Digital Output - March 2008 - (Page 18)

MANAGING THE BUSINESS OF BIGPRINT Seamless Workflow From End to End Take for example Pace Systems Group, Jacksonville, FL, the developer of ePace Print Management and E-Commerce System, which is used by hundreds of print and graphic arts operations—including large format suppliers like National Print Group, Chattanooga, TN, and Today’s Graphics, Philadelphia, PA. As the wide format production manager for Today’s Graphics, Dan Long is charged with keeping work seamlessly flowing through the company’s wideformat operations—which represents approximately 30 percent of its revenues. The balance is derived from digital offset printing. “We got into wide format very early on, around the mid to late ’80s,” Long recalls. The company has since provided large format services to corporations as far north as New York City, and south, to Wilmington, Delaware—especially for the booming pharmaceutical industries. “[ePace] is a closed-loop system for us, it does everything from prospecting to payroll,” Long explains. “Recently, we purchased the CRM program. Our sales staff uses it to record their prospects and schedule appointments. We use the estimating module, too, which is very important for us because it’s a costbased system, rather than a price-list system, which you often find out there. “What the systems allows us to do is record all of our costs in producing a job, so we can be confident that when we send that price out, it’s accurate,” Long adds. “We’re not just pulling numbers out of a hat.” ePace also manages job ticketing, production planning and data collection—which is very important, according to Long, who says, “Data collection allows us to record inventory used on a job and the time spent on a job.” “In many ways, choosing a business management system is a lot like choosing a spouse,” quips Scott St. Cyr, founder, Cyrious Software. “You’re going to spend the majority of your day with this software, and if you’ve made a poor decision, it’s going to be really bad news. You really need to put in the time, thoroughly research the field, and talk to people who are using the technologies.” www.digitaloutput.net By Gretchen A. Peck I n the past, if large format print shop owners wanted to adopt a company-wide, integrated business management solution, they were forced to adopt a solution better suited to commercial print. That’s all changed. The volume of data jobs passing through large format shops creates a workflow challenge. Managing everything from job and customer data to materials and waste without software support may be costing you money. A comprehensive management information system (MIS) enables large format shop owners to measure their productivity and profitability, and in some cases, even refine their business models. For many years, large format printers found the business management software space rife with solutions better suited for the commercial segment of the industry. That’s no longer a problem as developers introduce applications specifically designed for big-print operations—or create enough flexibility in already existing programs. ProlabWest’s conference room is adorned with a few examples of the print supplier’s capabilities; Acorn Graphics, owned by husband-and-wife team Steve and Beth Gillispie, are seen here cutting vinyl. 18 Digital Output March 2008 http://www.digitaloutput.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Output - March 2008

Digital Output - March 2008

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