A new EDSF study titled, “Current and Future Use of MIS/ERP Systems in Production Printing in the U.S.” reveals insights into Management A new EDSF study titled, “Current and Future Use of MIS/ERP Systems in Production Printing in the U.S.” reveals insights into Management Information Systems/Enterprise Resource Planning (MIS/ERP) solutions. EDSF, the non-profit organisation dedicated to the document management and communications marketplace, in collaboration with Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas, examines current and future use of MIS/ERP -- which provides an automated workflow for print production -- in the print marketplace. The EDSF study is available as a free download at www.edsf.org . The report was made possible through an EDSF research grant provided to Pittsburg State.

According to Dr. Jesús J. Rodríguez, professor and chairman, graphics and imaging technology, Pittsburg State University, “MIS/ERP solutions in print production have a significant potential for driving business growth. Print establishments that have not yet adopted these solutions need to understand the benefits and consider the option of implementing them in their print production areas.”

The research indicates that the key message to vendors of MIS/ERP solutions is that they need to do a better job of educating the market; and they need to make the systems easier to use. “The primary problems with implementation of MIS/ERP solutions revolves around staff training and consistent staff utilisation,” said Rodríguez. “The study reveals that these solutions need to be more user-friendly, have more automated data input to avoid data input errors, and identify ways to reduce the inconsistent staff utilisation.”

Key findings

• MIS/ERP systems have been in use in the majority of respondent printing establishments for more than a decade. The majority of these users have deployed MIS/ERP in the print production area.
• MIS/ERP in print production drives business growth.
• Non-users are either unaware of MIS/ERP solutions and/or do not understand the return on investment delivered by MIS/ERP solutions, and this is inhibiting their willingness to implement these systems.
• Access to real time data and better business decision making are the primary benefits of MIS/ERP systems in the print production area, according to users. The primary problems with implementation revolve around staff training and consistent staff utilisation.