Not much has changed for print management solutions over the last few decades, but new technologies and an increased focus on business process automation is releasing a wave of innovation in this software segment. That is not to say there has not been any innovation in the print management information system (MIS) software segment but the progress has been iterative. Many print MIS solutions originated in the 1980s and 1990s after the adoption of personal computing and early computational software like VisCalc, Lotus 1-2-3, and Microsoft Excel. The core functionality then, as is today, is creating an estimate for a scope of work based on a complex costing engine with associated markups or profit margins.

As the printing industry transitioned into a custom manufacturing operation from its craft-based origins, print MIS solutions expanded beyond the core functionality with a series of add-on modules. Today, systems commonly include modules for inventory management, planning, scheduling, workflow integrations, shop floor data collection, data analytics, fulfillment/shipping, and accounting. As new technologies, like cloud-based computing, emerged, vendors adapted or rewrote their software to give customers more functionality and flexibility. The next wave of innovation will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI); print MIS vendors are just starting to implement AI-driven features.

Print MIS solutions are built on identifying and quantifying costs to create budgeted hourly rates (BHRs) that become the basis for pricing customer work, tracking job costs, calculating commissions, analyzing sales, valuing work-in-process, and ensuring profitability for the printing company. A budgeted hourly rate is the cost per hour to operate production equipment or deliver a service and represents the minimum rate you must charge to break even. Some costs captured in a BHR include equipment depreciation, direct expenses for equipment like repairs, labor required for that specific operation, supplies required for that cost center, along with portions of the building costs and utilities.