BEDFORD, MA -- November 12, 2002 -- Creo, Printcafe and Komori America are pleased to announce the successful implementation of the first Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) operation in print, a highly automated print production solution for the JohnsByrne Company, a highly successful, family-owned commercial printer based in Niles, Illinois, with annual sales in excess of US$20 million. "Our vision has always been to be a turnkey business, handling every aspect of the printing process, taking a job from prepress through to fulfillment," says Corey Gustafson, president, JohnsByrne Company. With the corporate slogan, 'press the limits', JohnsByrne is a progressive organization that looked to its suppliers to implement a highly integrated solution for extremely efficient prepress and print production. CIM is now helping the JohnsByrne Company to extend the value of its existing print environment to deliver increased productivity and customer satisfaction-and to do it profitably. Automation and Integration: The Concept... "When we looked at the next step of upgrading our operations, we found the need to track the activities in our environment more accurately," says Dean Fairley, vice president manufacturing, JohnsByrne Company. "We weren't able to truly understand the benefit of our increased efficiencies or how to measure them in order to add a competitive advantage in the marketplace." JohnsByrne's fully integrated system now ties estimating, scheduling, the creative desktop, digital halftone proofing, computer-to-plate imaging, prepress production data, press and finishing process to the management information system in a single, streamlined workflow. Streamlined and Visible: The Benefits... Integrating production and business systems allows the management of JohnsByrne to gain greater visibility into their entire operation. A critical component of information flow is the use of open systems and file standards such as JDF. Being able to access information, company management can make better decisions, and eliminate communication errors and waste, reduce cycle times and now, can capture costs previously lost in the print process. All of the functions are integrated to provide management with excellent visibility into its operations, allowing the company to fine-tune its operations to enhance profitability and customer service. "JohnsByrne has definitely seen the benefits of our partnership with Creo, Printcafe and Komori," says Mr. Fairley. "The introduction to a whole suite of products, from inside proofing and collaboration tools to the front-end solutions with MIS to their links with the presses, and the JDF format to transfer information readily across multiple platforms -are all helping us stay on the cutting edge." "With our computer integrated manufacturing environment, we've had the opportunity to reduce our cost of doing business," says Jack Gustafson, chief operating officer, JohnsByrne. "It has allowed us to compete in this business and let us maintain the margins we expect to make."