Fast Facts:



Altona, Manitoba

	500+ Employees in 4 Plants
	Printstream User Since 2001
	Major Modules: Book Estimating and Fulfillment

While Friesens staff enjoys a wide range of application tools to achieve success, the common foundation to all of these applications is provided by the Printstream MIS from Streamline Solutions. Fehr (who was part of the team who originally selected Printstream) indicates the platform is a key infrastructure component which enables Friesens to build the tools they need.

States Mr. Fehr; “When we determined that we needed a better integrated and more powerful platform in late 1999 we found that there were many commercial printing solutions but no one who really was willing to help achieve our needs as a custom book manufacturer.

It was quickly evident to all of us that Streamline Solutions was different. Laurence and his staff were committed to seeing that we were successful. They spent the time and effort needed to understand our business, and they continue that effort as demonstrated by the new Book Estimating module and the expansion of the Printstream implementation to our yearbook division planned for late 2007.”

Hoeppner continued; “While there are always some differences in objectives and priorities, we have been able to let Printstream serve as the core transaction and data repository, and then build and link higher level functions such as QuoteThis and MyBooks into it. This allows our developers to focus on the specific improvements our staff and clients suggest, while leaving the broader operational functionality to the Streamline staff.”

Hoeppner and his staff are also considered strategic assets at Friesens, in an industry where many IT departments can be seen as a necessary overhead. States Mr. Hoeppner; “Friesens as an employee owned company has a culture where people and groups tend to work together to solve problems. Each division has their own project managers who prioritize their specific projects, and then team with the IT staff that their projects are assigned to. Our charter in IT is to not just maintain the infrastructure, but to develop strategic tools that help Friesen achieve success with our clients and staff.”

Systems and Quality Manager Fehr agrees; “Each department has their individual metrics that then roll up to division and company metrics. These metrics include data collected on the Shop Floor by the Printstream application which are then summarized into Excel worksheets. When multiple groups are involved they share in the metrics and objectives, and since win or lose together as employee owners- we all collaborate to get results and to find ways to improve our processes.”

Smart Prep: Not Your Dad’s Preflight

SmartPrep is a powerful example of how the Friesen’s culture works. Like almost all print manufacturers Friesen has added preflight tools to its workflow to ensure files are correct, and has worked to extend these tools to clients to use as part of the submission process. But as they analyzed the cycle times in jobs, they realized that just because the files were OK, that did not mean the job was ready to begin. As a result they have worked very closely with Kodak to extend the functionality of its InSite tools; while adding data validation checks into the Printstream MIS.

The end result is an application that checks that ensures all information and data is properly submitted, or the job is put into a queue with a notification going directly to the CSR responsible for the job including a breakdown of the issues that need to be resolved before production can begin. The results of such a holistic approach are impressive. States Fehr: “Since we have implemented this approach our average number of jobs on hold for any reason has dropped from 25 to 8, and our prepress cycle time (including customers returning proofs) has dropped by 30%.”

Increased Flexibility With Lower Costs:

While Friesen’s enjoys the usual compliment of commercial presses, they have invested in equipment that allows them to optimize their book production around a 50” format. Yet as a custom book manufacturer they offer their clients the ability to specify any size they require in spite of the additional effort and manufacturing challenges that may be necessary. As you tour the Friesen facility the visitor sees three processes not typical of most print operations:

• Sheeting of Roll Stock to match job specifications
• Robot automation on the Carton/Skid Pack station
• Custom Carton Manufacturing to job specifications

All have come about as staff has looked at how to reduce costs and improve client satisfaction while delivering exactly the product the client has specified.

Recipe for Success:

Without discounting the fact that they are in a highly competitive market niche, the Friesen staff remains positive about their ability to continue to improve their operation and find new clients. When asked why Friesens was able to secure the 4000+ book titles they produce each year, Sales Manager Doug Symington might have summed up the recipe for the success of the company in his answer; “We are very good at what we do, and people like us!”

It seems that often the simplest recipes are the most popular and are the ones which get passed onto future generations. The Friesen recipe seems like it just gets better each year!

"My Books" While portals are not new, the number of print providers that make them available to their clients is still a surprisingly low number. With MyBooks the company provides order detail plus the status of individual orders in the manufacturing cycle through an easy to understand visual interface. While most companies are uncomfortable with the client having a window into production, Friesen makes it available, 24/7.