A profitable road
There is no overstating the impact software has had on the print industry. Whether you are installing a new management information system to oversee production, or a new design solution to begin offering a new product, the right software can offer untold benefits to print service providers (PSPs).
One of the stand-out solutions in recent years has been workflow software, with products in this area helping ease and streamline production for businesses of all sizes. Here, we take a look at some of the latest offerings in this area of the market.
Seeking ROI
Up first, Solimar Systems offers a range of software products to the industry. Jamie Walsh, sales manager for EMEA and APAC at Solimar, says when investing in a new system, PSPs should look for return on investment (ROI).
Jamie Walsh, sales manager for EMEA and APAC at Solimar Systems
“It is most important to understand your environment, what you are trying to achieve and what would provide the most benefits to your people and processes,” Walsh says, adding: “Consider how those expectations can be aligned and fulfilled with software solutions. Solimar Systems advocates that workflow software should be modular and configurable with the ability for users to quickly learn, configure, run, and manage the system themselves.
“With labour and materials still a significant concern for print and digital delivery providers, workflow software should automate common tasks, optimise production inputs, visibility, and auditability. We help our customers get completed products in the hands of their customers faster.
“Finally, these capabilities should be supported by quick and knowledgeable support. When you are looking for quality workflow software, be sure to ask about customer successes and support examples. Plan to take some time to determine how those align with your current business.”
A modular software workflow provider, Walsh explains the way Solimar’s Chemistry platform offers a range of solutions, from PDF optimisation with ReadyPDF Prepress Server to Rubika for structured content reengineering to visibility tracking dashboards and print management with SOLitrack, and archive offerings with SOLsearcher Enterprise.
“Over 2022, Chemistry enhancements provided customers outstanding ROI results,” Walsh says, adding: “Evidence of this is with our recent success with government in-plant printing organisation, State of Colorado Integrated Document Solutions, which has onboarded many of these new features in PDF optimisation and a full tracking and reporting dashboard with online proof, approval, and suppression per job and mail piece.”
Quality and consistency
Next, Omran Anwar, technical support manager at solutions provider SOS, says workflow software is becoming increasingly important to the modern printer, partly due to staffing issues associated with Covid-19 and Brexit.
Omran Anwar, technical support manager at SOS
“An efficient workflow automates pre-press tasks to provide more reliable quality and greater consistency of output,” Anwar says, adding: “It greatly reduces the potential for error, not only by taking out the human element for some processes, but enabling better diagnostics and error correction where problems occur. Efficient workflow speeds up turnround times, increases productivity, and reduces waste.
Efficient workflow speeds up turnround times, increases productivity, and reduces waste”
“Because of the ubiquity of Adobe systems in the creative chain, software which utilises the Adobe APPE engine is highly beneficial to ensure that each file can be reliably processed without error.
“A good workflow will include trapping, imposition, and pre-flight, and because modern printers are likely to run a variety of equipment from flatbed and digital to litho and proofing machines, it should be able to output to many devices and offer consistent colour matching with only one RIP process.”
SOS is the only provider that offers Kodak’s Prinergy Evo workflow on a subscription basis, with prices starting at £288 per month. For this, Anwar says it is ideal for PSPs that want to upgrade and improve upon their current workflow, or take the plunge into automated pre-press systems for the first time, without breaking the bank.
“Prinergy Evo includes a huge range of features such as vector PDF or TIFF output, CIP3, batch trapping, advanced pre-flight, workflow templates, and much more,” Anwar says.
Biggest benefit
Elsewhere, Esko also has a range of options on offer in terms of workflow software. Jan De Roeck, director of marketing, industry relations and strategy at Esko, says that pressure on margins induced by the energy crisis, material shortages, and labour and skills deficits, is the most significant challenge for businesses today, and workflow software can help.
Jan De Roeck, director of marketing, industry relations and strategy at Esko, says that pressure on margins is the most significant challenge for businesses
“Efficiency is the biggest benefit of a standardised workflow; standardisation being the necessary foundation of any successful automation,” De Roeck says, adding: “Although the entire packaging sector faced unprecedented challenges in the last couple of years, Esko has continued to focus on developing new technology, ensuring customers remain at the forefront of productivity, efficiency, and innovation gains and are supported on their digital transformation journey.
“Many businesses, in the face of challenging market conditions, insecurity, and volatility, hit the brakes and freeze investments in response. However, the opposite reaction is more appropriate. Investing in accelerating digital transformation maintains competitive advantage and efficiently deals with profitability pressures.”
Esko’s latest software releases include a host of features designed to help with workflow, including a new cloud-based licensing model for on-premise application, ArtPro+ GMG OpenColor Connector for simplified colour management across systems, multi-MIS support and integrated Tilia Labs Artificial Intelligence.
In addition, Esko recently acquired imposition A software company Tilia Labs, with the Tilia Phoenix solution integrated with Esko Automation Engine.”
“This delivers on the need of brand owners and converters to connect and integrate the entire value chain through upstream digitalisation,” De Roeck says.
Automation is key
As well as these brands, another manufacturer that offers workflow solutions to its customers is Ricoh. Paul Hilton, technical solutions specialist for inkjet at Ricoh, says there are several factors PSPs should consider when investing in new software.
“A quality workflow software system should automate as much of the process as possible, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring that tasks are completed accurately and in a timely manner,” Hilton says.
“Next, a system should be easy to use, with a user-friendly interface and clear instructions.
The workflow software should have features such as job tracking, print job scheduling, and cost estimation, as well as being secure, with measures in place to protect data from unauthorised access and protect against cyber threats.
“PSPs should also ensure the system can integrate with others in use, such as accounting software and customer relationship management systems. In addition, it should be able to scale to meet the needs of the business and accommodate future growth.”
With this in mind, Hilton draws attention to the latest software developments at Ricoh in its Ricoh Graphic Communications division. One of the solutions relevant to this discussion is Avanti Slingshot Print MIS, which he says is a fully automated, cloud-based, flexible, management information system designed specifically for commercial print businesses.
“With Avanti Slingshot, PSPs can create additional business value achieved through operational efficiencies, eliminating errors, intelligent estimating, optimising production, improved customer experience and real-time data insights for accurate decision making,” he says, adding: “It also works well alongside our other (and other vendors') workflow automation solutions.
“Ricoh Avanti Slingshot is a scalable, modular, vendor-neutral, and cloud-based solution which means full visibility and control over your real-time data and processes. It enables print organisations to deliver more jobs in less time, with the confidence in knowing that every aspect of your shop is integrated into one powerful Print MIS platform.”
Cutting out errors
Delving further into the market, Soyang Europe offers PrintFactory, a complete workflow RIP solution with an advanced device link colour engine at its core. Gareth Newman, technical application manager at Soyang, describes this as a “true, multi-environment solution” supporting mixed macOS, Windows, and Linux installations.
“We provide a suite of components that often replace most of the cobbled together existing solutions that customers struggle with, providing a level of consistency, efficiency, and ease of use, rarely found in large-format printing,” Newman says.
O Factoid: PrintFactory from Soyang Europe is a complete workflow RIP solution with an advanced device link colour engine at its core O
“The freely licensed tools we supply allow every size of company from a one printer, one cutter shop to huge media converting companies processing 80,000 to 120,000 jobs a day and more, to harness the power of a highly efficient and profitable complete workflow solution.”
PrintFactory also has advanced “contract proofing” grade re-calibration tech, which can make two or more printers of the same model, ink, and media match identically for load balanced output, as well as a raft of advanced colour accuracy enhancing functionality, including items such as pick-a-winner spot colour and grey balance tuning features, to solve every colour issue, easily and quickly.
Tools are available to pre-flight and fully edit PDFs, provide contour cut generation, advanced multi white/special colour policies in one file, iterative efficient True Shape Nesting and many more time and cost saving features, of which many are exclusive.
“The ability to incorporate printers, cutters, flatbed cutters, and finishing equipment under the same software using the same barcode for each stage without the need to set up individual cut/finishing design paths and separate files is key to ensuring that files don’t get lost, and operators don’t get confused,” Newman says.
High production
Elsewhere and another solutions supplier is ArtSystems, which stocks products from ONYX, including ONYX 22. This latest offering introduces a drag and drop user experience and new tools for routine automation, which John Draycott, marketing manager at ArtSystems, says allows for fast, easy file management with the ability to drop jobs into the Quick Sets tab to apply common job settings.
ONYX 22 is available in the UK through ArtSystems
“Tools for everyday automation include smart job submission and enhanced nesting controls to save valuable print production time and reduce media waste,” Draycott says, adding: “Smart job submission gives users the ability to specify copies, rotation, magnification, order number, and customer data in the file name that is automatically applied to the file in the RIP, reducing manual errors.
“Enhanced nesting controls for artwork placement include auto-trim for flatbed and DTG printing, split copies to save on sheet media and auto-job cropping to remove unwanted marks or bleed.”
In terms of general advice with workflow systems, Draycott says any quality system should offer the ability to automate as many routine print job functions as possible to help keep production high while reducing the likelihood of manual errors. It also, he says, needs to offer easy expandability to cope with additional printers and other devices.
“So, print and cut should be integrated within the same package as this then boosts the overall workflow,” Draycott says, adding: “Reporting features are also vital to enable print businesses to assess the full cost of jobs and identify waste.”
With plenty of options available to PSPs, there is opportunity to invest in new software and enhance your workflow setup as a result.
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