What Fuji already has is a newly developed hybrid CTP and digital workflow XMF and a relationship with Xerox to sell its digital printers and presses, from the Xerox 700 to the iGen4. At Drupa, Fuji announced a B2 digital inkjet cut-sheet press, the Jet Press 720, for delivery early in 2010. This as a future opportunity is a very interesting combination, and when you add that its workflow is based on Adobe Print Engine 2.0 (APPE), PDF/VT and JDF, then the possibilities really begin to increase. Although the development and planning of XMF started more than four years ago it has been shipping for approximately 18 months, and in Europe there are already 250 installs with a UK base of 35.
As a completely new workflow development, XMF has the potential to offer some major advantages over the incumbent PostScript-based workflows, as it is the first major workflow developed solely for PDF, APPE, and JDF. The benefits are not immediately obvious or easy to define, but PostScript errors and output conversations will be a thing of the past. Throughput and performance should also be significantly increased and integration with other non-Fuji products, including MIS systems, should be relatively easy and painless.
Although today this workflow is designed to manage jobs for CTP and digital, with the necessary colour tools to be able to easily move from one output device and colour space to another, the new digital and variable business communication capabilities are where I expect it to really score. Obviously most of the UK and European installations were initially for output to CTP, although there are already a number of installations driving both. Xerox/FreeFlow Print Servers are the biggest users, but it also includes some HP Indigo sites.
Many companies are now using their second or even third different digital printer or press, and to these companies, the use of customised documents with variable content is not new. What many of them know is that editing, correcting and changing PDF variable documents is not easy, and often has to be a separate part of their workflow. What is needed is a modern recently developed workflow that assumes the use of APPE, PDF and JDF from inception, and can, therefore, easily incorporate the most recently announced PDF/VT enhancements.
Chris Jordan is an independent business consultant working in graphic communications. Email: jordanjordan@clara.co.uk
Opportunities abound in digital print
Thinking about and planning for 2009? This we all need: new opportunities; new business options; and ideas to give us inspiration as to how we can grow and prosper. In the digital print world, there are a number of very good entrepreneurial suppliers and developers, including Creo, XMPie, MindFireInc, M-Photo, NowDocs, and RedTie, but it is always great to add a new one to the list. In this case, it is Fujifilm, an existing supplier that is just getting into the digital print business, but obviously has a long-term plan to be a major player in digital workflows and print.
