designed specifically for commercial print businesses. Using Avanti, print service providers can benefit from operational efficiency, eliminate errors, estimate intelligently, optimise production, improve customer experience, and access real-time data insights. This solution can also be used alongside Ricoh’s, and other vendors’, workflow automation solutions such as the RICOH ProcessDirector and RICOH TotalFlow Suite. Offering more of an insight into what an MIS can do for a business, Tim Carter, director of Commercial Print for Ricoh Graphic Communications, says: “Management information systems offer a suite of tools to efficiently manage key business and operational processes including estimating, scheduling, shop floor data collection, shipping, and fulfilment. integrations not hardware/presses capturing real-time data and also pre-press workflow solutions. As the industry faces staff shortages, the more information in your MIS, the less pain you feel should key members leave your team,” Bromley explains. Another benefit of a good MIS system that Bromley highlights is that because the knowledge and company data are held within the system, it allows new employees to be easily onboarded to the MIS platform and reduces the need for dedicated estimators as employees can instead cover other roles. “Your MIS platform should sit within the business for 15 to 20 years so ensure you futureproof your investment,” Bromley advises, adding: “Make sure the platform looks very visually pleasing as you may end up employing a team with little or no print knowledge. “Ensure your solution allows you to communicate through system-built web portals included within the MIS platform. This allows you to automate business orders from customer portals straight into your business. Likewise, ensure that webto-print platforms such as Infigo, Vpress, OnPrintShop, and so on, all have approved links to your solution.” Bromley goes on to say that simplicity is key when picking an MIS system and advises businesses to try to find the visually pleasing option which will in turn mean easier onboarding of staff and less confusion. Not all ‘like for like’ Another company that offers an MIS solution is Ricoh Graphic Communications with its Avanti Slingshot Print MIS. This solution services multiple solutions and is focused on organisation to enable businesses to focus on their customers’ needs. Avanti Slingshot is a fully automated, cloud-based, flexible MIS system “Not all MIS software available is like for like. Ricoh Avanti Slingshot is scalable, vendor-neutral, and cloud-based which means full visibility and control over your real-time data and processes. It enables print organisations to deliver more jobs in less time, with the confidence in knowing that every aspect of your shop is integrated into one powerful print MIS platform.” Some of the specific features users of the Avanti Slingshot can benefit from include being able to secure anywhere/ anytime access on a browser-based device; support for multiple areas of business including offset, digital, hybrid, large-format, marketing, etc; integration into all “industry-leading” web-to-print platforms via an API; and JDF integration to connect ‘islands of automation’. Other features include automated purchasing, full document and asset management from one system, CRM for one real-time, consistent view on one screen, digital and traditional scheduling, and advanced inventory management. “Investing and implementing MIS often means embarking on a complex decision process,” Carter says, adding: “Ricoh specialists can assist on this journey and we recommend reviewing the eight-step process beforehand to make sure the business needs and project return on investment (ROI) are met.” This eight-step process includes understanding your needs, listing key objectives, building an evaluation team, determining budget, prioritising essential capabilities, scoping software integration needs, evaluating the implementation process, and selecting a partner. The full breakdown of 48 ◄ PrintIQ is a cloudbased MIS solution with a visually pleasing interface, which the company says is important ▼ PrintIQ’s UK operations were launched in 2020 but the company has locations in New Zealand, Australia, and the US NEED TO KNOW / MIS SOFTWARE www.signlink.co.uk February / March 2023 - Issue 245
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