Another consideration is the scope of the implementation. Automating everything is not always practical. For example, any process that requires subjective decision-making is not usually suited to automation. However, we should use technology to replace predetermined and repetitive tasks. This is where ‘Workflow Software’ comes into play.
One of the most confusing problems with this type of software is the way it is marketed. You can look at many different ‘Workflow Software’ products and they will address completely different parts of your workflow. There are MIS workflows, Prepress workflows, Design workflows, Output workflows, etc. And, contrary to the beliefs of many, workflow solutions are not ‘one size fits all’. So you need to look at solutions that will allow you to optimize ‘your’ workflow processes to meet ‘your’ needs.
Most, if not all, of the Workflow Software solutions that exist today were designed to address the requirements of mid to large size production organizations like commercial printers, newspapers, etc. In many cases this software was initially developed to address the needs of a specific company, and then adapted to a wider audience. These solutions include; Agfa Apogee Automate, Dalim Twist, EskoArtworks Suite 10, Heidelberg Prinect, Kodak Prinergy, etc. Depending on your needs, each of these solutions may have separate options from which you can choose to build the system. At a very basic level, many of these solutions offer a communication bridge for your customer, preflight, RIP, proof, and plate/print. Some even offer finishing controls, however the one important thing to realize is that they are usually fairly specific to the device they were intended to drive.
While many commercial printers have similar requirements to each other, digital print shops usually have different needs. In fact, in many cases, the needs of digital print shops are very different from each other, as well. Depending on the company, these needs can vary widely. Some digital print shops have very similar requirements to those of a mid size commercial printer; however, all too often, digital print shops have a large assortment of machines and processes which can include design, offset presses, banks of sheet and roll fed digital machines, wide format, static and variable data, etc…, and probably an abundance of finishing options. Like the commercial print equipment vendors, each of the vendors that produce these digital technologies usually offer ‘Workflow Software’ that addresses at least the functionality of their equipment and its corresponding process. Examples are solutions like EFI Fiery Central, HP SmartStream Director, Océ Prisma, Xerox FreeFlow. In some cases, the ‘Workflow Software’ might even support a wider group of production processes, but they usually don’t offer best of breed or tightly integrated solutions for processes outside the specific needs of the device the Software was intended to drive. In addition, when you upgrade one of the other disparate devices/applications in your workflow, things may not behave as they did before.
The Graphic Arts industry, as a result of CIP4’s work with JDF and JMF, created an integration platform to support the interconnection of disparate solutions. And, while many of the ‘system’ solutions available today support JDF/JMF to a degree, they still don’t always play nice with all of the other tools and applications needed to reach your workflow ‘nirvana’. As a result it may only go part of the way toward your automation goals.
One alternative to this problem has been to hire a programmer or programming staff, and create either a complete customized solution, or ‘bridge’ solutions to glue the various workflow pieces together. The latter option, while usually successful, is very costly and requires an ongoing dependence on your programmers.
Another fact of life is that minor updates in one of the various integrated applications can break your whole workflow stream, and you are back to ‘manual mode’ until the problem is traced and fixed. You are constantly chasing upgrades, and in a production environment this isn’t the safest answer, especially since the trend has been to bring your customers further into your workflow and you into theirs. Bringing your customers into a potentially unstable workflow can only exacerbate the problems caused by a workflow system breakdown.
This is where Enfocus Software and its Switch product line of workflow automation software comes in. Using a fully customizable pipeline workflow with Open Standards like XMP, XML, JDF and Third Party Configurators, you can address an almost limitless variety of workflow automation solutions, and even integrate with the larger workflow systems discussed above. And although Switch will integrate with any workflow (from the individually-built through to the largest, feature-rich solutions from vendors), configurators co-developed by Enfocus and Crossroads software partners, which make integration faster and easier, are available for many of the standard graphic arts ‘workflow’ applications, such as Adobe CS(x), Quark, Apago PDF Enhancer, callas pdfInspektor, Enfocus PitStop, an assortment of proofing solutions, and a growing list of others. It also supports hot folders and communications in and out to receive and send files, proofs, etc. This approach allows the user, with limited training, to create simple and even complex workflows without any programming experience. There is also a large support community, offered through Crossroads (www.crossroads-world.com), which offers grassroots suggestions, resources and support.
For those users who have some scripting experience, the capabilities of Switch are almost endless. It also supports JavaScript, Visual Basic and Apple Script.
In reality, there are so many workflow solutions available that they are just too numerous to detail. These cover almost every process in your workflow. In fact, they are being introduced and updated at a fairly rapid rate. There are also many new online publishing workflow systems being introduced. Some of these include general SAS (Software As a Service) offerings similar to those from Google. Increasingly they will support specific market segments like newspaper advertising production, real estate advertising and print production, to mention just a few. And this doesn’t even begin to cover the needs of the extension into cross media publishing, an area that many of you may have already tried, with differing levels of success, to integrate into your production processes. Adobe CS5 has done a pretty good job of bridging cross media requirements into the design process, but back end production processes still need to be automated to ensure a minimum of ‘silo-ization’ in your workflows. There are new systems that are beginning to address this issue, and you can expect more to appear in the near future.
Through the use of new technologies, there will be increasing opportunities for integration, automation and above all, flexibility. However, like most technologies, even though there are constant changes, there is no reason for you to wait. Just be sure that you choose a solution or set of solutions that will satisfy ‘your’ requirements, streamline your processes, and be built on standards and/or open enough to support other processes and changes as they occur.
About David Zwang
David Zwang, is a former commercial Photographer, owner of Prepress and Printing companies, and currently the principal consultant of Zwang & Company. He specializes in strategic business planning, analysis, and related services to companies in the vertical Publishing market. Clients have included US Government agencies, manufacturers, consumer product companies, retailers, publishers, premedia and print companies around the globe.
Projects include reengineering global publishing infrastructures; automated cross media and print production and data management solutions; on-demand book and magazine solutions; packaging technologies and processes; and process collaboration systems.
David services international markets with business and process consulting in the field of graphic arts and publishing. He is also the Chairman of the Ghent PDF Workgroup, and an active board member of a number of International Graphic Arts Associations and standards bodies. David can be reached at: david@zwang.com