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Prism  software  IT 
Efficient and streamlined are two words commonly used to describe Alcan Packaging Danaflex. One reason for that efficiency is Prism WIN Alcan Packaging Danaflex is the New Zealand arm of a worldwide packaging giant. In this country, the company is particularly strong in the area of food packaging.

With about 100 people working from the company’s plant in Tawa, the operation is efficient and streamlined; qualities that are enhanced by the fact that Danaflex is running the Prism WIN management information system.

The company runs a wide range of equipment on site including five presses, slitting and perforating equipment and bag machines. It also extrudes some of its own film, especially for the export meat industry, which is one of Danaflex’s biggest markets.

As a user of Prism MIS since 1991, when it installed the Prism 3 system, Danaflex has been heavily involved with Prism as a partner. By the time it upgraded to PrismWIN in 1999, Danaflex had already been consulted widely as part of a group of customers advising Prism during WIN’s pre-launch development.

Rob Hunter, IT manager for Danaflex says that the company was involved for two main reasons. First, it was a web packaging company, as opposed to a straight sheet based commercial printer, so could give an ‘outsider’s’ perspective on what was useful. Additionally, Danaflex had always been innovators.

“We tend to push the limits of what the system can do. We were familiar with what Prism 3 had to offer and we really pushed it hard.”

And when WIN was released for commercial sale, the reason that it really appealed to Danaflex was its ability to be customised to a large degree, opening the way for the company to push it even further.

“Prism WIN is able to work with a number of business rules that are peculiar to Danaflex,” Hunter says. “We have been able to change the way the system reacts to what we are doing.”

Hunter says that the company’s IT department has an excellent grasp of what is required from WIN, and that has been a big advantage to it. With a relatively small team, they have been able to take a hands on role. At the same time, Prism has provided excellent support, which is frequently used.

“We write our own reports and action scripts and we will talk to Prism to bounce ideas off them or to develop something a little bit more unusual.”

The move from Prism 3 to Prism WIN in 1999 “had to be done.” According to Hunter. Apart from the fact that the software was a big leap ahead and represented a shift to Windows technology, it was more well-rounded and suited to Danaflex’s demands.

“Prism 3 was targeted at sheetfed printing, whereas packaging is all reel-fed. So while the printing industry is dealing in units of sheets or reams, packaging is sold on a per kilogram or per metre basis, which made things difficult for us with Prism 3. WIN handled it without a problem.”

Hunter says that Danaflex considered a wide range of other systems before the upgrade but that there were two main problems: either they were too expensive or they didn’t have the built in features that Prism was able to bring to the table with WIN that relate specifically to the printing industry.

The system’s ability to work with customers also set it apart.

“Prism WIN is very ‘vanilla’ when you first get it. Every user will have the opportunity to employ a different site set-up to make it work for their own needs.”

The ability to add its own fields to the database table has allowed Danaflex to apply business rules to the system that are peculiar to its operation, making its operation considerably more efficient than it would be with a more static system.

With an enormous variety of widely differentiated products and an inventory requiring close control, accurate planning is critical to Danaflex. Three month lead times for overseas materials are not uncommon, so schedules need to be spot-on.

“Prism WIN has made a big difference to the number of mistakes that are made. Human error is always a factor, but with this system in place, it makes background checks on accuracy, logistics, production and so on. It has been critical in reducing errors.

WIN has also allowed Danaflex to link its customers closer to their work with a website interface that allows customers to look at their orders and track them through production, even check on invoices, all in real time.

With many of its customers in Australia, particularly Perth, which can be up to five hours behind New Zealand time, the ability for the customer to check on jobs, even when there is nobody at the Danaflex plant, has proved especially useful.

Hunter says that the integration of the WIN system gives it a big advantage over systems that he has seen elsewhere, which often tend to bring together a range of disparate parts, none of which are able to interact with each other.

“In Prism WIN, everything is integrated so that a change in one area affects all the other areas in meaningful ways, without operator input.
“Our staff are totally reliant on it now. It is a critical part of our business.”