Product category:
General Print Supplies, Services for Printers
News Release from: Konica Minolta Business Solutions UK | Subject: Printgroove automated print workflow software
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 April 2007
Workflow Software Cheaper Than Legacy
Systems
Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA has introduced Printgroove, modular automated production print workflow software.
Printgroove will make its debut at the 2007 On Demand conference and exposition in Boston on April 17 Konica Minolta said that managers of production print systems in central reproduction departments and small to mid-size print shops that need to manage rising production demands of customers and stay ahead of the competition now have a modular, scalable, cost-effective option to automate the production process
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 26 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The result of a global development programme by Konica Minolta, Printgroove is said to provide an affordable, automated production print workflow software that costs less than large-scale legacy production and print management software.
The new technology is claimed to offer users a streamlined workflow process that makes print jobs run more smoothly.
The software features the ability to handle 24-hour, seven days-a-week job submissions, automated job ticketing and quoting, and print queue management, as well as device status monitoring, together with finishing, shipping and billing.
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Konica Minolta said that Printgroove's modular design allows for an exact configuration to target a specific need with the right system set, including the ability to handle any traffic volume and accommodate as many printing steps and stations as business processes demand.
Kevin P Kern, vice president of product planning and development at Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, said: "We have experienced phenomenal market share growth in the light-production to mid-production print market with our award-winning product line of Bizhub Pro multi-functional products.
They include the Bizhub Pro 1050, Pro 920, Pro C6500 and Pro C500.
Printgroove is an intuitive and powerful job workflow system that's affordable, easy to use and fits hand-in-glove with our MFPs." He added: "Printgroove will be our major emphasis at On Demand.
It caters to the needs of Bizhub Pro customers in the CRD, in-plant, print for pay, commercial printing and data centrr markets." Konica Minolta said that dealers, customers and industry analysts that have seen and worked with early versions of Printgroove are already enthusiastic about its capabilities and affordability when compared to competing products.
Kern added: "We expect the combination of our Bizhub Pro MFPs and Printgroove will accelerate market share growth in this important and profitable market segment and will give our customers and prospects another reason to turn to Konica Minolta to meet the need for fast, accurate, high-quality output." Printgroove is the recipient of a 2007 BERTL's BEST innovation award.
Margie Davis, managing director of BERTL, commented: "In many instances, today's innovation becomes tomorrow's business necessity and Printgroove is a product that will clearly shape the way the market will look in a year or two.
BERTL's analysts had an opportunity to spend quality time working with this workflow application and we can state with confidence that Printgroove is sure to draw positive attention at the 2007 On Demand event." Printgroove is available in three complementary modules, all of which are said to work to keep jobs moving, optimise the performance of production resources, save time, reduce costs and increase business profitability.
Each module is focused on a specific production print process, including Printgroove Serve.
That module provides automated, web-based digital job submission so that clients can contact their printers, initiate jobs, set job requirements and track order status via the Internet or corporate intranet using standard web browsers.
In addition, the module is said to enable customers to perform the tasks printers used to do manually, as well as creating job tickets, whilst verifying job status in real time and proofing jobs online and tracking jobs to completion.
It also provides automatic email notification at every step.
The Printgroove Guide module runs the print floor and can be scaled and customised with the functions needed to match workflow.
It handles traffic volume and accommodates as many printing steps and stations as a production process requires.
It also automatically manages job ticketing and job tracking, monitors device operating status in real time and unites all production steps in to one flow and expands for print quoting, billing and invoice tracking, added Konica Minolta.
Printgroove Queue links multiple Konica Minolta Bizhub devices to optimise performance by managing print queues, assigning jobs to 'best match' printers and providing two-way communication to networked printers for centralised control.
It also assigns jobs to printers, chooses paper and sets parameters, whilst dividing colour output between colour and mono devices.
It is also said to link up to 10 devices for system-wide productivity, whilst monitoring the status of devices and consumables.
Printgroove is available through Konica Minolta's North American direct sales, authorised dealer and value-added resellers.
It is sold as an appliance package and will require a server PC.
Customers have the choice of a standard tower unit, or rack mount unit.
Additional licence packs and options are available. Request a free brochure from Konica Minolta Business Solutions UK ...
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