Its beginnings were humble but Tharstern always had plans to make a difference in the world of print MIS.
Almost 30 years have passed since Tharstern Ltd was formed in 1984 by Keith Harrison, who at that time was working as a financial director for a printing company. Mr Harrison recognised that there was an opportunity to develop an estimating package for printers.
He started the company from home and subsidised it whilst still working as a consultant. A prototype was developed and brought to the market through a Commodore PET home computer using inBasic software. A programmer was hired on the YTS scheme to engineer the prototype.
Even from such small beginnings, the company soon became recognised as a key supplier to the MIS market, and was one of the pioneers to launch a native 16 bit Windows version of its popular DOS-based MIS, which was launched at IPEX 1993 at the NEC, Birmingham. In 1991, Keith McMurtrie joined the company, leading development of the products. He brought to the company a unique blend of commercial and technical drive, resulting in a number of ‘firsts’ for the relatively small northern English MIS provider.
Seven years after Mr McMurtrie joined Tharstern, the company moved into purpose built, high tech premises, and continued to break new technological ground, as it was again the first to launch a 32 bit version of the software. Perhaps most importantly, Tharstern made the move from proprietary database to the ubiquitous SQL server platform which was historically not available to the SME market. This was a pivotal progression and a real turning point for the company. Thereafter, developments came thick and fast. In 2002, Tharstern joined CIP4 and quickly recognised the importance of process automation; so began the journey towards JDF enabling the MIS to communicate with other vendors within the industry. The following year, Tharstern launched e4print, giving a seamless integrated B2B Solution. Then in 2006, Tharstern launched SmallPrint – a complete end to end solution for the small printer.
By 2011 PRIMO was launched, Tharstern’s Enterprise Management Information System, which provides all the tools needed to run and manage a printing business. Designed to help reduce costs, increase efficiencies, protect margins and grow revenue, PRIMO has become an essential business tool for its users, one that gives them total visibility – providing facts and figures, trends and patterns, to help make everyday decisions, forecast performance and devise strategies for growth.
Today, Tharstern continues to be at the forefront of MIS technology. Recent developments within the software include estimate PRO, which is an intelligent quoting system that allows businesses to provide accurate, cost effective estimates using a pre-defined checklist of options for a chosen product. The system will then automatically give you the best production route based on your production kit, showing the best price and the best margin.
And most recently, Tharstern has launched PRIMO Live, an estimating app for the iPad, which is powered by the MIS. Such technology has the ability to empower sales teams to provide quicker quotes, win more business and increase efficiency, without even having to step into the office.
As it prepares to enter into its fourth decade in business, Tharstern continues to innovate and find new ways for its customers to streamline their printing business operations.
