Small Printers' Affordable Management Software

Printuitive from Outsourced Projects, the latest software entry in to the print management information system (MIS) market, is claimed to be aimed at the smaller printer at an affordable price.

Printuitive from Outsourced Projects, the latest software entry in to the print management information system (MIS) market, is claimed to be aimed at the smaller printer at an affordable price.

Outsourced Projects also believes that Printuitive is simple to use and 'intuitive'.

The company claimed that unlike many of its rivals, Printuitive was not designed by technicians but by seasoned printers with a lifetime of hands on experience.

Designed on a Filemaker Pro 8 platform, Printuitive is said to run on Mac or PC and caters for litho and digital printing, or both combined.

Its flexible approach affords non-print trained personnel the opportunity to produce accurate quotations and job-sheets.

The company added that Printuitive also checks all user data entries and flags possible errors, whilst making alternative suggestions as appropriate.

Printuitive is not just an estimating tool, it is a full MIS, monitoring and managing work from inception to invoicing.

It empowers key operatives and decision makers with all the relevant facts they need to make informed, qualified choices - such as controlling margins, asset recovery costs, managing production or monitoring up to the minute financial statistics, said Outsourced Projects.

The system provides information that not only enhances business opportunities but also often realises savings in energy, time, manpower and money.

Phil Cryan - managing director of PC Print, a partner and the creative force behind Printuitive, explained: "It is the likes of companies, such as Tharstern, that caused Printuitive to exist.

Whilst programs from such companies are packed with features and may be great for the larger printer, they are often by design, too complicated, too complex and too expensive for the smaller printing company." He continued: "I put this down to the fact that even the best of programmers do not truly understand the print process and the nature of the smaller printer's marketplace." And he emphasised: "A few years ago I attended umpteen MIS demonstrations and was amazed to repeatedly see the software breakdown half way through.

This was not what I expected.

After all, when you test drive a Rolls Royce, you don't expect it to breakdown on its first outing.

I was also permanently frustrated by such things as not being able to book in a quick job without first producing a quotation, or that enquiry criteria were limited to just one field, making search and recall facilities very restricted." Cryan added that despite that, he eventually bought one such system but after six months, his staff could still not produce all the company's quotations on it because it was too complicated and thus the software was abandoned.

He commented: "That was when I decided to learn programming and design my own easy to use system.

But it was not until several years later, when I met with my associate Stephen Matthews - a former print sales director and current managing director of Outsourced Projects, that I realised the full potential of what I'd created.

And so with Stephen's 'professional interference' Printuitive was born." Stephen Matthews said: "In designing Printuitive we wanted to produce a product that would genuinely revolutionise and simplify the whole print estimating and production process for the smaller printing company.

In fact our goal was and still is, to do for printing, what Easyjet did for the holiday industry.

That is to supply a great product that makes life a whole lot easier, more efficient, at a price anyone can afford." Once some basic cost rates have to be inputted at the beginning of the process Matthews said that the Printuitive system will 'think' for the printer.

The software 'understands' the print process and thereby avoids asking users for unnecessary detail, such as if a job is wire stitched, or about folding, as it already knows to include that information.

He claimed that those features, combined with tool-tips, help screens, auto-checking and quotation templates - fine tuned through beta testing within the industry - make it easy for experienced and non-print trained personnel, to learn, use and manage the system.

Printuitive costs GBP995 per seat (excluding VAT) with lifelong free upgrades for companies purchasing Printuitive before November 31st, with no annual retainer fees.

Outsourced Projects said that demonstration CDs are available from Outsourced Projects free of charge.

Each CD provides a 30-day trial period, after which users can either extend the trial period via a free extension code from Outsourced Projects, or purchase Printuitive and unlock the software completely.

All versions of Printuitive include import and export routines so that valuable data is transferable between versions and future upgrades.

Printuitive is distributed and licensed exclusively by Outsourced Projects.

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