We all know that digital is in and that run lengths are getting smaller. The current crop of MIS products are not adapting rapidly enough and are not catering to the needs of the smaller, digital printer. We want to change that.
An MIS should
Ease of Use
None of us have time for extensive training sessions on ugly, complex software. Nobody wants to spend a whole day just setting up the software before they even use it. Your MIS should work instantly in your web browser and it should be available to everyone in the office, so you staff can use it simultaneously. No setup, no installation, no hassle.
Affordability
MIS products on the market at the moment are too expensive for small printers. We’d like to bring a solution with open, tiered pricing. The price you see on the website is the price you should pay. If you do low volume then you should pay less than someone doing large volume.
Cut Down on Admin
It seems like many small printers are doing far more typing and writing than they need to. People are writing job dockets by hand, then typing the exact same information into their accounting package once the job is finished. Salesmen are taking notes on paper, then inputting that exact same information into software later. This repetition costs time and money and leaves room for human error. We want you to type things once and once only.
Accessibility
Many of us have smartphones these days, devices like iPads are becoming more widespread. We should be able to access our MIS wherever and whenever. Imagine having access to all your data, on your ipad, from home. Imagine your salesmen could upload new quotes or jobs directly to your MIS from their smartphone. We want to make this happen.
Customer Relationship Management
Get to know your customers in detail and stay informed about your company. Which customers have jobs on at the moment? Which customers have the highest average job cost? Which customers take too long to pay? All of this data should be at your fingertips, available in real-time, visual graphs and charts.
Basic Quote Management
We believe that the estimation features of current MIS offerings are overly complex for smaller, digital printers. Most of the digital printers I’ve talked to so far are doing quotes in their heads or on a calculator and like it that way. Rather than make this process more complex, we want to make it simpler by replacing pen and paper with digital tools, offering quote templates for standard quotes, providing a simple way for staff to confer over quotes and offering a solution for upgrading accepted quotes to jobs.
Job Management
You should be able to see at a glance which jobs are in progress and for whom. Job dockets should be generated with one click. You should be able to get a quote on an outsourced job from a bigger printer in one click. You should be able to easily see which jobs need to be printed next and sort them by due date or job type. You should be able to quickly search for older jobs and reprint them.
Invoice Management
You should be able to invoice jobs with just a couple clicks, then export your invoices into your accounting software to keep everything synced. You should be able to quickly search for old invoices. You should be able to filter your invoices list to see only unpaid invoices, so you can hunt down payments quickly and easily.
Got something to add? We would love to hear from you.
I’m looking to talk to anyone and everyone with an opinion about this. Are the assumptions we’ve made wrong? Do any of the ideas and features sound unhelpful? Do you need something else, something more? If you currently use an MIS, what’s the number one thing you hate about it? What’s the number one thing you love about it?
I’d also like to talk to people over the phone. We’re offering early access to anyone who is willing to have a quick chat about your workflow and how your shop works. Private message me if you’re interested.
We can make better software when we have better feedback and information.
An MIS should
- be quick to setup and simple to use
- be affordable
- cut down on admin time in the office
- be available on all devices
Ease of Use
None of us have time for extensive training sessions on ugly, complex software. Nobody wants to spend a whole day just setting up the software before they even use it. Your MIS should work instantly in your web browser and it should be available to everyone in the office, so you staff can use it simultaneously. No setup, no installation, no hassle.
Affordability
MIS products on the market at the moment are too expensive for small printers. We’d like to bring a solution with open, tiered pricing. The price you see on the website is the price you should pay. If you do low volume then you should pay less than someone doing large volume.
Cut Down on Admin
It seems like many small printers are doing far more typing and writing than they need to. People are writing job dockets by hand, then typing the exact same information into their accounting package once the job is finished. Salesmen are taking notes on paper, then inputting that exact same information into software later. This repetition costs time and money and leaves room for human error. We want you to type things once and once only.
Accessibility
Many of us have smartphones these days, devices like iPads are becoming more widespread. We should be able to access our MIS wherever and whenever. Imagine having access to all your data, on your ipad, from home. Imagine your salesmen could upload new quotes or jobs directly to your MIS from their smartphone. We want to make this happen.
Customer Relationship Management
Get to know your customers in detail and stay informed about your company. Which customers have jobs on at the moment? Which customers have the highest average job cost? Which customers take too long to pay? All of this data should be at your fingertips, available in real-time, visual graphs and charts.
Basic Quote Management
We believe that the estimation features of current MIS offerings are overly complex for smaller, digital printers. Most of the digital printers I’ve talked to so far are doing quotes in their heads or on a calculator and like it that way. Rather than make this process more complex, we want to make it simpler by replacing pen and paper with digital tools, offering quote templates for standard quotes, providing a simple way for staff to confer over quotes and offering a solution for upgrading accepted quotes to jobs.
Job Management
You should be able to see at a glance which jobs are in progress and for whom. Job dockets should be generated with one click. You should be able to get a quote on an outsourced job from a bigger printer in one click. You should be able to easily see which jobs need to be printed next and sort them by due date or job type. You should be able to quickly search for older jobs and reprint them.
Invoice Management
You should be able to invoice jobs with just a couple clicks, then export your invoices into your accounting software to keep everything synced. You should be able to quickly search for old invoices. You should be able to filter your invoices list to see only unpaid invoices, so you can hunt down payments quickly and easily.
Got something to add? We would love to hear from you.
I’m looking to talk to anyone and everyone with an opinion about this. Are the assumptions we’ve made wrong? Do any of the ideas and features sound unhelpful? Do you need something else, something more? If you currently use an MIS, what’s the number one thing you hate about it? What’s the number one thing you love about it?
I’d also like to talk to people over the phone. We’re offering early access to anyone who is willing to have a quick chat about your workflow and how your shop works. Private message me if you’re interested.
We can make better software when we have better feedback and information.