A Portal to Your Business

Would printers want to keep customers from calling and e-mailing? Never, unless it comes to endless inquiries on job status that threaten to slow work. Now there's help. It comes in the form of interactive project management—usually based on Web-browser access to printing firms' servers—that extends computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) to the customer.

The systems are based on JDF interoperability, the evolving digital initiative that creates a unified electronic interface between all stages of the print process. Ideally, JDF extends beyond the prepress-to-postpress model to embrace quotes, orders and logistics for print fulfillment—though in truth, not many printers are there yet.

Bringing them into the workflow allows "customers to take ownership of what is going on with content," says Chris LaFontaine, marketing manager for enterprise systems at Agfa. "Browser-based project management systems tie production tasks together, eliminating many of the menial tasks that slow production down."

Two such systems, Agfa's Delano and Dalim Software's Mistral, offer design, publishing and production teams a virtual workspace where real-time project information is posted, tracked, updated, approved, proofed and prepared for print output. Connecting these to popular modular print management information systems is an option.

Creo and Screen product suites also provide many of the same capabilities, but are focused on the prepress area. Delano and Mistral capabilities extend throughout the entire print process.

Here's where it gets tricky. PPI Media's PrintNet, officially launched this year, is a production management system.

"PrintNet is not a MIS package, but a production management system and tracking system," says Joerg Kruse, CEO, PPI Media-U.S., which happens to be a MAN Roland subsidiary. "It takes the job from the MIS internally and tracks the job to all the different devices in the production workflow, from prepress to finishing. The customer can track the job via the Internet; he enters one job ID number and the job is processed through PrintNet through the entire workflow, adding information and job messages."

JobStart, JobPlan and JobPerform are PrintNet's three core modules. The entire production can be keyed in a central database, written in JDF using JobStart, scheduled using JobPlan and automatically processed using JobPerform. Or, production can be monitored in real time with JobTrack and statistically evaluated afterward with JobReport.

All of these systems are designed to streamline job submission, reduce overhead, cut redundancies, speed processing, etc. And they give customers 24/7 access to their projects, without the 4 a.m. call to the printer. The systems are viable because of JDF, which allows different devices within the production process to "talk" to each other.

Project management systems are not just for the big guys: Customers include big publication printers, ad agencies and small shops that can't afford to add cost of sales but want to increase business from existing customers.

"Printer's customers want to see what is happening with their job in a more transparent way," says Gee Ranasinha, director of marketing at Dalim Software. "Without a system like Mistral, customers see the whole print process as a black hole. They throw jobs and money at one end, and some time in the future the job comes back. They are not sure what happened, when and how."

Mistral lets customers track exactly what is happening. "They can see what has been printed, not just at page level but at the page element level," says Ranasinha. "They can see whether or not the image has been preflighted, trapped, proofed—all those stages can be seen wherever there is access to a Web browser. Customers can even get an automatic e-mail notification or a text message regarding something in the production process." Users can even access the information from their PDA.

Browser-based Delano is both a business and production system. "It doesn't just move information; it moves the job from island to island," says Agfa's LaFontaine. "It takes the information from the business side and actually starts production."

The Delano Production part of the package translates job information into pre-defined instructions, then organizes tasks into a logical command chain. It gives customers a birds-eye view of each aspect tracked. And customers can check details on any specific task. JDF-MIS support and a JDF job ticket link to other PDF-based prepress production systems are available as options.

Another category of browser-based systems are collaborative tools, which allow participation by clients—up to a point. Creo's Synapse InSite 4.0 is such a Web-enabled workflow portal. It allows printers and their clients to participate jointly in the prepress workflow.

Once it is uploaded, customers can view the ripped color-managed file almost immediately, make annotations, even invite others to look at it before plating. Perhaps the best part: "Because we have married an online proofing system with prepress production, every transaction is tracked automatically and can be sent back to the MIS system for billing," says Staci Spindler, commercial print segment manager for Creo.

Screen's Web-based system, Rite Online, consists of several modules that can work independently or as a unified entity. Rite Online lets customers interact with a file and preview PDFs of ongoing projects. Customers can preview or change the file, or, once approved, place an order. The job begins when the print buyer gives it the okay; it then moves right into the printer's workflow.

"They can upload a job at 2 a.m.," says Michele Zajac, workflow product manager at Screen USA. "They don't have to wait for someone to get into the office to start the process."

Project management systems require an investment. Mistral and Delano, in particular, reshape how a printer interacts with its customers and how jobs are managed. "It forces printers to be more efficient with job management, [and] it forces an optimization of production methods," says Dalim's Ranasinha. "If they haven't optimized job input and output, they probably don't want that level of transparency with customers."