Cardsource Sees Revenue Grow with Presswise

CardSource is a 40-person plastic card manufacturing, personalization and fulfillment company, located in Eagan, MN. Since 1972, the company has serviced companies in the retail, hospitality, airline and print trade markets. Like most printers over the past decade, CardSource recognized that customer needs and expectations were changing, with an ever-growing demand for shorter-run orders and faster turnaround times. To meet this demand, they invested in digital print to produce their gift, loyalty and membership cards more efficiently.

Their existing traditional print MIS, however, required significant overhead to set up every single job, with so much manual entry required that it was unsustainable for smaller run orders. They knew they needed a better system, one that would let them handle a complete order in the same amount of time it took them just to create a single item in the old system.

Many factors were considered, including the ability for customers to input their own orders via a storefront. Also, CardSource was looking for a way to manage artwork and data assets and tag them to a specific order. They began a very thorough process to find a suitable solution.

As CEO Tom Murphy recalls, “We evaluated all the software offerings at the shows we attended, before we made the decision to go with PressWise (Booth 4524). It was the closest fit to what we thought we needed at the time. The staff at PressWise worked with us so that we really understood the system and were constantly adding new and relevant features.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing at first though, as the company had to take on board a new system and new workflow processes. “Implementation was somewhat difficult until we got the bigger picture. The PressWise staff was always willing to talk and help us through the transition,” Murphy says.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the PressWise system is how they have been able to streamline the way they accept and process orders. Around 10 percent of orders come in through online storefronts, and they feel they are just at the beginning with exploring all the capabilities of this method of order entry. However, an even more valuable method was one they weren’t even considering when they signed up for PressWise — the PressWise API, which allows for connection to third party systems.

“We now receive around 30 to 40 percent of our orders automatically through APIs that we have built,” Murphy says. “This is an outstanding feature that allows us to link up to customers’ systems no matter what storefront or order processing system they use and automate our order entry. 

“With PressWise we were able to grow our small quantity business from essentially nothing to over 30 percent of our revenues in just a few years. It has made small quantity production the fastest growing portion of our business, and the most profitable portion.”