the use of printing varnish, attractive packaging solutions and much more. The new solutions were then tested among a number of target groups. The benefits KD appreciates the support from SPS acting as a strategic partner, and has benefited greatly from the optimised processes: – Thanks to the new on-demand four-colour digital printing process, KD has gained extra flexibility, for example in connection with targeted mailings with small print runs that can be produced within very short turn-around times. – The outsourcing of certain tasks has resulted in significant internal cost savings. The freed up personnel resources at KD can now be used to pursue the core business of the company. – The online portal provides the flexibility, efficiency and transparency that the partners require for their future cooperation. In the process of developing the online portal, SPS and KD have optimised the entire process chain – from data exchange to release for printing and subsequent archiving and documentation. – Thanks to continuous process optimisation, the internal operative costs could be significantly lowered. In addition, the turn-around times and mailing costs were reduced. Client profile Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH & Co. KG Integration of online portal into automated data processing workflow Contact Swiss Post Solutions GmbH Thorsten Koelpin Kirchheimerstr. 177 73265 Dettingen/Teck Germany Classification: public Phone: +49 7021 80 62 01 Mobile: +49 151 11 71 14 69 [email protected] www.swisspostsolutions.de KD is the largest cable network provider in Germany, offering its subscribers digital and high-definition TV as well as analogue TV, video-on-demand, services related to digital video recording, pay TV and broadband internet access (up to 100,000 Kbit/s). In addition, KD provides telephone via cable TV and mobile phone services through a telephony services partner. The MDAX-listed company operates cable networks in 13 federal states in Germany and counts around 8.5 million households among its subscribers. By the 31 March 2013, Kabel Deutschland employed around 3,600 people. In the last financial year ending 31 March 2013, the company achieved a turnover of around 1.83 billion Euro. The adjusted EBITDA was around 862 million Euro.