iPrint Offers Integration to Corporate ERP

Staff -- graphic arts online, 3/1/2001

The iPrint Enterprise Systems Group, an operating division of iPrint, Inc., Menlo Park, Calif., has announced the release of XML-PrintBuyer, an integration technology platform that allows iPrint to integrate e-printing facilities into any corporate e-procurement or Enterprise Re-source Planning (ERP) purchasing system.

"Our goal with XML-PrintBuyer is to leverage a corporation's existing investment in an e-procurement or ERP system and to streamline print workflow, cut costs, and, most importantly, centralize control and accountability of the print buying process-something that's sorely missing today," explains iPrint Enterprise Systems Group vice president Tom Haley.

Unlike procurement of corporate supplies, the messaging involved in buying commercial printing is more complex, explains Haley. "Think of XML-PrintBuyer as a universal messaging system that allows any e-procurement or ERP system to easily manage sophisticated print collaboration and buying," he states. "We believe this is an important contribution to the electronic purchasing wave sweeping across corporate America."

XML-PrintBuyer has been under development since early 2000 and follows in the footsteps of iPrint's XML-CommerceConnect offering, the first e-printing technology to connect separate e-commerce Web sites into a seamlessly integrated shopping experience, claim company officials. XML-CommerceConnect currently is being used in collaborative efforts with OfficeMax. com and HP-funded vJungle's OpenEX platform.