Looking forwards, looking back at business growth

Judy Bell of Quote & Print takes a trip down memory lane

Having been involved wholly in the development side of Q&P, it is not often that I have the opportunity to have a site visit, walk through the factory for a sit down and chat on the state of the industry. That opportunity presented itself last week and I must admit it ranks as one of my best “feel good” experiences of some time.

This business, Bright Print, was one of our early Q&P installations and took place around 1990, back in the old DOS days. It was a family business that had commenced in 1962, and the next generation was bringing in their training and skills. At the time we knew that the strengths the business had would be in good hands and we looked forward to watching the things grow.

And grow it has over the years, as the management team identified strengths in their own business and several other print companies they purchased along the way. It is now based in a large purpose-built factory in Sydney’s west. With an Australia-wide market and a clear view of their market niche and a demonstrated willingness to step into that niche with recent targeted capital outlay of more than $5 million dollars on several pieces of new equipment, it is an exciting time and we can look forward to the next growth stage.

Though Q&P cannot take any credit for this company’s measured growth–that credit rests with the Management Team and their employees–it is fantastic for us to know companies use Q&P as their information system. It is companies like this that use more than 90 per cent of the software to streamline and minimise duplication in the business and then proactively identify growth areas (and any problem areas) and then measure the results of actions they put in place.

Fortunately this company is not an isolated example; Q&P has a large percentage of users who utilise the software well to assist with wise decisions and grow their businesses.

Back in early 2006 when we were looking ahead to the planning of Version 8 of Q&P which will make its public debut at PRINTEX 07, the focus came down clearly to building on our strengths in integration and providing a workflow solution, flexible enough for use by a range of companies.

With the benefit of having previously seen and spoken with MIS providers both at Drupa and Ipex we could then review the Australian experience against the “hype” and the “practice” of the Europe/UK experience.

The role of the production planner, or production supervisor/manager is the lynchpin of the new Q&P Workflow with JDF/JMF Integration to Pre Press and Press, and a revamped Scheduling module. Most companies in growth mode currently may have fewer staff in the production office; but those there are increasingly skilled professionals whose planning can mean the difference between just breaking even and a good profit on a job.

Visit PrintEx then call in and see Q&P Version 8 on Stand 2024.