August 29, 2005 -- To hear some observers talk, automation is the key to all future success for the printing, publishing and converting industry. It offers printers more control over every aspect of a job, including order entry, estimating, and billing as well as prepress, print and finishing. Mastering this challenge means printers can meet customer demands for fast turnaround, reliable quality, competitive pricing and integration of print into their total communications effort. But pursuing that goal can enmesh printers in a thicket of initials and acronyms, file formats and international standards. Thousands of print managers looking for a reliable guide to this new world will turn in September to PRINT 05 & CONVERTINGSM 05, the world’s foremost industry show this year and a likely watershed in the development of complete process automation for print production. The show takes place September 9-15 at the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago, IL. About 70,000 people from all over the world are expected to take part, and more than 800 exhibitors will present more than 700,000 net square feet of displays. Among the most prominent letters in the automation alphabet soup are “JDF.” PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 will be a showcase for JDF in production and business management settings. JDF or “Job Definition Format” is beginning to gather momentum, with about 1,500 current users around the world, according to James Harvey, executive director of CIP4 (the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress Organization). JDF’s goal is to integrate production with management information (MIS) functions and enable the entire industry, from designers to print producers to e-commerce specialists, to share data, track jobs and automate production. Functions supported by JDF include job specs, but also include job and device tracking as well as detailed pre- and post calculation of jobs in the graphic arts. By the time of PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05, Harvey says, visitors will see a “mature” JDF reflected in demonstrations of JDF-based automation involving vendors all over the huge show halls. The show will also be the forum for the release of JDF Specification Version 1.3, as well as the introduction of a JDF certification program for the first group of products to pass through a new testing process. Harvey also says he expects the roster of JDF users to double by the time of the show. “The schema and specification are in good shape for offset sheetfed and digital printing,” Harvey says, “and work is continuing for packaging printing.” Janice Reese, executive director of Network PDF, Inc., and a strong advocate of JDF, says reliance on standards like JDF is expanding in the printing industry, with positive results. “Because of where we are with the standards that have evolved, you can support automation without compromising quality,” Reese says. “Printers today have to work with clients’ marketing environments. They have to be able to have access to information and to distribute it.” At PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05, Reese adds, “there will be some really interesting things for people to see.” Automated production and business processes, more tightly controlled by managers with better access to current information than ever before: That’s the new world of printing, and it will be on display this September at PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05. The show will take place on September 9-15 at the McCormick Place Complex. Complete show information, online registration and hotel options are available at www.print05.com.