Montreal-based Ultimate TechnoGraphics’ customer Markono Print Media, a print service provider headquartered in Singapore, has re-engineered its workflow using Ultimate TechnoGraphics’ Impostrip, making it fully hybrid in order to achieve new business growth. Founded in 1967, Markono Print Media has grown from a small general printer to become one of the leading suppliers of offset and digital printing to many of the world’s leading publishers and Fortune 500 corporations. It needed to centralize imposition and connect imposition to its MIS ticketing system to drive its offset as well high-speed digital presses. The solution was one system, one team and multiple benefits, according to Laurence Limsico, Manager of the Pre-press Department.
“The final objective is to streamline and optimize orders for the most effective production scenario, whether it’s on offset or digital presses,”he said. “It’s in this hybrid environment where centralizing production in order to eliminate redundancy, waste and unjustified costs is key. One of the common misconceptions in this type of transition is that purchasing a digital press is all that’s required. In reality, building the appropriate process support infrastructure first is the most important.” Using an MIS/ERP planning module with an imposition application added a level of complexity, since the company needed to ensure that the ERP system sends instructions that the imposition system understands. So automating the imposition process was an important part of streamlining the Prepress process. “First we looked at different approaches for automating the imposition, and it really came down to two choices,” said Limsico. “Do we use the ERP planning module in conjunction with a separate imposition application, or run imposition as a standalone process? Since our ERP included the planning function, and it was ultimately better to centralize the co-ordination of all production, we elected to use the ERP planning module to help drive the imposition.”
The company finally selected Ultimate’s Impostrip Scalable imposition application. Ultimate worked with the developers of the ERP system to ensure that the XML instructions coming out of the ERP met the requirements of its application, as well as customers’ needs. The automation features of Ultimate Impostrip Scalable actually made the task a lot easier, since it was designed to be flexible with page sizes, and provided support for all of the various imposition requirements of a mixed digital and offset production facility. The main benefit from Impostrip Centralization is reduced human dependency. This allowed the company to re-deploy the staff where needed. In addition, the printer is now able to redirect the job to whichever machine it chooses. The barcode module allowed enhancing of the printer’s “Error Free Program” to ensure that the job is done correctly the first time. Ultimate’s technical support team worked remotely during their client’s normal business hours, as the time zone difference would have caused a communication delay of one business day. They provided customization and released updates and fixes after having done extensive QA testing. Online training sessions were also provided. Markono Print Media can now maximize its profits and increase growth by addressing previous issues, re-engineering its production infrastructure and broadening its service offerings.
Singapore printer using Canadian technology to re-engineer its workflow
