Workflow

To help customers manage critical documents and information, Pitney Bowes, based in Tamford, Conn., is launching imaging and workflow solutions with Kodak. The solutions provide automated end-to-end workflow functionality, including document scanning, automatic indexing, secure storage, retrieval and integration into a single, central repository.

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) formed the Center for Lean Practices to assist the graphic communications industry with the implementation of lean manufacturing. Since its inception, the Center has received rave reviews from those who have taken advantage of the products and services. One printer reduced spoilage from 2.5 percent to 1.09 percent over the last year. Ken Rizzo, PIA/GATF’s director of consulting, oversees the Center’s activities, and has been involved with lean practices for more than 20 years. Previously, Rizzo served as a process engineer for offset printing, where he led numerous lean manufacturing projects, including Kaizen events, 5S,

Headquartered in Foster City, Calif., EFI—a leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation—announced its Hagen and Prograph management systems have received JDF certification from PIA/GATF. Prograph and Hagen are among the first management systems to pass the stringent Job Definition Format testing process by PIA/GATF. The certification process involved a series of tests—ranging from attribute value tests to full-blown JDF job ticket conformance—over several days, conducted in the PIA/GATF’s state-of-the-art facility. Hagen and Prograph passed all the rigorous standards of JDF product certification and are now certified to create and accept updated job details as the job is running via JMF (Job Messaging Format). These

As Print Professional’s June issue goes to press, drupa—the world’s largest printing trade show—will be in full swing at Messe, Düsseldorf, Germany. Approximately 400,000 visitors from 122 countries are expected to pass through the exhibit halls between May 29 and June 11, delighting in the latest technology and workflow tools from several hundred vendors. The new workflow solutions being introduced at drupa will subsequently join those already existing, further underscoring the need for industry standards designed to simplify information exchange between different applications and systems in and around the graphic arts industry. Part of the solution is Job Definition Format (JDF), an industry specification

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has partnered with the International Cooperation for the Integration of Process in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) to form a JDF (Job Definition Format) User Group, focusing on the implementation of JDF-enabled systems and cross-vendor implementations. JDF is the industry specification designed to facilitate process automation and the integration of different applications and systems in and around the graphic arts industry. The group is aimed at a wide-range of users of JDF-enabled systems, from creation to fulfillment. Currently, there are many new workflow solutions, and more will be introduced at drupa 2008. The JDF User

Nothing is forever, and politicians are using this sentiment to their advantage. As degrees of economic uncertainty and political turmoil continue to fluctuate, the success of candidates vying for control of the White House hinges on platforms advocating change. Currently, direct mail is a key industry particularly affected by change—with no immediate end in sight. In accordance with The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the costs of mailing services will be adjusted each May. The price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp will increase from $0.41 to $0.42 on May 12, for instance. Furthermore, within the last year, practices and products such as shape-based pricing

Norcross, Georgia-based DemandBridge—formerly TopForm Software—announced it has been selected as the enterprise-wide software provider for Data Supplies, Inc. (DSI), an information solutions provider with 21 sales offices, nine distribution centers and four manufacturing facilities across the United States. The implementation of the 128-user license of DemandBridge software make DSI the largest installation to date. Ranked eighth among the top 100 print distributors in the United States, and having developed sophisticated applications for itself, DSI required a totally customizable platform that could reside on its servers within the company’s control. With the robust operations, inventory and accounting software DB Distributor, DemandBridge is able to deliver

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has partnered with the International Cooperation for the Integration of Process in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) to form a JDF (Job Definition Format) User Group, focusing on the implementation of JDF-enabled systems and cross-vendor implementations. JDF is the industry specification designed to facilitate process automation and the integration of different applications and systems in and around the graphic arts industry. The first JDF User Group meeting will be held March 24–25 at PIA/GATF’s Pittsburgh headquarters. Highlights include a hands-on look at JDF implementations within the facility, discussions of the challenges to creating successful

1. Branding Synergy WorkflowOne, Dayton, Ohio, can best be described as a print management and business process outsourcing facilitator, bundling value-added services into solutions and wrapping them up as custom products. The company’s services are invaluable for helping customers with decentralized operations maintain brand integrity, particularly during periods of rapid growth. Labor Finders International—a staffing service filling approximately 16,000 jobs per day within the manufacturing, construction, distribution and hospitality industries—recently selected WorkflowOne to develop an e-commerce strategy. The site will provide more than $1 million worth of branded materials annually, including sales collateral, stationery, advertising specialties, office apparel and a variety of safety

The issue of compliance and integrity has become a key topic for service providers who touch and manage sensitive customer data, whether that of their own or their clients’ customers. The increased demand for quality and audit-proof process control often does not translate into capital budget increases, making it even more important to analyze investments made in quality or process improvement. In the case of production mail integrity, discriminating between true compliance and false security is most important, as credibility, hard-dollar fines and loss of business are at stake. The question is: which solution truly validates total integrity? The most common approach