100 Years Young and Just Getting Started!
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Altona, Manitoba – June 2007 marked the centennial anniversary of a landmark in this small Canadian town located between Winnipeg and Grand Forks, ND.
Yet everyone agrees that 100 years is just the beginning for a company that has learned to compete and thrive in the highly competitive custom book manufacturing marketplace.
Founded by David W. Friesen in 1907 as a small confectionary shop which began to offer printing services in 1933, Friesens Corporation has evolved to encompass multiple divisions and over 500 employees.
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HEADQUARTERS OF FRIESEN CAMPUS
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While 60% of the company’s volume is derived from custom book manufacturing it also does brisk business in its yearbook, web printing, packaging, and digital book manufacturing divisions.
Friesens is an employee owned company, and the pride of ownership is apparent when touring the four building campus. The equipment and facilities are clean and the staff is friendly, focused, and committed to producing quality product. Over the years Friesen’s has amassed a wide range of accolades. Three of the most impressive are its 2004 Hall of Fame election to the NAPL Management Plus program, three consecutive Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies honors, and CEO David Friesen’ selection as 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
These honors show that the company not only knows how to operate profitability and with distinction, it does so in a manner that rewards and values it’s staff. Yet amidst all the impressive state of the art hardware; the most strategic part of this operation may well be that which is not immediately apparent - the workflow systems and technologies that the company uses.
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"It was quickly evident to all of us that Streamline Solutions was different. Laurence and his staff were comitted to seeing that we were successful.” |
These systems not only provide competitive advantage to Friesen clients, they ensure that the customer support and manufacturing staff have the tools necessary to maintain the company’s high standards for client service and productivity.
Taking a tour of Friesens campus is a study in innovation. From the point of initial sales contact through final shipping of product, visitors will immediately recognize that asking the question; “How can we make it better?” has led to some unusual improvements. One of the subtle but powerful differences is the fact that most officer staff have two computer monitors on their desktop, and that they are more productive as a result.
As Friesen Systems and Quality Manager Mike Fehr explains; “We have a tremendous amount of information and systems available to our staff. Being able to cross reference files and synchronize multiple views of an application on two displays at once is extremely helpful.”
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PRINTSTREAM BOOK ESTIMATING
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Our Book Estimating is a great example – while running What If functions on one screen, our estimator can see the end results on the other display at the same time. Or they can view a previous quote while working on a new opportunity.” Having multiple displays is not the only innovation one will find in the Estimating team.
Business analyst Jody Penner indicates; “We are just in the final stages of rolling out the new Printstream Book Estimating module that we have been jointly developing with Streamline Solutions and Sheridan Book Printing over the last year. We have been a Printstream user since 2001, and we are really excited about what we have been able to accomplish on this module with (company President) Laurence and the Streamline team.
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We do many quotes for our clients and the automation of this new module (which recognizes that book manufacturing is most influenced by the final case and finishing specifications) will allow us to return quotes to our clients more quickly while improving productivity for our staff.”
As exciting as the Book Estimating module may be, it is but one of a number of powerful productivity applications at Friesens. Other major platforms of note include QuoteThis which began life as a quote specification tool for the sales staff but has grown to interface with the functions of the order processing, planning, and client service staffs; and SmartPrep which expands preflight of orders to include not just digital files but the full scope of order and manufacturing information necessary for successful completion of the job. Both QuoteThis and SmartPrep are used primarily by internal Friesen staff. However, an additional application called MyBooks provides a highly successful Internet information portal for Friesen clients.
>> Friesens Case Study continued : A culture of, “How can we make it better.”