After implementing PressWise, companies frequently talk about how their production process has become more efficient. For Moxy Ox (www.Moxyox.com), a print and design company based in Tontitown, Arkansas, that efficiency has opened the doors to a variety of new opportunities. “It has had a ripple effect,” notes Matt Huber, Head of Operations for Moxy Ox.
Freeing up his time has been a significant factor in enabling him to begin a new venture. At Moxy Ox it’s not just the CEO who has benefited from implementing PressWise. The impact throughout their business has been significant, saving labor and eliminating touches throughout the workflow, from quoting to production to shipping.
Matt Huber, Head of Operations
“Before PressWise, it took at least 10 minutes to generate a quote, which then had to be recovered later by scanning outgoing emails,” explains Huber. “Now a CSR can get a quote to someone while on the phone in under a minute.
“The auto-impositioning saves press operators hours of time, and the fully integrated shipping module means that there is no rekeying of data.
“PressWise has completely streamlined our entire process! Profits are up, customer satisfaction is up, people love our new proofing system, and our prepress turn time is half or less.”
Focus on Quality
Custom Packaging
Quality production is at the heart of Moxy Ox. The print company’s origins interestingly are in the graphic design department of Chandler Equipment, a manufacturer of vacuum pumps, valves, and mufflers for tanker trucks. The company purchased an Indigo press and began producing their own catalogs. Other companies were so impressed by the quality that they began asking Chandler to produce their materials as well. Eventually the department was spun off and became Moxy Ox.
Moxy Ox built their growing business around three core principles – service, quality and execution. These principles have helped them attract a diverse and solid customer base that includes the likes of Walmart, Vimeo and Simmons. In fact, almost half of the jobs they process are not local, but rather come from across the nation.
Today much of their business is boutique work requiring custom sizes and stocks. They offer specialty double and triple-thick stocks, including soft-touch double-thick options. Graphic designers appreciate working with Moxy Ox because they have a symbiotic view of the work.
Moxy Ox Social Media Cards
“We’re picky too,” Huber notes. “We care what the piece looks like and in PressWise you can quickly get a digital preview. Designers who have had access [to our PressWise system] have raved about it.”
Trisha Logan, owner of Shindig Paperie, a curated stationery store in Fayetteville, AR, recently mentioned to Huber how much she appreciates the new online system for tracking jobs “I love it,” she told him, “I can look at pricing and our order history.”
Huber notes that since they implemented PressWise and gave Shindig Paperie, and other customers, access to the information in it, Moxy Ox has seen “an influx of more work from them.”
Outgrowing a Manual Workflow
Why did Moxy Ox invest in PressWise? As their business grew Moxy Ox identified a problem—their homegrown ‘MIS’ just wasn’t cutting it anymore. They were using a combination of a free online project management tool and a homemade bare-bones pricing system, which meant they spent hours manually typing all estimates, emailing them to clients, and rekeying data in their accounting system.
This also meant they had no customer tracking, no central data repository for job history, and little knowledge of profit and loss margins for each type of job that they were running. And it was very difficult to change any prices or options. Something had to change.
The Moxy Ox Shopfloor
After reviewing a number of MIS systems, they settled on PressWise from SmartSoft. Although most comparable systems offered similar functionality, they felt that PressWise was the most intuitively designed and easiest to use. “So much is one-click away easy,” Huber explains enthusiastically. He says that the team has found it simple to navigate to information without typing.
Implementing PressWise
“We implemented in just over a month. Technical support and the pre-existing training structure is second to none. Also, we have an Indigo 5500 so it was super easy to set up!”
The most time-consuming part of implementation was inputting details about all of their paper stocks. Huber explains that PressWise has given the entire staff “a feeling of ease knowing that nothing will get lost.” And if they do encounter a problem, the Moxy Ox staff has found PressWise support very responsive. They simply email PressWise about the issue and they receive back either an answer or the issue is fixed remotely. “It’s real peace of mind knowing that I don’t have to solve every problem,” comments Huber.
Gaining Perspective
For Moxy Ox, the best part about their new PressWise MIS is having a single, centralized system at last, with a view into their business that was hidden before. 100% of the jobs produced by Moxy Ox go through PressWise, including internal marketing pieces. Huber notes that they have made some adjustments in their own marketing pieces now that they know their true cost.
The Conference Room at Moxy Ox
Armed with insight into the health of their business, they immediately started to make some necessary changes. “I have been able to adjust product pricing on items that we now know had ridiculously low margins,” said Huber. “We can now focus on tracking what products are and aren’t moving. And our accountant is loving it because now we are tracking how much money we have tied up in paper stock in the building.”
Using Every Last Bit
A significant part of Moxy Ox’s success with PressWise was their due diligence process. Too often major new technology purchases can wreak havoc internally, causing long delays or even the abandonment of the project altogether. Even after your system is up and running, you have to wonder – how well will it fit with your business? Will your workers use it or oppose it? Moxy Ox did their due diligence beforehand to ensure they were not left with an expensive loss.
“For me it’s all about the user interface, ease of setup, time savings, and the customer experience.” said Huber. “Before purchasing, we contacted several companies that were already using PressWise and heard the same thing over and over: ‘It’s great, and we’re still not even using it to its full potential.’ Well, my goal is to use every last bit of its options—I love it.