Prepress
Introducing Production Intelligence
Monday 30. June 2008 - Pitney Bowes Emtex Production Intelligence is the family of integrated solutions that link print and mail to improve control and efficiency of document workflows across your entire enterprise. Production Intelligence provides unprecedented production efficiency coupled with an entirely new level of intelligence - not only "what" is happening in your operation, but "why", so you can take steps to continuously improve performance and profits.
Production Intelligence consists of several components:
Management Information System (MIS) Solutions are a new set of software products that will enable centralised command and control, and consolidate information from underlying systems to provide management information in a concise and consolidated form. These products will be branded as Production Intelligence, or P/I modules, and will include easy-to-use tools that will help enable colour migration, process automation, and provide critical production analytics to help organisations make sound business and operational decisions.
Launching at DRUPA:
P/I Wizard – an easy-to-use browser based document driven user interface that will simplify the preparation of jobs for a variety of valuable processing improvements:
o Colour Migration – Replace pre-printed offset shells and migrate black-and-white applications to plain-paper colour print.
o High Integrity Processing – Apply barcodes, create piece-level tracking files and index print files to leverage intelligent finishing and automated reprint processing.
o TransPromo – Utilise pre-planned or remnant white space to deliver timely, targeted messages on legacy applications without changing composition processes.
P/I Scheduler – Forecast, plan, and schedule work based on comprehensive job profiles combined with actual historical performance data to generate accurate planning information that automatically updates as jobs progress from start to finish.
P/I Print Reporting – Gain critical insight into print operation performance and efficiency, while automatically gathering accurate data to support print job accounting at the image, sheet, and/or document level.
ADF Management Solutions provides a real-time data collection platform to measure and analyse performance across the entire print and mail production workflow. The DFWorks ADF management system transforms raw equipment and process data into actionable business performance indicators, which then enable operations to profile, track, and monitor jobs and produce consolidated management, audit and performance reports.
Output Management Solutions provides powerful set of tools for centralised job spooling and print management. Using our exclusive Many-to-Many printstream transformation and real-time printstream enhancements, organisations can reduce infrastructure management costs, mitigate risks and maximise asset and labour utilisation. In essence, organisations regain full operational control and enhance business communications, while delivering a swift return on their investment.
Management Information System (MIS) Solutions
The MIS suite of solutions provides the real-time, actionable information you need to ensure high levels of productivity and better decision-making. These solutions help optimise efficiency across your production print and mail environment to make the most out of the business processes that leverage Customer Communications Management. Real-time access and analysis of critical business performance indicators can help you improve:
The speed and effectiveness of your print-to-mail operation
Asset utilisation and production planning
Implementation of regulatory compliance initiatives
Business continuity/disaster recovery
General business process management
The first set of MIS solutions for Production Intelligence are a set of software modules that simplify job preparation and provide decision support information for production and business planning:
P/I Wizard – an easy-to-use browser based document driven user interface that will simplify the preparation of jobs for a variety of valuable processing improvements. Quickly and easily prepare virtually any application for intelligent processing. Armed with basic knowledge about the application (i.e. document boundary indication, address block location, etc) this module walks any user through the basic tasks of applying background graphics for offset shell replacement, adding or replacing control barcodes, creating job tracking files (MRDF, Audit Files, etc), and indexing the file for automated reprint – no specialised PDL knowledge, scripting, or programming skills required!
P/I Scheduler – Forecast, plan, and schedule work based on comprehensive job profiles combined with actual historical performance data to generate accurate planning information that automatically updates as jobs progress from start to finish. More than just an “electronic magnet board”, P/I Scheduler is directly integrated to the ADF system to gain both real-time and historical data relating to job performance. Completion time estimates are based on the actual size of the job and prior actual performance history, providing a realistic view of operational capacity. What-If analysis provides production planners with a powerful tool to quickly analyse contingencies and alternative scenarios to help keep your operation running at peak efficiency.
P/I Print Reporting – Gain critical insight into print operation performance and efficiency, while automatically gathering accurate data to support print job accounting at the image, sheet, and/or document level.
Automated Document Factory (ADF) Management
ADF Management solutions help you optimise quality, cost, performance and compliance across the entire print and mail operation. ADF Management solutions comprise software modules that automate production management, piece-level tracking, and high-integrity inserting:
DFWorks – a powerful, real-time ADF data collection platform, DFWorks provides high-volume mailers with an integrated, consistent way to monitor and measure workflow, resource, job, and mailpiece status. In addition, DFWorks automates time-consuming production analysis tasks by transforming raw device and process data into business performance indicators, making it easy to profile, track and monitor jobs and produce consolidated management, audit, and performance reports. With this powerful software solution, you can optimise asset utilisation, and improve efficiency and document integrity:
o DFWorks Production Workflow – get a 360-degree view of enterprise-wide progress and job-by-job SLA performance, with details on workflow and results for all processes and mailpieces
o DFWorks Document Lifecycle Tracking – search for mailpiece status by customer name or account number. Gain insight into the status of multiple pieces at once, and produces customised, time and date-stamped activity reports.
o DFWorks Productivity Reporting – capture vital statistics on volume and throughput and create easy-to-use standards and scorecards. Summaries of performance show alignment with corporate objectives and identify the root cause of recurring bottlenecks.
o DFWorks Mainrun Management – Automate job setup processes and centralise insert plans to improve productivity and processing accuracy. Extensive job profiling and electronic job ticketing help reduce setup time and operator error.
ADF Productivity Solution – a unique combination of the DFWorks Productivity Reporting Module and an intensive Productivity Optimisation Training program led by our ADF Operations experts. With this powerful solution, you can gain a complete understanding of the systems data collection and reporting capabilities, while learning how to leverage the data and analysis across your operation.
Direct Connect Intelligent Inserter Control – centrally controls and monitors the assembly of statements, promotional inserts, booklets, remittance envelopes and outer envelopes into finished mailpieces. In addition, it tracks virtually every component of the inserting system, including feeders, accessories and scanners, monitoring performance throughout the process. Direct Connect feeds real-time, piece-level information automatically to the ADF system, eliminating the need for manual data collection.
When implemented with Pitney Bowes Emtex Output Management Solutions (VIP, VDE, and FlexServer) our ADF Management Solution boosts efficiency throughout your print and finishing workflow. The result is improved process and document integrity, timely and accurate communication, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Enterprise Output Management Solutions
Robust Output Management software from Emtex provides the foundation for an Automated Document Factory (ADF) with centralised print control, print transformation (“Many-to-Many”) and document re-engineering solutions, resulting in more effective asset utilisation along with increased process, job and document level integrity.
In essence, organisations regain full operational control and enhance business communications, while delivering a swift return on their investment. Emtex output management solutions can be configured to meet virtually any output management requirement.
VIP – provides centralised production print management, electronic document delivery, real-time data stream transformation, piece level indexed reprints and job accounting. VIP supports all leading print stream formats. The software’s unique architecture optimises your document workflow, eliminating the limitations of proprietary vendors and data streams. Robust print management functions include everything from data stream transformation, resource management, and automated reprinting to enhanced production control and convenient viewing before, during and after output.
VDE – a print stream manipulation and workflow re-engineering solution that makes it easy to modify and enhance modern and legacy applications. An all-points-addressable search-and-change engine lets you update any VIP-supported PDL without changing the underlying business application. When used with VIP, VDE offers piece-level indexing, automated reprinting, closed loop integrity, intelligent job splitting/merging, pre-sorting and address cleansing. It also supports colour documents and one-to-one marketing messages. These capabilities are available for all common print stream formats.
FlexServer – an advanced, UNIX-based output management solution that provides a full range of features for multi-site operations. These include centralised job spool and output management, a full range of printer drivers, multi-site workload balancing and business continuity, centralised job accounting, integrated job-level tracking and event-triggered alerts. FlexServer integrates with VIP/VDE.
JESConnect – an IBM z/OS-resident software tool, Emtex JESConnect enables any print stream to be sent to VIP or FlexServer for all common PDLs with checkpoint restart and compression capabilities. By combining JESConnect with VIP software, you have a highly effective, server-based replacement for IBM PSF. When combined with the RESConnect module, it supports automated host-to-server resource management.
RESConnect – runs as a separate product or together with Emtex JESConnect to intelligently download job resources from an MVS or z/OS mainframe to Emtex VIP or FlexServer via TCP/IP. Supporting AFP and LCDS/Metacode resources, IHRM minimises CPU cycles and network I/O by only downloading resources required for jobs.
Emtex provides cost effective middle layer output management software to organisations that print and mail high volumes transactional documents. The industries applicable are Financial Services, Insurance, Telecoms, Utilities, Service Bureau, Direct Mailers and Local/Central Government.