Software - MIS

I WAS amazed to learn that only 42 percent of in-plants have shop management software. I then got down from my high horse and remembered the not-so-distant past when the shop that I manage was part of that statistic. Like many small in-plants we had a homegrown system that relied upon Microsoft Excel, carbonless forms, chalkboards and the memory of our employees. While it sufficed for years, the two-day drudgery of generating the end-of-the-month chargeback reports for our controller’s office was reason alone for me to begin investigating management information systems (MIS), knowing in the back of my mind that we couldn’t afford

Symantec CEO, John W. Thompson, to chat one-on-one with EFI CEO Guy Gecht on broad array of subjects, from leadership to information and Internet security FOSTER CITY, CA—April 11, 2007—EFI (NASDAQ: EFII), the world leader in color digital print servers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions, today announced that John W. Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec, will participate in a special session at Connect 2007. The print industry’s largest user conference, EFI Connect takes place June 10-13, 2007 at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Thompson session will be held on Wed., June 13 at 11 a.m. “Connect is unmatched

FOSTER CITY, CA—Jan. 23, 2007—EFI (Nasdaq: EFII), the world leader in color digital print servers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions, today announced several recent developments supporting the company’s intent to drive the ubiquity of variable data printing (VDP), which represents a significant new revenue stream opportunity for its customers. EFI will have a major presence at the PODi (Print On Demand Initiative) Applications Forum, which will be held Feb.12-14, 2007 in Anaheim, CA, where the company will launch the Fiery® FreeForm Kit, a new tool to help customers implement personalized, one-to-one marketing campaigns. And in an industry first, EFI recently

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA—Dec. 6, 2006—A new EDSF study, titled “Current and Future Use of MIS/ERP Systems in Production Printing in the U.S.,” reveals insights into Management Information Systems/Enterprise Resource Planning (MIS/ERP) solutions. EDSF, the non-profit organization dedicated to the document management and communications marketplace, in collaboration with Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas, examine current and future use of MIS/ERP--- which provides an automated workflow for print production---in the print marketplace. The EDSF study is available as a free download at www.edsf.org. The report was made possible through an EDSF research grant provided to Pittsburg State. According to Dr. Jesús J. Rodríguez,

FOSTER CITY, CA—August 30, 2006 – EFI (Nasdaq: EFII) is proud to announce that many top performing Sir Speedy and PIP Printing & Document Services printing centers use EFI PrintSmith to manage their businesses. EFI’s Sir Speedy and PIP customers recently received sales performance awards at the Annual Sir Speedy and PIP International Convention and Vendor Show. EFI, a major exhibitor at the vendor show, was pleased to see their customers receive awards in the following five categories: Top 25, Volume Increase Percentage, Million Dollar Club, Century Club and Franchisee of the Year. EFI PrintSmith is a flexible, feature rich print management information system and the

RECENT RESEARCH suggests that just over 40 percent of in-plants use some form of print shop management software or management information system (MIS). If you’re one of the other 60 percent, perhaps it’s time for you to consider joining them. Obviously, this depends on the work you do, your customer mix and the level of management and planning/analysis capabilities you need. Let’s look at the pros and cons of these systems. The Pros 1. Print shop MIS systems can significantly automate, speed up and organize almost every business and production management role in your shop, whether it’s large or small, litho or copier-based. Depending

Avanti Computer Systems has acquired Parsec, a move that brings together two of the print industry’s leading providers of business management software. Their combined customer base exceeds 750 installations. “Our new larger company with more resources will be in a better position to respond to an ever-changing industry, providing the best possible service to all of our customers,” says Patrick Bolan, president and CEO of Avanti. All current Parsec employees will become members of the Avanti team.

Print management solutions are crucial to an in-plant's health and longevity. By Gretchen A. Peck "The only way a printer can hope to survive long-term is to improve efficiency, take costs out of the process, and create a market differentiation that ensures some level of competitive advantage," insists Gerald Walsh, director of product marketing at EFI, in Foster City, Calif. Today's print management information systems (MIS), he says, provide the foundation for addressing these competitive challenges. "In fact, with today's realities of high competition and tight margins, a good MIS isn't an option for printers; it's an absolute necessity," he adds.

A look at some of the latest workflow solutions. By Mark Smith The digital revolution was already on its way to making "workflow" a catch-all term in prepress, when the rise of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) extended its use to the entire print production process. As a result, an ever-wider array of products can now be called "digital workflow solutions." For our purposes, the definition is being limited to the evolution of what used to be called prepress systems. Vendors have responded to this trend with a shift toward marketing workflow solution brands as much as specific products. Modularity and flexibility are at

Both PrintTalk and printCafe have made promises of seamless integration from the buyer to printer. Find out what they have in mind. IN THE realm of printing management systems, there's probably no hotter topic right now than printCafe and PrintTalk. The announcement last January of the merger of nth degree software and Prograph to form printCafe, then the subsequent acquisitions of AHP, Hagen Systems, Logic Associates, M Data and Programmed Solutions left the industry confused, nervous and full of questions. That air of uncertainty was further fueled when, in June, the remaining MIS systems and 10 e-commerce companies announced the formation