Wanted: A MISsionary Zeal

When competing for investment dollars against more tangible assets, MIS solution providers sometimes find it hard to get the ‘thumbs up.’

September 2007 By Tom Polischuk

multipage

The term MIS—management information systems—gets thrown around so much that the significance of its impact gets taken for granted. Company management and all employees making management decisions (and in well-managed companies, these decisions are made at the lowest possible organizational level) depend on accurate, real-time information to make good decisions that enhance the bottom line.

So, you would think systems that provide the information for management decisions would get top billing, or at least some priority. However, this is not always the case.

Companies that are in the MIS business for the printing arena sometimes struggle to win the battles for investment dollars when going up against more tangible assets such as presses, prepress systems, or converting equipment. However, these companies know they can deliver ROIs that clearly justify the expense, and in many cases, put companies in a position to grow their businesses.

To get an assessment of the current environment surrounding MIS in the package-printing arena, packagePRINTING contacted a number of MIS suppliers. Here’s what they had to say.

pP: How is your company positioned in the business/production software space relative to package printing? How do you differentiate your company from the competition?

Jim Drisler, executive VP, sales and marketing, CRC Information Systems—CRC Information Systems offers two extremely powerful estimating modules designed exclusively for the package-printing industry—Folding Carton Estimating and Flexible Packaging Estimating. Both work seamlessly within a fully-integrated business management software package known as THE System.

CRC differentiates itself by providing exceptional service along with the most comprehensive, fully integrated, yet intuitive and easy-to-use suite of software available to the package-printing industry. CRC has developed more than 100 modules that address all aspects of business management, yet the workflow is presented in a straightforward manner that makes sense to users.

Chris Wood, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, DiMS!® organizing print—DiMS! has a comprehensive offering in the package-printing market. Our biggest success has been in roll labels and folding cartons particularly, in the multi-plant market.

Marc Olin, Sr. VP/General Manager, EFI Advanced Professional Print Software (APPS)—EFI offers PSI Flexo, a full-featured, highly flexible Print MIS designed to meet the unique office and shop floor management needs of the package printer. PSI streamlines production and helps businesses maximize their profit potential.

Brian Lynch, VP of sales and marketing, Operon Systems—Our product and offering is not limited to package printing, in that most any business can benefit from our Productivity Solution. What makes us unique is our approach to serve the customers and our ability to react quickly to their requests and needs. We make and sell a complete turnkey productivity solution. Our goal is to be the easiest system to implement, the most responsive company to customer needs, and the most professional organization to work with.

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