“Maximising output has less to do with the number of pages per minute and more to do with how you line up the jobs,” says Robert Stabler, HP Indigo UK and Ireland manager. “Workflow has a big effect on the productivity and profitability of a press.”
Prior to the event HP had already taken the wraps off the SmartStream family of workflow products, some of which are third-party products designed to integrate with the firm’s presses and software. This in itself marked a departure for the firm, which had never before allowed its partners to create HP-branded products.
HP’s own products include the SmartStream Production Pro and Ultra print servers for driving the Indigos, with the Ultra designed for high-volume personalised work, such as photo book printing and able to support up to 32 Indigo 7000s running flat-out simultaneously.
Third-party products that now come under the HP brand include the SmartStream Production Plus front end, which is a Creo PODS developed digital front end (DFE), and the SmartStream Labels and Packaging Print Server, which is an EskoArtwork developed product.
In moving to the SmartStream workflow family HP also separated its digital front-ends from the presses making it easier to provide more flexible work scheduling, including task automation.
Business flow automation
This is where the SmartStream Director comes in. Its launch was held back until the show opened and it represents the jewel in HP’s workflow crown. It is based on the latest version of Israeli web-to-print market leader Press-sense’s iWay Prime, which was also unveiled at the show.
Press-sense decided the term ‘web-to-print’ didn’t adequately define what its product did and instead uses ‘business flow automation’ (BFA). “Workflow is end-to-end, including finishing and fulfilment,” says HP Imaging & Printing Group vice president of marketing Manny Costas. “SmartStream Director offers overall management of the process from web to fulfilment.”
He believes HP’s IT background gives it an advantage when it comes to helping printers with workflow. “We’ve noticed that integration is a big issue for print service providers,” says Costas. “We wanted one integrated system, but based on open standards.”
Director’s web-to-print component can be configured to provide both customer-branded portals for contract-based business and storefronts for what HP terms ‘surf-in’ business from the internet.
HP envisages some situations when other web-to-print systems are integrated. “Director will support connectivity to web-to-print systems,” says HP Indigo strategic product marketing manager Friedhelm Hartmann. “We understand that although the Director has strong storefront capabilities – integrations at the front-end, which are driven by many considerations – there are other solutions available that customers may prefer. We are open to other approaches.”
Personal service
One of the other key technologies for successful digital print production is personalisation, which is supported by integration with HP Indigo’s InDesign and QuarkXPress plug-in SmartStream Designer (formerly Yours Truly) as well as other variable-data printing (VDP) packages from fellow HP firm Exstream. The firm can also supply Director with Creo Darwin, DirectSmile, EskoArtwork, GMC, Mindfire, Pageflex, Pitney Bowes, Printable and Printsoft.
Director will support almost all of HP’s commercial and industrial press line-up, with the only exceptions being the early Series One machines. For mixed production environments there are also links to Apogee, Prinergy, Prinect and Trueflow offset workflows.
As Director is based around JDF and JMF it is capable of integrating with third-party MIS, but for some applications the built-in tools for pricing, quoting and production planning will be capable of handling many tasks itself. “However, for some companies, it could be a more elegant solution than an MIS,” says Stabler.
The JDF and JMF links are also important for communicating with post-press processes. HP’s post-press partners include AB Graphics, Duplo, EMT, GBC, Horizon, Hunkeler, Kolbus, MBO, Morgana, Pitney Bowes, Renz and Rollem. The only thing limiting the post-press automation is the level of sophistication of these third-party products themselves.
Director can also determine the most cost-effective way to produce jobs, explains Tzipi Netz, HP Indigo product manager, strategic marketing, “You can set it up for total automation but most people aren’t happy working that way yet.”
It also includes links to shipping services and can be configured to provide job status tracking.
According to Stabler, the aim of Director is to maximise the profitability of HP’s customers. “One of printers’ big fears about digital print is that customer service will eat up all the profits,” he says. “If you have the right software you can reduce customer service costs to almost nothing.”
However, it can be very expensive to do this. SmartStream Director Light starts at £35,000 and the fully loaded version is £49,000. The full version includes SmartStream Designer Server, SmartStream Photo Enhancement, Press-sense iWay 5, store front customisation, e-commerce and five days onsite training; the Light version doesn’t include all the optional modules, although the firm is finalising the details of what exactly will be included.
Although the price is high, HP argues that it includes more workflow features than rival products, and claims that, because it can help bring in and produce additional work without additional headcount, the payback period is short.
Director automates as much as is possible, not just in the front end but throughout the process, which strips out cost, errors and delays. While many of HP’s customers currently have a web-to-print package, Stabler believes that as they add additional presses, the benefits of the joined-up approach offered by Director and the rest of the SmartStream portfolio will prove irresistible.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type
Web-to-fulfilment workflow encompassing web-to-print, e-commerce, personalisation, production management and tracking
Connectivity
Use of industry standard formats enables integration with third-party MIS, web-to-print, personalisation and post-press kit
Price
£49,000 including SmartStream Designer Server, SmartStream Photo Enhancement, Press-sense iWay 5, Storefront customisation, e-commerce and five days training
Contact
HP 0845 270 4000
www.hp.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
EFI Digital Storefront 3.0
DSF is available direct from EFI as an ASP (Application Service Provider) version DSF Express or via its resellers as a self-hosted product. EFI claims that, with 40 developers, it has got the largest team of working on web-to-print. There are no transaction charges, but customers do need to pay an annual maintenance fee.
Type ASP or self-hosted
Price DSF Express (ASP) from £6,000, full product (self-hosted) from £14,000
Contact EFI 01753 283 676
www.efi.com
Kodak Insite
Kodak offers a bundle consisting of its Insite Storefront System, Insite Variable Data Print System and Prinergy Digital Print System to provide a web-to-print package able to handle personalisation and production management.
Type self-hosted
Price £47,500
Contact Kodak 020 8424 6514
www.graphics.kodak.com
Press-sense iWay 5
UK distributor Transeo Media can offer Press-sense iWay as a self-hosted version or, for lower upfront costs, as an ASP. Transeo can offer a more flexible solution because it is not tied to one hardware vendor. It also offers professional services to tailor the package. Its base price is lower for a more basic configuration with optional modules.
Type managed service or self-hosted
Price self-hosted from £16,800, ASP from £8,500 plus monthly transaction charge
Contact Transeo Media 0845 017 8660
www.transeomedia.com
Xerox Freeflow Web Services
Xerox has been working with Press-sense for four years and selling its version of iWay as Freeflow Web Services for the past two. Version 7, which is based on iWay 5, will be released at the end of this year. Web Services is a more basic implementation, hence the lower starting price.
Type self-hosted
Price £15,000
Contact Xerox 0870 873 4519
www.xerox.com
Xralle
After nine years on the market, Xralle is going strong with over 300 sites using the software and £250m worth of print processed via the software in 2006. It is available in ASP, partially hosted and self-hosted configurations. Tight integration with accounts and MIS packages and variable data support via Pageflex software.
Type ASP, managed service or self-hosted
Price ASP from £ 9,000
Contact Xralle 01354 659636
www.xralle.co.uk
