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Print MIS Software.

Management Information System or MIS is a general name for the academic discipline collectively covering the application of people, technologies, and procedures within a manufacturing facility.

It has been an on going objective of MIS research to determine the exact economic role of MIS in modern business. The effectiveness of Management Information Systems continues to occupy the highest priority of the MIS research agenda.

Management Information Systems are costly to purchase, deploy, and maintain. Therefore, in a world where business enterprise is operated for maximum profit according to the theory of rational choice, it is natural to suppose that MIS offers economic value and that this value overcomes the costs.

This is not necessarily true.

In business, Management Information Systems support not only the basic business processes and operations, but also decision-making and competitive strategies. The measurement of MIS effectiveness precludes conflict such as that caused by personnel issues. These issues are managerial behavior that is not consistent with profit or value maximization. When MIS implementation decisions are made by managers, managerial behavior and motivation are likely to be important variables in MIS effectiveness.

An MIS that clearly illustrates how managers and mid-management staff benefit is not only necessaary, it is mandatory.

Generally speaking printing software falls into three broad categories.

  1. Completely stand alone function with no integration with other software.
     Suitable for one or two person shop with not too many customers.

  2. Stand alone estimator with the ability to make automatic quotations,
     open dockets and provide invoices. A stand alone should have
     Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) to make integration into an
     existing or proposed Management Information System (MIS). Suitable
     for any size operation.

  3. A multi modular large MIS. Suitable for companies with the
     "staff personnel" or non productive "line personnel" that have time to
      read and study numerous reports that may or may not have relevance
      to direct operations.

The Category 1 or spreadsheet style systems usually lack permanent data retention.

The Category 3 or proprietary MIS tend to be of the one size fits all paradigm. Template based, as most are, makes them quite inflexible and time consuming to set up. Entry of all the information needed to satisfy every module of the full system must be made at the time of the estimate to even actuate the estimate module. This is usually much more than the specific information required for an individual estimate.

Most printers actually write orders on only one out of ten new quotations. The most skilled will win possibly three or four out of ten. End result - up to 90% of an estimator's time may be considered as wasted. Since estimates are not specifically charged for makes estimating a staff function. People costs in staff functions are non recoverable and directly affect end profits.

An intelligent Category 2 stand alone but integrable Print Estimate Software system like EstimatorTM addresses these issues.

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