Recommendations for an All-Digital Company

[David Dodd]

Hello Everyone,

One of my clients has asked me to make some recommendations regarding a new MIS. Since I know that the PrintPlanet forums are a great source of information, I am asking you to share some of your thoughts and ideas. I am not at liberty to disclose a great deal of information about the company in question, but I can provide a few facts.

This company is an all-digital operation, both large format and "regular" digital. Most of the regular digital work is color. The company does not now have any offset presses, nor does it have any current plans to acquire any offset equipment.

The company is involved in both web-to-print and cross-channel marketing programs. It provides both personalized direct mail and personalized e-mail. The management team sees both of these business segments as significant growth opportunities, and revenue from these segments is on a path to grow substantially.

The current average job size is less than $1,000.

The company has fairly limited bindery and finishing equipment.

The company employs about thirty people, and that number is expected to grow.

I have worked with a number of the better-known print MIS programs. Most of these programs were originally designed with offset work in mind. While I realize that many of these programs will work for an all-digital operation, I suspect that some forum members work for companies that are similar to the one I described above. What MIS are you using, and are you happy with how it works in your company? Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

[vwrome]

Ricoh.com they can help.

[Ritter]

PressWise
Home Page | PressWise, Inc

Demo'd with them a few weeks ago. Literally the most advanced and sound Digital MIS I've ever seen Web2.0 bravery and intelligence coming into the print industry. I just wish they had a Litho component.

*EDIT: I have no past/current relationship with presswise.

[V3Synergy]

David,

I just finished specing the integration of a non-print order management system (Stone Edge Order Manager) to a web-to-print front end and to the printers via a custom Visual Basic program.

I think solutions outside the printing industry can be far more advanced than those developed by print vendors.

My advice - don't limit your client to print MIS systems.