Accura MIS

Describe your business

We’re a small- to medium-sized company that can print all formats.

What have you bought?

We installed an Accura MIS in 2007 and recently added the web-to-print module.

What does it do?

The Accura MIS handles our jobs from start to finish, from putting a client into the system to producing their quote and producing job specs, proof notes and delivery dockets and invoicing. The web-to-print module enables the client to get their own quotes, approved jobs, order jobs and find out where the job is in the system. They can do it from anywhere – they don’t have to be at their computer. I’ve got clients that do it from their iPads. The website has been developed to use on any platform. Out of my clients, I’ve got 40 active users that use it quite heavily.

Why did you choose this product?

We wanted to have our quotes be consistent. When we quote, it’s exactly the same price when I do it and my partner does it. Plus the cost was less than $100 per week. That was probably the biggest plus for us. We wanted to get bigger and the only way we could was to have systems in place. We chose the web-to-print module to take pressure off the estimators from doing work. Clients could find their own pricing instantly and get their own quotes and proofs from anywhere they happened to be.

Did you consider any other products?

When we installed the MIS, we looked at some products from overseas, but they were only basic model products and they were nowhere near what we needed. They were either too expensive or didn’t do what we were looking for.

What features do you particularly like?

I like being able to quote consistently and having a library quote system. The basic print things you do, we’ve got them all pre-priced. We can do up to 100 quotes per day per person. Before, it was four to five quotes per day and you couldn’t find your quotes because there were no reference numbers.

Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?

At the moment, it doesn’t have a very good production board and editing, but we’ve been told they’re in the pipeline. They do an update every year or so.

How fast is it?

It’s so easy to use. We win a lot of jobs thanks to the quickness. From a library quote, I can produce a quote in 30 seconds if the client is in the system. You can have a job bag done in a minute or two.

How reliable is it?

Generally, reliability is 99%. It’s exceeded what I thought it would do.

How easy is it to use?

I did two days’ training and by the end of the second day, I was running the system. I’ve trained everyone here since. They found it quite easy to learn. They come back to me when they can’t do something. It’s got a logical design. The online resource to get help is fantastic – they’ve got video tutorials.

Has it saved time and money?

It’s saved a lot of money. Just knowing what it costs to produce a product and to know what you can sell it for is priceless. This thing can give me a day-to-day running of things in the system and how much stock we’ve got on the floor.

Has it won you any new business?

It has won us lots of new business. We’ve grown nearly five-fold [since installing the MIS in November 2007]. Being able to quote consistently is priceless. Once you’ve produced a quote, it automatically creates a job ticket. What we’ve put on the ticket prints out on the quote and we’re giving the client exactly what he wants.

Were there any difficulties surrounding the install?

We had a few issues. Because they were only a UK company coming into Australia at the time, they didn’t have anyone out here, so they ended up getting one of the users from Perth, who had used the program in the UK and was quite knowledgeable, to fix it.

How has the service been?

It’s fantastic. Having support here and in the UK gives us almost 24-hour support. They’re very good a solving problems. They’ll work on your problem when I’m asleep and generally have a solution by the next day.

Who is this product right for?

Because it’s a total add-on package, it goes from one- to two-man print shops right through to your big companies. When we put it in, we were only three people; we’re eight full-time and four part-time now.


Supplier’s response

When we first discussed an MIS with Printworks, a key requirement was to generate accurate quotes quickly by someone with less skills. But just as importantly, they needed a system that could tell them everything that was happening within the business, from sales to production to dispatching, online web-to-print, real-time profitability, while producing effective reports along the way. The Accura MIS changed the way Printworks focused their business and allowed them to make decisions on-the-fly about what type of work they could make money on and what workloads they could commit to.

David Fitter, Ideal Solution

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