Wallace Carlson Sees Automation Gains with EFI MIS/ERP Workflow
In 2015, Wallace Carlson Printing found it could do more with less, consolidating work done on three offset presses to a single, highly advanced offset press that provided more overall capacity. Now, the Minnetonka, Minn.-based business is working to make the most of its state-of-the-art production operation, boosting automation throughout the plant with a new Midmarket Print Suite software workflow from Electronics For Imaging Inc. (EFI).
According to Wallace Carlson executives, the workflow software purchase was a carefully considered decision. “We spent a fair amount of time researching, and did a lot of due diligence,” says Charlie Cox, chief operating officer and partner, Wallace Carlson Printing. In the end, he adds, what really sold them on the EFI™ offering was the service and support the company offers on every product sold.
In addition, the Midmarket Print Suite, which features EFI Pace™ as its core MIS/ERP software, had a number of features and components that meet the company’s exact needs. “It streamlines the equipment and there is a lot of automation,” said Cox. “It seemed like a natural fit. Plus, there are a lot of individualized components within the Midmarket Print Suite that we felt we would really reap some benefit from.”
A new workflow for a new era of streamlined productivity
The new workflow is the latest step in a rapid evolution at Wallace Carlson Printing. The company as it stands today got its start in 1986 in the garage of Ann and Brian Turbeville under the name Lightning Printing. After only a year, they started expanding, eventually opening two locations. But then the digital revolution started to happen.
“Everything was changing,” says Brian Turbeville. “People didn’t need their little corner print shop anymore, so we started looking for new ways to grow.”
In 2005, the Turbevilles purchased another local print business, Wallace Carlson Printing, taking over the brand name and further expanding the range of services and offerings they could provide. Today, the 50+ employee company specializes in catalog and packaging printing using its new, eight-color offset perfector press with H-UV inks and Aqueous or UV coating, along with a broad range of finishing, mailing and other equipment.
The company also has three digital presses – a Konica Minolta® bizhub® Press C1100; a Ricoh® Pro C5100s; and a monochrome Ricoh 8120 – and uses EFI Fiery® digital front ends (DFEs) to manage its digital production operations. When Wallace Carlson Printing goes live with its Midmarket Print Suite workflow in the first half of 2017, the company will be able to integrate its Fiery Driven™ devices into the Midmarket Suite for uniform, efficient management and tracking of both offset and digital from a single MIS/ERP platform.
The new, more holistic approach to workflow Wallace Carlson Printing is undertaking with the Midmarket Print Suite represents the next step in an important evolution to become a highly automated operation.