There have been great shifts in technology in the short history of computers in the printing industry, generally to the benefit of printers, though the decimation wrought on typesetters by the arrival of desktop publishing might not seem like this.
The greatest impact of computers in print is arguably in MIS, which could not exist without computers. MIS replaced fag packets for estimating, T cards for scheduling and job bags for carrying instructions around a factory.
At the same time the role of MIS has grown. As new computer technology has come along, MIS vendors and their customers have had to adapt, from mini computers to MS-DOS, to Windows and the advent of JDF, and now to the cloud. Each generational shift has been increasingly complex both because the technology has become more sophisticated and because the customer base is that much greater. Tharstern, for example, has 5,000 systems of this ilk around the world.
It has to move these customers away from the comfort of a server to the great server farm in the sky, while also continuing to look after existing operations. The future though is in the cloud. It is therefore no surprise that a version for labels is leading its way.
This makes sense because, while there are label printers among the customers, Tharstern is not considered a specialist label MIS in the way that Cerm or Labeltraxx are. But it would like to gain market share in a fast growing area and one that, thanks to the rise of digital printing, needs to adopt a modern IT approach. And once proven in the labels world, with all the feedback that is provided, the transition for commercial printers – the bulk of its customers – should be easier.
Tharstern Cloud was introduced to customers and possible partners at an online launch in the summer. CEO Keith McMurtrie described it as a “new platform that offers unparalleled connectivity. Now we want to work with a spread of vendors. We are not arrogant enough to say that we have all the answers.” The company has invested just shy of £1.8 million over the three year project to deliver a completely open MIS that makes full use of APIs, third-party applications and resides in the cloud for “world class security and almost unlimited scaleability” according to McMurtrie.
Even before the launch event, feedback to the development has been positive enough for Tharstern to commit a further £452,000 to accelerate development and to double the size of the ten-strong development team.
The aim of the early adopter programme it wants to set up is to gain the feedback the business needs to understand which way to progress the next phase of development. This could be what McMurtie calls “more vertical, to tackle wastage, more horizontal as we develop into more elements of production, or tangentially, which would be something slightly left field for a traditional MIS supplier”.
Already earmarked to be rolled out in the coming months are modules for order processing, for shipping and for production. Each will configure the user interface slightly differently according to the requirements of each department and user. Thus a press operator will see only information that is relevant to the task in hand while the estimators and production manager will be able to interrogate the system according to production capacity of each machine. A job that demands spot colours will be directed to a flexo press, but by allowing combination colours from its high gamut digital press, the same job may become viable for digital printing.
The CEO will also experience a different view over the system, featuring a dashboard showing the different KPIs that can be set up for a realtime view over the business. There is also access to the feedback from a new wellbeing feature. Employees will be asked how they feel that day or answer other questions that will enable the company to spot personnel issues in time to intervene and before they become problems. This is linked to a digital Noticeboard that Tharstern is making available as a licence-fee-free version to enable the screen to be viewed by all members of staff or shown on screens around the business.
It is an extension of MIS into areas that others are yet to tread, but is a step that is close to McMurtrie’s heart. The future is about the technology working alongside the people, and the people need the same care and maintenance as the latest press or software systems. “It is increasingly apparent that the most successful companies we work with have one thing in common – they understand the opportunity of the technology and their people working together. These I call the bionic businesses.”
From the Automation section in the Sep/Oct 2021 issue of the magazine
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