1) Print management information systems help printing companies coordinate their entire production process from sales to delivery and establish a competitive advantage. 2) Integrating robust print management systems with other IT systems allows printers to better control production, inventory, and shipments while linking various business operations. 3) Submitting print jobs in Adobe PDF format and using job definition format standards helps link management information systems with production workflows and tools.

1. Print Management Information Systems

2. The evolution of printing Print media has been undergoing an exciting metamorphosis in a new era that will see company’s print systems establish competitive advantage in the niches they choose as their core competencies The printing industry is under considerable pressure from electronic media and to improve its environmental profile Printers need to respond to the changing needs of the industry by developing products that will help the industry thrive Creating a future in print is about more than just saving money or increasing productivity it’s about creating new opportunities

3. Competitive advantage through ERP As printers embrace systems automation— ranging from online Internet-based ordering to computer-integrated manufacturing—added importance is placed on print management systems that can coordinate the entire plant, from sales through delivery As print operations expand their reach into value-added services, such as fulfillment, internet content preparation, and asset management, robust, integrated IT-based systems must be put into action to better control production, inventory and shipments, while linking to front-office planning and control Business operations can link in for analysis of employee productivity, equipment utilization, and sales and customer reports

4. Supporting workflows for systems Adobe PDF format Submitting print jobs as optimized Adobe PDF files eliminates the issues of dealing with native application files Job Definition Format The most significant capabilities of JDF can be divided into three principal categories: Its ability to complete every part of the job, from start to finish; its ability to link MIS with production and its ability to perform both of the first two tasks no matter what tools are being utilized

5. Web-to-print Web-to-print, also known as Web2Print or remote publishing, is a commercial prepress process that bridges the gap between digital content online and commercial print production This process allows a print house, a client, and possibly a graphic designer to create, edit, and approve computer-based online templates during the prepress phase One very robust Web-to-print process is HIFLEX a Web2Print system and HIFLEX MIS a “print management information system on steroids” because of its advanced functionality and Job Definition Format integration capabilities Another popular Web-to-print process is Pageflex a feature-rich software product from Bitstream Inc. that gives print service providers and corporate marketing departments an easy-to-use system to create, deploy, and manage attractive Web-to-print document customization

6. Prepress systems When a printing press is stopped, it is the result of a major imaging error. Reversed colors, major amounts of missing type or incorrect information may be the typical culprits The technological advances over recent years that have transformed newspapers’ prepress and graphics departments include new software and procedures that continuously improve the system The Kodak Prinergy Workflow System provides advanced PDF-based workflow processing, in a framework that is modular, scalable and flexible enough to grow with your business volume and complexity The Rampage Workflow is a system that consists of Processing instructions that interpret each page individually to facilitate troubleshooting

7. Digital media flow More than most industries, print service providers are affected by the Internet and new technologies To stay competitive, printers need to innovate and diversify their offerings to include digital asset management systems and online services Digital asset management are the various techniques, and skills that facilitate content preparation for variable data printing jobs Effective Variable Data Printng is based on three key elements: the physical computing system (the system model) information structure (the information model) design configurations for different VDP types (basic VDP models )

8. Conclusion The Printing industry faces enormous challenges to stay profitable now and in the future The companies that don’t evolve into a multi-channel value added organization will continue to struggle and or fail It is no longer a business of ink on paper but a service for all media origination from print through web content and beyond It is imperative to have a good print management information system in place that links all of the financial, production, sales and human resources together to gain the competitive advantage a printing company needs to prosper