GROUND CONTROL

A post-Drupa LAUREL BRUNNER explores what is available in the world of MISAs the steamroller of digitisation continues to flatten everything in its path, developers of all sorts of digital tools are turning their gaze towards Management Information Systems. For developers of everything from prepress production systems to designers of network technologies, it seems MIS is now hip. Despite the fact that there are already plenty of extremely competent MIS companies serving the printing market, the application is hardly a surprising target for technologists' next focus of attention.Digital technologies provide the means for more efficient process management and control of all sorts. Ever since the invention of double entry book keeping, success in business has gone hand in hand with process and commercial control, irrespective of the industry.The reach of digital technology inevitably embraces those activities that have until recently had nothing much to do with print production. But as management technologies increasingly share common hardware platforms and operating systems, the attractions of fully integrated MIS and production management systems are getting increasingly tempting.Information sharing across applications is an immutable fact of the digital age, from cutting and pasting text to and from e- mails, through to database driven e-commerce. It does not really matter what the application is, the fact that we use common technological foundations creates new possibilities for information interchange and so for process management.Whether we are talking proof printing or bought ledger, in a digital environment commercially relevant data can be shared and manipulated across systems with relative ease. This means that if a certain customer requires umpteen high-priced proofs before finally signing off on a job, the history and the associated overhead costs can be easily stored as part of the customer's record. The possibilities for improving management processes are obvious and the benefits of knowing how expensive a job has been to produce is of course useful. However, as elegant as such a model seems, we are still some distance from systems that can share data as easily as the theory would suggest.At Drupa, the usual prepress system culprits made a few gentle grunts in the direction of the ideal linked system, but really it would be far from accurate to state that there were impressive MIS solutions from the major prepress developers. The most likely candidates were Heidelberg with its version 2.0 of Prinergy and Screen with Trueflow, both of which add a basic MIS dimension with links to commercial systems. It seems that although the prepress development community recognises the possibilities of integrated production and commercial management, it is still a long way behind the established suppliers.In addition to new features for production workflow systems, probably the most interesting technology coming out of the prepress development community for this application is Agfa's Delano.On two little laptops in the hands of two not-so-little Agfa executives and dyed in the wool PDF fans, the quite wonderful Delano system was demonstrated. It is still far from a real product and the technology is still more idea than reality, but if Agfa has the foresight to see this project through, it will place the company in a very strong position for future integrated management systems. Delano comes from the same brainsource as Apogee to which it is a natural adjunct, and with such antecedents, it should have a more than good chance of success.Delano is not really an MIS, but it is a significant step in that direction, and it is a good example of how we can expect such systems to evolve as the web becomes a more commonly used management tool. This automated project management system is a database driven application that uses the web to create a virtual management system for collaborative projects. It allows designers, photographers, writers, printers, prepress professionals and even accountants access to project information through a common web based work site. Delano is still many bits short of a byte in terms of MIS, but it represents a major transition point for Agfa, because it is the company's first true database driven web-based management tool. Based on object orientated database technology, Delano can be configured to do pretty much anything, and more significantly, it is compatible with Agfa's Apogee system so that web- based print procurement or requests for quotations can be integrated within Apogee. This is an important step for Agfa, even though Delano is still very much a nascent development.A number of the established MIS suppliers were also at Drupa. Tharstern used the show as its launch site for its 32-bit Windows system. Like most of the MIS developers, Tharstern is a dedicated Microsoft fan and has been offering systems based on Windows and Microsoft SQL databases for many years. Tharstern introduced its latest module called Customer Online, a technology that provides a printer's customers with the ability to see current order status and to check a job's progress, via the Internet.This new module allows the user to view an input order information in a secure environment, and to request quotes for new jobs. The Estimate Enquiry module lets the user key in the relevant parameters so that the printer can e-mail a quotation for the work. Tharstern is also offering a data capture tool that monitors shopfloor activities feeding time and materials data back to the MIS.Optichrome is one of the worldwide market leaders and has a comprehensive portfolio of services. Like several other companies selling MIS for print production, it provides consultancy services plus a range of technology modules for estimating, production scheduling and so on. Increasingly companies are offering modules for shopfloor data collection. Shuttleworth Business Systems showed a specially designed keyboard and screen used to collect data on the time a job took to produce and on the materials used. The technology relies on an operator keying in their start and stop times for a given task, so this is not a truly automated monitoring system. There is also a question of efficiency if the operator is required to log all operations instead of an integrated system doing the tracking as is the case with production workflow systems.In the digital world, the key to efficient data systems, from raster image processing to MIS, is database management. Databases and data manipulation are ultimately the foundation of any sort of efficient digital process management, since everything in life can be boiled down to a list one way or another.Whether it is a series of records, a set of instructions or a description of a series of events, anything that can be described can be defined as a list. This dreary reality means that many of us pass through life in a cloud of foggy bewilderment, spending far too much time dealing with our innate inability to process lists effectively. But computers are basically adding machines so they are not subject to such frailties, although they are highly dependent on the programmers who provide them with the instructions for their calculations.This is one of the key points to bear in mind when looking at any digital technology, particularly MIS. Any management technology will come down to how well the developer has built the database, and how efficiently it functions within the overall management environment. Among companies to talk to include Logic, now part of dotcom gargantuan printCafe, Imprint Business Systems, Jenem Computers, Printpak, Radius, and Sanderson.MIS technologies are all about providing management control over the day to day operations of a business. Absolute control is rarely possible, but a good MIS provides mechanisms that remove many of the variables, minimising the risk of sudden and unexpected shocks to the corporate system. The perfect system does not exist, but any system claiming to provide control over commercial functions should at the very least be able to efficiently estimate and cost jobs. It should also be able to link estimating and accounting, produce reports in any format you like, be readily and inexpensively upgradeable, and be secure, particularly if the system is used across multiple sites.Training is another important consideration, especially if the MIS technology is a digital first for many staff. The relevance of such variables to a given organisation is, of course, a matter of individual company preference, but the key consideration is the ability of the system developer to understand how best to match form and function.Anyone interested in new systems should probably talk to those companies with the most experience, particularly as the use of databases in prepress workflow management is at best basic. The attractions of a closed loop production and information management system do make for compelling rhetoric, but unfortunately we are still a long way from achieving that reality.SUMMARYNew developers are turning their attention to management information systems technologiesAgfa's Delano project appears to have the future ability to become a powerful productTraining is another important consideration, especially if the MIS technology is a digital first for many staffAnyone interested in new systems should talk to the companies with the most experience