MIS: Upgrade or Replace?

Most printing and prepress companies own and operate an MIS of some sort, but they can take many different forms. It's not unusual to see a larger company rely on an enterprise MIS. These are customized to handle business issues specific to printing. Many package printers own MIS that were developed, off the shelf, specifically for printing labels, packaging, and corrugated materials. A number of exceptional systems exist in the marketplace. Yet other companies have relied on home-grown systems developed from common applications, such as FileMaker Pro, Microsoft Access, and even Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. These systems may have been built to solve a specific problem and have grown over time to provide MIS functionality for a printer or prepress operation.