Hertfordshire-based KGK Print does much to dispel the myth that you shouldn’t work with family. Since 1989, it has grown from an advertising consultancy into a respected wide-format print operation that continues to grow despite the economy, all under the direction of Ken and Gail Pitts, and their three sons Graham, David and Daniel.

KGK shows no signs of slowing down either: in the past four years, it has invested £1.2m in machinery, including two Vutek QS3200s and an Inca Spyder V, along with £1m into a new building. With no sales personnel, the company relies on word of mouth and endorsements from its clients, which include retailers, exhibitions companies and others seeking wide-format print work.

It’s a busy operation with a modern kit line-up, but not all elements of the business were quite so up to date.

"We used to have handwritten job sheets," explains partner and eldest brother Graham Pitts. "I also used to type up every detail of every job into Excel manually, and then this information was passed to accounts and they used to retype much of it for invoicing. It was an extremely time-consuming process."

When things got really busy, Pitts did not have the time to type up the notes and that meant invoices would slip by as much as a month, giving lucky clients an extra 30 days’ credit. Another problem was that the five different people who drew up the details of identical jobs, might do so in subtly, but significantly, different ways – standardisation was needed.
Hence the team began to look for an MIS, but came across the same problem wherever they looked.

"There wasn’t a single MIS that was targeted towards the wide-format digital marketplace, everything was geared to litho, even the terminology was litho orientated," reveals Pitts.

The choice came down to two vendors that were willing to work with KGK to develop a system that would suit a wide format business. The first was Vutek’s own system, but the development team was based overseas and Pitts didn’t think that was an ideal situation. The second option was Optimus Dash, and this looked a lot more promising.

Wide by design
After an initial demonstration, Pitts was sure Optimus was a company KGK could work with and thus a 10-month period of development work was embarked upon to ensure Optimus was set up for the wide-format arena. Periodically, Optimus would come in to demonstrate the progress it was making or to test out theories until finally, on 18 April this year, the system went live.

"We have the standard big-name wide-format kit – an Inca, a Vutek and a Zünd cutter – so it meant Optimus could develop a system that would suit most wide-format printers, and of course it was pretty much exactly suited to our own processes as we were so involved in the development process," says Pitts.

Optimus Dash sales director Steve Richardson explains that the link-up with KGK came at a crucial time in the development of the Optimus Dash software. Optimus had been looking to work with a company that could be specific in both its instructions as to what it wanted from Optimus, and with its criticisms. It also wanted to a company that had clearly defined processes in the production workflow that could be mimicked, streamlined and automated using the software.

"We were very honest with KGK about where we were in our development cycle and we deliberately chose them to work with us on development of the product as we wanted real-life feedback on how the system should work," says Richardson. "They were incredibly helpful and have been instrumental in the creation of the final product."

The Dash system automates and streamlines key production workflow processes, from capturing enquiries, through estimating, job creation, reporting and campaign management, right up to invoicing. Richardson says the system is built on lean manufacturing principles and so aims to cut out any waste in the processes.

Before the big switch-on, KGK was given a week’s training on the software, something that has been offered again by Optimus when new updates have been installed or when new staff have joined the company. Thanks to being involved in the development process and to this training, there were no hiccups on launch, but Pitts did have one concern.

"We did worry that it takes longer to raise a job sheet using the software than it did to hand-write it," he admits. "However, we soon realised that you have to take into account that I don’t have to re-type up any information, that the person in the factory doesn’t have to manually write all the information from the production, that the accounts team don’t have to retype it all – there’s a massive time saving. We went from weekly or monthly invoices, to same-day invoices."

Time out
Pitts puts the time-saving in figures as freeing up seven hours per week of his own time and three hours per week of account work. This has obviously made the company slicker and more efficient, but it has also meant he can get out the office to see clients and build up new business.

Other benefits are that Pitts and the other family members have up-to-the-minute sales analysis data, including the ability to look in detail at customer profiles. A log of how long certain jobs take also means the company can plan better, being able to bring in more staff when it knows the work will require it or to take on more work if it has the space.

"It means we are not panicking ruffling through piles of paper when someone rings up and asks if we can do a job," says Pitts. "It’s all there in front of us on the screen."

On the pricing side of things, the situation has also improved. Before, Pitts held all the pricing information in his head. Unfortunately for him, this meant he was the only person that could price up a job, so if he ever dared step out the office for a day off, the phone would ring all day with pricing queries.

"All the pricing is now done through Dash," says Pitts. "Now any member of staff can enter the job in Dash and it gives the price. The downside, of course, is that it means I am now expendable!"

Such has been the level of KGK’s involvement in the development process, alongside Optimus’s willingness to meet its needs, Pitts says there is nothing else he’d like the system to offer that it doesn’t already. He says Optimus is very receptive to ideas and is willing to listen to and incorporate them if they are of benefit.

If anything, Pitts is more pleased than he thought he would be with the introduction of an MIS. It may have made him expendable in some areas, but it has transformed his business and freed up his valuable time to concentrate on growing what is already a very healthy family business.

SPECIFICATIONS
Operating system
Mac/Windows
Price
Two-user, entry-level system (including
estimating, job bag, invoice creation, installation and training):
circa £5,000
Contact
Optimus 01483 740223 www.optimus2020.com

COMPANY PROFILE
KGK Print is a Hertfordshire-based wide-format printer that was established in 1989. It is run by five members of the Pitts family: Ken and Gail and three of their sons, Graham, David and Daniel – who are all equal partners in the business. The business started life as an advertising consultancy, but is now a wide-format printer with a broad range of clients, but with a specific focus on retail and exhibition graphics. It’s turnover is just under £2m and it has 15 staff.

Why I bought it…
Previously, the company was writing out job tickets by hand and this caused a number of problems, not least being massively time consuming. It needed an MIS to suit the type of work it was producing, but this proved quite hard to find. Eventually, it settled on Optimus Dash and was instrumental in the development of the MIS.

How it has performed...
Partner Graham Pitts estimates he has saved himself around six to seven hours per week and that the accounts workload has been reduced by around three hours per week. The company now has real-time data on how it is performing and has much more control of its workflow. Pitts says it has exceeded his expectations.