Good Alternates to ShopVox Shop Management software

[armandolo]

Hi Everyone.

We have been using Signvox then shopVox and just recently the price nearly doubled from $215 to $366 a month and i cant justyfy the cost as we are a small shop. They supposed can not switch us to their Express platform which is honestly what we had before as far as options go. Just different name back them.

So increased cost, no added benefit and just a name change in functionality does not justify the cost.

I started looking into Cyrious and signtracker.

Are there any others? Would love to hear your thoughts on what you use and what your experience is.

Thank you

 

[Pauly]

Check out onyx align. it seems to be more catered towards sign shops/print shops.
but most software like this is quite expensive.

 

[White Haus]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Signvox. We tried it out when they first came out and I'm glad we didn't jump on the bandwagon after the trial, have seen nothing but dissatisfaction related to them over the last couple of years.

That said, this topic comes up every so often and it's also something we've always been on the hunt for. Searching "business management" on this site comes up with a few relevant threads: https://www.signs101.com/search/2464778/?q=management+software&o=date (You'll have to sift through them)

We've bounced around with different solutions and in the end I think I'll likely just get something custom designed once we can afford the time and financial investment. For now we use Quickbooks for all estimates/invoices/accounting related matters, Smartsheet for digital job board and production schedule and Corel/PDF order docket templates that have to be manually typed up. (Not ideal)

I've been evaluating/playing with Stackby but I'm not sure that I can recommend it at this point. It seems to be a simpler (less features) version of smartsheet and I've found lots of bugs so far. I was able to create a digital job board/scheduler/online order entry form/crm within a couple of hours but still not a polished solution by any means.

What are the main features that you like from Signvox? What are your needs/wants with a business management / MIS solution?

 

[adrienbeausoleil]

I know that dealing with price hikes for shop management software can be frustrating, especially for small shops. Cyrious and SignTracker are solid alternatives you've already considered. Another option worth exploring is enterprise project management software. Basically, these platforms offer comprehensive features that could meet your needs without breaking the bank. So, I'd recommend checking out demos or trials to see which one aligns best with your operations.

 

[RabidOne]

I have used Cyrious, Enterprise and Squarecoil. The version of Enterprise we have is really detailed, but better for a Print shop than a Sign shop.
Cyrious is super customizable and apparently the new user interface makes it easier to manage.
Squarecoil was just being adopted at the previous shop I was at. Interface was easy to work with. The app made it really easy for the installers to update the job info on site from their phones.

 

[invisibleink]

We have been using Signvox then shopVox and just recently the price nearly doubled from $215 to $366 a month and i cant justyfy the cost as we are a small shop. They supposed can not switch us to their Express platform which is honestly what we had before as far as options go. Just different name back them.

I started looking into Cyrious and signtracker.

Armandolo,
Have you had any success yet finding a replacement?
We are also a small shop in the exact same situation and have been told the same thing by ShopVox. Other issues include extracting our data from ShopVox as their export function does not export line items and notes for quotes and Sales Orders. We have looked at a lot of software and hope to make a choice soon.

We are currently comparing Signtracker, PrintMIS, Hexicom, Websites for Printers, OnPrintShop and Odoo. If our focus was on Apparel and Promo items I would probably go with HoopsCRM, but they are limited on support for signs, banners and digital printed items. Have also been looking at theprintlife.com and teesom (focused on screen printing), printmissle.com, deconetwork, and Print Science.

Our shop does digital printing for forms, booklets, postcards and small posters. We use wholesale partners for signs, banners, promo items and apparel.
Our needs:
• Quotations/Estimates
Quote products by the square ft. (banners, signs, etc.)
Ability to easily quote multiple quantities (ie. yard signs, business cards and forms)
Easily save Quotes and line Items for reuse
• Artwork Proofing
• Order/Job Board for Status Tracking
• Customer Portal (For quote and art approvals, payments, along with job status)
• Client communications and notification via email and SMS

 

[Mike Perth]

Armandolo,
Have you had any success yet finding a replacement?
We are also a small shop in the exact same situation and have been told the same thing by ShopVox. Other issues include extracting our data from ShopVox as their export function does not export line items and notes for quotes and Sales Orders. We have looked at a lot of software and hope to make a choice soon.

We are currently comparing Signtracker, PrintMIS, Hexicom, Websites for Printers, OnPrintShop and Odoo. If our focus was on Apparel and Promo items I would probably go with HoopsCRM, but they are limited on support for signs, banners and digital printed items. Have also been looking at theprintlife.com and teesom (focused on screen printing), printmissle.com, deconetwork, and Print Science.

Our shop does digital printing for forms, booklets, postcards and small posters. We use wholesale partners for signs, banners, promo items and apparel.
Our needs:
• Quotations/Estimates
Quote products by the square ft. (banners, signs, etc.)
Ability to easily quote multiple quantities (ie. yard signs, business cards and forms)
Easily save Quotes and line Items for reuse
• Artwork Proofing
• Order/Job Board for Status Tracking
• Customer Portal (For quote and art approvals, payments, along with job status)
• Client communications and notification via email and SMS

How’d you go, did you end up finding a software solution for your shop?

 

[Zendavor Signs]

Check out onyx align. it seems to be more catered towards sign shops/print shops.
but most software like this is quite expensive.

I saw a demo of this at a show this week. It was pretty impressive from what I saw. It integrates your estimating / shop management very well with your RIP stations. If we were a bigger shop running 20+ print orders a day, this would be a very interesting option.

 

[Gary1]

I use Sign Tracker. I believe the price is $300 per yr. I'm a one man shop, but you cannot put a price on organization
and not losing your notes on your jobs. And quoting looks professional. I like it. Tech support is phenomenal too!
Within 15-20 you get answered. It's done thru the software, like texting. Lots and lots of tutorials online and within the software
and the also have daily or weekly live seminars that you can interact live! Give it a try. https://www.sign-tracker.com/
At the end of the day, an expense is an expense. At least Big G doesn't get it! And the time you save being organized!

 

[Dale D]

For a small sign shop, Trello or many Kanban boards can be of help and be free.

 

[ONYXtechtips]

I will preface that I am a bit biased since I worked on ONYX Align. Identify your pain points as outlined by invisibleink. Order management systems can get a bit pricey but if the solution saves you time, it will also save you money thus getting a return on that investment. I have personally seen businesses move from in the red to in the black because Align identified their true costs of manufacture and ensured they were covering their manufacturing costs. Our focus for Align was a system that worked specifically for sign shops, both big and small. Pricing can be calculated by cost plus margin, price per square foot or a fixed price. It will then tell you if you are making money or not as long as your costs are properly identified in the system. I would suggest a no obligation demonstration of Align, see if it fits your needs and then calculate if you can get a return on your investiment. There are even ways to add the cost of Align into each job so that you are guaranteed to get your return.

 

[Stinky Prints]

Following here as well. We’ve had a number of false starts with ShopVox over the years. Infinitely more complicated than it needs to be and very resource intensive to onboard. We haven’t had the right team in place to do it ourselves, have been steered to some lackluster consultants where we’ve wasted a good amount of money and have since essentially been donating to ShopVox on a monthly basis. Im holding on, as the all in one system is attractive, but as it gets more expensive, I may stop throwing good money after bad. As I have less time to babysit my staff, I’m looking for in house systems that have processes that can be run/followed by less than ideal operators (very tough labor pool here). At this point, my inspiration is a multibillion dollar company run by teenagers….Macdonalds.

Anyone who has had luck with Shopvox have any reccos for onboarding consultants, or do you want to be one? Hit me up or comment here. Thx!

 

[Stacey K]

I second SignTracker! I love it!

 

[Rmurray321]

I will preface that I am a bit biased since I worked on ONYX Align. Identify your pain points as outlined by invisibleink. Order management systems can get a bit pricey but if the solution saves you time, it will also save you money thus getting a return on that investment. I have personally seen businesses move from in the red to in the black because Align identified their true costs of manufacture and ensured they were covering their manufacturing costs. Our focus for Align was a system that worked specifically for sign shops, both big and small. Pricing can be calculated by cost plus margin, price per square foot or a fixed price. It will then tell you if you are making money or not as long as your costs are properly identified in the system. I would suggest a no obligation demonstration of Align, see if it fits your needs and then calculate if you can get a return on your investiment. There are even ways to add the cost of Align into each job so that you are guaranteed to get your return.

do you have an idea of what align costs on a monthly basis? I haven't been able to research that anywhere. I submitted for a demo today as well

 

[Graphic Extremes]

I bought the paid life time license to File Maker and have been setting up my own as I go, It has a learning curve but it is easy to change on the fly.

I would like to find a complete system that is set up but everyone's needs are different,

 

[TSC1985]

I don't quite understand the ShopVox hate here. We are a team of 7 and LOVE Shopvox so far. Been using the express version and will probably upgrade to the Pro version at start of year. It has immensly helped our shop. Quicker/easier quoting leading to faster approvals (has been said our speed/accuracy of quoting has played a big factor) abilty to collect deposits in an email leads to MUCH better cash flow which was a big issue with 1 person trying to collect before. The proofing approval process has even worked in our favor before when a client tried to say we messed up a print that had their digital signature on it.

Are there ways to combine 3 other apps together to run or spend hours setting up FileMaker, sure, but its so nice to have all in one package. ShopVox has been updating nearly every week. Its spendy, yes, but it has significantly helped us run smoother and cash flow is WAY up thanks to them.

 

[Pauly]

From my experience, which is a lot.

You'll never find a single package that does it all. There are some out there trying to do that, but everyone's needs are different.
The more features you need, the more you'll pay.

You should choose the software package you need. That could be a workflow system, a CRM, Accounting software. etc. These days, most apps will have 3rd party integrations with popular apps like CRMs and Accounting software.

Sure, you can build your own using filemaker or even your favourite CMS. but you need to think about the time it takes to build and the return you'll get from the time spent.
Then you'll need to think about the future, are you planning to grow, are you going to add more features, fix your own bugs and continue to maintain it?

I've built many apps for us, some we still use internally that do small tasks. But i would rather spend the time building up the business rather than save money to built my own workflow system.
If you dont want to spend money, there's enough OSS / FOSS software out there that's not expensive to use which would do a great job

 

[CanuckSigns]

I don't quite understand the ShopVox hate here. We are a team of 7 and LOVE Shopvox so far. Been using the express version and will probably upgrade to the Pro version at start of year. It has immensly helped our shop. Quicker/easier quoting leading to faster approvals (has been said our speed/accuracy of quoting has played a big factor) abilty to collect deposits in an email leads to MUCH better cash flow which was a big issue with 1 person trying to collect before. The proofing approval process has even worked in our favor before when a client tried to say we messed up a print that had their digital signature on it.

Are there ways to combine 3 other apps together to run or spend hours setting up FileMaker, sure, but its so nice to have all in one package. ShopVox has been updating nearly every week. Its spendy, yes, but it has significantly helped us run smoother and cash flow is WAY up thanks to them.

From what i've read the main issues are the ever increasing cost and a lot of users feel like shopvox is not implementing meaningful updates / changes and instead are focusing on rolling out changes no one asked for. I ended up having something made for me in Filemaker by a developer,, cost me around $2500. I own the data, yes there are ongoing costs for hosting, but if I decide not to pay any more, I can still open the file locally and use it, with shopvox or any other SAAS solution, you stop paying you loose all access, best case scenario you can download some of your data as a useless csv file.

there is a huge amount of "sunk cost fallacy" involved where you spend tens of thousands of dollars on software over the years and own nothing, companies like shopvox could triple the cost of the software next year, and you either pay it, or loose years of business data. That is my main issue.

 

[Pauly]

From what i've read the main issues are the ever increasing cost and a lot of users feel like shopvox is not implementing meaningful updates / changes and instead are focusing on rolling out changes no one asked for. I ended up having something made for me in Filemaker by a developer,, cost me around $2500. I own the data, yes there are ongoing costs for hosting, but if I decide not to pay any more, I can still open the file locally and use it, with shopvox or any other SAAS solution, you stop paying you loose all access, best case scenario you can download some of your data as a useless csv file.

there is a huge amount of "sunk cost fallacy" involved where you spend tens of thousands of dollars on software over the years and own nothing, companies like shopvox could triple the cost of the software next year, and you either pay it, or loose years of business data. That is my main issue.

There are software you can buy the perpetual licence. Though not cheap but you can still own it.
There's a few that come to mind too.
But there's always the case, you still need to pay yearly for maintenance and updates.

Most platforms should allow the CSV download, and if it's not all your data, you should be able to request all your data.
OnPrintShop for example, you can download all your orders, customers etc. do it via csv or API.