Case Studies & Examples

H Tempest

Would you trust us to help radically transform your business if it had been successfully producing results since 1920?

H Tempest did in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The client

H Tempest Limited are one of the UK's largest portrait and group photographers, the company photographs up to 60,000 people a day and operates one of Europe's largest photo labs. Its units include Baby's First Portrait, Early Years, Under Fives, School & College, Traditional Group, Graduation, and Teamwork (business and military photography). The company was founded by portrait photographer Horace Tempest in the 1920s.

A small beginning

Nexus were originally invited in 2002 to provide an online e-commerce solution where graduates could pre-order their photographs online, prior to the ceremony and choose and pay for their photographs and frames etc. The site was launched in 2003 and allows for a download of orders direct into the legacy accounts system of H Tempest.

The project

H Tempest realised that they needed to move their photography business towards a digital solution where ultimately the majority of photographs taken in the field will need to be taken and processed digitally.

In order to successfully achieve this, the current system of production at the laboratory would have to undergo a revolutionary change from the existing "wet" process to digital. To help make this transition smoothly and in order to control the process H Tempest asked Nexus Internet Solutions Ltd to be its "technology partner" developing an Management Information System and Intranet that would link into all the existing processes required for the successful production and delivery of its clients most valuable assets.

The digital laboratory

The system that has been developed takes digital images as they arrive in the laboratory from schools, colleges and universities across the UK and imports them into the system. From here they undergo various production processes which are all monitored and controlled by the Intranet System. They include:

• Initial quality control checks
• Batching jobs to individual workers in the laboratory
• Photographic colour correction and enhancement
• Preparation for print.
• Finishing and quality control
• Rework where necessary
• Reprints where necessary
• Printing
• Packing
• Dispatch

The system allows H Tempest to place all schools orders and individual orders taken on the telephone, by post and on the Internet.

Photographs are all tracked throughout the laboratory at all times using custom tracking points so that at any time anyone can see exactly where an individual order is.

Keying is minimised through the use of bar coded unique identifiers which are printed onto the modules and orders as they progress throughout the laboratory.

The dispatch area provides printing of all of the address labels as required to make sure that H Tempest uses the postal system efficiently, since they are one of the biggest users of Royal Mail in the UK.

Digital studio

New software has now developed to allow photographers to capture all the photographs at school and university events using a specially developed piece of software called the "Digital Studio".

H Tempest photographers now use the Nexus developed studio software to interface by Firewire with the professional SLR digital cameras they use at the events. This involved Nexus Internet Solutions Ltd. Developing the software in conjunction with the camera software development kit. The images are transferred directly to the laptop where they are checked immediately by the photographer for quality prior to "committing". Most children go home immediately with the proof of the image printed directly onto an order form which is then ready for immediate processing and ordering at the laboratory.

To find out more about how Nexus can help you develop your business potential call Andy now on 0800 096 085