Computer Management Systems - Your Electronic Assistant
Computer management systems offer in-plants a way to track costs, boost customer service and justify themselves. Find out what else they can do for you.
Two years ago, Iowa State University Printing Services was paying the administrative data processing department about $8,000 per month for the use of its estimating and inventory tracking system. But that system tracked materials only—there was no way for the in-plant to factor in time and labor costs.
"We really didn't know what our true costs were," admits Gary Boyd, manager of printing services. He decided to take action. He researched many different computer management systems for his shop, finally deciding on software from Programmed Solutions. Boyd is now able to provide his administration with accurate reports through his own system, and is proving his shop's worth to the University.
"Having done all that, we are in a much better situation financially, and we know a lot more about what our true costs are," Boyd explains.
So why is it important for an in-plant to have a computer management system? Vendors say managers like Boyd know the right answer—so the in-plant can prove it is a profit center and not an expense.
"This is the age-old chargeback question," says Harold Rapp, vice president of sales for Avanti. "If printing does not charge back, how can you gauge their productivity? How can you compare them to outside sources? How does management know they are getting value?" These answers are provided accurately and easily with the use of a computer management system, Rapp insists.
"Most of our customers look at a management system as a way to give the upper echelon in the parent company cold, hard facts to justify their existence," adds Ken Davis, president of InfoNet. "Far and away the most significant fact is for them to be able to counteract the possibility of being outsourced."
Getting Started
Setting your shop up with a new computer management system is admittedly not easy, and you will most likely encounter some bumps in the road along the way. Boyd recalls some early problems when Iowa State University changed systems.
"We had some difficulties initially trying to set up the cost centers and coding the system to charge," Boyd reveals. "We really struggled on how to start, even though we had a trainer come out. It takes a lot of work."
He says there were also some hardware issues to deal with, and a few hidden, unexpected costs. Boyd suggests managers look for a company with good technical support that provides a strong training program. Also, be prepared to incur more charges than the vendor might admit to.
One interesting management system, used by in-plants for the National Geographic Society and American Trucking Associations, among others, is a wireless system from Electronet Information Systems. Using a light-weight antenna that can be moved from computer-to-computer, picking up radio frequencies, this mobile system can reportedly be mastered in five minutes or less.
"Electronet runs out of the box," says CEO Henry Freedman. "We are plug-and-play. We copied nintendo—you put it down, plug it in and turn it on. There is no systems operator needed."
Most systems, however, will require more than a few minutes of training. Many vendors provide full on-site training as part of the software purchase, as well as training at the vendor's headquarters. Telephone support is also a common offering from vendors.
Logic Associates goes a bit farther than that. It now provides a customer service team for each new customer and has launched a new professional services organization that will offer special training opportunities to users, says Mark Woodard, advertising and public relations associate. Logic also holds an annual users' meeting featuring seminars, training sessions and a chance to network with other Logic customers. Woodard says last year's event drew more than 500 Logic users.
On top of on-site customer training and ongoing technical support, InfoNet physically visits each customer once a year to correct problems and to hear users' ideas about possible improvements. Last year it was extremely important to see every customer, Davis explains, to install new software and convert databases to be Y2K compliant. This was all done at no charge under the service agreement, he notes.
Avanti has initiated its own users' group, from which it gets quite a bit of feedback, Rapp says. This is a way for Avanti to keep in touch with customers, and get ideas from them on how to improve its product.
"Many in-plants in our users' group were asking for an interface to Docutechs and other digital printers, so we are finishing that project," reveals Rapp. "Another request was for a fulfillment aspect to our Purchasing module. We feel this feature will be very popular."
What You Need
Computer management companies can offer you numerous different modules for your system, to not only justify your shop's existence but also to provide better customer service and boost production levels. These could include anything from order entry and real-time job tracking, to pricing and chargeback. Scheduling, fulfillment, data collection and estimating are also popular features. Of course, for these modules to give you useful information, a manager must already know a lot about his or her operation.
"You have to enter a lot of information to get anything out of it," points out Boyd, of Iowa State University. This may include pricing, material costs, labor hours and equipment information.
To cut down on the work necessary to install your system, vendors and managers agree that you should look for a system that runs on a platform that your employees are familiar with, and that will fit seamlessly with your shop's current equipment.
"Our goal is to modify our system to fit the shop rather than have the shop change to fit our system," contends Rapp, of Avanti. "We pay special attention to how the in-plant wants to operate, and set up the system to fit those needs. We ensure the system is programmed with the in-plant's equipment specs, its pricing and costing charts, and can even alter screens and prompts to ensure the terminology is the same as that familiar to the users."
E-Commerce Solutions
The ability to accept job submissions over the Internet is another need for in-plants—especially those doing work for customers in several different locations. Many computer management companies either already offer this capability or will soon. Logic, for example, is currently securing partnerships with several Internet companies to ensure connectivity between systems, says Woodard. It recently announced plans to integrate with Noosh, an Internet-based communication service.
"The thing that is clearly the hottest item right now is e-commerce," Woodard observes.
Davis, of InfoNet, has also seen this trend. He says he has many customers that want to offer customers order entry capabilities from their Web browsers. Through programs like InfoNet's Remote Access Interface, users can open an order or query a job's status by accessing the Web.
Once the software is in place, a computer management system should help managers on many fronts, says Freedman of Electronet Information Systems. Some benefits should include:
• Faster customer service and a reduction in the number of phone calls the shop receives.
• Cost control and more effective communication of costs to the parent organization.
• Less paper work.
• More accurate budgeting.
As for Boyd, he no longer has to rely on another department to track his work. Plus, he now has more accurate information concerning his operation. He feels like he made the right decision for the university and his shop.
"There is no doubt in my mind that we have cost-justified this system," Boyd remarks, confidently.
