How Bennett Graphics boosted productivity and reduced waste with GelatoConnect

For over 50 years, Bennett Graphics has been a renowned name in the printing industry, known for its relentless dedication to quality and innovation. This reputation for excellence led Bennett Graphics to Gelato, initially as a print partner for GelatoCreate and eventually as an adopter of GelatoConnect. Through this partnership, Bennett Graphics has been able to transform its operational efficiency, reduce waste, and respond to the growing trend of microtransactions in the print industry.

The print industry is shifting toward smaller, more personalized orders, driven by the rise of ecommerce and customized products. Bennett Graphics has witnessed this evolution firsthand, as Adam Seiz, Vice President of Business Solutions at Bennett, explains, “What we've seen at Bennett has been this shift from: ‘Hey, we need 1,000 pocket folders or 2,000 stitch books’ to more and more ecommerce and microtransactions—a quantity of one photo book or whatever the thing is.” 

In a rapidly changing industry, Bennett needed a solution that could help streamline and simplify processes. GelatoConnect provided the answer. “It’s very much a plug-and-play solution to enter the microtransaction world,” says Seiz, adding, “GelatoConnect enables that to become simple instead of complex and intimidating.”

One of the most significant impacts of adopting GelatoConnect has been Bennett Graphics’ reduction in waste. Previously, they were experiencing a 41% waste rate per position—a costly inefficiency. By implementing a new “snake-based imposition” method through GelatoConnect, Bennett has been able to reduce waste to 10%, representing a 75% reduction. 

“That reduction means cost savings,” Seiz notes. “With the volume of orders we’re processing, that means we’re looking at between $125,000 and $135,000 for just one product for one customer.”

Additionally, GelatoConnect has allowed Bennett to optimize its packaging costs. Through collaborative efforts with Gelato, they identified a method to save 79 cents per package in postage costs for one of their high-volume customers. Considering this customer placed 300 orders in a single day, the savings add up quickly, making a substantial impact on the bottom line.

Seiz reflects on these cost efficiencies, saying, “There’s labor savings throughout our process, material savings, and then when you add onto that, potentially saving a lot of money from who we’re buying labels from and how, it’s a very compelling overall big picture.”

Bennett Graphics also found that GelatoConnect’s Procurement module streamlined their inventory management, eliminating the guesswork that previously led to inconsistencies. Seiz describes the change: “Using the Procurement module, we get a push notification to say: ‘You have this many left. You've consumed this much. This is a volume over the next X amount of days. Here's the turn time. You need to buy this many.’ Going from a visual inspection and tribal knowledge of how a thing works to just getting a notification is a wild simplification of that process.”

By automating inventory updates, GelatoConnect has helped Bennett maintain a seamless workflow and prevent production delays, further enhancing their efficiency.

In addition to material and cost savings, Bennett Graphics has significantly reduced onboarding time for new staff. Seiz notes the transformative effect of this streamlined training: “Our ability to onboard people rapidly is just much better. It used to take a day to a couple of days to train someone in packaging, then up to a week to be like, ‘This person's good.’ With GelatoConnect, it’s 10, 15 minutes.”

With the support of GelatoConnect, Bennett Graphics has been able to reduce waste, save on costs, and optimize labor—transforming their operations and positioning themselves for sustained growth in the evolving print industry. Through automated inventory management, streamlined onboarding, and integrated software solutions, they have successfully modernized their processes to stay competitive in the market.

Seiz estimates that the total increase in efficiency since implementing GelatoConnect is between 20 and 25%. 

Seiz is himself an expert on workflows, and is shortly to publish a book about the subject. He highlights a broader issue in the print industry that Gelato is looking to address: the lack of integrated software solutions. Seiz observes, “What I hear over and over again is that every printer out there has this mismatch of different softwares and systems. 

“And some of it’s very powerful software, but there’s a lot of energy being expended to integrate them all. The idea of Gelato in the future being able to bring them all under one umbrella is very interesting.”

For more insights on how GelatoConnect can help your business scale, visit us at www.gelato.com/connect