Prepress

Classic Printers measures business success with the help of its Shuttleworth MIS

Monday 08. July 2013 - The Background With all of its operations under one roof, Classic Printers of Peterborough offers a high level of technical skill across all aspects of print. Its 20 members of staff have many years of experience in print with an emphasis on personal involvement across all areas of the business.

Classic Printers are able to offer a single source solution for all of their clients printing requirements. Classic are passionate about keeping up to date with new developments within the system and have regular reviews of their procedures and business practices to give real benefits to both them and their clients.
The Challenges
Shaun May, Commercial Manager of Classic, was appointed in October 2012. His initial priority was to review and re-cost the entire estimating and costing system, including hourly rates, make ready times, machine speeds and profit margins. Over a two month period the estimating and costing was completely reviewed with the help of Classic’s MIS supplied by Shuttleworth Business Systems.
Shaun explains, “We needed to make sure that our costs were precise, in order to manage profit margins and to increase turnover. Shuttleworth MIS has helped us to improve the speed of our operation, from estimates through to delivery and to meet our clients need for a quicker, improved service. In 2011, Classic switched MIS supplier to Shuttleworth. With my background in the MIS industry I was confident that Shuttleworth’s MIS would take our business to a new level of customer service and business efficiency”.
The Solutions
Shuttleworth’s flexibility gives very quick access to in-depth information from anywhere in the system and this helped Shaun a great deal with the re-costing exercise. The new ‘dashboard technology’ gives people the information that they need to run their business on daily basis. Data is available whenever it is required and at the click of a button you have access to a visual and easy to interpret format.
By reviewing and re-costing the business though Shuttleworth’s cost driven MIS, Classic was able to bring consistency to all of their processes. “I am certain that whenever a job is produced the costs and figures are based on the correct information. This has helped Classic to increase turnover as more accurate estimating is helping our conversion rates. Furthermore, there is no guess work involved, so if a client needs additional flexibility on a job, we know immediately how to respond, without cutting into valuable profit or even making a loss”, said Shaun.
Estimates – “Shuttleworth’s ‘Estimating Wizard’ has revolutionised our estimating”, he continued. Classic is using the Estimating Wizard to produce around 75% of their quotes. Prior to the introduction of this new package, estimates could take up to an hour or more to produce but with the introduction of ‘The Estimating Wizard’ average quotes are now produced within 5 minutes. “This is essential to meet the dynamic speed at which clients expect responses. Our estimates are very consistent with very little room for human errors or interpretation”.
Classic is taking full advantage of Shuttleworth’s event based, CRM package.
The CRM system uses ‘events’ to monitor any type of activity or communication with both prospective and existing clients. Classic has set up its own ‘prospects’ database which is regularly targeted. An ‘event’ can be used to push enquiries though to estimating in a seamless link, within a matter of minutes, preventing the rekeying of information. All quotes are now produced through ‘events’ giving 100% traceability at any given point. Classic regularly uses CRM Events for e-shot designed emails which are recorded against every client.
“CRM gives immediate visibility on-screen to anyone dealing with the client so they can see live jobs, all completed job history and all communications that have taken place. This has greatly improved Classic’s customer service”, said Shaun. “Future plans include the recording of any ‘non conformances’ on the CRM so that we can easily trace and monitor problems or issues and prevent them happening again”, he added.
Production Reports – Bespoke to Classic’s requirements
Shuttleworth have designed Classic Printers own “unique” production report. A bespoke adaptation of the system by the team at Shuttleworth Plus, met Classic’s need for a summarised production report for use at its regular production meetings.
In Conclusion:
The Shuttleworth MIS gives Classic instantaneous and accurate access to information required to react to client’s needs whilst improving business efficiency. Features such as ‘Advanced Filters’, improved ‘Dashboards’ and Bespoke adaptations have all enabled Classic to search, find and see information in an instance, which is vital in today’s industry.
“Shuttleworth is a crucial partner – it is essential to make time to keep up-to-date, to have regular reviews and learn about new developments in order to get the best from your MIS. Shuttleworth continues to approach this process with honesty and transparency, combined with a culture of enthusiasm that has been established for many years”, concluded Shaun.
I would highly recommend the Shuttleworth MIS to anybody within the printing industry.