Our IT Systems

Hawk was developed by a mailing house for mailing houses, and it is a centralised system for holding all client contact details, and processing Estimates, Job Instructions, Account Management, Invoicing, Purchasing, Warehouse Control and more.

The itemised job estimate becomes the job instructions which then becomes the invoice, so there won’t be invoice discrepancies, you’ll know exactly what we’ve done for you and what you are paying for.

The Hawk system helps mailing houses:

• Improve communication, streamline processes, increase efficiencies and quality.

• All info is on one system: contact details, estimate, job details, stock info, invoices etc.

• Any Account Executive can pick up the phone and provide you with answers.

We have developed our order fulfilment systems so that whether you want to simply provide us with a data feed, or send us a data file, or you want to integrate your website with our system in real time we can work with you.

The order fulfilment system is fundamental to accurate stock management and picking and packing, and we have developed the system so that it includes a complete audit trial, so on the rare occasions there is a picking error the source of the problem can be identified, which is key to resolving customers issues, and ensuring the same mistake doesn't happen again.

The order fulfilment system provides all the reporting a client could need including stock reports, fulfilment reports, despatch reports and consumables reports. This information is at the fingertips of our Account Executives so they can answer your queries quickly. The system can also be made available online so that you can access your own information.

The development software used is ColdFusion from Adobe which allows us to develop robust, flexible, scalable, and user friendly systems that are supported by one of the world’s software giants.

We use the SQL Server 2008 relational database with SQL Server Integrated Services for automating Order Acquisition from 3rd Party clients or directly from their websites, and SQL Server Reporting Services for providing and maintaining flexible reports for clients and in-house usage.

More about our Distance selling fulfilment services >>

Printsoft's PReS Designer

PReS Designer is an interactive WYSIWYG interface for designing and developing most Direct Marketing and Transaction applications, it's main features are:

• Easy to use WYSIWYG user interface.

• Wizard-based design workflow eliminates print defects and speeds design.

• Robust data wizard to import data from csv, Excel, Access, flat files and any ODBC-compliant data source.

• Dynamic positioning of variable content with user-specified Anchors, Bumpers and Links.

• Powerful conditional logic capabilities.

• Provides built-in EasyMailer specific features as well as full range of capabilities for making postcards, letters, and other personalised direct marketing documents.

• Standard output formats: PostScript and PDF.

• Add-on capability available for optimised output formats: PPML, VDX, VPS, AFPDS, and more.

• Compatible with PReS for easy migration to enterprise-class solution.

GMC's Printnet

GMC personalized communications software is used by nearly 50% of the leading global direct marketing and print service providers for diverse applications including direct mail, incentive/loyalty programs, and combined promotional/transactional applications. The GMC Communications Suite provides a “design once, output anywhere” environment for fast, efficient production of direct marketing materials that raise profitability and drive better response rates.

We handle a variety of data processing and database management tasks and utilise a range of tools:

• IBM® UniVerse®

• This is an extended relational data server optimised for embedding in vertical applications.

• Universe is used for data manipulation:

  • Deduping

  • Sorting

  • Analysis

  • Casing

• Excel 2003/2007 in with custom data manipulation functions written in Visual Basic for applications (VBA).

• Matchit -  http://helpit.com - Used for PAF, Mailsorting UK & basic suppression services.

• UKChanges -  http://www.ukchanges.com/ - Used for a range of UK suppressions.

• Coldfusion server with SQL backend used for data manipulation.

• Various DSA systems – DHL/TNT/Secure Mail/UK Mail.

In our industry IT and machinery advances happen quickly and it is important that we continually adapt to market demands and to what our competitors are offering.