ERP for Printing and Packaging Industry (Why and How of It, Addressed)

Have a few questions for you.

If there’s a customer asking you their transaction history, how long does it take for you to get back to them?

What’s the average number of changes that take place in one artwork approval cycle?

How much time does it take to get information about insufficient stocks in different warehouses?

To answer these, if you need to go through tons of spreadsheets, and multiple different systems, it’s a sign that your business needs an ERP and needs it soon.

Because, to increase productivity and profitability, every business needs to have a centralized system that gives them accurate information in real-time.

ERP offers a holistic view of end-to-end business operations. This post aims to give you a complete overview of the benefits of using an ERP for printing and packaging industry.

It further talks about all the necessary features you need to consider when integrating Printing MIS Software.

An outline of the topics this post covers:

Printing and Packaging Industry Can’t Do Without an ERP and Here’s Why

Printing and packaging businesses have to take care of millions of things from customer service to order management.

Having independent business systems makes your job more daunting, and you are likely to experience uncertainty.

Packaging ERP Software is a perfect way to boost profits, and address the below mentioned pain-points that hinder your businesses’ growth.

1. Absence of Centralized System Hampers Productivity

You might have one system to manage orders. Another software to proof print images. Then there is endless communication via emails with print providers or vendors. There might be sheets you share just with reliable stakeholders.

Different systems, spreadsheets mean too much confusion. You and your employees spent a lot of time managing multiple systems, cross-checking information.

This kind of extensive process affects productivity and doesn’t let you focus on matters that are important.

Packaging ERP software brings all the information on a single interface and thus enables you to get accurate information from various departments in real-time.

PrintXpand is the best ERP software for printing industry. Click on the link below to learn all about PrintXPand.

2. Inaccurate Inventory Delays Order Fulfilment

As a store owner, it is quite likely that you are selling numerous products. You also might have different warehouses at different locations.

Now, you cannot be omnipotent and get real-time updates/control over inventory. And one error in handling the inventory leads to delayed orders and unhappy customers.

Therefore, you need a system that helps you streamline your supply chain management. A system that keeps all the information about your vendors and inventory at a centralized location. Would work great! Wouldn’t it?

Once implemented, it will help your sales team to generate purchase orders and send them to the vendors from the system per se.

This will benefit in three ways. One, it will lessen your manual efforts. Two, it will make you efficient. And three, it will keep your customers satisfied and happy. Think about it.

3. Lack of Streamlined Shipping Management

Shipping management can get stressful. Especially if you deal with different shipping companies at once. An ERP solution provides you with the facility to manage a lot of shipping features.

Using it, you can create rules for calculating the delivery costs according to the weight of the parcel. You can also define the rules based on different delivery types that your business supports.

So, whether you are dealing with FedEx, UPS, USPS, or DHL, your shipping task becomes extremely easy and stress-free.

4. Longer Artwork Approval Process Leads to Unhappy Customers

The journey from designing to ordering is way more complicated than you think it is. There are so many things that can go wrong.

Let us say the final design had a typo and you need to send it back to the customer. Or, the red cartridge got over. Or, the material needed for printing was not available.

If you do not address these issues, things can go terribly wrong with the final production. Moreover, the traditional methods of artwork approval are time-consuming. Delayed proofing process impacts order delivery and customer satisfaction.

Strengthen Your Business with PrintXpand

Keeping in mind all the challenges discussed earlier, we have prioritized building PrintXpand, an ERP for printing and packaging industry. The aim of PrintXpand is to enable businesses to handle end-to-end operations on a single interface.

That way ERP easily gives you visibility into every aspect of your business. So, whether it is about managing vendors or printers, you can access every important detail in just a few clicks.

Having everything at one place drastically improves the productivity of your business. You no longer have to spend hours on mundane tasks. Thus, automating crucial activities helps increase profitability, and boost customer satisfaction.

5 Ways PrintXpand Makes Business Processes Efficient

PrintXpand offers comprehensive features like artwork approval, inventory and order management, print job manager, job stage management, and a lot more. Discover in detail all about how ERP for printing and packaging industry is beneficial.

1. Reduce Artwork Approval Time with Automated Artwork Approval

The process of approval is extensive and the entire cycle can take days. Automating artwork approval ensures timely delivery of the project and increases efficiency.

Our ERP for the printing industry provides all the necessary things that you need to manage the artwork cycle.

For instance, you might want to limit the number of times a user can make changes in an artwork. With approval limit settings you get control over the changes made. You can set a limit – maybe you want to offer just one attempt or three attempts, it’s up to you.

Secondly, you and the end-users would want to check the files before you send them for final printing. With the ERP, you can get either a soft-proof or a hard-proof of an image to ensure great photo prints.

2. Eliminate Order Fulfilment Errors with Streamlined Order Management

Till now you might be handling all the steps of the order management process manually. But now it’s time to save time and reduce errors with automation.

The ERP works as a centralized system where you can handle all the facets of order fulfillment. It helps you eliminate redundant work, get real-time updates, and thus better serve your customers.

Order management includes various other sub-features that are necessary for a seamless order fulfilment process.

(Handle all aspects of order management)

A few features include auto job generation, order categorization, auto job assignment to printers and employees, workflow processing, and more.

3. Get Helpful Insights with Reporting

Irrespective of the industry you cater to or the size of your business, reports are essential tools.

Business reports provide useful insights on important details that are beneficial in developing future forecasts, business plans, and improving decision making.

The integrated report module in the ERP allows you to make quick and better decisions. You can get a complete overview of everything from order status to resource availability by generating reports using data, graphs, and charts.

(Get insights with advanced reporting)

All of these will help you monitor growth, track problems, evaluate performance, and ultimately come up with solutions.

4. Simplify Print Job with Print Job Manager

Creating and managing print jobs has never been easier. Our print job manager takes care of the tedious and time-consuming process of the print job.

You can not only get rid of manual job creation but also reduce print waste, idle machine times, errors, and increase deliveries and profitability.

(Job order management simplified!)

Here’s an overview of how the print job manager works. It begins by defining and creating custom print workflow stages as per your requirement. For example, you can add stages like design, dyeing, packaging, ready for shipping, etc.

Additionally, the print job manager enables you to create job tickets with QR codes. That saves time and avoids unnecessary errors.

5. Make Supply Chain Efficient with Inventory Manager

Having a streamlined process of inventory management is crucial to avoid issues like insufficient stock, inaccurate inventory data, etc.

(Check inventory or material availability in a click)

Using an ERP, you can perform operations like stock management, warehouse management, order and customer management from a single virtual dashboard.

With an advanced inventory system, you can take care of things like location-based stock management, stock updates, order confirmation, and more.

Get Started with PrintXpand

ERP is an asset for any business. By automating day-to-day operations, it makes your business run smoothly. Additionally, having a solution tailored to your specifications maximizes the success of your business.

As per your requirements, we can help you make the necessary customizations. You can rest assured that as your business grows, so will the solution.

Moreover, with Printing MIS Software, you need not manage multiple systems. Based on your needs, quickly add integrations for faster business growth. Our on-demand integrations include portal solutions, eCommerce integrations, and product design tool.

With more than 17+ years of experience, PrintXpand has been helping businesses with web to print solutions. We have on board the right experience and expertise to assist you to implement the right ERP. For more details, get in touch with us.

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