Specifying, producing, and delivering variable-content documents

摘要

Systems, methods, and computer program products are presented for creating and distributing a document of a particular type, where the document is based on variable content and/or variable layout. In one embodiment, a four-step is process is used. First, the document is specified. The document can be specified anywhere, regardless of the location of the user's office or the destination address of the document. In one embodiment, the document is specified using a client device (e.g., a computer running a web browser) that is attached to a network (e.g., the Internet). Second, the specification is transmitted to a production facility based on the destination address. Third, the document is produced at the facility. Finally, the produced document is delivered to the destination address.

主权项

1. A computer program product for creating a variable-content document, comprising:
a non-transitory machine-readable medium encoded with instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a specification of the document, wherein the specification comprises production information and delivery information, and wherein the production information indicates document content and document layout, and wherein the delivery information indicates a destination address;determining a set of production facilities, wherein each production facility in the set is capable of producing the document;determining, for each of a plurality of production facilities within the set, a corresponding metric value quantifying a suitability of the production facility for performing a delivery to the destination address, wherein the metric value is based at least in part on a measure of a labor cost specific to the production facility for producing the document;selecting, from the production facilities based on the corresponding metric values, a production facility; andtransmitting the specification to the selected production facility.