Customer Success Stories | Sundance

The Challenge

SunDance historically managed production by due date, an approach that left little room to balance press time, sequence jobs efficiently, or handle their growing mix of products and materials.

As the business expanded into wide format and packaging, that model strained under the complexity. Daily production meetings filled with rush-job workarounds, and the need for a more structured way to plan work, without sacrificing on-time delivery became clear.

To keep up, SunDance needed a workflow approach that could:

Improve production efficiency without compromising deadlines
Provide visibility and control over job planning and scheduling
Manage complexity across diverse print and packaging workflows

Key Requirements

Structured Scheduling across a diverse mix of equipment and production types

Operational Visibility into job planning and shop floor activity

Workflow Flexibility to handle complex, varied jobs in one environment

The Solution

Tharstern MIS – Structured Job Management
SunDance uses Tharstern MIS to transform how jobs are planned and organized. Instead of managing work purely by due dates, the team now groups jobs by material type and sheet size, running similar work together to reduce inefficiencies from constant switching, while still meeting deadline commitments. Tharstern also gives the team improved workflow visibility and organization, helping balance production demands across a complex operation.

PrintFlow 4D – Dynamic Scheduling Across Devices
SunDance now pairs Tharstern with PrintFlow 4D to manage scheduling across its diverse production environment. PrintFlow was the only scheduling solution they found that could handle the breadth of their plant, and the team has applied it across nearly every type of equipment they operate - commercial digital, offset, wide format, mailing, and packaging devices spanning labels, folding cartons, flexible packaging, and corrugated.

With PrintFlow, SunDance can:

Dynamically schedule work across multiple device types.
Align production plans with real operational constraints.
Accommodate both rush jobs and complex production runs.

In practice, PrintFlow replaced reactive, due-date-by-due-date scheduling with structured planning that sequences work intelligently and minimizes unnecessary setups and changeovers — while still meeting customer deadlines.

The Results

After PrintFlow 4D went live, the data showed SunDance producing the same amount of work with fewer setups, fewer interruptions, and faster changeovers. By grouping jobs with similar materials and sizes, the scheduling team now runs similar work together, materially improving throughput.

Since PrintFlow has been brought in, the team now plans against a stable schedule rather than constantly rebuilding it, giving greater clarity in how jobs are planned and executed across departments.

With more reliable scheduling in place, SunDance can now operate at higher capacity than in the past and still get jobs out the door. PrintFlow handles mixed job types and complex workflows, giving the team the flexibility to manage both planned work and urgent jobs.

Business Impact

By combining Tharstern MIS and PrintFlow 4D, Sundance has moved from a reactive, deadline-driven workflow to a more structured and optimized production environment.

Tharstern provides the foundation for organized job management and workflow visibility, while PrintFlow enables dynamic scheduling across a highly diverse equipment landscape.

Together, these solutions allow Sundance to:

Maintain efficiency while managing complexity
Handle a wide variety of print and packaging jobs
Adapt production schedules to meet changing demands