Australian developed printIQ – intelligent MIS

 

The printIQ MIS has been developed by printers for printers, and its impressive customer list shows it is hitting the mark

PrintIQ is the new breed of print management system that looks to stand out from the traditional MIS products on the market. While it has been available since 2009, the latest version exploded onto the market last year at PacPrint. A significant investment in R&D has resulted in the product now capturing an increasing share of the market.

Building a system to run a business is the core idea behind printIQ. The idea was to take the power available to large companies and make it available for the SME market. Director and product development manager, Mick Rowan, explains the printIQ point of difference. He says, “Coming from the industry I always had a vision of the print factory of the future and how things should work. We then set about delivering that vision, with a system that is built by people from the industry with real industry expertise. We now have a product that satisfies the escalating demands of the customer, whilst delivering ROI for the printer”.

 

PrintIQ is a web based product, which by definition means that everyone accesses the application from an internet browser. Production-staff manage the factory while customers quote, order and track. With no software to install, no separate web portal or online ordering system to add on, printIQ represents a quantum shift from what most printers are doing now.

PrintIQ is one of the few print management systems produced locally. It was created by IQ which has development and support staff in both Australia and New Zealand. CEO Anthony Lew says, “It’s fair to say that our customers drive our R&D programme. It’s meant we’ve produced a solution that is very close to the mark. Combine that with our openness and ability to customise and the opportunities are endless.”

The ability to customise and adapt has led to the development of new products that fill a gap in the market. Digital printers, wide format and signage companies now have an option tailor-made for their industry and no longer need to fit their business into the offset model.

That commitment to continuous strategy in meeting the market’s product development has taught IQ some valuable lessons. “While we’re still focused on a complete business solution, we’ve realised that by combining our own product with the best VDP, pre-flight, imposition and workflow automation tools, we’ll get there much faster”, Rowan revealed. At Print 13 in Chicago, IQ signed strategic partnerships to deliver what it says is the holy grail. The partnership with Enfocus to bundle Pitstop and Switch within printIQ is the key to the quest to automate to the press. Further, the integration with Zapier, now gives our customers access to more than 280 online applications, such as CRM, accounting systems, email marketing to name but a few.

Print IQ is proving popular amongst the Australian print community, recent sign-ups inclue Courtney Direct, Fastproof Press, Pure Colours Digital, and mmw3degrees.

Theo Pettaras at Digitalpress says, “We have used a total of four MIS systems over the last nine years. We’ve had printIQ in place at Digitalpress for over 12 months and the growth and development of the product has been exceptional. I’m excited that the guys at IQ have listened to our needs and developed printIQ to adapt to the digital market. They have readily accepted our suggestions and included them in the development of the product, which we are now benefiting from. I’m happy to say that printIQ really hits the digital mark. I am confident in saying that in my opinion printIQ is the best system we have used.”

Glenn Watson at AFI Branding says, “Over a 12 month period, we evaluated every MIS before discovering printIQ. As a fabric signage specialist, we needed more than a standard print management system in order to cope with the complexity of fabrication and extrusion. I’m happy to say that printIQ has delivered consistency and simplicity to our business and it has adapted fantastically to every challenge that we’ve faced.”

Jamie Xuereb from Mediapoint says, “For a small printing team, printIQ has given us the software infrastructure to help expand our team and future proof our business as our team grows. It is helping us to build better relationships with our Gold Clients and allowing our quoting team to be self-sufficient, rather than reliant on others for pricing unique products. We have also found that by using the printIQ system, our error/miscommunication rate between our front end and back end has gone down by over 90 per cent. This has led to less wastage and more time saved in production.

Glen Climo at commercial printer Wickliffe says, “At present we are in implementation mode with the roll out of printIQ throughout our business units. This will allow our personnel to meet the ever increasing demands of quick response to quote requests. PrintIQ ticks all the boxes in its variable make-up. For Wickliffe it covers all the direct manufacturing processes across multi channels of activity. It will be an integral component of Wickliffe’sstrategy in meeting the market’s needs in an industry of continuous change.”

GO TO MORE Wide format NEWS