Wilmington, MA - Label printing jobs are becoming shorter and more complex. To manage these, senior mangement requires quick print management system access to real time, mobile management information via smart phones, Internet browsers, and VPNs to company networks. At Labelexpo Americas, from September 14-16 in Chicago, IL, at booth 6013, Prism will demonstrate its enabling technology, mobileMIS, which offers Key Performance Indicator dashboards, quotations, warehouse management, machine, jobs and performance monitoring from mobile phones and browsers. This technology is an extension of Prism's management information system, Prism WIN, its MIS/ERP software suite tailored for the requirements of label printers, along with Prism QTMS, a lean production management system with machine monitoring modules, custom-developed sensors and plant-wide WIP tracking that automatically record and collate shop-floor information and statistics. Both solutions offer end-to-end management of medium to large label printing companies in a fully integrated, modular software and hardware solution and will also also be demonstrated during Labelexpo.

Prism has established itself as a significant global player for graphic arts and printing, providing MIS/ERP products and services to the best-managed label businesses around the world. Using Prism WIN and QTMS, label printers can realize significant operational savings and benefits.

Access to business information anywhere, any time
Prism mobileMIS is an application that lets users access Key Performance Indicator dashboards, quotations, warehouse management, and machine, job, and performance monitoring on mobile phones and browsers. Key performance indicator dashboards allow a high level view into business performance, and QTMS dashboards give a view into machine speeds, status, operators, and quantities.

Prism mobileMIS is browser enabled and easy to use. There is no client software needed. Users can launch their print MIS and track their business directly from their mobile phone. Whether checking key business sales, production, financial and customer service performance indicators, asking for an instant, real-time price quote, a establishing a JDF link with prepress, press and finishing equipment from a smartphone, managing inventory from a hand held wireless device, Prism mobileMIS can help.

"Business intelligence is the lifeblood of a successful company. Label printers expect print management system access to real time, mobile management information via smart phones, Internet browsers, and VPNs to company networks," explains Filip Buyse, President and CEO of Prism. "mobileMIS allows executives to stay in contact with what is happening in production facilities."

Building an MIS around the label business.
Prism WIN allows label printers to conduct business the way they are used to, rather than force fitting it into a software developer's notion of how to run a business. It has many tools and flexible processes to build a system that reflects a printer's own business - even adding units of measure that make sense for a labels printer.

For those label printers who focus on more than just labels, such as folding cartons, film and contract packaging - or even digital or commercial printing - they can use the same Prism WIN software and build separate reporting systems. With Prism WIN, diverse product capabilities that drive a diverse set of internal processes no longer create administrative re-work, double entries, and cumbersome accounting practices.

A single system is often not the answer to a label printer's needs. Prism WIN Connect lets complementary technologies, such as web to print solutions and enterprise collaboration tools to work with Prism WIN. For example, printers can send shipping information to delivery service systems and receive shipping data back for costing and tracking. Meanwhile, Prism's JDF link with production workflows can result in substantial cost and time benefits. By interfacing to Prism WIN, the preproduction workflow becomes an extension of the converter's supply chain. For example, by defining critical job parameters up front via JDF, the link to the production workflow eliminates redundant data entry by operators that can lead to incorrect content. Information from a label work slip can be pulled, such as the product SKU or barcode, layers, inks and ink coverage, and structural information, among others. A JDF workflow with a "step-and-repeat" module can help accelerate the process of getting content most efficiently onto the printing plate.

Tracking labels from roll to roll
Production management is not complete without the ability to monitor live production data and track activities, material consumption, and jobs throughout all stages of the workflow. On the plant floor, QTMS tracks raw materials throughout the print process - through the press, finishing machines, cutters, and rewinders, and each milestone is automatically fed back into Prism WIN, updating job status dynamically. In fact, a printer can look at a pallet, a box on that pallet, and even each roll, and understand cost of goods - material and labor - for each label roll.

"Prism WIN and QTMS allow any label printer to develop an MIS/ERP system that mirrors their business operations and reports significant business and production data and trends for the business owner," comments Tim Daisy, Prism's Marketing Manager. "Used with production systems, they can reduce a significant amount of labor and reduce product error. We look forward to demonstrating how a label business can dramatically improve operations with the help of an MIS/ERP system."