2
T he dynamics of printing business across the globe has undergone a sea change. The past few years has wit- nessed technology integration and cross-over of tradi- tional printing boundaries like in offset, digital, packaging and newsprint. With print companies moving and operating into these segments under one roof, there is a radi- cal shift in production control systems. Print companies are moving away from being labelled as standard litho or digital printers; and therefore manufacturers have been obligated at ways to implement this mixed information into the MIS they offer. Optimus, has leveraged this notion and is of the view that traditional management information systems haven’t evolved and adapted with the advances in printers’ busi- nesses. Optimus feel print has altered greatly, since printers have diversified and broadened their print service. Today most print firms offer more than just printing, adding aspects such as consultation, design services and integration of cross-media platforms. As Anuj A Mehta, director of Paper Idea, the sole Indian distributor for Optimus MIS products states, “Demand is unpredictable, delivery deadlines have shortened, print now has faster turnarounds and within this process estimation is tedious task and printers tend to struggle in giving quotes accurately and quickly. The metrics of diverse services like offset, digital print, click charges, square metre pricing for wide-format and a streamlined and automated way of pric- ing any outworked element is a daunting task. In addition, the whole system may struggle with specific challenges to account for processes unrelated to production, such as design and consulting hours.” Step into Optimus, which claims that Dash, its latest MIS product offering, can address these problems. “Optimus Dash is the ideal MIS for digital and creative media companies,” says managing director Nicola Bisset. “Two years of intensive research into the different sectors of digital print production made us offer a MIS with funda- mental differences for digital printers. Digital printers are offering a lot of other (non-print) services, they tend to be brand-savvy and, in some cases, the print is incidental. “In the course of research and development (R&D) for Dash, we wanted to make sure it covered both litho and dig- ital printing; we found that we also had to cater to various (on-production) services. We’ve got clients whose services go beyond print and one even doesn’t do any printing.” Mehta points outs: “Dash is a dynamic MIS product ulti- mate for Indian printers, who have unique requirements and are on lookout for a process that helps them in doing effi- cient business. Optimus Dash platform is great for Indian printers looking for a right mix of digital and offset MIS solu- tion and Dash suits their business requirements.” New avatar Optimus Dash is enabled with a completely new front-end that tracks and effectively caters for any changes with who is ordering what and how the job is being ordered for print. “Our customers don’t face any teething troubles with esti- mates and don’t talk about estimators, rather they talk about enquiries and jobs,” says Bisset. One response to those changes is a new module, which the firm calls the sales enquiry and quotation manager. Another, and perhaps the biggest, change is the way the sys- tem has been opened up to integrate with third-party web- to-print (W2P) systems. “We’ve made it easy to work with W2P,” says director of R&D Nigel Tyler. “At Ipex 2010 in Birmingham, UK, we demonstrated Dash linked to RedTie’s RTT W2P system in a way that is completely seamless.” Mehta adds: “The integration is simple and works with any dynamic W2P platform with the option of using web services, cXML or API’s. A revamped estimating tool has added a new level of func- tionality. “It takes a slightly different approach; it’s now prod- uct-based and can handle lots of different product options,” says Tyler. “The idea is to enable much faster processing of jobs; it’s now possible to create an order in less than 12 sec- onds.” This need for speed is echoed by Bisset: “Digital printers using traditional MIS could find that by the time they’d entered a job into the system it was already out of the door.” Underlying the product-based approach is a new take on estimating which breaks everything down into tasks. “We put a lot of work into making it formula-based, so you can use it simply to estimate anything,” says Bisset. The company claims this new approach with enhanced yet simplified functionality makes it easier to work on a cam- paign basis, with the multiple different tasks and compo- nents that involves, rather than a job basis. Design elements are easy to incorporate, as are other non- print services and any outwork that has to be purchased. A new outwork manager module makes dealing with third-party suppliers quicker and easier, with the ability to set up preferred supplier lists. Other tools also simplify estimating, including templates for different types of work, so you don’t have to start from scratch when creating every estimate, and the inclusion of a Optimus Dash A robust MIS system that has been built to address the printing service requirements for both offset and digital, discovers Alok Singh Product Portfolio 74 PrintWeek India Vol III Issue 9 31 December 2010 www.printweek.com/india PRODUCT OF THE MONTH Optimus Dash: a new front-end to reflect changes in the way people order print
![User Options - Home | GoldMine CRM - Simple, … UserID Password is not case sensitive. For that matter, neither is the UserID Login. Note Figure 3-3 User Options [GoldMine] [GoldMine]](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/5b09cf3d7f8b9a51508de2d1/user-options-home-goldmine-crm-simple-userid-password-is-not-case-sensitive.jpg)
![Goldmine[d] Innovation Workshop](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/58f31e051a28ab34068b45bd/goldmined-innovation-workshop.jpg)
