Hunts – People in Print, prides itself on being an environmentally conscious printer. The company offers its customers greener printing without a premium; producing books and periodicals, large format graphics, marketing materials and specialist print work including security printing and Point of Sale Materials.

The company has ordered a Tharstern 10 user MIS system with eight Shop Floor Data Capture and JDF connection with Screen Trueflow PrePress, including Fulfilment, Accounts Link and the e4print e-commerce solution with variable data. The system is due to go live in July and will further enhance Hunts focus on delivering a high-end finished product to clients.

Hunts – People in Print commercial director Aimee Joy said: "Making the decision to adopt the Tharstern MIS system allows us to be more customer centric and streamline the whole frontline process."

The installation is one part of Hunts plan to expand the business and enlarge turnover from a £4M to a £5M business this year, which will also include an extension to its plant to incorporate a Client Café. This new venue will be used as an important platform for Hunts to house its client training seminars and Continuous Improvement team events.

The new MIS will complement the company's impressive mix of print equipment, which includes an array of B2 and B3 sheet fed Komori and Heidelberg Anicolor presses, large and small format digital printing machines, as well as folding, stitching, mailing and fulfilment services.

Hunts decided on the Tharstern MIS system following a BPIF Vision in Print business improvement review and also Hunts' own Continuous Improvement Team review, where it was revealed that the current MIS system needed to be replaced in order to support and fully take advantage of the company's future expansion plans.

One key area that has been highlighted as being beneficial to Hunts improvements and is also a highlight of the Tharstern MIS is the automated alerts, such as reminders that a job that is scheduled on press within 24 hours and for which paper hasn't been ordered – an essential component in a printing company with urgent deadlines to meet.

Tharstern's MIS also links seamlessly through to Sage Accounts quicker than currently experienced. Joy comments: "We currently do manual reports but the MIS system will save us a lot of time by allowing us to have a live link with Sage." It will also provide a much quicker invoicing procedure, allowing invoices to be raised and processed through to Sage much quicker than Hunts is currently experiencing.

The Milestones feature will also solve a current business problem and will allow an Account Handler to set a schedule of events to project manage a job, which could also be presented to the customer in an order acknowledgement crystal document.

During the decision making demo Joy was suitably impressed with the TharsternSQL T4 easy-to- view scheduling display, which is similar to a departure board found in an airport lounge. "I liked the fact it was both live and instant", she states. Hunts also found that the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) element of the package fitted in well with the company's intentions to continue to market its business successfully.

Another benefit with the Tharstern MIS is the real time MiView Dashboards, which provide up-to-the-minute production and management information data at the click of the button – saving Hunts from another large time wasting administrative task.

Production scheduling coupled with Shop Floor Data Capture will allow Hunts to experience a greatly improved forward planning and job tracking production experience, which Joy feels will give greater transparency to the company's workflow to both staff and customers. Joy stated, "Account Managers can be with a client and also have the facility to check the status of work without having to spend time speaking to other members of staff. In addition, in most instances customers will also be able to log in for themselves to view the stage their work is at."

Part of Hunts future development also includes a recruitment sales drive to further increase the success of the business. "We needed Tharstern to make more time and we were holding ourselves back but the Tharstern MIS allows us to free up our sales staff and enable them to spend important time with our clients," concludes Joy.

Lee Ward, part of the Tharstern team involved in the implementation of the Tharstern system at Hunts is excited about their continuing collaboration and this new investment. He says: "We are delighted to be working with Hunts during such an important stage in the development of its business and are looking forward to providing all the support required during the implementation of the Tharstern MIS and going forward."