Banbury Litho signed for a Tharstern Primo MIS at Ipex last year, replacing a Prinance system which had come from Heidelberg but which has since been discontinued.
The sheetfed and digital printer moved to the new MIS after installation of a five-colour Speedmaster XL75. The 38-year-old business is now on the point of integrating the MIS with its Heidelberg presses to collect real time data directly from the machines as the next step towards an information led business.
“We already run quite a lot of reports from the MIS,” says managing director Matthew Wise. “It generates job bags, runs production and invoicing and gives us far more functionality than the Prinance system had done.”
However, implementation has been a steady process, involving new ways of thinking, moving forwards and consolidating the gains before moving forwards with the next step. Hence it has taken until now to move towards getting feedback from the presses. “And then we can go to an electronic planning board,” says Wise.
“We think we are quite a progressive company and like to move forwards and this has been quite a step change. To change everything about the business is quite an upheaval.”
With operations across litho, digital and large format, and facing shorter runs, flexibility has been crucial. It has accelerated the quoting process Wise adds.
Tharstern offers iPad integration to allow the system to be integrated remotely, particularly for the CRM aspects and to generate an estimate while facing a client.
“We already run quite a lot of reports from the MIS,” says managing director Matthew Wise. “It generates job bags, runs production and invoicing and gives us far more functionality than the Prinance system had done.”
