ExpressPrint from Singapore today announced its expansion into the Malaysian market. Accompanying this announcement, ExpressPrint unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) software, PriceCal which is set to revolutionise the print industry.
Recent market shifts due to the pandemic have seen printing industry players struggle to carve out a market for themselves and keep their businesses afloat. Designed by printers for printers, PriceCal was developed as a quick and easy tool to instantly ramp up business capabilities and capacities, all the while unlocking the company’s potential through connecting printing companies with other players in the industry.
“Having been in the printing industry for the past 17 years, we understand the pain points faced by printing companies at a very personal level. From the shortage of manpower to the lack of space, and the cost required for maintenance, we’ve seen them all. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the industry greatly not only in terms of customer flow but also in the manner in which business is conducted. Through PriceCal, we not only effectively remove some of the biggest obstacles in the industry, but we also equip service providers with intuitive, unintrusive, and future-proof solutions all with the aim of substantially increasing the print industry user’s revenue,” stated ExpressPrint founder Welson Ang.
PriceCal is an AI-driven smart price calculation software designed to help printers automate and digitalise the ordering process to encourage greater customer engagement whilst optimising cost and pricing structures.
Beyond increasing customer bases across the nation through an improved digital experience, PriceCal exponentially expands the list of services and products printers are able to offer. PriceCal is able to achieve this by connecting smaller-scale printers to larger-scale wholesalers that are able to offer the additional services and solutions that would conventionally be infeasible for smaller-scale players.
Through this, printers will be able to offer more than 60 different print products and services, leveraging the tools, machinery and expertise of leading wholesalers to increase customer variety, thereby addressing the aforementioned overspending and underearning issues, which will lead to higher earnings – as much as RM100,000 in revenue.
Welson believes that the printing industry is plagued by 2 very prevalent issues – overspending and underearning. “Many printing companies are limited by machinery. Not only are printing machines expensive but skilled workers are also needed to operate them. They also require huge spaces which mean increased rental cost. Combined these could cost companies hundreds of thousands in revenue. This is before we even take into account the constraints of a physical set-up – the limited operating hours, dwindling physical footfall at smaller print shops due to health concerns and digitalisation as well as a change in print demands and consumer behaviour that have all added up to losses in revenues,” he added.
PriceCal is able to seamlessly integrate with the majority of eCommerce websites and comes pre-loaded with costing data from major wholesalers in Malaysia and Singapore allowing printers to easily standardise and optimise sale prices. PriceCal also comes equipped with a smart profit algorithm module that enables users to easily set up profit margins for products and services.
“We initially built PriceCal with our tech partners Cymric Studio and Entreship Solution Enterprise as an in-house solution to connect us with wholesalers and partners. As early adopters of the online space, we received monetary support for the initial development of the software from E2I, the leading network for employability solutions in Singapore. During the course of the pandemic, we decided to develop a commercial version to benefit all printers. During the course of the pandemic, we decided to develop a commercial version to benefit all printers. After more than 5,000 hours of development over the past 17 years, along with multiple bug fixes, optimisation efforts, and security features implementations, we believe that the software is now ready to be utilised by printers across the industry to benefit their individual businesses as well as the industry as a whole. While always present, not many printing companies seize the opportunity to grow. We want to be the catalyst for the growth and prosperity of this industry,” added Welson.
PriceCal will make its debut in the upcoming International Printing, Paper, Packaging Machinery Exhibition (IPMEX) 2022 at Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in Kuala Lumpur.
Established in 2005 by Welson Ang, ExpressPrint started off initially printing business cards, documents, and rubber stamps, alongside offering simple artwork services. The brand soon grew into one of Singapore’s main printing service providers. Today, aside from typical printing services, the company also prints on textiles, gifts, and large format standees and buntings for more than 120,000 customers. ExpressPrint is also decorated with awards over the years for its efforts in providing high-quality services and spearheading the industry, including the Stars Achiever Award by the Franchising & Licensing Association of Singapore and MOB-EX2016 by Mob-Ex Awards.
