Kodak's Unified Workflow Integrates Systems

Visitors to Kodak's Ipex stand, D70, in hall 5 have been learning how a Kodak Unified Workflow system establishes a platform for increasing revenue, expanding services and enhancing efficiency.

Visitors to Kodak's Ipex stand, D70, in hall 5 have been learning how a Kodak Unified Workflow system establishes a platform for increasing revenue, expanding services and enhancing efficiency.

Unified Workflow systems are targeted at providing a digital infrastructure for conventional and digital printing that integrates business, production, and colour workflows, using software tools, open standards and 'intelligent' automation.

The first implementation of Unified Workflow solutions is aimed at the commercial print market.

Jim Langley, president of Kodak's Graphic Communications Group and senior vice president, of Eastman Kodak, said: "To remain competitive, printers today must make fundamental changes in the way they think about their businesses.

Making the transition from manufacturing printed materials to providing marketing services, producing more complex and color intensive materials, and adding new capabilities are just a few hallmarks of this exciting evolution.

He added: "As a technology innovator, Kodak has the vision of how unified workflow solutions can help print providers achieve success.

A Unified Workflow system is a scaleable and modular and is claimed to allow printers to more effectively and efficiently respond to increasingly complex print specifications.

It enables printers to incorporate and manage the devices and software systems needed to streamline pre-press processes and maximise production capabilities to improve productivity, increase efficiency and optimise resource utilisation.

Kodak claimed that Unified Workflow also creates a foundation for sales growth by providing the tools customers need to differentiate their businesses and deliver greater value to clients through new services.

The open architecture of Unified Workflow, featuring support for industry technology standards (such as JDF, PDF and ICC) and industry initiatives like networked graphic production (NGP), provides the means to implement a complete and fully integrated workflow that enables 'intelligent' automation.

'Intelligent' automation is said to eliminate manual tasks, save time and reduce the waste and costs associated with errors in an operation.

It also assists Unified Workflow to provide the flexibility, communication, control and automation needed to support conventional and digital printing from a single system.

Langley commented: "Currently, Kodak's portfolio offers the most extensive range of print products available in the graphic communications industry.

Ipex visitors will see how these products can help them create the customised systems they need to deliver greater value to their customers across their businesses.

According to Kodak, workflow systems improve business decision-making, enhance relationships with customers and suppliers and reduce production errors and material waste.

Those systems include a management information system (MIS), Kodak's Enterprise Management Solution (EMS) software, which is said to have a broad focus on planning and managing resources throughout commercial printing organisations.

EMS features integrated customer and supplier relationship management capabilities, advanced estimating and production planning, integrated quality control and process improvement modules and automated business intelligence to ensure success in changing business environments.

In production planning systems, Kodak's Upfront 4.0 production planning software is said to allow customers to unify and standardise their job planning to benefit automation and fewer planning errors.

In production workflow system, Kodak claimed that its systems help customers optimise different print processes by providing integration, automation and collaboration across conventional, digital and blended print production.

Those products are said to address a spectrum of customer needs, from digitally printed applications, to globally distributed, high-volume print production across different markets.

Kodak said that its production workflow systems may include a Prinergy workflow system, a third generation PDF workflow system for controlling pre-press, plate and film production.

There is also the company's Preps imposition software that is claimed to help pre-press professionals remove more manual steps from their preferred workflow.

The company's Link software provides production data and job status information to provide production reporting and data exchange between an MIS system and Prinergy workflow.

Portal products are said to allow printers to offer new services, whilst streamlining pre-press production.

Kodak's Insite software, a secure web portal in to pre-press production that makes online communication between printers and their customers a reality, claimed the company.

Kodak's Teamworks software, provides server-based project management for content collaboration, whilst Eyemedia software, integrated asset management and Nextreme web-to-print Exchange Solution provide a web-based order management tool for automated fulfillment of static, short run and simple-versioned print jobs.

In digital printing software, Kodka's digital front end systems that drive Kodak's Nexpress digital presses and third party devices, such as the Kodak Nexstation IV digital front end.

The company's Smartboard document mastering software and Nextreme web-to-print exchange software facilitate late stage printing.

Nextreme variable data software and the company's Darwin authoring software is said to provide options for personalised digital printing.

A Kodak colour workflow system is said to drive the delivery of accurate colour from design and specification through to production and final output in commercial printing applications.

Those systems incorporate industry standards for carrying colour information throughout the entire process and are claimed to make it easy to create, produce and monitor colour from concept to delivery.

Kodak said that its colour management enables easier adoption of colour standards, repeatable colour production, efficient RGB workflows and optimised wide gamut printing.

Back to top