Special Report
Software to streamline your business
Having the fastest printers or the most skilled fabricators and fitters can all be undermined if you have bottlenecks or inefficiencies within the business, or if you don’t really know what jobs cost to produce. These are the kinds of problems that software such as MIS and workflow is designed to solve. As Michael Walker explains.
M
IS (management information systems) were originally developed to
help with estimating, ordering and inventory or stock control. Since then, they have added
integration with production workflow systems, logistics and accounting tools, plus cost and profitability analysis, with some offering business intelligence (BI) capabilities. Workflow grew out of prepress,
centring on the preparation and processing of digital artwork, including pre-flighting of files, colour management, imposition, tiling, ganging or nesting. It has extended downstream, allowing print and finishing parameters to be passed to suitably automated equipment, such as digital cutting tables, and for machine status to be passed back up the line for true job costing and pre-emptive maintenance scheduling. Web-to-print/ e-commerce is
increasingly integrated with both MIS and workflow, such that it’s hard now to see where one ends and the others begin. Integration between these components is also increasingly possible – and desirable, as experience has shown that no one single-vendor system can meet all needs. Another major trend is the
move to cloud-based computing and SaaS (software as a service) subscription-based pricing. These make software offerings more attractive as you don’t have to have hefty servers in-house to run them and software updates are performed automatically. Some offer pricing based on usage, and can usually be scaled up quickly to support business growth.
Supporting business growth A long-time player in the MIS camp is Optimus, whose group commercial director, Steve Richardson, is at pains
| 76 | January/February 2025 Optimus is a long-time player in the MIS camp
to point out that the software doesn’t only support highly digitised production operations such as wide format digital printing, but can be extended to the more manual processes involved in bespoke fabrication. “There are possibilities for
automation, whether it’s managing a raw bill of materials or manufacturing the screens for printing,” he argues, adding that: “Some standardise only 50% of their jobs or processes to start with, then after two years, we find they’re up to 90%.” Optimus allows extensive
configuration, working from a ‘lean manufacturing’ perspective, and can integrate with other software such as Enfocus Switch via XML. However, the company is bucking the Saas trend, charging for the licence, for installation and for maintenance. Steve explains that some smaller providers who offered the SaaS model have come and gone, and points out that: “MIS and workflow are business-critical. They need to be defined and maintained. It’s not plug-and-play.” PrintIQ also supports a wide range of
print types, and covers everything from estimating and ordering to production,
delivery and invoicing. It too can integrate with web-to-print, prepress automation, accounting systems and shipping platforms. An integration with Infigo web-to-print was announced in 2023 and Rob Thurston, UK sales manager at PrintIQ, commented: “We are open to many integrations within web-to-print and beyond. Ultimately, we want to streamline our customers’ processes and provide control and visibility within their business.” The release in summer 2024 of
v48 of PrintIQ added new capabilities including gang-based estimating for complex quotes in both roll and sheet-fed printing, and the addition of a new orders board for quick visibility of large orders, while reporting has been made a single-click process. Store and inventory functions have been updated and automated purchase order generation has been added.
On the workflow side On the workflow side, the options are more focused around wide format digital print, with printer vendors such as Agfa and Durst offering software to support their own printers and
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