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Preparation and experience determine which printers and trade shops most readily reap Digital Asset Management's benefits.
by Terri McConnell, PrePress Editor
Digital Asset Management (DAM) has been described as an emerging billion-dollar industry. Estimates from the California-based market research firm GISTICS suggest revenues from DAM software development could reach $3.2 billion by the end of 2001.
That's an enticement certain to create frenzy within today's opportunistic investment community. But, in this case, the buzz surrounding DAM is both legitimate and well deserved. It really is an important issue for every business to address, and what both large corporations and small businesses alike will find of particular interest is not necessarily the money to be made, but rather, the money to be saved.
Many businesses underestimate the value of having control over their digital assets—which can simply be defined as those items representing value to the company that are currently stored in a digital format. Every document, every graphic, every file produced or modified in a digital format is technically an asset, and if it can be reused by a different department or re-purposed for another project, then its value only increases.
In her article "Digital Asset Management, The Art of Archiving," published on www.tech-exchange.com, consultant Teri Ross quantifies the benefits of asset management. Citing data from Canto Software, a company with more than 120,000 licensed DAM seats worldwide, Ross writes the average creative professional looks for a media file 83 times a week and fails to find it 35 percent of the time. A DAM solution could drop that figure to 5 percent. Her research shows the ROI on a digital asset management system is between 8:1 to 14:1, due to labor savings in file searching and retrieval, extended use and re-use of digital assets, faster turnarounds, and workflow efficiency.
Benefits and barriers
The package printing industry in particular stands to benefit from DAM. Consumer product companies, along with their ad agencies, trade shops, and printers and converters, are actively pursuing more effective ways of storing and disseminating the massive volumes of digital material generated in the design, packaging, and promotion of a product.
The product manufacturer has invested financially in logos, artwork, descriptive copy, SKU numbers, ingredient listings, copyrights, etc. By making these digital assets easily accessible, the manufacturer can save considerable time and money in the development of re-designs, line extensions, advertisements, presentations, and promotional campaigns. More importantly, by managing these assets, the manufacturer can ensure the integrity of brand equity, and exercise much stricter control over product reproduction.
by Terri McConnell, PrePress Editor
Digital Asset Management (DAM) has been described as an emerging billion-dollar industry. Estimates from the California-based market research firm GISTICS suggest revenues from DAM software development could reach $3.2 billion by the end of 2001.
That's an enticement certain to create frenzy within today's opportunistic investment community. But, in this case, the buzz surrounding DAM is both legitimate and well deserved. It really is an important issue for every business to address, and what both large corporations and small businesses alike will find of particular interest is not necessarily the money to be made, but rather, the money to be saved.
Many businesses underestimate the value of having control over their digital assets—which can simply be defined as those items representing value to the company that are currently stored in a digital format. Every document, every graphic, every file produced or modified in a digital format is technically an asset, and if it can be reused by a different department or re-purposed for another project, then its value only increases.
In her article "Digital Asset Management, The Art of Archiving," published on www.tech-exchange.com, consultant Teri Ross quantifies the benefits of asset management. Citing data from Canto Software, a company with more than 120,000 licensed DAM seats worldwide, Ross writes the average creative professional looks for a media file 83 times a week and fails to find it 35 percent of the time. A DAM solution could drop that figure to 5 percent. Her research shows the ROI on a digital asset management system is between 8:1 to 14:1, due to labor savings in file searching and retrieval, extended use and re-use of digital assets, faster turnarounds, and workflow efficiency.
Benefits and barriers
The package printing industry in particular stands to benefit from DAM. Consumer product companies, along with their ad agencies, trade shops, and printers and converters, are actively pursuing more effective ways of storing and disseminating the massive volumes of digital material generated in the design, packaging, and promotion of a product.
The product manufacturer has invested financially in logos, artwork, descriptive copy, SKU numbers, ingredient listings, copyrights, etc. By making these digital assets easily accessible, the manufacturer can save considerable time and money in the development of re-designs, line extensions, advertisements, presentations, and promotional campaigns. More importantly, by managing these assets, the manufacturer can ensure the integrity of brand equity, and exercise much stricter control over product reproduction.
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