Wide Format Imaging

A major aspect to any shop running a successful business is the computer/software system that manages their day-to-day operations. And, as output providers continue to evolve, so does the systems that help drive their businesses. To meet their ever-changing role while continuing to keep up with current demands on services, business owners must call upon the new tools of software packages to manage their daily workflow. Products range from software used to handle and track customer orders to quoting jobs plus helping customers receive their order on time, all while maintaining efficiency.

Some Cyrious Software

One of the software players for the wide-format market is the Baton Rouge, LA-based Cyrious Software (www.cyrious.net).

?We try sell solutions to problems?the specific products are not as important.? says Scott St. Cyr, CEO and founder of Cyrious Software. ?This is why we often send a trainer/consultant to the customer?s site to tailor the software to match their business processes. We have no two customers whose business is run in exactly the same way,? says St. Cyr.

?Our software packages cover everything from sales force management and price quoting all the way through production, order tracking and billing. Basically, all of the aspects that touch a graphics house on a daily basis. While we feel that our systems and support are one of the best in the business, we are continually raising the bar to find new ways to make our customers significantly more successful. We know that we have to earn our stripes on a daily basis. We also realize that often customers have new or improved methods and we appreciate that clients share their creative ideas with us,? says St. Cyr.

Choosing a software system, is like choosing a spouse. ?You need to take it very seriously. It is a close association that you are entrusting your business to. It is a relationship?it?s not just a purchase. You really want to research this area thoroughly. We will normally send a consultant to a new customer?s site for one to two weeks because for them to understand the software you need to spend the time and money to explain it to them and make sure they are comfortable with it.?

St. Cyr reports that the reason they have been successful is their software packages have helped customize their customer?s entire systems. ?We offer three different product lines, all focused on the same thing?integrated business management software designed to allow businesses to continue or resume growing, achieve greater profitability, and remove the administrative demands that come with success.?

St. Cyr says that the problems facing most shops today is that they grow until the key individuals have to spend almost all of their time ?maintaining? the system. This maintenance stage is one of decreasing profits and increasing workload. In order to get beyond this stage, he says shop owners must find better ways to streamline their workflow.