ESP Colour will be the first company to use Gelato Connect as managing director Simon Smogur looks for a single workflow to link the four businesses in the £28 million turnover group.
The challenge is replacing the separate workflows and MIS systems with a single workflow instead of the home grown software that runs the print on demand arm, the SiteFlow, Tharstern, Pace, and others. “In most other industries there is one piece of software to run the factory. If we could have that it would reduce costs and we would be much more efficient,” he says.
The transition began when he was approached to produce work for Gelato through the company’s interface and original software. Smogur declined. “We didn’t want another piece of software in the factory,” he says, “Then Henrik Muller Hensen called to say: ‘How about if your entire factory was run through our software?’.”
That led to an agreement to work on what was being introduced at Drupa as Gelato Connect. The relationship has built up over the months into a deep partnership, with Smogur remarking how fast changes are written and implemented. “Gelato’s validation process and software building is second to none in this industry,” he says.
The first part of the process is scheduled to go live at the end of this month when ESP shuts off its Siteflow application. Gelato Connect will eventually link the four plants, for print on demand, commercial, large format and labels, in a single network giving the management team instant access to real time information about the entire operation.
The advantages will include being able to redeploy coders who keep the internally developed system on its feet and who try to connect other applications. Smogur likens it to having a mobile phone: nobody would build their own phone, but possessing one opens the way to numerous advantages. “We firmly believe that Gelato will be the first company to develop the one software we need to run the factory.”
