Quote & Print internet power hones a winning edge for Sydney printer
A Q&P online ordering system has paved the way for Sydney commercial printer Trenear Printing Services to deliver the business stationery requirements for giant AMP.
Managing director Ralph Trenear (pictured) maintains the Quote & Print internet module is a marketing tool that gives his company the edge on competitors. “In about four or five years, just about all printers will have online ordering, so now is our opportunity to make the most of this new and very efficient way of job placement,” he said.
Trenear Printing Services first brought the Quote & Print team onside almost ten years ago when it recognized the need for a management information system for quoting and pricing. Since then the companies have worked closely together upgrading the system to the latest versions and recently decided to include the internet module. Owners Ralph and Terry Trenear worked closely with David Bell to integrate the system into the existing Quote & Print infrastructure, and the transition to online ordering has been smooth.
The perfect ‘handshake’ with existing Q&P MIS modules allows orders to be transferred straight to an accounting module. “Other MIS products don’t appear to have such a streamlined approach and don’t integrate the accounting module the way Quote & Print does,” says Ralph.
The system also provides job tracking straight from the factory floor so that a job’s location – in prepress, on the press or in finishing – can be tracked at a glance. Job tickets are constantly updated as the work progresses through production.
AMP’s corporate structure includes 50 regional offices, with customised business cards and separate ordering for each branch. The logistics of such an ongoing print job are complex – and would be a huge task were it not for online ordering. With the Quote & Print internet module, Trenear Printing Services has been able to offer AMP the kind of facility management more large corporates are demanding.
“AMP’s online ordering has given us the expertise to run the system effectively,” Ralph said. “We’ve now begun migrating our smaller customers to the online system.”
Trenear Printing Services, a 60-year-old family business with 30 staff, focuses on general and commercial printing, business stationery and invoices, and specifically on business cards. The business was started by Ralph and Terry Trenear’s grandfather, James Trenear as a local newspaper and was handed down to their father Jim who built the commercial printing side of the business.
The two brothers Ralph, a letterpress printer, and his older brother Terry, a hand and machine compositor, took over the business in the early 1970s. The company runs a Heidelberg Qasar CtP system and has eight presses on its production floor – a two-colour Speedmaster, three two-colour and three single-colour GTO 52s, as well as a five-colour Komori. In addition, it provides diecutting and foiling services.
Trenear Printing Services has almost 250 trade customers on its books, as it specializes in raised printing on business cards, in addition to four-colour work on brochures and leaflets.
Managing director Ralph Trenear (pictured) maintains the Quote & Print internet module is a marketing tool that gives his company the edge on competitors. “In about four or five years, just about all printers will have online ordering, so now is our opportunity to make the most of this new and very efficient way of job placement,” he said.