Who are 5 Digital?

5 Digital are a privately owned, highly respected printer based in New Zealand offering Digital and wide format printing in the packaging, point-of-sale and label sectors, as well as general commercial printing including flyers, stationery etc. 

 

What was the "Status Quo"?

Prior to implementing Accura we were using a local platform by the name of Spark. This largely served our needs for most requirements.  The biggest benefit was that it gave us client history. This was integrated with some proprietary shop floor software we had developed.  Our pricing was done in Excel and was pretty subjective and not as consistent as we would like.
 

How was it affecting your business?

With consistent growth in our business we needed to be able to efficiently manage large numbers of jobs on a regular basis. We also needed to better understand our cost structure when quoting.  Accura gave us a consistent platform for our pricing benchmark, we could then use this to tailor pricing structures for specific work and clients.  Also having the abililty to minimise double handling through copying quotes and jobs was a big benefit. 
 

Why Accura?

Accura was a good fit for us, we had seen other MIS systems in the market and felt that this particular one was the most user friendly. Being cost-plus also gave it a point of difference.  We also knew of a similar print shop that were using Accura and they spoke very highly of it.  The online module was of particular interest as we have been working in this space but the current software we were using wasn’t being developed any longer.

What influenced your decision?
 

For us the decision was more around whether we needed an alternative MIS rather than which one we wanted. We knew Accura would work nicely for us and would deliver more benefits than our existing one could. So it was a simple question of justifying the extra cost and what the added value would be.

Although we don’t use the stock module of Accura yet, we knew we needed the ability at some stage. The fact that we would pull and push data to and from Accura sealed the deal. We could easily integrate it with our existing shop floor management and keep things consistent.

What are the benefits?

Since implementing Accura 13 months ago, we now have a better system around how we generate a quote, specifically how the numbers come together using the cost-plus method. We have a much more efficient use of account manager's and estimator's time with clear instructions generated through the RFQ and then sent back to the rep as a quote.
 

Using the quoting module as a sales tool has increased sales disciplines with the ability to easily monitor the status of each quote. Real time information becomes available like quotes Vs jobs, which kind of work we are best at and how we structure our costs for specific clients.

It is too early to be able to specifically point to financial benefits, however we know that we have a reliable quoting platform that ensures we maximise our sales value.
 

Would you recommend Accura?

Yes, I would have no hesitation. For us it was the right fit. The guys have been great to deal with and are always available for consultation. Accura sits in between two other platforms for us so there are always questions to be answered.
 

It was also important to us to start this journey with a developer who was also looking forward. We found out with our last online system that if there isn't a commitment to continue to develop the software you can get left behind in the market.
 

What are your future plans?

Being a technology based printing company, it is important to be at the forefront. We will be focusing our efforts in growing our online presence both with existing and new clients. The ability to utilise the software gives us a unique market position and delivers benefits in both efficiencies and revenue.