Recurring membership print for the Confederation of Aerial Industries: a magazine, a directory of more than 300 pages, and data that never sits still.
Pages per directory edition, across 13 sections with county ordering and full alphabetical cross-indexing, updated to the last moment and turned around in days.
The Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd, the CAI, formed in 1978 to represent the rapidly growing UHF TV aerial industry. Today its membership runs from sole-proprietor aerial and satellite installers through to the largest communal-system design and installation companies, plus the manufacturers and distributors who supply the equipment behind them.
This is exactly the kind of organisation we exist for: a membership body with continuous, recurring print at the heart of how it engages its members.
Most printers can handle 300 pages. Far fewer can handle 300 pages that will not stop moving.
The CAI engages its membership through the regular FEEDBACK magazine and through a member directory that is, frankly, a beast of a production job. Thirteen sections. More than 300 pages every edition. Set out in county order, with alphabetical indexes that have to account correctly for head offices and branch details.
The data arrives as text files. It changes until the last possible moment, because a directory that is out of date when it lands on a member’s desk has failed at its only job. The end result has to be attractive, extremely easy to use, and printed quickly enough to keep the information fresh.
We built the directory production around the reality of the data rather than fighting it. The structure was designed to absorb last-minute changes without breaking the county ordering or the cross-referenced indexes. The meticulous, repetitive transformation work, taking raw text files through to a clean, navigable, properly indexed publication, became our problem rather than the Secretary’s.
The work is handled with priority and turned around swiftly, often in a matter of days, so the directory is always current when it reaches the membership.
Both the directory and the magazine are ongoing projects, edition after edition, year after year. The CAI’s team liaises with us directly, with the confidence that delivery will be on time, on quality and on the agreed budget. They do not chase. They do not check. They send the data and get the directory back.
We have always had a great working relationship, and as Secretary to the CAI, I find that I can rely on my team to liaise directly with the knowledge that Evolution will always deliver to time, quality and to agreed budget. These tedious and meticulous transformations are all handled very well, and the quick turnaround means that our directory is always up to date when it reaches our members. Keep it up, team Evolution.
Beverley, Secretary, Confederation of Aerial Industries
The Secretary’s team sends data and receives a finished directory. Every tedious transformation in between sits with us. The client’s process is one step long. Ours is many. That is the correct division of labour.
A production workflow built to absorb last-minute data changes is a modernised workflow, whatever the page count. The directory stays fresh because the process was designed around changing data rather than around a frozen artwork file.
Edition after edition, the same standard: on time, on quality, on agreed budget. Recurring work is where continuous improvement actually lives, because every edition is a chance to refine the process.
The work earns its keep through reliability, not through unit price. The cost of a late or wrong directory would dwarf any saving from a cheaper supplier. Spend judged against return.
If you run a membership organisation with recurring publishing at the heart of it, we should talk.