Software - Web-to-print

FOR 10 YEARS, copying services at Villanova University School of Law were provided by Xerox under a facilities management contract. There were, however, some strings attached. The university had to supply the toner. And students had to bring their own paper.

Paper job tickets are a thing of the past at the Washington State Department of Printing. Thanks to the in-plant’s new EFI Monarch print production and management solution, the Tumwater, Wash.-based operation now uses digital job tickets. This not only saves time and printing costs, it is expected to reduce spoilage and rework over time.

Selecting the right Web-to-print system for your in-plant requires you to ask yourself some questions about the workflow needs of your shop. In a recent article in Ricoh's Production Print News, Greg Cholmondeley, In-Plant Segment Marketing Manager for Ricoh Americas, offers a few questions for managers to consider:

• What are your automation goals? Do you strive to be a "lights-out" operation or do you pride yourself on your value-added services?

You probably don’t need to be convinced that it is important to offer your customers a way to do business with you using the Internet. After all, print e-commerce, commonly referred to as Web-to-print, has been on the scene for more than a decade. Although the dot-com bust of 2001 put mass adoption on hiatus until the past couple of years, today it is not only an accepted way to do business, but an expected one. Web-to-print solutions address, among other things, consumers’ desire for self-service options. Do people really want to serve themselves? Yes—and more so every year. According to the third annual

SITUATED ALONG the San Joaquin Delta waterway, about 80 miles east of San Francisco, San Joaquin Delta College has a student body of about 20,000 educated by more than 400 teachers. To help ensure students’ academic success, instructors provide assessments of each student’s progress just before final grades are assigned. The teacher identifies particular areas that need focus so students can gear their efforts accordingly. To produce a variable data piece such as this Academic Progress Letter, the college turns to its 12-employee Publication Center. “With our number of students and faculty, we probably do a half a million sheets of VDP a

I AM NOT a “techie.” I’ve never sent a text message in my life. I can barely navigate my basic cell phone, which I carry under protest. But that said, I am an absolute evangelist for Web-based submission for in-plants. By Web-based submission I mean the following: • A robust, interactive and customer-friendly Web site for your in-plant. • The ability to receive job orders, estimate requests and job files from your customers. • Easily accessible and useful information about all aspects of your operation (online work authorization forms, a map of how to find your facility, tips on preparing files, staff names and phone numbers, etc.). Why bother?

FROM WORKFLOW tools and variable data software to CTP and proofing technologies, Graph Expo had enough technology to make any in-plant manager’s head spin. Here are some of the latest products we saw at the show. Computer-to-plate Systems Agfa demonstrated its :ThermoFuse plate technology, including the chemistry-free :Azura plate, which eliminates chemical processing. By significantly reducing liquid waste in the plate creating process, it supports a more environmentally friendly solution. Also shown was Agfa’s :Energy Elite, winner of a 2007 InterTech technology award. The newest addition to the Agfa range of thermal plates, :Energy Elite is a true no-bake plate offering run

A panel of consultants and editors has chosen the six top survival technologies for printers, and management information systems leads the pack. The other five, according to the Graph Expo 2007 “Must See ’Ems” Technology and Product Selection Committee, are: • Digital production printing (including toner and ink-jet systems) • Workflow • Information technology (including the ability to properly install, use and maintain the equipment) • Web-to-print capability (including the ability for customers to submit jobs electronically) • Color management The Committee also identified these additional technologies as having a significant impact on printers’ success: • Litho press automation (not including JDF) • Computer-to-plate technology • Preflight software

Adobe executives received a virtual slap in the face from the printing industry at a meeting in its San Francisco facility last week. Almost a dozen print industry executives, including two representatives of the university in-plant sector, made the trip to northern California for the forum, while about the same number participated via a conference link. Top management from most of the major quick print firms (excluding Kinko’s) took part. Adobe had organized the meeting to give the print industry a chance to air its grievances against the PDF creator for tacking a link to FedEx Kinko’s onto the latest versions of Reader and Acrobat.

Gerlinde Williams has been waiting a long time for a graphic arts management information system. “I’ve been wanting this for 10 years,” says Williams, administrator of Central Printing for the State of Oklahoma. After putting up with an internally created job ticketing and billing program for years (with a flawed estimating function), her 22-employee print and mail operation got its big break when the IT department decided not to continue supporting the old program. She immediately thought of Avanti Computer Systems, having seen the Canadian company’s exhibits at in-plant conferences. Avanti won the bid and is in the process of installing its Graphic Arts Management