Canon Solutions America (Melville, New York) has announced the launch of VIEW, an intuitive inkjet estimation solution that operates as a hybrid application with both cloud-based and local components. The proactive tool, designed for both sales teams and customers, provides productive ink usage estimates for any PDF application. VIEW delivers quick calculations by utilizing “one of the fastest estimating engines on the market” to effectively capture quotes on an assortment of print-production types and aspects – including size, page count, paper, printing, finishing and print quality. Implementing an intelligent algorithm, VIEW automatically generates enhanced production scenarios for each possible product selection, calculating ink usage, media use, printer and finishing run times, roll width and sheet size, and best imposition options.
“We’re incredibly excited to offer this innovative tool to help our customers expand their capabilities into web-to-print solutions through a compatible application programming interface,” said Francis McMahon, Executive Vice President of Production Print Solutions at Canon Solutions America. “As the demand for ink estimation continues to thrive, we’re confident VIEW will go above and beyond to deliver calculations our customers can count on.”
With VIEW, sales teams can promptly and proactively ascertain ink usage estimates for almost any PDF application. All updates and product information are initiated at login to help ensure that users have the latest information, allowing PDF information and data to be kept on a user’s local system. Easy administration enables “super users” to set print products, paper, prices, margins and more. Plus, if parameters change throughout the estimation process, VIEW can recalculate the quote to the most cost-efficient pricing. Whether actively responding to incoming bids, or simply supplying customers with additional job-cost information (such as impositioning, paper usage, run times, labour and finishing costs) VIEW “is the complete job-cost estimator solution,” Canon added. “Users can upload a PDF to any computer running VIEW, and, within seconds, a wide spectrum of pricing information is conveniently available at their fingertips,” said the OEM.
“It’s crucial for hardware and software suppliers to continue to evolve their products, solutions and tools to meet the shifting needs of customers in the commercial print space,” said Elizabeth Gooding, President of Inkjet Insight. “By integrating ink estimating into a flexible, interactive platform that supports the full estimating workflow, Canon Solutions America demonstrates innovation leadership with a clear understanding of their customers’ requirements.”