A provider that has a good relationship with Tharstern is Vpress. In December of last year, Vpress launched bi-directional RFQ (Request for Quotes) into the Tharstern MIS environment, meaning anyone from anywhere in any language on any device may request a live price from Tharstern.
Kelvin Bell, sales director at Vpress, comments: “This compliments other levels of integration we have done in the past bringing MIS and web-to-print close together.
“We also integrated into the primary software-as-a-service (or Cloud MIS) solution; Avanti Slingshot showing dynamic packaging and labels being created at the Print Show, on stand for people to walk away with. A total end to end affordable solution with rapid deployment.
“In addition, we have plans to add pre-flighting of submitted jobs into both Slingshot and Tharstern to provide instant pricing 24/7.”
Bell leads on from this to outline the primary benefits of PSPs upgrading an MIS so that they have access to the latest features. He says: “Print is an evolving sector in technologies utilised, processes a adhered to as well as substrates involved, a good MIS is a solution to aid the business is all facets of operation to support efficiency, scalability and most importantly profitability.
“As the market migrates to the cloud, other key benefits are offered giving business new dimensions in a diverse market to support multi-site operations and great efficiency.”
Importance of automation
Looking elsewhere and Resolve Business Management is able to work with PSPs to identify the MIS that would best suit their company. Joint managing director Wayne Beckett says software nowadays is all about connectivity, and having a stand-alone system defeats the object of a good MIS.
Beckett expands: “Software needs to cut down manual tasks, it needs to fully automate the production path and most importantly, needs to reduce touch points on a job. We all know run lengths are coming down and in turn margins too, so PSPs need to be able to handle hundreds or maybe thousands of jobs a day without having to manually input anything.”
One of the MIS providers Resolve works with is Keyline, whose creator, Crispy Mountain, merged with Heidelberg last year to further evolve the product, with the over-arching aim of developing a collaboration platform for the print sector.
PSPs need to be able to handle hundreds or maybe thousands of jobs a day without having to manually input anything”
Key benefits of this platform, Beckett says, will be easier data exchange between existing on-premise MIS software, new cloud-based apps supplying functions like workflow, pre-flight and scheduling, as well as machine integration via an industry-wide open IoT platform.
Beckett says: “The existing Keyline product will be tightly connected and it is the hope of the Crispy team that other MIS vendors will follow suit and integrate their systems with the platform as well, giving PSPs a large range of solutions to chose from. Finally, a fully electronic procurement system will be part of the platform that allows easier and more traceable access to consumables.”
Achieve more
Also active in this sector is Imprint Business Systems, whose project manager, Peter Horwood, says if a PSP is paying for a system it makes sense to get the most out of it, including keeping it up to date.
Horwood says: “It’s a simple analogy but it’s like buying a new car, then never replacing it, and wondering why other people have all the modern features and you don’t.
“Everyone wants to achieve a better level of automation and integration within their system. The reality is this end goal is not reached without putting in the work and a good MIS partner should be able to guide you through what is achievable.
It’s a simple analogy but it’s like buying a new car, then never replacing it, and wondering why other people have all the modern features and you don’t”
“This is an ongoing process of helping to identify where savings can be made within a business and touch points can be reduced. No matter how much people want an “out the box” or “just plug it in” system, a truly effective MIS needs to be set up and configured to suit a company’s needs in order to deliver their return on investment.”
With this, Horwood says that as a bespoke MIS with tailored solutions, Imprint is always evolving and developing new features, as well as integrating with other systems. Recent examples include new Integrated Carton design features, which allow non-cad operators to generate carton layouts.
Also from Imprint, its quick estimating module with optional price listing allows for quick price list style picking, which Horwood explains is particularly useful for multi-component jobs and direct mail.
Imprint also recently added automated production control loading. Horwood says that this allows hundreds of digital jobs to be loaded automatically onto the production board from B2B, web-to-print or internally. Other MIS components handle auto despatch and invoicing large numbers of small or large jobs.
Deliver savings
Meanwhile, iteba has seen success in the print market via its SolPrint MIS, with managing director Peter Griffin saying that upgrades are vital if PSPs are to keep up with developments elsewhere.
Griffin expands: “Systems need to be seamlessly integrated, portable and flexible whilst providing secure, reliable business and management support. Technology is continually moving forward, enabling companies to extend the reach of their system with the MIS now encompassing studio, shop floor, customers, suppliers and sales within the one environment.
“As the print market continues to move to shorter runs, automation is key to eliminating administration costs and keeping jobs profitable. A good MIS will provide the foundation to deliver savings and streamline process.”
Looking at the latest advances with SolPrint, Griffin picks out a number of recent advances. These include SolPrint Estimating, which he says will de-skill and automate the estimating process, with items being configured so that complex items are directed to an experienced estimator and other items automatically calculated and pre-defined pricing agreements applied.
A good MIS will provide the foundation to deliver savings and streamline process”
SolPrint Scheduling has also been developed to deliver speed improvements on previous Windows versions, while a new Production Control Centre allows for real-time views of the current work to be shared with the business. Real-time updates are fed back to the schedule and the board dynamically updated to reflect performance issues and the knock-on effect highlighted.
Griffin says: “As the system moves to engaging with more external users, SolPrint MIS has been developed to allow for external stakeholders to update the system without the need to login with embedded email actions forming part of the latest developments.”
From speaking with some of the leading providers in the market, it is clear that by upgrading your MIS on a regular basis, and accessing the latest features as a result, this will be of significant benefit to your entre business.
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