MIS At Last in Oklahoma
Gerlinde Williams has been waiting a long time for a graphic arts management information system.
“I’ve been wanting this for 10 years,” says Williams, administrator of Central Printing for the State of Oklahoma.
After putting up with an internally created job ticketing and billing program for years (with a flawed estimating function), her 22-employee print and mail operation got its big break when the IT department decided not to continue supporting the old program. She immediately thought of Avanti Computer Systems, having seen the Canadian company’s exhibits at in-plant conferences. Avanti won the bid and is in the process of installing its Graphic Arts Management Software for a July 1 startup date.
“It will give me some good information,” says Williams, a 30-year veteran of the department. She’s excited to see reports showing costs vs. revenue, and to learn which jobs the in-plant is most (and least) cost effective at doing. Some of the modules the in-plant is adding are scheduling, shop floor, purchasing, print estimating, order entry/job costing, chargeback, inventory, variable templates, PDF converter and Internet order entry. That last module will finally give the shop a way to cost-effectively handle business cards by eliminating typesetting and proofing by shop personnel.
- Companies:
- Avanti Computer Systems
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
