Print Management Systems Vital to your Survival
Print management solutions are crucial to an in-plant's health and longevity.
By Gretchen A. Peck
"The only way a printer can hope to survive long-term is to improve efficiency, take costs out of the process, and create a market differentiation that ensures some level of competitive advantage," insists Gerald Walsh, director of product marketing at EFI, in Foster City, Calif.
Today's print management information systems (MIS), he says, provide the foundation for addressing these competitive challenges.
"In fact, with today's realities of high competition and tight margins, a good MIS isn't an option for printers; it's an absolute necessity," he adds.
This is even more true for in-plants, who must always be prepared to justify their operations by having data ready. A print management system integrates data from all departments, providing managers with data to run their in-plants and plan ahead.
"It's critical that an in-plant be able to track and analyze costs at all levels," says Walsh.
"In today's bottom-line world, print shops are continually justifying their existence," adds Carol McDonald, manager of marketing administration at Avanti Computer Systems, in Toronto. "A graphic arts management system improves overall shop efficiency and provides an executive team with immediate access to this information."
"The key to a successful in-plant is sufficient volume and quality of service," suggests Dave Vanable, director of WebCRD Business Development with Rochester Software Associates, in Rochester, N.Y. A reliable management solution improves customer service and minimizes leakage to outside print shops, while automating accounting and chargeback.
"Print job quality and response time are improved while lowering the total cost of production," he says.
The Benefits They Bring
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The ABCs of Print MIS Choosing a print management system shouldn't be a hasty decision. A quick sales demo won't provide enough guidance to make a wise decision, according to "The ABCs of Print MIS," a new 48-page handbook from EFI. Rather, the book advises, it's best to get your hands dirty. Do some testing—preferably with real-world scenarios and data. And get answers to questions like these: • Flexibility: Is the solution scalable? Will it grow and change along with industry and market trends? • Stability: Does the solution—and its developer—have a good track record and happy customers? Does the developer supply frequent and timely updates and upgrades? • Focus: Does the solution meet your business needs and goals? Is it bogged down with bells and whistles? Has it been designed with the specific needs of in-plants in mind? • Implementation: What can you expect during implementation? How will the developer provide training? • Helpfulness: Is the developer known for customer service? Is it easy to get answers, to seek troubleshooting advice or to participate in user groups? Has the developer paired your business with a solution designed around your needs? "The ABCs of Print MIS" provides a detailed look at the components of a print management system and delves into how each area of the print process can benefit from better management tools. It also offers a glossary of key terms, plus product information on EFI's suite of MIS solutions. The publication may be downloaded as a PDF or ordered in hard-copy form from: www.efi.com |
"You can demonstrate that you have utilized your equipment to maximum load with reporting capabilities from your system," points out Avanti's McDonald. "Through customized reports and standard reports, you can present a clear picture to upper management. Forecasting reports can also be used for future projections, so that upper management has no surprises in their budget process if new equipment is required."
Below, we have detailed a few of the print MIS systems available for in-plants.
Avanti Computer Systems
www.avantisystems.com
The Avanti In-Plant Graphic Arts Management System is an integrated system of modules that manage everything from receipt of requisition to chargebacks. The system will perform such tasks as costing, job tracking and job scheduling.
The solution runs on PCs and across Local Area Networks (LANs). Customers can submit a job's content and instructions to the print shop through Internet or intranet connectivity. Order numbers are automatically assigned to all incoming new or repeat jobs. In-plants currently using part or all of the Avanti In-Plant Graphic Arts Management System include: Purdue University, Harvard, the State of Ohio, the City of San Diego and the State of Washington.
DIMS! Organizing Print
www.dims.net
DiMS! Organizing Print says its solution offers a single, Web-enabled multi-lingual software package that integrates a range of administrative and printing processes. DiMS! automates and manages independent and related tasks, such as estimating, planning, scheduling, prepress, shipping, invoicing and accounting. Web-enabled, it's capable of managing individual printing facilities, as well as multi-plant organizations. The solution is built on an open architecture, is JDF compliant and will bridge the communication gaps between prepress, production and post-press.
EDU Business Solutions
www.edubusinesssolutions.com
The Print Shop Pro management software tool is a Web-enabled solution to manage in-plant processes, such as inventory control, account chargebacks, quotes, lost revenue and job tracking. Users can create real-time quotes—based on fixed costs for inventory, services and leased equipment click charges, for example—by selecting pick-lists for customers, papers and equipment. In-plants can also provide forecasts of job completion based on activity of presses, copiers, collators and staff. According to the developer, a single click enables users to create comprehensive month-end reports that may be exported to accounting systems.
EDU's Print Shop Pro WebDesk provides online customer order management, online order entry, online order approval and online access to job status. An optional PDF conversion module converts incoming electronic content files to PDF files.
EDU Business Solutions reports that in-plants such as the University of Wisconsin, City of Irvine, Los Angeles County Board of Education and Portland School System are using Print Shop Pro.
EFI
www.efi.com
EFI has four solutions that are helping in-plants manage their workflow and business measurements: Hagen OA, EFI Logic, PSI and PrintSmith.
• PrintSmith MIS is best-suited for on-demand, digital and copy center operations. The modular, scalable solution automates estimating, production and accounting. PrintSmith is cross-platform, equally suited to Windows and Mac operations, and can be scaled and customized for any size in-plant. The system can generate reports that will help business decisions, including capital investments. Its reporting systems help keep tabs on works in progress, paper calculations, job ticketing, account statements, estimates, invoices, quotes and customer data.
• Hagen OA (Open Architecture) is a management solution with multi-company, multi-division and multi-language capabilities. It is scalable, from five to 5,000 users, and enables estimating, physical and finished goods inventory management, integration with industry-leading warehouse management solutions, and enterprise accounting and financial management.
• PSI uses a Windows interface and integrates 18 software modules with Microsoft's scalable SQL Server database management system and Macola Accounting. These tools automate job planning, costing, data collection, scheduling, purchasing, inventory management, accounting and more.
• EFI Logic provides end-to-end integration of data collection tools. It's best suited for medium to large printing operations with a mix of web, sheetfed and/or specialty processes. It manages estimating, billing, order entry, shipping, purchasing, inventory control and accounting, among other things.
Enterprise Print Management Solutions
www.entpms.com
The Enterprise 32 suite is an integrated print MIS solution, comprising modules for estimating/order entry, job costing/tracking, purchasing, financials, finished goods and raw stock inventory control, scheduling and browser-based e-commerce.
Current in-plant customers include: Louisiana State University, Syracuse University, several Blue Cross/Blue Shield in-plants, the State of Colorado, Texas Legislative Council (House and Senate), the City of Miami and the City of Virginia Beach.
The company is planning several new e-Commerce modules to be released this year. EPMS hosts a large and active user group, publishes a quarterly customer newsletter and offers online support backed by a Help Desk that's staffed by print industry professionals.
Equitrac
www.equitrac.com
Equitrac Express 3.0 is an automated solution that lets universities, colleges and libraries control copy and printing costs. It integrates into campus IT infrastructures, enabling schools to provide flexible, self-service payment and 24/7 user access to any networked campus printer or copier. It integrates with online campus card accounting systems, allowing users to select the account to be debited.
The Equitrac Express 3.0 "Small Campus Edition" is prepackaged for the needs and budgets of smaller, single-server campus application environments. The "Equitrac Express 3.0 Suite" supports full-scale, campus-wide, multi-server deployments, encompassing campus scenarios with thousands of printers.
Franklin Estimating Systems
www.franklinestimating.com
Franklin Estimator 5.2 is lauded by its developer as the "fastest, easiest and most affordable estimator ever." It is user-definable, enabling users to customize rate structures for any job or local economy. The solution runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system. A free 14-day trial download is available in two versions—a standard edition and Estimator 5.2 Pro.
The Franklin DataManager, also for Windows, acts as a comprehensive, real-time shop-floor data collection system. Specifically, it enables the in-plant to obtain accurate accounts for time, costs and material usage. A 40-day free trial of DataManager is available.
Pace Systems Group
www.pace2020.com
The ePace Solution offers integrated modules for estimating, production workflow, accounting and e-commerce. The ePace Estimating modules enable cost-based estimating using time and material information gathered from the ePace system. Users can also choose to offer price-list estimates with the Pace Quote module, and prepare quotes for quick-turn jobs using Quick Copy. The ePace Production modules manage job planning and scheduling, as well as provide tracking of purchasing, inventory and shipment.
The Accounting modules offer both basic and advanced functions—comprising a complete accounting system that's been designed specifically for printing and graphic arts operations. The In-Plant Charge Back module allows in-plants to gather financial information and charge back to the appropriate cost centers. It also provides tools to track and report on annual budgets and amounts spent to date for each cost center. This information can be electronically transferred to another accounting or ERP system.
The ePace eCommerce suite of applications enables in-plants to interact with customers via the Internet. Customers can access real-time information about the status of their orders, submit job reorders and customize on-demand products with variable data. The ePace System is a browser-based solution that operates on a secure appliance provided and supported by Pace Systems and residing at the in-plant's facilities.
PrintPoint
www.printpoint.com
PrintPoint 5 offers job estimating, quoting and job tracking throughout the in-plant workflow—from prepress to the pressroom, including specific estimating modules for offset, copy/digital and large-format applications. PrintPoint Quotes streamlines the process of quote preparation for prospective and returning customers, providing abbreviated versions of estimates and displaying only the information the customer requires to make a purchasing decision.
PrintPoint's CombiQuote enables users to combine multiple estimates in a single quotation document. The Job Tracking module allows users to define workflow "stations" (prepress, pressroom, bindery, etc.) and monitor and report on productivity in each area.
PrintPoint is currently in use by the following in-plants: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Arizona Public Service Co., Lower Colorado River Authority, Pepperdine University, Altru Health Systems and the San Diego County Office of Education.
Rochester Software Associates
www.rocsoft.com
WebCRD is a modular print management solution that enables job submission, project management, reorders and output of digital printing jobs using the Internet or intranet. It comprises four modules, including WebCRD Direct, which allows customers to submit jobs or orders for reprints via the Web. The WebCRD Production module enables print center personnel to submit jobs directly to a print queue, automate makereadies, and auto-route, manage and track each print job. The WebCRD WorkGroup module enables the in-plant to store, access and reprint commonly used forms and documents via shared folders, and the WebCRD Reports modules manages tasks such as chargebacks, cost allocations, job estimates, project planning and tracking.
Tailored Solutions
www.tailored.com
Litho Traxx is a comprehensive print business management software suite comprising nine modules that electronically streamline and automate estimating, order processing, invoicing, accounts payable and accounts receivable, general ledger, job costing, fulfillment, and quality control. The cross-platform solution may be installed in either Macintosh, Windows or mixed environments.
