Graph Expo - Chicago - Sept. 10, 2007 - EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, has received early acclaim for its newly released Scheduling Module for PrintSmith (on display in booth 3000 at Graph Expo, Sept. 9-12, McCormick Place).
EFI PrintSmith is a flexible, feature rich print management information system and the market leading solution for offset and digital production shops. The system's new electronic scheduling option is designed to replace whiteboard and/or spreadsheet-based production management solutions. This new scheduling capability provides real-time information on production load, downtime, overtime, and milestones for business-critical activities. It has easy to use, highly visual "drag and drop" functionality, and integrates with the PrintSmith Tracker module, which provides users with real-time shop floor data collection and job costing.
AlphaGraphics is a visual communications franchisor providing a wide range of solutions for design, digital copying, printing, one-to-one marketing, digital archiving
and mailing services for small- to medium-sized businesses as well as corporate entities.
"The initial reaction to the new PrintSmith Scheduling Module has been fantastic - there was standing room only in a session I gave at our recent Annual Conference," said Danny Wilson, regional manager of Alphagraphics. "We believe there is much efficiency to be gained with the software, including faster turn-around times and fewer errors on jobs. In addition, we think this tool will improve the customer experience with Alphagraphics. Our franchisees are already satisfied PrintSmith customers, and now PrintSmith Scheduling offers them another powerful tool in today's competitive marketplace."
Mid-size commercial printer Holmes Printing, of Springfield, Ohio, recently began using the Scheduling Module; they have been a PrintSmith user for 15 years. Brian Holmes, Production Manager, said: "The biggest benefit the new module has brought us is the ability to gather more real-time production information for each department, which allows us to see any potential bottlenecks in advance and be able to adjust the schedule as needed, before a problem occurs. That's huge. And when we do have to make changes it's as simple as dragging and dropping jobs to a new timeslot or day. It's also great that every PrintSmith user can now view the schedule and see the workflow without having to pull an actual job ticket."