Graphic Village has chosen Tharstern, the worldwide specialist in management information systems for print, packaging, wide format and label industries, to pull together all its MIS software under one roof as it continues to expand into new markets.
As a fast-growing full service market services provider, Graphic Village has brought in Tharstern to provide a comprehensive MIS solution to bring increased efficiencies across multi-site operations in America’s mid-west region.
Graphic Village, which is based in Cincinatti, Ohio, has become a combination of traditional offset, digital, wide format printing, mailing companies – all with marketing communication, design fulfilment and multi-touch expertise. And all previously had different MIS suppliers.
Prior appointing Tharstern, Graphic Village undertook extensive research into its own specific requirements with different software providers. Some were invited to provide detailed demonstrations covering a wide range of applications. The company wanted visibility across the different business units so it could see scheduling and planning better, as well as clear reporting lines that would provide up-to-date information at any given point.
“Reporting has been the biggest thing,” said Jeff Hudepohl, Executive Vice President and Partner of Graphic Village. “Before it was done on a job-per-job basis and we had no realistic way of what revenues we were making per order, or even on occasions if we were making a loss. The second biggest thing was the CSRs in terms of the time it was taking to write up and track jobs.
“Working with Tharstern has been a complete revelation. We have been most impressed by the people. What really struck us was the level of expertise and knowledge of the print industry. The system has gone live this month [February] and we feel absolutely confident that if we come up with any problems, the Tharstern team will be with us to solve them. But it’s all going to plan so far.”
Graphic Village has a detailed implementation plan, which Mr Hudepohl says provides another example of Tharstern’s attention to detail and expertise. “This is a substantial investment, but we’re looking at Tharstern being our MIS partner for a 10 to 15-year period,” he said. “This is definitely not a short-term solution.”
Bob Moore, Chief Operating Officer for Tharstern USA, which has just become a member of SGIA, said: “We don’t promise what we can’t deliver upon. Graphic Village is another example of how increasing numbers of companies in the print, packaging and label industries are seeing the spectacular efficiency benefits that MIS solutions bring.
“Tharstern’s MIS helps to drive increased profits by helping companies become more efficient and automated. This state-of-the-art software empowers management teams at companies such as Graphic Village with data to help with effective day-to-day decision-making processes of running a company.”
Bob, and Susan Moore, SVP of Sales, along with members of the Tharstern team will be at Dscoop Phoenix at the Phoenix Convention Center, USA booth #212, from 1-4 March, 2017 showing its market-leading MIS software solution, including these new modules:
Business Intelligence – a smarter way for decision makers to view their MIS data, uncover hidden trends and identify new opportunities.
Advanced Imposition – demonstrating how inexperienced users have the power to create complex impositions at the click of a button.
Tharstern, which launched into the US in the autumn of 2015, has been a pioneer in the strategy of workflow integration with its MIS. It has established tight integration with other market-leaders, for example Heidelberg and HP – both using Tharstern as a preferred partner for MIS – as well as Manroland, Komori, Xerox, Esko, Enfocus Switch, Kodak, Agfa, Fuji, Infigo and Vpress.