Software integrations are notoriously tricky projects, but the spirit of teamwork between Vpress, Tharstern and Precision Printing has produced an automated system delivering real benefits for the customer.
Precision Printing kicked off 2014 by making it the year for streamlining and reducing administration for its web to print orders. In order to facilitate this, the innovative Barking company required an integration of its in-house developed OneFlow automation software with the Vpress Coreprint web to print solution and Tharstern Primo MIS, allowing complete automation of the ordering process.
Steeve Roucaute, technical director at Precision, explained: ‘We needed a robust and comprehensive web to print platform with a lot of functionalities, covering a wide range of our clients’ requirements in terms of users and spend management, artwork, and stock management, all of which Vpress offers. Warehouse management and invoicing/KPIs are fully managed by Tharstern at Precision, whilst the production is fully automated via OneFlow, so linking the three systems together was a no-brainer for us and now gives a full end to end automated solution.’
Lee Ward, sales director of Tharstern, continued this sentiment, saying: ‘This is a great example of a print company understanding the necessity for its customers’ web to print engagement being tightly integrated to back office and production systems, to provide great customer service and essential administrative efficiencies in processing orders.’
The enterprise MIS Tharstern Primo is designed to help drive sales, reduce costs, protect margins, grow revenue and improve efficiency and effectiveness throughout a printing business. It has CRM and campaign management tools, highly accurate estimating software, advanced job costing and scheduling, real-time feedback from production, stock control, purchasing and procurement tools, supply chain and warehousing management tools, and a wide range of reports and dashboards.
Coreprint is one of the most widely used web to print systems in the UK, fully scalable, rapidly deployed, and easy to use. It can streamline manual processes, integrate with production workflows, MIS, CRM or other accounts and ERP systems, and offer internationalisation and multi-currency with full administrative control and authorisation levels.
Vpress marketing manager Emma Mortiboy said: ‘Coreprint is a fully scalable and flexible solution, able to plug into any MIS or eProcurement platform, as long as the given platform is agreeable with us doing so. The integration process into the Primo MIS has been a really efficient and streamlined process, with both the Vpress and Tharstern team working really well together. This bodes well for any clients wishing to undertake the same process and, we are sure to be working closely with Tharstern in the future.’
Going to plan
At the outset of the project, a full plan was drawn up, clearly indicating responsibilities and deadlines, and all parties adhered religiously to this plan, doing much to reassure Mr Roucaute, who said: ‘I must admit that I was originally worried about a three-party project, with such high levels of complexity. Previous experiences with other providers taught me that, generally, solution providers tend to throw the ball back at each other. I am delighted to report that in this instance, all parties involved were keen and took ownership of their tasks. All teams showed a great deal of flexibility to make this work and it was really easy from our perspective. And the project was delivered right on time.’
Mr Roucaute’s words bear great testimony to the spirit of partnership between Vpress and Tharstern – very much required when completing integration projects such as this.
Lee Ward of Tharstern continued: ‘Once we understood the aspirations of Precision, both the Tharstern and Vpress teams worked hard to provide the integrated solution, which sees online orders submitted directly to the Primo MIS. It is not just a one-way integration either, as stock balances held within the Primo MIS can be presented through to the Vpress portal in real-time. We are really pleased with this project and have many more joint Tharstern/Vpress users that want to enjoy these efficiencies.’
Precision Printing now has a fully automated workflow and clients can order print items without any human intervention, saving considerable time and cost to the company. The files are received, booked in, imposed, sent to press automatically, and scheduled via OneFlow up to the point of shipping, at which point the order is scanned. At this stage a carrier label is printed, the order is invoiced in Tharstern, and the tracking number is sent back to Coreprint so that the end user can track his order directly within the Coreprint interface.
A happy Steeve Roucaute concluded: ‘We can definitely say that we have closed the loop and achieved a significant overhead cost reduction.’
