Making Lighter work of it - Software Special Report

Wide-format workflow is becoming ever more topical these days, encouraged partly by the investment by the offset and screen-printing sectors into digital equipment and the need to be able to blend consistency into all operational areas. The commercial print sector is no stranger to working with JDF as a standard, with its product certification incorporating most aspects of throughput, from pre-press through to finishing and all points in between, but these parameters increasingly need to be addressed by the wide-format digital industry.
What clearly is needed now is greater ability for the wide-format sector to be able to integrate a standard that’s preferential to being confined to one particular manufacturer’s architecture. This becomes more logical when one considers that the many file formats inherent within this area of the digital marketplace can, or should, be converted to PDF and thus streamline production into a modus operandi that everyone comprehends and that every device can handle.
The principles, no matter how print is being produced, should remain the same; therefore, all information for a job should be assimilated in such a way that there can be no deviation, nor misunderstanding, in terms of colour and profiling. In theory, a single file should be suitable for output onto a variety of output devices whilst maintaining colour consistency across different ink formulations and materials.
Process automation has been an onward, somewhat uphill, task for those intent on ensuring that all job information can preserved and now takes into account levels far beyond those originally envisaged within CIP3. When Adobe, Agfa, Heidelberg and Man Roland first put together the basis for JDF with the intent of developing an open association for standards, wide-format digital print was not really established as a main player. In those days, it served more to accommodate the eclectic market area whose definition was somewhat vague, without a rock onto which to perch its own set of formats.
The last decade, however, has seen digital print in all of its guises become a serious part of everyone’s workflow, from proofing up to production runs, and the original JDF standard has been increased accordingly to accommodate functions such as a layout and preflighting. Nonetheless, a wide-format printing machine can only do what it’s told by accepting the data fed to it and JDF needs devices and practices capable of being incorporated into a ‘job ticket’ in order for it to able to control the workflow operation.
Today we all understand the relevance of PDF and the way in which its open standard enables every element to be incorporated into a single document, or file. This information includes fonts and graphics in bitmap or raster format. Whereas PostScript is a PDL, or page description language (which requires a Rip in order to process and execute the code), PDF takes this one stage further by containing all the detail necessary to carry out a job as well as its content, including printing instructions, indexing and job tickets.
Since PDF brings commonality to files being handled by most print companies, so JDF is a natural adjunct in that it behaves as a job bag and routes every order automatically through every step of the process. And this includes estimating and MIS as well as production.
The initiation of JDF wasn’t dreamed up on a whim. It uses XML as at its core, convenient because so many programming languages use it and it has become a common communication tool for web based servers and back-office systems. What JDF does is to utilise XML’s syntax and data types incorporating a schema for its validation, and its specification and schema are freely available to everyone.
Not every element of the JDF functionality is needed by individual print operations and their devices and, for wide-format digital production, the criteria are more specific. Particularly as today’s market is driven by improved efficiencies and faster speeds so that companies can maintain and better their margins, JDF automation is seen as being able to close the gap and reduce the numbers of challenges which tend to thwart production companies during their print cycles. Its adoption also helps print service providers by not locking them into one particular manufacturer or range of products.
Overall in terms of workflow, it is up to the management teams to optimise how their companies execute efficient production methods, factoring in other relevant elements, both directly print and non-print related. Using the experiences gleaned, and finely honed, during the years from the offset and smaller inkjet market sector, these principles can now be applied to wide-format. The importance, where expensive inks and materials are being used as well as the logistics of working to large sizes, cannot be stressed too heavily. Waste is expensive.
Today there are plenty of options that can be either integrated with an existing Rip or added independently, but all are designed to achieve the same ends. Software manufacturers are becoming accustomed to seeing their products being integrated with third-party printing engines, with partnerships being the logical step where companies are use a mix of devices.
Many users tend to consider that wide-format production is less like a print process and more like a manufacturing operation. Controlling workflow extends beyond simply producing a job to a given size at a specified volume, and incorporates the need to optimise material coverage and minimise waste. The wide-format industry, too, needs to factor in considerations such as white ink capabilities, automated cutting and its other idiosyncratic elements peculiar to the process.
All these elements should knit together to provide seamless workflow, with different solutions coming from various quarters. An obvious example is with EskoArtwork’s i-cut suite which can be used to edit and correct incoming PDF files and carrying out preflight requirements, as well as being able to incorporate cutting paths, grommet marks, tiling, step and repeat, nesting and automatic bleed.
Because of the increased move towards the PDF standard, it is hardly surprising that Rip developers are also encompassing entire workflow operations into their product offerings. Adobe’s rendering engine, APPE, has helped to move this along by optimising both previewing and printing of PDF document throughout the workflow process.
Caldera is an example of a software developer that’s continued driving its print solutions with increasing relevance on workflow as well as the Ripping process. With APPE, PDF files can be rendered natively, without having to be converted to PostScript, and the company stresses that this helps in the unification of the whole prepress and production workflow environment.
Workflow is also strong on the agenda for EFI, which is a firm proponent of the JDF strategy. This company’s solutions start with Digital StoreFront, its web-to-print option, that integrates direct with Fiery-driven output devices and with Pace to simplify the creation and submission of jobs and seeing them through the print processes involved.
Another example is Agfa, a long standing partner of Adobe and whose Apogee was one of the original workflow management solutions which adopted the PDF standard. In fact, there is a growing list of OEM vendors now supporting the Adobe Print PDF Engine with many of them being familiar names within the wide-format sector.
As in so many areas of life and commerce, an idea can evolve to become a standard and this principle is essential where consistency is a vital element of a production process. We have all come to accept PDF as a sensible logical tool that brings a common format to the industry, and JDF functionality makes sense in an industry sector where consistency and accountability are as important as the printed product itself.

Screen’s Equois workflow
Screen’s Equois workflow technology is based on APPE2 and in addition to the overall performance, flexibility and quality enhancements that this brings, the company says it also provides the key to the system’s variable data capability, through its support for variable data from VDP software.
With its APPE2 core, Equois has an open JDF based interface to enable the addition of extensive automation capabilities via the Equoisnet Partnership Programme. Equois will also automatically extract and optimise shared reusable text or graphical elements included in a PDF or Variable PDF job so that they are immediately available for combination with the variable part of the job as it is rendered. This should significantly improve RIP performance as well as simplifying the workflow in comparison to current production methods.
Equois delivers all the well-known benefits of PDF print production, for VDP jobs which have not previously been able to use the tools, conventions, expertise and technologies already in use in the graphic arts, such as native support for live transparency and layers. By fitting seamlessly into existing PDF based prepress operations, variable PDF enables a single common PDF print production workflow for all job types.

Inca’s PRC software
Inca’s PRC software module is designed to facilitate the production of orders incorporating different elements, images, sizes and languages, and helps speed up the workflow involved when working with the company’s high speed production printers.
Streamlining the overall production process in this way enables job scheduling to be managed in the studio before it moves to the production floor, and is Rip independent. Able to work with industry standard PDFs, it conforms to preflight parameters and makes sure that colour integrity and other workflow criteria are maintained throughout the production process.

CIP4 update
Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that HP should step into the ring with its programme of certification for making sure that workflow solutions exchanging JDF will inter-relate and work properly. Chairing the Wide-Format Workgroup of CIP4 (or, to give it its full nomenclature, the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress Organization), HP has the goal of defining open JDF standards in this industry sector’s workflow operations.
Alliance partners collaborating closely with HP in the certification programme include familiar companies such as Agfa, Caldera, Canon, EFI, EskoArtwork, Four Pees, GMG, Onyx and Screen. HP and these partners are working to improve the wide-format printing experience for customers by using HP-certified definitions in their products. The initiative is designed to resolve interoperability shortfalls between Web-to-print tools, production devices, Rips and digital front ends so that they work together to streamline wide-format printing workflows for increased productivity.
In conjunction with the creation of JDF features and specifications for wide-format applications, HP certification assures that workflow solutions exchanging JDF will interoperate properly with each other. This will allow print companies to build an e-storefront to market their services, take advantage of production automation tools to reduce costs and differentiate their service offerings through automated customer relationship management tools.

It’s all in the software

With production Rips now an integral part of the overall workflow process Sophie Matthews-Paul provides an overview of current products.

Rip software has progressed considerably so that it represents far greater capabilities than merely working with a file to reproduce it at a given size. Functionality now incorporates a whole host of extras, and these need to be given consideration when accounting for overall workflow and production options. Wide-format digital printing has become increasingly sophisticated yet users expect seamless integration, ease of use and regular, accurate colour regardless of printer type and material used.
In workflow terms, Rips can hold the key to how the file being handled will behave in terms of printability. As such this software, even in its most basic form, should knit neatly into overall operations and be able to take on board a host of functions, such as nesting, tiling, queuing and batching. Additionally, it controls colour and how it is output on the device on different materials. So the purpose of the program is to translate the data being sent by the computer into a form which can be understood by the print device.
Rips accomplish far more than handling the complexities of PostScript and rasterising data to make it suitable for wide-format print production. With increasing pressure being applied to all display producers to output consistent colour using different ink formulations and materials, so software needs to be able to address any issues about conformability. The use of ICC colour standards is now pretty much universal, with the intention of bringing assured uniformity across the board and, with wide-format, getting this right can be simplified by using the right profiles for the job. Colour rendering and getting the right results is all too apparent in branding, for example, where corporate identities rely on correctness.
With a multitude of different printers on the market, and a complex assortment of Rip options available to end users, it is hardly surprising that users can get confused about which product to adopt. Many print service providers stick with the program that’s supplied with their machines, but this can mean that several different products are being used to produce variants of the same job on different devices. Add to this the fact that there are independent software developers which produce Rips to drive a host of machines, and the picture can become more confusing than ever.
At the top end of the market, printer manufacturers tend not to produce their own Rips, instead partnering with one of the existing developers for the necessary software to drive their devices. For example, Durst collaborated with Caldera some years ago with the Strasbourg-based company’s GrandRip+ now supplied with the Rho printer family. Likewise, the Caldera Rip is an option made available for other high-end machines, such as the HP Scitex FB7500, but it is also perfectly capable of working with a full range of different wide-format engines across the board, from capital intensive industrial units down to low-end relatively humble aqueous-based models.
Shiraz, too, has a choice of solutions which suits a variety of printers and display producers’ budgets. Its Rip Server product targets multiple platforms and users, and takes demanding production environments in its stride, whilst Signature is intended for start-ups and small businesses running a single wide-format printer. Shiraz also features an Adobe plug-in so that users can handle PDF functionality to the latest specification, helping workflow operations by ensuring that all elements within the file are preserved, regardless of the platform used in the creation process.
For wide-format, ColorGate’s latest Productionserver is also available with drivers for most devices on today’s market, and comes in flavours suitable for high-end production environments as well as small companies whose needs are less complex. Likewise, Wasatch provides another independent Rip option which is highly popular across the board, with companies like Agfa offering its SoftRip with all of its machines, from the Anapurna series through the Jeti family and the M-Press Tiger.
Not surprisingly, EFI supplies its own Fiery XF production software with all Vutek and Rastek wide-format printers but, once again, this Rip offering is also designed to be used with a broad gamut of third-party printers. This simplifies life for users of multiple machines, even down to smaller aqueous-based devices, who need operational consistency on both Macintosh and PC, and want to use a single software package for all of its engines.
For Onyx, part of Océ’s acquisition strategy nearly ten years ago, this software has extended well beyond its ownership and, as well as driving the Arizona series and ColorWave wide-format machines, this Rip is found as an option with many other devices. It is available for printers at the top end, including the HP Scitex FB7500, but is equally well suited to entry-level machines.
Given that users want to be able to upgrade software as and when budgetary and production requirements demand, modularity should come easily to Rip programs. Similarly, adding numbers of users or extra machines onto a network should be addressed easily with the purchase of additional keys or dongles.
Technologies change, machine manufacturers bring out new types of printing machine, and users diversify into different ink and production methodologies. The onward march of UV-curable ink formulations has been accompanied by pertinent additions to Rips, with the need to take into account rigid as well as flexible materials and the profiling needed to keep colours and ink saturation on the right track.
All the new machine developments have brought with them additional requirements for Rips and production software, with white and metallic inks being obvious examples of inclusions to functionality. Likewise, HP’s latex printing technologies brought another challenge to Rip developers, many of whom have decided to develop and deliver their own software options.
The growth, albeit relatively slow, of digital textiles has made functionality essential in slightly different applications where job stitching, or joining together of panels for final output, is better handled at the Rip stage rather than creating enormous files containing repeated elements at the creation stage. Textile printing has its own demands, too, with colour and dot control needing to be addressed specifically in terms of fabric behaviour in relation to inkjet processes.
But, whilst Rips can achieve many things, the need for colour managed workflow is often best left to specialist developers who have concentrated their efforts within this area. Wide-format printers which, formerly, produced good results but couldn’t match precisely the shades required can now be used with specific software products which go the extra mile in terms of accuracy.
This is proving to be particularly vital where devices are used in the proofing and prototyping sectors and, as a result, companies such as GMG, EFI, Four Pees and CGS are amongst those that have formed alliances with printer manufacturers so that users can fine-tune their colour accuracy.
In summary, today’s Rip products have evolved to provide a host of added functionality as well their original tasks of rasterising a file and making it suitable for printing. As colour management and overall workflow options become more critical and potentially taxing, so software is continuing in its development to be easier to integrate with third-party solutions. Manufacturers who have concentrated on specific elements of the production process see no point in reinventing the wheel, and it makes more sense to integrate existing technological components to appeal to the wide marketplace and standardise operational procedures, wherever possible.
Some users still consider a Rip as an expensive part of their wide-format armoury but considere all the tasks this software performs. Factoring in required functionality against production requirements should be a vital element for wide-format print producers. And a decent program purchased today should continue to do the job for many years to come as developers continue to incorporate new features and capabilities to their existing packages.

ColorServer
As an example of a centralised colour management solution, GMG’s ColorServer guarantees consistent results on different devices and printing conditions before the job is sent to the Rip. It does this by converting incoming data based on colourimetric algorithms into the colour spaces of the different output devices. Once the system is up and running, the print service provider merely needs to keep it calibrated using a spectrophotometer and measuring/calibration process.
Setting up the workflow is straightforward, with all colour management being turned off on the device specific Rips. This is essential because the Rips will receive files which have already been correctly colour managed and, thus, don’t need to perform this function.

SoftRip version 6.8
Wasatch’s latest SoftRip version 6.8 addresses a new selection of features, including provision for dye-sublimation and textile printing, the enhanced support of custom inksets for many popular printers and improved handling of PDF files which involve transparency.
One of the program’s key tools for adapting inkjet printers for dye-sublimation use lies in its custom inkset creator so that users can configure Wasatch’s SoftRip with custom hi-fi options. The latest version also makes it easier for users to create colour profiles for processes which tend to suffer from extreme dot gain, such as digital textile printing.
Its handling of PDFs with transparency has also been improved dramatically, with SoftRip version 6.8 designed to fix problem files as well as supporting the latest colour and transparency rendering protocols.

The art of design packages

Sophie Matthews-Paul explores the LATEST software options.

At the heart of every printed product lies a file produced on a proprietary piece of software installed and running on, most likely, a Macintosh or a PC. In terms of content, the majority of today’s jobs contain more than just text and are also reliant on precision photographic elements or graphics. In terms of the packages used to generate the types of images likely to be incorporated into wide-format printed jobs the choice remains remarkably narrow.
By far the most popular - even though some still bear a huge reluctance to invest in it - is Adobe’s Creative Suite which comes in various guises according to production preference. The backbone program for the majority of people involved in editing photographic files, Photoshop has become the de facto standard, whilst Illustrator retains its place for working with a whole range of different image formats, and InDesign has moved well up in the ratings for page layout capabilities.
With the latest version of Adobe CS now being 5.5 (at the time of writing still waiting to be released) this is what the company calls a “mid cycle release” and is landing a year after CS5 first hit the streets. The company says that it’s added features to most of the individual products within the suite, with enhanced functionality, updated technologies and what it describes as nice performance boosts.
Most of these upgrades don’t relate particularly to the wide-format market sector but is, as ever, of interest to CS devotees whose enthusiasm normally extends beyond their immediate parameters of producing files for digital print. In fact, gaining thorough knowledge of all that the software can do tends to be beneficial overall. Designers working with Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator can just as easily be asked to fire up Dreamweaver or Presenter and knock together a series of graphical elements, and a good working knowledge of InDesign certainly helps overall planning and layout of jobs.
The root program, over which most people lust, is Photoshop whose image editing capabilities become more comprehensive with every release, driven in some part by the universal dependence on digital cameras. It is common practice, now, for photographs to be opened and saved in most standard formats, bringing consistency to users and across all onward paths, whether this is direct for printing or via Rip to a digital output device.
InDesign had to work up its act in order to compete with its main rival, Quark XPress but, at the end of the day, it seems that designers prefer to stick with one program or the other based, mainly, on familiarity. No complex piece of software can be learned overnight and, even, with specialist tuition and thorough reading of the respective manuals, the only solid backbone to establishing a good working method is through experience. Even users of these products since their early days still stumble on techniques, often by accident, which have been lurking under the surface through many versions.
Adobe’s Creative Suite comes in variations, for Macintosh and Windows, with Design Standard and Design Premium containing most of the elements needed to create wide-format jobs. Other options and the Master Collection cover applications which include the ability to edit video, and create interactive content for a variety of platforms, including the web.
In terms of producing graphical content, CS is a hard act to follow, but CorelDraw has put a lot of effort into updating its own products to challenge the capabilities available from Adobe, despite resolutely sticking to Windows as its platform. The latest offering is Graphics Suite X5 which also includes web capabilities, thus bringing temptation to designers who want to extend their production skills. In terms of producing elements for wide-format output, this latest set of programs incorporates strong photo editing functionality and the ability to import and export a host of different formats.
Where CorelDraw has often scored amongst the sign-making and display printing fraternity is with the vector elements of the program and tracing capabilities. Users of vinyl cutting machines, for example, found this software a good complement to their systems as, even back in the early days before full-colour output was the norm, it offered easy-to-use options for display production.
Today, like Illustrator, CorelDraw’s Graphics Suite X5 is also able to take on board the application of metallics and special colours, with easy production of layers so that jobs are ready to be sent straight to the Rip. Likewise, the incorporation of cutting paths into a graphic is catered for, and people familiar with this family of products are now able to remain with it as it takes into account present day production requirements. A revised colour management engine has resulted in greater fidelity, plus support for new profiles from Pantone. This programme has always been rich in clip art and fonts, and more have been added that are proper cuts of the typefaces themselves and not poor imitations.
In terms of page layouts, CorelDraw also handles this pretty efficiently. Users happy with this interface might find little reason to transfer to either InDesign or Quark XPress, particularly now that PDF compatibility ensures that exported and saved documents don’t contain any idiosyncratic quirks and follies that negate the benefits of an open standard.
Adobe’s forward march with InDesign has seen its adoption across many areas of the printing industry, including the wide-format market and the fact that it is part of the CS suite of products makes it a logical extension to the capabilities of Photoshop and Illustrator in design and production terms. With each release, its PageMaker roots seem to become increasingly buried and further removed but, at its heart, Adobe has Aldus to thank for introducing the original product to market back in 1985.
Still challenging the market strongly is, of course, Quark XPress which has been popular across a wide-range of print related industries since its inception. Now released as version 9, this program is also concentrating on content that can be published to digital devices, such as e-readers and tablets plus, of course, the iPad. The relevance for this type of productivity might seem of little importance to the wide-format production sector; but this overall functionality is valid where branding and campaigns are being created which contain everything from the smallest label, through web and video content, up to retail advertising and point-of-sale.
Page layout programs these days even contain obvious options, such as spelling checkers, as well as automated facilities to remove many of the labour-intensive elements which played a role in producing documents in the past. Users expect their columns to balance, and for tracking and leading to be correct without having to resort of manual calculations. Luddites will claim that layout and design skills have been compromised, and that anyone who can use a computer can now knock together a page. Yet design origination still comes from the minds of individuals before they can be transcribed into a printed form, and the capabilities of creative people should never be overlooked.
The choice of platform still results in endless arguments about operating systems, processing power and capabilities but, in truth, a computer is a computer and is only ever as efficient as the person using it. Networking is no longer the tedious nightmare it was of yesteryear when trying to get Macintosh, Windows and Linux boxes to communicate with one another, and remote access simplifies linking up with remote locations removing geographical boundaries, thus saving time and duplicated resources, and easing logistics.
Overall, automating imaging and prepress processes can only go so far before commonsense and knowledge about production and file handling cut in. It is easy to incorporate profiles and colour management into your core program but this needs to be carried out at the right part of the production process, and in the correct location. Similarly, a remarkably number of users still fail to calibrate either their screens or their devices satisfactorily, both locally and at remote sites, with the result that final output doesn’t resemble its intended colours.
Thus the cleverest software in the world will not make up for lack of colour management knowledge or, even, the levels of artistic and creative licence needed to turn a basic set of elements, such as text and images, into a printable success. Today everyone depends on computerised technology for production relating to everything, from the simplest communication, transfer protocol or document through to advanced colour critical output.
Knitting together all of components in order to produce a successful printed result is something most people take for granted but it is the developers of each program, and those who continue to keep every package up-to-date, who probably deserve the greatest credit.

MISunderstood?

Is it time you reassessed the real value of investing in a management information system? Here are facts and figures that could well convince you to do so.

Well really, why bother? MIS (Management Information Systems) have never sat really comfortably within digital large-format, - or any specialist print processes for that matter - considered more of a litho printer’s tool. Too complicated, too time consuming, too expensive and showing too little measurable return has been the general consensus. But MIS systems have evolved and print companies in the large-format space are indeed finding measurable benefits so perhaps it’s time to reassess their value.
Let’s cut through the sales and marketing hype and let the figures speak for themselves. Take Data Image Group, where investment in a Clarity Professional MIS in 2006 had already paid for itself twice over after a year.
There’s more. Having analysed the MIS’s performance since implementation, Date Image has come up with an astonishing set of statistics:
* a 50% productivity increase in raising quotations
* administration errors have been reduced by 45%
* savings of £6,000 per year have been calculated through paperless working
* minimised material wastage means saving an average £15,000 per month, that’s £180,000 per year
* job fulfilment time has been reduced by 55%
* the surplus stock holding has been reduced by 40%
* and business turnover has increased by an average of 46% per year since implementation
The choice of MIS chosen by Date Image is obviously a crucial part of these successes, but what has also been key is how the system has been deployed and where it fits into the strategic mindset of the company.
Led by directors Robert and Alan Farfort, 20-year old Leicester-based Data Image has successfully grown into a 30-employee, £3m turnover digital and screen print company and attributes much of its success to the implementation of cutting-edge IT software as well as print technologies.
Taking what they considered to be a leap of faith when they bought the MIS system the Farforts recognised that it could bring long-term rewards as long as they followed a few fundamental rules, utlised its full functionality and afforded 100% commitment to the project.
Many companies may still argue the toss on whether IT systems can really help their business, typically asking questions like: “Won’t it cause disruption and slow us down?” “Will anyone actually use it?”
At Data Image it was immediately understood that the benefits could outweigh the negatives and that returns were instantly measurable across a number of key business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The key was making the MIS central to business operations, not just using it as a glorified estimating and invoicing tool.
“Clarity is not only a superb tailored MIS for digital print but is the glue that holds the company together,” says Robert Farfort. “It allows us to introduce other systems and technologies into our infrastructure - such as workflow and nesting software - making us even more efficient. We couldn’t do this without Clarity acting as our central brain. The business simply couldn’t survive without it as there are so many components that rely on it.”
Utilising features such as customised price lists, promotional price breaks, browser-based workflow estimations and delivery schedules, Robert and the team are making informed decisions on when to take on or refuse new jobs, knowing exactly what their true costs are.
Quotes are faster and more accurate, margins are protected, customer service is improved and delivery deadlines are met. This yields a more profitable and efficient organisation with clear visibility for everyone and the software is easy to use for both new and advanced users.
Robert continues: “We recently took on a fourth estimator who was inexperienced in using MIS. Within a week he was up and running on Clarity and was sending out quotes that were wholly consistent with the other estimators and our margin guidelines.”
The ROI on MIS is easy to generalise, with all departments gaining in efficiency once the migration is complete. But the true scale of return becomes apparent when values and figures are placed upon each KPI to quantify the reductions or increases generated by the system. This is where the benefits of MIS are really to be understood.

On a learning curve with KGK

KGK is a privately owned, successful family business of some twenty plus years based in Thundridge Hertfordshire. It is just starting on its MIS journey, having gone ‘live’ with an Optimus MIS dash system at the end of April. During the coming months Image Reports will track the company’s progress and report back on whether it has lived up to expectation.
“Like many businesses we don’t necessarily want to recruit more and more people and equipment - we want to grow with what we have got. This investment in Optimus dash should enable me to be more proactive with our key accounts and look to grow the business if the mundane stuff can be taken care of,” explains KGK boss Graham Pitts.
KGK offers a design, manufacture and installation service for POS, digital print, graphics, exhibition displays and signage. Its client list is extensive and includes numerous high street retail brands.
But the Pitts family, owners of the business, believe more can be done to improve profitability and performance by automating daily tasks instead of the continual manual duplication. Hence the new MIS.
Graham Pitts explains: “We started our search for an MIS company who wanted to work with us, and who would not compromise on the speed and flexibility we needed whilst also being able to incorporate our processes.
“My key focus was to get time back, and in a big way! Too much information is held with me instead of being located within a centralised system, and visible to all. I end up with constant phone calls and interruption even when on holiday. Also despite my best efforts and working long hours, sometimes invoicing just doesn’t get done on time, which has a massive negative knock on effect.
“So we wanted an MIS partner who was well proven in delivering all of the back-end office processes - e.g. accurate, fast and consistent estimates that can be trusted so they can be done when I am not there; as well as rapid job entry, better stock management, production planning, requisitions and ordering. And, most importantly to KGK, automated invoicing with transactions posted directly into an accounts package of your choice.
“With nearly 30 years experience, Optimus impressed us as an MIS partner who would stay the course. They actually listened properly to what we had to say and were focused on our short and long-term strategic goals and wanted to understand what they could be measured against, by us.
“The key to this for us was that Optimus also recognised that a litho workaround was not the way forward. This has been the traditional graveyard for MIS providers in our markets. They knew they needed to provide a completely new way to deal with our front-end processes accurately and efficiently, with our business rules and logic incorporated, hence the investment in dash.
“Dash has been built from the ground up and can manage any calculation from what we have seen; it is a really clever intuitive piece of software and incorporates lean manufacturing principles. It doesn’t matter what you produce or sell, Optimus dash can manage any substrate or production method. It has the potential to make a massive difference to our industry if word gets around.”
According to Graham Pitts, “the early signs are very encouraging”.
He says: “ Just today, 15 minutes after a job was dispatched and left the building, the invoice was ready to post. That alone just would just not have happened before! My instinct is that we will genuinely be able to say that the business has really benefited from improved cashflow and performance and the impact on my time will be significant.
“Watch this space. In a few months time we hope to be able to talk about our return on investment in MIS in detail and we think that will be impressive.”