The Southend-on-Sea printer said that with the new API, called Soloflo, businesses that sell print produced by Solopress “can effortlessly channel orders straight from their customer into the Solopress workflow, dramatically enhancing accuracy and efficiency”.

Simon Cooper, managing director of Solopress, said: “In the print industry, where timing, accuracy, and efficiency are critical, Soloflo will be a game-changer.

“We’ve designed it with our customers in mind, especially those who resell printed materials. It makes their ordering process much more straightforward and less prone to errors.”

Solopress said existing APIs on the market “often fall short when it comes to offering flexible integration, facilitating effortless updates and working with existing SKUs”, and that its aim was to offer something more user-friendly.

Soloflo also eradicates the need to manually transcribe customer orders onto the Solopress platform or to liaise with account managers.

Cooper added: “Soloflo’s core benefit lies in its ability to allow orders received by customers to flow directly into our system. Its flexibility and convenience represent a significant advantage that will make Solopress a more sought-after print supplier to customers who prefer to order in this way.”

He said Soloflo also overcomes challenges tied to system updates and shifting SKU codes.

“System updates and changing SKUs have been a common frustration with other print APIs. Soloflo alleviates this issue with a user-friendly, easy-to-maintain system that integrates whatever SKUs the customer already uses.

“And importantly, we commit to automating updates and providing advance warnings of any price changes.”

The idea behind Soloflo came from feedback gathered at The Print Show 2022 and, recognising a demand for a bespoke API, the company now plans to debut it at The Print Show 2023 at the NEC in Birmingham next month.

“While our primary audience may be print resellers, we recognise that our customers may define themselves differently, such as media procurement agencies or tech start-ups,” said Cooper.

“Soloflo caters to anyone who needs print production and recognises the benefits of automating the ordering process.”