Almost every printing company faces the same strategic question at some point: Which software should form the backbone of our operational processes? In recent years, two terms have cropped up again and again – ERP and Print MIS. Both promise to make operations more efficient, reduce costs and automate processes. But they are designed fundamentally differently, have different strengths and suit different company sizes and requirements.
This article explains what lies behind both types of systems, what the key differences are and how you can make the right decision for your print shop - without having to retrofit or migrate expensively.
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. Behind this is an integrated software system that maps all of a company's core business processes in a central platform. The basic idea: All departments – purchasing, warehouse, production, sales, finance, human resources – work on a common database. There is no need for double entries and information flows automatically from one area to the other.
The best-known ERP providers are SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle NetSuite and, for medium-sized businesses, systems such as Sage, Haufe X360 or Lexware. These systems were originally designed for industrial companies and have expanded into more and more industries over the years. There are sometimes industry-specific adaptations or expansion modules for printing companies - but these are often complex and expensive.
A complete ERP system typically consists of the following modules:
On paper, a complete ERP system sounds tempting. In practice, however, many printing companies quickly encounter the limitations of these general systems. The fundamental problem: ERP systems think in terms of parts lists and standardized products. However, print jobs are by nature highly individual - each job has a different edition, a different format, a different paper, a different processing and a different delivery date.
The calculation of a print job follows its own logic: makeready costs, waste, machine speed, printing forms, paper weight and graduated prices must be calculated in real time. No standard ERP in the world can do this without extensive customization. The implementation projects often take twelve to eighteen months, the costs quickly reach six figures - and in the end the system is often still not really tailored to printing processes.
MIS stands for Management Information System. A Print MIS is a software system designed from the ground up to meet the specific needs of the printing industry. Unlike an ERP system, a print MIS thinks in terms of print orders, circulation costs, print sheets, further processing stages and delivery dates.
The focus is on the print-specific calculation: A good print MIS immediately calculates a well-founded offer price based on the stored machine data, paper prices and working rates - even for complex products with multiple printing levels, binding processes and individual packaging. This real-time calculation is the heart of a print MIS and the crucial difference to any general ERP system.
Even simpler merchandise management systems - which are widely used in smaller craft businesses - are only of limited use for printing companies. You can write invoices and manage inventory, but you simply cannot manage complex print calculations with variable cost drivers, print sheet optimization and circulation-dependent prices. Print shops that work with such systems often calculate separately in Excel tables - and thus lose the decisive advantage of integrated software: the continuous digital process chain.
Practical note: According to a study by the Federal Association for Printing and Media, around 40% of small and medium-sized printing companies in Germany still work with Excel-based calculations or fragmented isolated solutions. Switching to an integrated print MIS typically reduces calculation time by 60-75%.
| criterion | ERP system | Print MIS |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation effort | High (6–18 months, often requires external consultants) | Low to medium (weeks to a few months) |
| Print Specs | Barely present; Adaptation very complex | Designed from the ground up for printers |
| Pressure calculation | Not native; requires expensive add-ons | core function; ready for immediate use |
| Shop integration (web-to-print) | Complex interface development required | Native integration or pre-built connectors |
| Costs | High (License + Implementation + Maintenance) | Moderate; SaaS models from a low monthly flat rate |
| Scalability | Very high; suitable for corporate structures | High; grows with the company |
| Financial accounting | Fully integrated | Mostly export to DATEV / tax advisor |
A complete ERP system is worthwhile for printing companies under certain conditions. If your company is part of a larger group of companies or operates several locations with different business areas (e.g. printing, advertising technology, publishing), a central ERP can make sense - provided you have the budget and IT resources for a careful implementation.
Even if your print shop is heavily focused on large format printing, packaging printing or industrial printing and has close connections to warehousing and logistics processes, the strength of an ERP system can come into play in inventory management and supply chain control. For companies with more than 100 employees that also need a fully-fledged human resources system, integrated financial accounting and group-wide reporting, an ERP is difficult to avoid.
The honest assessment: For the majority of medium-sized printing companies in Germany - i.e. companies with 5 to 80 employees and a focus on commercial, digital or packaging printing - an ERP is simply oversized. The implementation costs and ongoing maintenance costs are disproportionate to the benefits.
A print MIS is the right choice if your core processes revolve around the print job: calculation, quotation creation, order processing, production control and invoicing. This applies to the vast majority of medium-sized printing companies.
Especially if you are moving your business towards Web to print If you want to develop your business – i.e. if you want to accept orders via an online shop or a customer portal – a print MIS is the logical foundation. A native integration between the online shop and order management can hardly be achieved efficiently with a general ERP. With a specialized one Print MIS On the other hand, an online order flows directly into the calculation, production planning and invoicing - without any manual intermediate steps.
For yours Print shop software strategy The following applies: If you work with fragmented isolated solutions today (Excel calculation here, accounting software there, manual email traffic for order confirmations), then a print MIS is the most efficient way to close these gaps - with manageable implementation effort and a quick return on investment.
Yes – and in larger companies this is even the recommended approach. The logic behind it: Let the print MIS do what it does best (print-specific calculation, workflow, production) and connect it via standardized interfaces to the ERP system, which takes over the higher-level financial and corporate control processes.
In practice it looks like this: The Print MIS creates invoices and transfers the booking data to the ERP or directly to DATEV via an interface. Stock levels for paper and consumables can be mirrored from the ERP into the print MIS. Order data for management reporting flows from the print MIS into ERP controlling.
Modern print MIS solutions like PrintDesk offer open API interfaces that make such integration much easier. The decisive advantage of this hybrid architecture: You retain the print-specific depth of the Print MIS and supplement it with the commercial breadth of the ERP - without compromises on both sides.
From the calculation to the Order management to web-to-print integration: PrintDesk combines all print-specific core processes in one platform - without the typical ERP implementation effort.
Schedule a free demoPrintDesk was developed by Druckhaus interactive GmbH in Krefeld specifically for the requirements of medium-sized printing companies. The system covers the entire order cycle - from online inquiries to calculation and order release to production control and automated invoicing.
Unlike monolithic ERP projects, PrintDesk is productive within a few weeks. The setup is carried out by an experienced team that comes from the printing industry and knows the typical challenges of a printing company. The platform grows with your business: Starting as a digital order management system, PrintDesk can later be expanded into an integrated one Web-to-print shop or a customer portal can be expanded.
For financial accounting, PrintDesk offers a DATEV-compatible export function so that your tax advisor or your internal accounting department remains seamlessly connected - without having to maintain an expensive ERP system. And if you introduce an ERP at a later date, an open API interface is available.
The decision between print MIS and ERP is not a question of either/or, but rather a question of correct prioritization. For the vast majority of medium-sized printing companies, a specialized print MIS is the more economical, quicker to use and more long-term solution. ERP systems only develop their added value in larger corporate structures that have extensive commercial and logistical requirements beyond the printing-specific core.
If you work with Excel, Outlook and outdated order management today, the first step is clear: a modern print MIS like PrintDesk closes the existing gaps in your processes – pragmatically, quickly and sustainably. Start with what will really change your everyday life: a continuous digital order chain, from the inquiry to the invoice.
Web-to-print automation for modern print shops. A product from Druckhaus interactive GmbH.