One of the most common situations I encounter in regards to Print MIS is challenges with estimating. Surprisingly it is not that uncommon to encounter printers that have injected “loopholes” in to their Print MIS estimating systems or abandoned it altogether. This is due to what is perceived as limitations with the estimating system itself. Often this loophole or “patch” is the tried and true Print MIS antagonist, Microsoft Excel, if you want to get a good laugh watch this video about homegrown Print MIS solutions. One printer I was recently working with completely abandoned their Print MIS estimating only 8 months after implementation. Excel resumed its position of “estimator” and the Print MIS was then limping along, disconnected from the heart of the system.

What causes this? Why do so many printers find themselves seeking out alternatives to estimating within Print MIS system? It’s ironic in that most people initially seek out a new management system because of estimating. What does Excel offer that the “systems” do not? Quite frankly it is the perceived flexibility of Excel against the perceived inflexibility of the estimating module within the Print MIS systems. The comfort of being able to look up and manage your own formulas cannot be underestimated (no pun intended). For the record, and before the vendors get upset with me, I am NOT endorsing Excel as a preferred estimating tool, quite the contrary. I think Excel while flexible, is flawed and lacks the necessary controls that only Print MIS systems can provide for estimating. Not to mention the fact that Excel is a completely isolated system – no way to convert an Excel estimate into a job or track your win ratio. Print MIS estimating engines provide powerful recipes that act as the catalyst for everything within the system – costing, job management, billing, etc. The challenges often present with the different types of estimating required which are:

This is the most common way Print MIS systems are designed “by default” and stems from the offset printing world where most printers calculated their sell price based on “cost plus”. The estimating engine needs to calculate all relevant costs and then a markup is applied. This is still a dominant way of how the estimating systems are configuredby defaultin today’s Print MIS systems