MIS – to measure is to manage
Management Information Systems is another entrant into the production area of print that has had a resounding affect on maximising efficiency over the last two decades. Before the advent of these amazingly intricate and complicated add-ons to the production process, the whole governance of the factory was carried out either written or verbally, allowing for a multitude of misunderstandings and communication problems. Also, from the shop floor point view, filling in time sheets was a laborious and fiddly occupation, often taking valuable production time as well as being widely open to a misinterpretation, making the measuring of the ‘true’ time spent on jobs almost impossible to calculate.
We have seen a great influx of companies all eager to get their systems in place in a printing company in order to capture all the information possible in an effort to manage the production flow in as efficient a manner as possible. Tharstern, Optimus, Shuttleworth, Imprint Business Systems, and EFI, have all become virtually household names in the industry now as they push their individual solutions geared to helping a printing company operate in amore efficient way.
Automated estimating and production print schedule planning software packages speak for themselves, but when it comes to print machine room data capture, MIS has really made an impression. The ability to measure exactly how long each job takes, down to the minute or even second, allows for production management to pinpoint areas of repeated loss in production time. It can highlight problem areas, including the efficiency of certain types of job, and also the efficiency of minders on the job. There is nothing like data figures in black and white to tell you where vital minutes are being lost either in the type of work you are taking on, or in how long particular minders are taking to do the job. MIS systems are also a very useful tool when it comes to motivating staff on the machine room floor, for instead of verbally instructing delivery times, usually in the form of ‘this is urgent, quick as you can’, clear, black and white schedule timings can be communicated leaving less opportunity for conflict, as well as a much more professional way of communicating.
To be continued…
Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.
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