As organizations move communications to digital channels, print volumes decline, and the documents that remain in print become more complex, more regulated, and more consequential for the people who receive them. That raises the accuracy requirements for physical production. It also makes coordination between print and digital delivery an operational priority.
Electronic Delivery
The shift is accelerating across financial services, healthcare, insurance, and government. In July, the SEC proposed Regulation E-Delivery, which would make electronic delivery the default for many investor communications while preserving paper on request. This series draws on a recent Expert Insights episode hosted by Sharon Malloch of MHC. The episode featured Joe Eremita, Senior Director of Software Product Line Management at BlueCrest, and Kim Cook, VP of Partners and Alliances at MHC.
How E-Delivery Changes the Print Mix
The communications that migrate to digital first are typically the simplest: routine notices and quick updates that translate easily to an inbox. Joe described what remains in print as “the more complex, the higher value documents.” These include detailed statements, regulated disclosures, and communications where the physical format carries weight with the recipient.
Why Accuracy Requirements Rise as Print Volumes Fall
With fewer printed pieces and higher stakes per piece, your margin for error narrows. Three requirements become more demanding:
- Content accuracy: Each document must reflect the correct data and approved messaging.
- Delivery precision: Each piece must reach the right recipient at the right time.
- Channel consistency: A recipient may get one statement on paper and the next by email, so both need the same look, feel, and result.
What Coordinated Print and Digital Delivery Requires
Managing both channels as one system depends on a connected workflow from data through delivery. Upstream, a customer communications management (CCM) platform handles data, content, approvals, and digital delivery. Downstream, production equipment and software print, insert, and deliver physical mail with automated assurance at each step. This is the model behind our partnership with MHC, which pairs MHC’s NorthStar CCM platform with BlueCrest’s high-volume production and delivery.
The new rule would generally default to sending many investor notices electronically, while still offering paper copies upon request.Together, the two environments share a single source of truth for templates, business rules, and customer data. That means a change to messaging, branding, or compliance language is made once and applied everywhere, whether the output is a mailed statement, a secure digital document, or an email notification.
To make this work day to day, organizations need:
- Unified composition and governance: Standard templates, reusable content blocks, and consistent approval paths across print and digital.
- Shared identity and preference management: One customer record for addresses, consent, delivery preferences, and accessibility needs.
- End-to-end tracking: A common job ID and audit trail that follows each document from creation to delivery, with proof points at every handoff.
- Exception handling: Automated reprints, reroutes, or digital fallbacks when mail is returned, data is missing, or a job fails a quality check.
- Security and compliance: Controlled access, encryption, retention policies, and complete reporting for internal and regulatory review.
When print and digital are coordinated this way, the customer experience becomes predictable: the same message, the same timing, and the same level of assurance—no matter which channel delivers it.
In This Series
- Part 1: Coming Changes to E-Delivery
- Part 2: Why Onboarding Defines Print and Mail Profitability
- Part 3: Ease of Use Is an Operational Metric
- Part 4: How Print and Mail Service Providers Are Growing
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