The print industry is undergoing rapid change. Pressure from shorter run lengths, digital formats, web-to-print demands, sustainability requirements, EUDR, and higher customer expectations means many print businesses are turning to modernize and digitalize to keep up and stay competitive. But the difference between a successful digital transformation and a costly disruption often comes down to preparation.
Here are five critical areas every print company needs to have in place before launching a new ERP/MIS project.
- Define clear objectives and success criteria
Too many projects begin with “we’ll implement a new system” but lack precision on why, what and how success will be measured. A print business might say “reduce order-to-delivery time”, or “eliminate spreadsheets for estimating”, or “move from several systems to one unified platform”. Without that clarity, decisions get deferred, trade‐offs become murky and users lose confidence.
Action: At project kick-off document your 3–5 measurable goals, identify key processes to improve, and secure sponsorship from a senior executive.
- Build governance, stakeholder alignment and change management
An implementation touches every part of a print business: estimating, pre‐press, production scheduling, inventory, finance, shipping, customer service. That means you need more than IT sponsorship. You need a steering team, departmental champions, clear roles & responsibilities, and a training plan.
Resistance often comes not from the software — but from unclear expectations, changed processes, and fear of the unknown.
Action: Assemble a cross-functional project team representing all major departments. Assign an executive sponsor. Draft a training and change-communication plan (what’s changing, how, when, and who is affected).
- Clean up and map your data + existing processes + integrations
One of the biggest hidden costs and time sinks in an ERP/MIS project is the data migration and the process redesign phase. Print businesses often have multiple legacy systems: separate estimating spreadsheets, job ticketing tools, stand-alone inventory systems, bespoke production planning, paper-based logs. When you move to a new system you must ask: What is our current state? What will remain? What must change? Poor data quality or incomplete process mapping leads to delays, cost overruns, and systems that cannot deliver promised automation.
Action: Map your “quote → job → production → ship → invoice” workflow. Audit sample data (e.g., some jobs/invoices) for errors or missing fields. List all external systems you will integrate (web-to-print, shipping, prepress, machine data).
- Set realistic budget, timeline and adopt a phased implementation
To ensure a successful implementation and lasting adoption, it’s crucial that the project moves efficiently toward go-live. The longer an implementation drags on, the greater the risk of implementation fatigue—when employees lose focus or momentum because they are managing both their daily responsibilities and the project workload.
A fast, well-structured rollout helps maintain engagement and motivation, delivers early value, and allows the organization to shift into a rhythm of continuous improvement rather than prolonged implementation.
Once live, the focus should move from “project mode” to “business-as-usual optimization,” where the system is regularly maintained, updated, and enhanced in small, incremental steps that align with business growth and evolving processes.
Action: Create a project roadmap with clear phases and define go/no-go criteria for each phase. After go-live, use regular updates, feedback, and incremental enhancements to refine the system and processes.
- Choose the right future-proof platform that can grow with your business
Select a solution built for print (not adapted from generic manufacturing), one that is cloud-native and designed for extensibility and updates. Many print businesses fall into the trap of heavily customizing a “generic” ERP — which a) makes future upgrades expensive, and b) locks in technical debt.
Make sure the solution you pick is be “future-proof” — meaning it can evolve, scale, integrate with newer technologies, and be maintained affordably.
Action: Create a checklist for solution short-listing: is it built for the print industry? Is it built on a proven platform? Do they offer standard functionality out-of-the-box for? Is it cloud-native and easy to upgrade? How much customization will you need? What’s their product roadmap?
Why Choosing a Purpose-Built, Cloud-Native Solution Matters
When you’ve completed the above five preparation steps, you face a final and perhaps most important decision: selecting the solution. In the print industry, the case for choosing a dedicated print-industry ERP/MIS built on a modern cloud platform is strong:
- Out-of-the-box print-specific functionality means you avoid long customization cycles. PrintVis is built directly on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and supports print-specific workflows from quote to cash.
- Cloud-native or cloud-ready means you benefit from continuous updates, lower infrastructure burden, scalability, and mobility. PrintVis is “future-proof” and reduces hidden technical debt by avoiding excessive custom modifications.
- Because the PrintVis platform was built for the print industry, you get deeper alignment with your business: quoting, estimating, scheduling, planning, inventory and finance all tied together for your print-shop reality. PrintVis handles everything from quote to job to delivery “no matter the size or type of the company”.
- Benefit from AI-assisted features. With Microsoft Copilot integrated into PrintVis, you get powerful support to manage quotes, orders, and reports in seconds.
Book a demo today to see how PrintVis can help you optimize your print business.