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Suttle-Straus

Suttle-Straus eliminates workflow bottlenecks with ePS Tharstern

Discover how Suttle-Straus leveraged ePS Tharstern to eliminate bottlenecks and drive innovation in their printing processes.

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"We see Tharstern as our partner that will help us go above and beyond."

Brett Keene, Vice President of Operations
Suttle-Straus

About the company

Suttle-Straus began as a small, family based printer in Madison over a century ago.

They are recognized as a leader in producing high quality printed materials that utilize a combination of smart design, striking color, and expert craftmanship. They have a huge emphasis on customer experience and satisfaction.

The challenge

Suttle-Straus used the same MIS for over a decade, however, they started to outgrow the system and it could no longer support their workflow needs.

They were active members of their previous MIS vendor’s user group and could see how the product offering and innovation path didn’t align with the modern and flexible solution that they needed to help them achieve their goals.

Suttle-Straus’ business had changed along with their customer expectations, so they needed an MIS that could perform as the “brain” of the business and deliver speed and efficiency, as well as the ability to integrate with other software solutions. Having an MIS that has accurate data which can be passed on to other software solutions was critical for them.

From the beginning of the process, Suttle-Straus decided to implement Layout Library and integration with Prinect, to make their estimating experience more impactful and drive consistent pricing and job planning. The end goal was to eliminate unnecessary touchpoints and handoffs to increase speed throughout estimating and proof approval.

Key requirements
gears Icon - eProductivity Software Integration capabilities
calculator Icon - eProductivity Software Consistent pricing and job planning
handshake-simple Support for workflow needs
user-check Icon - eProductivity Software Seamless customer experience

The solution

With a new MIS, Suttle-Straus wanted to make sure their customers didn’t see any negative system changes, but they also wanted their team members to feel that the change was an upgrade and opened the door for future innovation. So they needed to be very strategic about their choice.

After looking at different MIS systems, Suttle-Straus chose Tharstern to investigate further. They immediately saw the potential for a great partnership.

The power and efficiency of the estimating module was a huge draw for them. They wanted their team to spend more time producing and less time entering data, and all the different tools included in the Tharstern MIS would let them do this.

From that first initial contact, right through to go live, Brett and his team were really impressed with the process. “The implementation process was very well planned by ePS. The time spent with the Tharstern MIS consultants was invaluable, as they took time to learn our business and needs.

The implementation plan and expectations were well laid out and communicated. It was great to get to know some of the Tharstern resources before we went into the training and implementation.” - Brett Keene, Vice President of Operations, Suttle-Straus

Tharstern

Tharstern is a comprehensive business workflow solution that connects every department within your print company.

It can be used remotely or on-site by your employees and can also be integrated with your existing technology stack through its API to establish seamless workflows.

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The result

Implementing Tharstern was invaluable for Suttle-Straus. It wasn’t just an implementation of a new system, it was learning their business needs and goals, and the time going through this with the Customer Success Team was invaluable for them.

Layout Library and JDF to Prinect integration were two key focus points of the implementation. It made the implementation longer but it was a big goal of theirs, so something they wanted to tackle straight away.

“It was time very well spent. It has made our estimating experience so much more impactful, as it is driving consistent pricing and job planning. The time spent has also eliminated multiple steps and handoffs, increasing speed throughout the estimating to the proof approval process.”

They continue to see a lot of revision and new development of their processes for the better with Tharstern. It has enabled them to look at processes and find opportunities to eliminate non-value-added tasks and waste. They continue to explore those opportunities to try and gain a competitive advantage in their markets.

Getting your team on board with the changes can be a challenge, but Suttle-Straus kept their team engaged throughout the process and got different team members involved at different stages so that the knowledge and expertise could be shared and it made things a lot easier. Now the full team sees the power and opportunity available with the MIS.

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“We’ve always been a company that listens to our customers' needs. We see Tharstern as a tool and vendor partner that will help us go above and beyond to respond. We see tremendous opportunity in continuing to automate and streamline workflows from specification gathering, through distribution.”

Brett Keene, Vice President of Operations
Suttle-Straus