Westmont, Illinois — After successfully demonstrating the productive power of an open architecture JDF workflow at Graph Expo, Printcafe Software, Inc. [NASDAQ: PCAF] and MAN Roland are taking it to the field, scheduling the first beta testing of their joint efforts with printers in the beginning of next year. At Graph Expo, the technology partners presented the benefits of their "Closed Loop, Open Systems" philosophy to a North American audience for the first time. Christian Gugler, Product Manager for PECOM Workflow Integration at MAN Roland’s sheetfed division, notes that taking advantage of Computer Integrated Management (CIM) through the use of the Job Definition Format (JDF) should not be an exercise in rocket science. "Our objective is to make it easier for our customers to implement integrated workflows," he says. "This involves intensifying cooperation among the manufacturers as well as carrying out extensive beta tests in the working world. We want to make sure CIM performs flawlessly under real operating conditions." Tim Daisy, CIM Product Manager for Printcafe Software, Inc., suggests that Computer Integrated Manufacturing will take printing production to the next level of cost efficiency. "The JDF standard represents an opportunity for the printing industry to further streamline operations and remove wasted time and effort from the planning and production process," states Daisy. "As leaders in the printing industry, Printcafe and MAN Roland are uniquely qualified to make these opportunities a reality as we recently demonstrated at Graph Expo in Chicago." Printcafe is the market leader for Management Information System (MIS) in the U.S. Many MAN Roland customers use Printcafe MIS products such as Hagen, Logic or Programmed Solutions, to manage their businesses. The interface shown at Graph Expo was a bi-directional link, providing a two-way street for data flow. JDF files from the Printcafe system were transferred to the Roland 500 press that was working the show, supplying job parameters and presetting color. Meanwhile the press’ PECOM system reported on its progress to Printcafe, via JMF (Job Messaging Format) files. The results: makereadies on the Roland 500 were faster and more precise, while the Printcafe system automatically received the data it required for automated job tracking and a variety of cost calculations. The Graph Expo solution is scheduled to move into the working world at the start of 2003, when Printcafe and MAN Roland will jointly develop beta sites to test their JDF developments. "For MAN Roland it is a logical next step after investing in trend-setting products and new standards," Gugler says. "Now we have to work together with partners in the marketplace. We know our customers want to select the components that constitute their workflows from a variety of manufacturers. They don’t want to be locked in to one vendor. That’s why our products are based on open standards, so they will work effectively with any effective solution that is developed." Printcafe and MAN Roland have joined with the CIP4 consortium and Creo to launch a continent-wide seminar series that will explore the productivity benefits provided by Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Titled "CIM in Print: It’s Here. It’s Working. It’s Ready for You," the free seminars are designed to provide practical recommendations on how printers can utilize CIM in their facilities to streamline their workflows and maximize their use of automation. Printers can visit www.ciminprint.com for further information and to registration for a seminar in their region.