WO2013039504A1

WO2013039504A1 - Proposing a change to a print job request

Info

Publication number: WO2013039504A1
Application number: PCT/US2011/051863
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric Hoarau; Ehud Chatow
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2011-09-16
Filing date: 2011-09-16
Publication date: 2013-03-21

Abstract

For a print job request received from a requestor, a processing system determines an incentive to offer for a proposed change to be made to the print job request.

Description

Proposing a Change to a Print Job Request

Background

[0001 ] Print services can be offered online by print service providers. To obtain such print services, users can submit print job requests over a network to respective sites of the print service providers. Once the print job requests have been fulfilled, print products produced by the print service providers in response to the print job requests can be delivered to the users.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

[0002] Some implementations are described with respect to the following figures:

Fig. 1 is a flow diagram of a process according to some implementations;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram an example arrangement that includes a print service provider (PSP) network, according to some implementations;

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram of a process according to alternative implementations; and

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an example processing system according to some implementations.

Detailed Description

[0003] Generally, a "print service provider" (or PSP) can refer to any entity that is able to produce print product(s) in response to a request. A "print product" refers to the printed material created by a PSP— examples of print products include copies of documents, pamphlets, color pictures, and so forth. Print job requests that can be submitted to PSPs can have varying characteristics depending on their intended use. Some print job requests can be for relatively large amounts of print products, while other print job requests can be for relatively small or intermediate amounts of print products. The substrates (e.g. color paper, white paper, etc.) on which print jobs are to be made can vary. Quality specifications of print job requests can also vary, with some print job requests specifying high quality printing (using a relatively high-quality printer) while other print job requests can specify that lower quality printing (using a relatively lower-quality printer) is acceptable. The binding solution (to provide binding of printed products) can also vary depending on the substrate, quality, intended use, quantity, price point, and customer preference. Also, print job requests can also specify due dates for respective print jobs.

[0004] The demand for print job requests can be unpredictable. For a given PSP, the volume of print jobs requested by customers can be highly seasonal. In the ensuing discussion, a "customer" refers to any entity (e.g. an individual user, a corporate entity, an organization, etc.) that is able to order print product(s) from a PSP. There can also be different types of customers— some customers are larger customers that can submit print job requests for relatively large quantities of print products, while other customers are smaller customers that can submit print job requests for relatively small quantities of print products. Additionally, customers may not want to order print products too far ahead of time, and may wait until closer to respective deadlines before submitting print job requests. Moreover, an increasing number of customers are not very familiar with parameters associated with print jobs, and thus may not be aware that their print order is in not optimal for an intended use and that certain changes to parameters can result in cost savings or achieving a target print product.

[0005] Properly planning for varying print job workloads can be difficult. To plan for unpredictable volumes and diversity of print jobs, a PSP has to over-invest in printing equipment, which results in overcapacity. On the other hand, if the quantity of printing equipment available to a PSP is inadequate, that can result in missed deadlines for print jobs or stressful production cycles or outsourcing to another PSP. Missed deadlines can lead to dissatisfied or lost customers, who expect print products meeting requested specifications to be delivered on time, even with short notice. [0006] In accordance with some implementations, various information can be used to obtain a better understanding of printing specifications of customers and printing capabilities of a PSP (or multiple PSPs). Such information can include customer profiles, printer service provider profiles, and other information. The information can be used to determine modifications that can be made to print job requests to better align the ability of a PSP (or PSPs) to meet the print job requests that meet printing specifications of the customers while allowing for reduced production costs, or complexity, or time in fulfilling the print job requests.

[0007] In some implementations, an incentive can be provided to a customer to encourage the customer to accept a proposed modification of a print job request. An "incentive" refers to any reward, in terms of price discounts, loyalty program points, improved delivery time (for delivery the print products of the print job request), satisfaction of customer expectation, and any other monetary or non-monetary benefit that can be provided to the customer. An "incentive" can also refer to a recommendation that aligns parameters of a print job request to achieve a product intent. "Product intent" refers to target characteristics of the printed product that are to be achieved— the product intent can be derived from the print job request itself, and/or from historical print orders of a customer.

[0008] Fig. 1 is a flow diagram of a process according to some implementations. The process of Fig. 1 can be performed by a controller of a PSP, or by a controller that performs print job request processing on behalf of multiple PSPs.

[0009] The process of Fig. 1 receives (at 102) a print job request from a requestor (customer). The process determines (at 104) an incentive to offer the customer for a proposed change to be made to the print job request. The process then sends (at 106) a proposal to the customer that contains the incentive and proposed change. The proposal can be sent to the customer by any one of various mechanisms. For example, the proposal can be in the form of an electronic message(s), text message(s), and so forth. Alternatively, if the print job request was submitted using a PSP's website, then the proposal can be sent to the customer through the website. [0010] The customer can decide, based on the incentive, whether or not to accept the proposed change to the print job request. Proposing incentives to customers to encourage customers to accept proposed changes to print job requests provides a technique or mechanism to influence the ordering process by helping the customers make informed and more beneficial choices.

[001 1 ] The proposed changes to print job requests can modify various parameters that can benefit either a customer or a PSP, or both. A parameter (or parameters) of a print job to be changed can be one that does not contribute to product intent, but which may increase cost or production time or decrease quality. As noted above, "product intent" refers to target characteristics of the printed product that are to be achieved. In specific examples, a print job request may specify that print products be printed on paper of a relatively high quality. However, based on the particular characteristics of the requested print job (such as print job involving images of relatively low resolution) and/or based on historical print jobs of a particular customer (e.g. historically the particular customer has usually ordered print jobs with lower quality paper), it may be determined that use of a lower quality paper can result in printed products that still satisfy the product intent. In such a scenario, the proposed change to the print job request can propose a change to the lower quality paper, and the incentive offered can be a reduced price to the customer. Also, parameters can be adjusted to match the substrate, ink, printer capability, and/or finishing (as examples) to achieve a product intent. The proposal may be to increase or decrease one or more of the print job parameters. Additionally, the customer may have to add an additional process step (such as adding varnish to protect the print product during outdoor use) to meet the customer's intended use.

[0012] Alternatively, a parameter (or parameters) of the print job request that can be changed can be one that can allow a given print job to be part of a larger group of print jobs (that can employ the same substrate, same print finishing, same final print size, etc.). By allowing the given print job to be part of the larger group of print jobs, the price offered to the customer can be reduced, since setup and other costs can be shared among the print jobs and thus such costs can be reduced on a per-job basis. [0013] As further examples, a parameter (or parameters) of the print job request that can be changed can be one that conforms the print job to a standard print job template (from among multiple standard print job templates, for example). A

"standard print job template" refers to a template having predefined characteristics (e.g. type of substrate, type of print finishing, print quality, print technology, etc.) relating to a print job. Conforming a print job to a standard print job template can result in reduced costs, since the PSP has established equipment and/or procedures for printing print products according to the standard print job template.

[0014] A proposal sent to the customer can also indicate how various parameters (and corresponding changes) can influence the final product quality, cost or delivery time so that the customer can determine the various tradeoffs and decide what changes to accept.

[0015] From the perspective of a PSP, proposed changes in parameters of print job requests can help a PSP in better managing the incoming workload (and reducing complexity of printed products) at the PSP. For example, if print job requests for a relatively large number of print products specify completion generally around the same time period, the PSP can offer incentives to some subset of customers to delay their respective completion dates. If the subset of customers accept such delay in respective completion dates, then the PSP would be able to distribute the workload over a greater period of time. Acceptance of delays in completion time can also enable more efficient fulfillment and shipping of the print jobs to the customers and in some cases enable a further mailing volume discount for presorted zip codes.

[0016] As another example, a PSP's inventory may include a larger number of substrates of a first type, and a smaller number of substrates of a second type. The PSP may have an insufficient number of the substrates of the second type to satisfy incoming print job requests. If it is not cost efficient for the PSP to order additional substrates of the second type, the PSP may offer incentives to customers to accept changes to some of the print job requests to be printed on substrates of the first type rather than the second type. Alternatively, the PSP may wish to deplete the inventory of a particular type of substrates. As yet another example, the PSP can propose modifications to print job requests to enhance fuller utilization of the PSP's equipment and labor, especially for more expensive equipment such as print presses or large automated finishing devices.

[0017] More generally, a PSP can also offer incentives to customers to modify print job requests based on the specific capabilities of the PSP and the specific situation (e.g. existing print workload, existing inventory of parts, etc.) of the PSP.

[001 8] Although Fig. 1 illustrates a process that can be performed for an individual PSP, note that the process of Fig. 1 can also be applied in a context of multiple PSPs. Traditionally, the print industry is made up of a collection of individual print shops (e.g. actual print retailers and/or online PSPs). However, more recently, the print industry is trending towards use of a network of PSPs. Customers can use the network to find appropriate PSPs to fulfill the customers' print job requests.

Different PSPs can offer different capabilities. Employing a network of PSPs can reduce overcapacity and waste, since each individual PSP does not have to invest excessively in printing equipment.

[0019] The network of PSPs allows for provision of print services over the "cloud." The "cloud" refers to a network infrastructure that provides services (in this case print services) that can be accessed by customers remotely over a network (e.g. the Internet, a local area network, etc.).

[0020] As noted above, even in the context of a network of PSPs to provide cloud-based print services, incoming print job requests can still exhibit unpredictable patterns, in terms of both volumes of print services and the diversity of the print services requested by customers. Techniques or mechanisms such as those according to Fig. 1 can also be implemented in the context of the network

infrastructure that provides the cloud-based print services. Such techniques or mechanisms can offer recommendations (in the form of changes to print job requests) to customers along with incentives to help streamline print production provided by the PSPs, and also to help reduce costs and time. [0021 ] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example arrangement that includes a print service provider (PSP) network 202 that is associated with multiple PSPs 204. Customers 206 are able to access the PSP network 202 to obtain print services offered by the PSPs 204.

[0022] The PSP network 202 is implemented with a network infrastructure, which can include a computer system or a distributed arrangement of computer systems connected over communications link(s). The customers 206 can be associated with respective user devices, such as computers (e.g. notebook computers, desktop computers, tablet computers), handheld devices (e.g. personal digital assistants, smartphones, etc.), or other electronic devices. In the context where a customer 206 is an enterprise (e.g. company, educational organization, government agency, etc.), the user device can be a network server or other like device that allows access of an external network, including the PSP network 202.

[0023] The PSPs 204 are also associated with respective equipment. Such equipment can include computer and communication equipment to allow the corresponding PSP 204 to communicate with the PSP network 202. Also, the equipment includes print production equipment to create print products, where the print production equipment can include printers, finishers, and so forth.

[0024] Using a respective user device, a customer 206 is able to access the PSP network 202 through interface(s) 208 provided at the PSP network 202. The interface(s) 208 can be implemented as a web interface, an application programming interface (API), or any other type of interface. The interface(s) 208 can advertise information 210 relating to available PSPs (such as in the form of a list of PSPs). The information 210 can also indicate capabilities of the corresponding PSPs, which can be presented to the user device of a customer 206. The presented list of PSPs and corresponding capabilities allow the customer 206 to select a PSP to use for ordering a print job. Print job requests of customers 206 can also be submitted through the interface(s) 208.

[0025] Additionally, in some examples, the interface(s) 208 can also allow a customer 206 to engage in negotiation of a service level agreement (SLA) with either a particular PSP 204 or with the PSP network 202. An SLA specifies target characteristic(s), such as price, turnaround time, and so forth, that is (are) to be met when processing a print job for a customer. Information 212 describing the SLAs can be made available to respective customers 206.

[0026] The PSP network 202 also collects information to allow the PSP network 202 to have a better understanding of customer specifications relating to print jobs and PSP capabilities and goals. Such information can be in the form of customer profiles 214 and PSP profiles 216. Collection of customer profiles 214 and PSP profiles 216 is made easier due to provision of the PSP network 202, which allows for a central exchange of information as print job requests are submitted by customers 206 and handled by PSPs 204.

[0027] A customer profile 214 can include information regarding the customer's past print jobs (e.g. type, quantity, frequency, geographic region), the customer's market segment (e.g. customer is large or small customer, customer is in the photofinishing business, customer is a publisher, etc.), sensitivity to certain product attributes (e.g. print product quality, tardiness, price), or any other useful parameters.

[0028] A PSP profile 216 can include the PSP's capabilities (e.g. PSP has printing equipment to print color print products, to create large posters, etc.), the PSP's expertise relating to various types of print products, the PSP's customer satisfaction rate (e.g. historical rate of on-time delivery, quality, etc.). Moreover, the PSP profile can include additional information such as the PSP's production planning or parts inventory or machine status or scheduled maintenance. Other information can be included in the PSP profile.

[0029] As further shown in Fig. 2, information 218 relating to PSP incentives that can be offered by respective PSPs 204 are also provided in the PSP network 202. The PSP incentives in the information 218 can generally identify the types of incentives that a given PSP 204 is willing to offer a customer, such as a certain price discount percentage in return for delay in print job delivery time, substituting a print part (e.g. print substrate), and so forth. Note that, for each print job request handled by the PSP network, targeted incentives can be generated depending on specific characteristics of the print job request, the respective customer profile 214, and the respective PSP profile 216. As noted above, the targeted incentives can also include recommendations of changes to achieve a product intent (whether the recommendations lead to increased cost, the same cost, or less cost).

[0030] As further depicted in Fig. 2, as print job requests are received through the interface(s) 208, a print job request analyzer 220 analyzes the print job requests. The analysis by the print job request analyzer 220 allows the PSP network 202 to understand interactions between customers 206 and PSPs 204. Where appropriate, the analysis can involve updating the customer profiles 214 and PSP profiles 216. For example, a customer profile 214 can be updated with information of an incoming print job request to update the history of past print jobs. As further examples, PSP profiles 216 can be updated as print jobs are completed and as capabilities of the PSPs change.

[0031 ] The PSP network 202 also includes a modification module 222 to apply a modification procedure to an incoming print job request to change a parameter or multiple parameters (e.g. completion time, type of substrate, printing technology, type of finishing, quality level, quantity, etc.) of the print job request. The

modification module 222 can access the information 218 relating to incentives, as well as the respective customer profile 214 and respective PSP profile 216, to determine an incentive to offer the corresponding customer for the proposed modification. The proposed change and incentive can be communicated through the interface(s) 208 to the user device of the corresponding customer.

[0032] The print job request (after modification assuming the modification is accepted by the customer) can then be submitted by the PSP network 202 to a corresponding PSP 204. Also the customer can set preferences in the customer's profile to allow the system automatically optimize the customer's orders to meet the product intent in the future.

[0033] Fig. 3 is a flow diagram of a process of print job request processing according to alternative implementations. The Fig. 3 process can be performed by the PSP network 202 of Fig. 2, or by an individual PSP. The process receives (at 302) a print job request. The process then checks (at 304) the print job request for possible change, based on the job itself, corresponding customer profile 214 and PSP profile 216. The customer profile 214 and the print job request can be used to determine a product intent of the print job request. The change(s) determined at 304 can seek to maintain that product intent, or can seek to deviate from that product intent as little as possible.

[0034] The process then accesses the information 218 relating to incentives to determine (at 306) what incentive(s) the PSP can offer the customer for the proposed change(s). The process then presents (at 308) the change(s) to the customer, where each of the change(s) can be associated with a respective incentive. The process then receives (at 310) a selected change (or selected changes) from the customer, where the selected change(s) is from among the change(s) presented to the customer.

[0035] The following describes various examples of changes and corresponding incentives that can be offered to customers.

[0036] In some examples, a PSP or PSP network 202 can offer a volume-based incentive, where an incentive (e.g. price discount) is offered if a predetermined volume of print products (sharing a common set of characteristics) is achieved. Note that such predetermined volume of print products does not have to be from a single customer; rather the predetermined volume of print products can be from a group of customers. The PSP or PSP network 202 analyzes incoming print job requests, and identifies ones that share some set of characteristics (e.g. black-and-white print jobs on white paper). The identified print job requests can then be pooled (grouped), with the respective print product volumes specified by the identified print job requests summed and compared to the predetermined volume to see if the volume-based incentive can be offered. Note that the identified print job requests can be from multiple customers (or alternatively from just one customer). The identified print job requests can have one or more parameters that differ from each other (e.g.

completion deadline)— the PSP or PSP network 202 can propose a change of such parameter(s) (e.g. a delay in the completion time) along with the volume-based incentive to the customer(s) that provided the identified print job requests.

[0037] In alternative examples, the PSP or PSP network 202 can monitor the print job requests that have been received and analyze them for potential

modification. The PSP or PSP network 202 can present the proposed change(s) and incentive(s) to the customer for selection by the customer. For example, the proposal can be in a table format, with the table having entries containing proposed options and how such options differ from the parameter(s) of the print job request. In a more specific example, the proposal can be in the following form: "if you accept an additional 2 days for print, your overall cost will be 30% lower," or "the combination of paper and printing process you selected are not optimal to achieve the quality you want— you should change one or both of them."

[0038] Fig. 4 illustrates an example processing system 400, which can be implemented as a computer system or as a distributed arrangement of computer systems. The processing system 400 includes the print job request analyzer 220 and modification module 222 (discussed above in connection with Fig. 2), which can perform tasks as discussed above, such as those discussed in connection with Fig. 1 or 3. The analyzer 220 and module 222 can be implemented as machine-readable instructions that can be loaded for execution on a processor or multiple processors 402. A processor can include a microprocessor, microcontroller, processor module or subsystem, programmable integrated circuit, programmable gate array, or another control or computing device.

[0039] The processor(s) 402 can be connected to a network interface 404 to allow the processing system 400 to communicate over a network, such as with user devices of customers 206 or with computing equipment of PSPs 204.

[0040] The processing system 400 also includes a storage medium (or storage media) 406 to store the customer profiles 214, PSP profiles 216, and PSP incentives 218. The storage medium or storage media 406 can be implemented as one or multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media. The storage media include different forms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic or static random access memories (DRAMs or SRAMs), erasable and programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and

programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) and flash memories; magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removable disks; other magnetic media including tape; optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DVDs); or other types of storage devices. Note that the instructions discussed above can be provided on one computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively, can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media distributed in a large system having possibly plural nodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article of manufacture can refer to any manufactured single component or multiple

components. The storage medium or media can be located either in the machine running the machine-readable instructions, or located at a remote site from which machine-readable instructions can be downloaded over a network for execution.

[0041 ] In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However, implementations may be practiced without some or all of these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a processing system having a processor, a print job request from a requestor;

determining, by the processing system, an incentive to offer the requestor for a proposed change to be made to the print job request; and

sending, by the processing system, a proposal to the requestor that contains the incentive and proposed change.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a response responsive to the proposal from the requestor, wherein the response contains an indication of acceptance or rejection of the proposed change.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the proposed change to be made based on a profile of the requestor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the proposed change is further based on a profile of a print service provider.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the proposed change is based on a product intent ascertained based on the profile of the requestor and the print job request.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the received print job request can be pooled with another print job request,

wherein determining the incentive is based on determining that the received print job request can be pooled with the another print job request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

in response to determining that the received print job request can be pooled with the another print job request, determining whether a combined volume of the received print job request and the another print job request exceeds a predetermined volume,

wherein determining the incentive comprises determining a volume-based incentive based on determining that the combined volume exceeds the

predetermined volume.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is part of a print service provider network accessible by customers to access print services provided by print service providers.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying the print job request based on a preset preference in a customer profile.

10. A processing system comprising:

a storage medium to store customer profiles of respective customers that are able to submit print job requests to the processing system; and

a processor to:

in response to a particular print job request from a particular customer, determine, based on the corresponding customer profile, a proposed change to a parameter of the particular print job request;

determine an incentive to offer the particular customer for the proposed change.

1 1 . The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is to further:

add a parameter to the particular print job request to achieve a product intent.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the storage medium is to further store a profile of a print service provider, and wherein the processor is to determine the proposed change further based on the profile of the print service provider.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the proposed change is to conform a print job specified by the particular print job request to a print job template.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the proposed change is to allow the particular print job request to be grouped with another print job request.

15. An article comprising a machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a processing system to:

receive a print job request from a customer;

determine an incentive to offer the customer for a proposed change to be made to the print job request; and

send a proposal to the customer that contains the incentive and proposed change.