Offering a distinctive printing service in a highly competitive industry was the reason behind Reprograph's decision to invest in workflow and web-based collaborative client software from KODAK Unified Workflow Solutions.

KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow with KODAK PRINERGY Rules-Based Automation Software, KODAK INSITE Prepress Portal System and KODAK INSITE Storefront System help the Croatian firm reduce production costs, gain efficiencies, affect seamless integration and automation of workflow tasks, improve communication with customers and eliminate errors early avoiding costly reprints, both in terms of finance and time.

"The Graphic Arts industry is continuously changing and redirecting its focus from quantity to value-added rules," says owner Tomislav Ilic. "In cooperation with Kodak's solutions, we strive to be a leader in value-added products."

Kodak facilitates profitable change

Reprograph specialized in desktop publishing and offered a B2B CTP service when it was established in 1994 by Ilic. He then identified variable data printing as an exciting growth area to create a value-added service for leading blue chip customers including Croatia's largest retail store, car manufacturing and pharmaceuticals firms.

Reprograph's KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press was installed complete with PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow, INSITE Prepress Portal System and INSITE Storefront System. PRINERGY Rules-Based Automation Software followed 18 months ago.

Solving problems for big results

"KODAK PRINERGY CONNECT Workflow had a very big, immediate impact on our business," states Ilic as it streamlines production from original file to final printed job, helping improve productivity, resource allocation, and, ultimately, a user's bottom line. "In the past, if we received a file on a Friday at 5 p.m. and there was a problem, it would often have to wait until Monday to be resolved. Now with INSITE Prepress Portal System, things are much faster."

Expanding services to meet customer needs

The beauty of Kodak's INSITE Prepress Portal System and INSITE Storefront System is Reprograph's ability to add new services and report those back to the customers. "We want to grow with our customers. With these solutions orders can be placed at any time which is great in terms of ordering efficiency. However, we still want to create long-term relationships so we often visit customers and explain the services we can add using Kodak's software," said Ilic.

In fact Kodak's INSITE Prepress Portal System has helped one customer streamline job submission, job status tracking, remote content proofing or approval and drastically reduced the amount of time it takes to complete the production process of a job. The company regularly produces a price-sensitive brochure that requires quick approval. With the use of INSITE Prepress Portal System this is readily achieved, saving time and maximizing the impact of the job.

Sticking to the rules

Despite the production efficiencies already enjoyed by Reprograph, the latter addition of PRINERGY Rules Based Automation- Software made a significant impact-in particular with the CTP side of the business where new job creation is much smoother. "When a job is over 300 copies, it is outputted to plates and then couriered to the offset printer we use. Anything under goes straight to the KODAK NEXPRESS Press. PRINERGY Rules-based Automation Software is very useful for ganging short run DVD covers, leaflets and  jobs like business cards, which were once a nightmare to do, are now very easy," notes Ilic.

Measuring the savings

Ilic says it is difficult to quantify the combined savings of the solutions, but he estimates that ROI was achieved in under two years via the elimination of re-prints alone. Since installation the KODAK NEXPRESS Press has printed 8,050,000 A4 pages and completed 6,500 jobs through KODAK INSITE Prepress Portal System.

Scalability for seamless integration

"The main benefit of Kodak's solutions are their scalability," says Nigel Street, General Manager, Unified Workflow Solutions, EAMER. "They are also customizable and can integrate seamlessly with third-party systems, making it very easy for our customers to see immediate results. Reprograph's investment is another example of how printers can safeguard their future growth with Kodak."

Kodak is a global advisor and provider of integrated services to help companies transform and optimize their businesses. Through a network of service professionals in 120+ countries, Kodak provides technical, professional, consulting and managed services to enable customers to focus on growing their businesses, maximize productivity, and more effectively manage risks.  All KODAK Products and Software are backed by KODAK Service and Support. To learn more, visit www.graphics.kodak.com.