Toronto, 15 April 2008. Crawford Technologies Inc., the award-winning provider of transactional document re-engineering solutions, today announced the release of their PRO WorkFlow family of products. PRO WorkFlow brings increased control, flexibility and functionality to high-volume document production environments by automating and directing the flow of print jobs throughout the various stages of the process. The components of the system have been designed to work in highly heterogeneous environments, allowing seamless workflow across both legacy mainframe and distributed processing platforms and applications.

"Automating document processing workflows across networks, applications, utilities and systems with a robust and reliable management system is valuable," says Ernie Crawford, President of Crawford Technologies.  "The real world is one where shops have a variety of hardware and software elements in place. Companies may already have the tools available to optimize their processes, but the key is making all of the diverse pieces work together in an effective and efficient way. That's where PRO WorkFlow comes in."

PRO WorkFlow Server directs the flow of work between operating systems and sub-processes, and ultimately, to final production. In addition to multi-platform capabilities, PRO WorkFlow Server has advanced multi-thread features that allow users to take advantage of the performance gains available with newer multi-core processors. The server dashboard function provides intuitive queue management where operators can monitor the status of both ancillary processes and final print production in real time. Reporting features include data on completed jobs, error conditions, print job integrity and actions can be triggered on process completions and when errors are encountered.  PRO WorkFlow Server is built on the PRO Transform Manager product, and customers on maintenance plans will be automatically upgraded.

PRO WorkFlow Connector and PRO WorkFlow JES provide unique compatibility and portability with the ability to move files from system to system – from MVS to Unix and back again, for example – while retaining the original legacy metadata associated with the print job. In a mainframe environment metadata like job class, output class, or job ID are often critical components of high volume document production. Porting a print job into Windows-based application, for instance, typically strips away this important data. With PRO WorkFlow, the data is retained across platforms, allowing it to be used to drive high-volume printing while making it available for programs and processes used against the file during processing. PRO WorkFlow JES is built on the PRO JES Spool Extraction product, and customers on maintenance plans will be automatically upgraded.

"Organizations find great benefit with document re-engineering and process optimization, but the mixture of platforms and applications has always been a trouble spot," says Stephen D. Poe, VP of Product Management for CrawfordTech. "PRO WorkFlow is designed to bridge the gap between disparate systems, automate the processes, and optimize the workflow of the document processing system overall."

The PRO WorkFlow family of products by CrawfordTech is an expertly crafted workflow solution built on proven technology that brings increased control, flexibility and functionality to high-volume document production environments by automating and directing the flow of events throughout the various stages of the process. The system has been designed to work in highly heterogeneous environments directing workflow across both legacy mainframe and distributed processing systems and applications. When coupled with any number of document re-engineering and document archive solutions from CrawfordTech, companies employ a robust set of tools that allows them to achieve substantial savings, exceed customer expectations and optimize the operation of their shop.