Variable Data Printing Accuracy: An In-Depth Breakdown

If you want to maintain client trust, variable data printing accuracy is one of the most important things you need to prioritize.

A recipient seeing incorrect or poorly formatted information may lose confidence in your ability to handle their data. Worse, sending a client someone else’s sensitive records could be a compliance violation.

Understanding what goes into VDP workflows can help you prevent these scenarios.

What are some potential causes of errors in document printing and mailing processes? And what controls exist to prevent these mistakes?

Read on to see our in-depth breakdown.

What Is Variable Data Printing Accuracy?

In variable data printing, each element must be factually correct, precisely placed, and properly matched to the intended file. When this happens, variable data printing accuracy has been achieved.

This process involves many moving parts, all of which must be executed correctly in order to prevent mistakes from reaching the client. Missing or out-of-place data can paint a negative impression of your organization, and mistakes that involve delivering sensitive information to the wrong recipient could be compliance violations.

Key aspects of variable data printing accuracy include:

• Pulling the correct names, addresses, account details, images, barcodes, and other personalized components from the correct data fields.
• Placing each piece of information exactly where it should appear on each document.
• Avoiding the duplication of data points or the omission of information.
• Preventing materials belonging to one customer from appearing on a record meant for another.
• Inserting each document into the right envelope with the right set of documents.
• Sending customer communications to the correct recipients.

Why Variable Data Printing Accuracy Matters

The recipient of every document is a client or a customer making a choice about which organization to trust. Variable data printing accuracy helps maintain your clients’ perception of you.

Imagine a scenario in which a customer receives a statement with a duplicate name. When the customer reads this information, they will notice the mistake. They may begin to feel undervalued and wonder, “Why wasn’t I a priority to them?” They may also start to doubt the integrity of the organization’s workflows, thinking, “If they made this mistake, what other errors did they make? Could they have mishandled my data?”

Mistakes in variable data printing accuracy can, thus, lead to a loss of customer confidence and credibility, especially for organizations printing high-stakes communications such as statements, notices, and compliance-driven correspondence.

Imagine, further, an instance in which a client opens their envelope and sees information that doesn’t belong to them. This erodes trust even further, making this client think, “Where are my documents? Are they in someone else’s hands?” For organizations in highly-regulated industries, this could be a compliance violation that costs time, money, and brand reputation.

From an operational standpoint, variable data printing accuracy affects efficiency and costs. Errors can lead to reprints, remailings, customer service escalations, and internal investigations that are difficult to deal with.

Ultimately, if you want your clients view you as a trustworthy partner, and if you want to avoid spending money on reprints, variable data printing accuracy matters greatly to your organization.

What Are Some Potential Causes of Variable Data Printing Accuracy Issues?

The following can serve as a checklist of items to confirm that you have addressed before beginning the production process. Understanding these variable data printing accuracy errors can help you prevent incorrect documents from getting into the hands of a client:

Data Integrity Problems

Accuracy issues can occur in the source data itself.

Incomplete records, outdated information, or inconsistent formatting can cause variable fields to populate incorrectly or fail altogether.

This is why it’s important to check your data before sending documents to print.

File Setup and Template Errors

Errors can also occur during the creation of templates.

Incorrect field mapping, misaligned variable frames, or improperly layered content can cause data to appear in the wrong location or to not appear at all.

Conditional logic adds another layer of complexity. If rules are misconfigured or insufficiently tested, the wrong text or images may be triggered for certain records.

One way to help prevent this issue is to partner with an organization that completes thorough preprint test runs before beginning the final production process. This allows for multiple checks that data is accurate, well-presented, and in line with your specifications, and can help prevent costly reprints.

Workflow and Human Error

Mistakes can happen while on the production floor, even among documents that are printed perfectly.

For example, documents about to be inserted could be accidentally placed out of order, or even among another customer’s set of documents entirely. If this happens, these documents could be inserted into the incorrect envelopes and sent to the wrong client.

To prevent this, providers that pride themselves on variable data printing accuracy incorporate quality checks on the production floor. For example, they may include tracking barcodes on each document that cause mail inserters to automatically reject out-of-sequence files, or employ a dedicated quality control team.

Mailing Accuracy Errors

Inaccurate mailing lists can lead to correct documents being placed into the correct envelope, but sent to the wrong client because the intended recipient moved.

Organizations looking to reduce this problem can check their mailing lists against the NCOA regularly. This database contains address change records submitted to the USPS. It can help prevent mail from arriving at incorrect addresses, and can also prevent delays due to mail being marked undeliverable.

How Is Variable Data Printing Accuracy Maintained Throughout Print and Mail Workflows?

Maintaining variable data printing quality requires implementation of checks throughout the entire process. Here’s how it’s done:

VDP Accuracy in Prepress Data Validation

Before any print file is created, source data must be validated to confirm that required fields are present, properly formatted, and aligned with the intended document logic.

This includes checking field lengths, data types, and conditional values to ensure they will populate correctly within the template.

Prepress validation also involves testing how real records interact with the layout. This is why the completion of preprint test runs is an important step to confirm variable data printing accuracy.

When an outsource printing provider completes test prints of your files, and ensures that you review them before moving to print, it allows for multiple checks of file output to validate that data maps onto each document correctly.

Having thorough discussions with your third-party vendor’s team before going to print can also help increase accuracy rates.

When your printing vendor’s team meets with you regularly, takes the time they need to ask questions, and makes sure all issues are resolved and all client specifications are met, it’s easier for documents to be printed right the first time.

VDP Accuracy in Press-Level Controls

During printing, automated verification systems help confirm that output is correct and that all documents enter the right envelopes.

For example, organizations may use 2D barcodes on the production floor as a quality control metric.

These barcodes are read each time a document is scanned by a mail inserter before being placed in an envelope. Each scan is compared against the expected data record, allowing the system to confirm that the correct information appears on the correct piece. If a document is out of sequence, it is flagged by the inserter, and the issue can be promptly resolved.

Accuracy in Mailing Workflows

Cleansing address data against the NCOA can prevent the right envelopes from going to the wrong addresses.

Completing this step involves comparing your mailing lists against the NCOA, a database of instances recorded by the USPS in which a family or a business has moved.

Many third-party printing and mailing providers can help you complete this step by checking your mailing lists against this database.

Variable Data Printing Accuracy in Compliance-Driven Print Operations

Variable data printing accuracy is particularly important for organizations in highly-regulated industries. Documents that contain sensitive information must be produced and delivered exactly as intended, with safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

Errors that can lead to compliance violations include delivering envelopes to the wrong recipient and combining multiple clients’ files into the same envelope.

This is why the above steps to confirm accuracy in printing and mailing workflows, namely prepress data checks, frequent meetings with third-party providers, use of barcodes, and the presence of a quality control team, are particularly important for organizations in finance, healthcare, government, and other highly-regulated sectors.

D4 Solutions: Variable Data Printing Accuracy in a Print and Mail Vendor

If you need security, compliance-readiness, and timeliness from a print and mail vendor, D4 Solutions is the right fit for the job. We prioritize variable data printing accuracy throughout every step of our workflows.

From the beginning of the process, before any information is placed into templates or brought to print, each organization is assigned a dedicated project manager. The project manager meets with each organization as often as they need, whether that be weekly, monthly, quarterly, or any other frequency that fits best. Our team asks the right questions up front in order to avoid production issues and meet each client’s exact specifications.

From there, data is standardized and document composition is completed by team members that have been trained on security protocols, including HIPAA.

We conduct thorough test runs before anything goes to print. Our clients review the output of these test runs and confirm that their requirements have been met, and only then does the full print job begin.

Our mail inserting process prioritizes accuracy via the use of barcodes and mail inserters. Each sheet has a 2D barcode attached that is scanned whenever the sheet is pulled into the inserter. If a document is pulled out of sequence, it is rejected by the machine. At this point, our quality control team steps in to resolve the issue. This can prevent the mailing of envelopes containing information that belongs to multiple different customers.

To strengthen the accuracy of our clients’ mailings, we offer CASS and NCOA services. CASS-certified address standardization software brings addresses in line with USPS guidelines. This helps prevent undeliverable mail. NCOA services identify which clients have moved and to where, which can not only reduce undeliverables but also help prevent mail containing sensitive information from being sent to the wrong locations.

Because of our preprint test runs, use of mail barcodes, CASS and NCOA services, and dedicated project management and quality control teams, our operational accuracy rate stands at 99.99% in terms of quality and on-time delivery. Our HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II audited workflows prioritize security, accuracy, and timeliness throughout the printing and mailing process.

Interested in learning more? Reach out now to discuss your variable data printing needs with one of our experts.

Q+A: Variable Data Printing Accuracy

What makes accuracy in variable data printing so important?
Variable data printing accuracy protects client trust, reduces costly reprints, and helps maintain data security. If a customer sees an error in a document, they may lose confidence in your organization, and if a client gains access to someone else’s sensitive records, it could be a compliance violation.

What are some potential causes of variable data printing accuracy issues?
Potential causes include poor source data quality, incorrect field mapping in templates, production floor errors, and outdated mailing lists.

How can firms maintain regulatory compliance in print and mail workflows?
High variable data printing accuracy helps prevent unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, thus helping organizations stay compliant.

How is variable data printing accuracy preserved during production?
Controls such as preprint test runs and barcode scanning can help maintain data quality.

What role do barcodes play in print and mail processes? 
Barcodes enable piece-level tracking by confirming that each document matches the correct data record and is inserted into the correct envelope.