Industries
Turn repeat orders and customer data into more sales.
HubSpot or Pipedrive connected to your print MIS or ERP, so repeat jobs, call-offs and reorder dates are on the account before a customer goes elsewhere.
Packaging, print and materials businesses live on repeat orders, so their CRM has to show when each customer is due to reorder, which estimates are waiting on a reply, and whether contract volumes are holding. Flowbird connects HubSpot or Pipedrive to your print management system or ERP, so that is on every customer record.
This page is for packaging and containers manufacturers, printers, and plastics, chemical and textile manufacturers.
Why does repeat business slip away unnoticed?
Because it is repeat. A customer agrees a range of cartons, labels, mouldings or printed work, then reorders for years. The revenue is steady until it is not, and the signs (a longer gap between orders, a smaller call-off, an estimate nobody chased) are in the production system long before anyone hears about a competing quote. The MIS or ERP runs production well. It does not tell the sales team who to call.
How does connecting production and sales fix it?
How it works
Repeat orders, on the record your account managers use.
Your MIS and ERP
Your print MIS, ERP or accounts system.
- Estimates and job history
- Orders, call-offs and invoices
- Formats and specifications
- Production and delivery status
- Contract and price review dates
The connection
- Estimates linked to the jobs they became
- Jobs grouped by format or process
- Updates on a schedule or as jobs move
HubSpot or Pipedrive
- Each customer’s reorder cycle
- Estimates going cold
- Call-offs against the contract
- Job status for the account manager
What changes
- Repeat orders protected
- Estimates chased on time
- More of each customer’s range
- Price reviews handled before they bite
What does it look like in practice?
| Use case | How the CRM finds it | What it is worth |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder prompts | Each customer's usual job cycle from the MIS, set against their last job | Regular work rebooked before it goes to another supplier |
| Estimates going cold | Estimates from the MIS with an owner and a chase date, closed when the job is booked | More estimates turned into jobs |
| Call-off volumes | Order lines set against the agreed contract volumes | A falling contract spotted months before the annual review |
| Format and process gaps | Jobs grouped by what was made: litho, digital, wide format and finishing, or cartons, trays and mouldings | Services offered to customers who already trust you |
| Price reviews | Contract dates and the material each price depends on | Board, resin or chemical cost changes passed on in time, customer by customer |
| Job status | Production and delivery status on the account | Sales answers "where is my order?" without phoning production |
Can estimates be followed up automatically?
Yes, and it is often the first thing worth building. When an estimate arrives from the MIS, the CRM creates a follow-up task for the right person on the right day. If the customer accepts and the job is booked, the task closes itself. If not, the estimate appears in a list of quotes going cold instead of sitting in someone's sent folder.
How should material price changes be handled?
Treat a price change as a piece of work with a list of affected customers, not a letter to everyone. When the CRM knows which contracts carry which material and when each was last reviewed, the account team can see who needs a conversation first and record what was agreed. At the next review, your team can show why the price moved.
Which systems does it connect to?
The CRM is HubSpot or Pipedrive. Flowbird has connected HubSpot and Pipedrive to Sage 200, Sage 50 and Xero. A print MIS such as Tharstern, Odoo or another ERP can be connected where it offers an API, and the audit confirms what yours exposes before anything is built. The tool is whichever suits the job: a native connector, Make, n8n, BPA Platform or custom code. Estimates, jobs, call-offs and invoices land on the customer record. See CRM and ERP integration.
One honest caveat: a link copies the MIS data as it is. A customer entered once per department, or job types named differently by each estimator, show up the same way in the CRM. The audit is where that gets found.
What does the business get?
- Repeat orders protected, because a late reorder is flagged when it is due
- More estimates turned into work
- More of each customer's range, from the formats and processes they do not yet buy from you
- Material price changes passed on in time
- Fewer calls to production to answer a customer's question
What changes for you: a long-standing customer's work going to another supplier stops being something you learn at the annual review.
What comes first?
The CRM & ERP Opportunity Audit: a fixed price, two weeks and a written report you keep. It checks what your CRM data can carry, maps one revenue-critical process end to end (for most print and packaging businesses, estimate to job), names the automations worth building first, and ends in a plain go or no-go. It is written to take to your managing director or finance director.
If you already know what needs connecting, talk to an integration specialist instead.
When is Flowbird not the right fit?
- You have no MIS or ERP with job or order data in it
- You are not on HubSpot or Pipedrive and do not intend to be
- Your customer base is small enough that the owner knows every account personally
For that stage, the free Data Health Calculator and the Customer Data Clarity Workbook cover most of what you need.
Questions packaging and print businesses ask
Can you connect our print MIS, such as Tharstern?
Usually, where the MIS offers an API or a reliable export. Estimates, jobs and customers can then be brought onto the CRM record. Every setup differs, so the audit confirms what yours exposes before anything is built.
Can artwork approvals and samples be tracked in the CRM?
Yes. Proofs, samples and trials can run as their own pipeline with an owner and a date at each stage, so nothing waits on an email nobody chased.
Do we need a CRM as well as an MIS?
The MIS runs production; the CRM tells sales who to call. Connected, the MIS keeps doing its job and the sales team can finally see it.