Four51 Joins PrintTalk Consortiu Four51, the leading e-procurement provider to the print materials marketplace's independent distribution channel, announced today that it has joined the PrintTalk consortium. PrintTalk, an association of e-procurement providers to the print materials and graphic arts industries, exists to define a "best practice" common and open communications interface between products. PrintTalk supports the broadly published proposed Job Definition Format (JDF) standard and Commercial eXtensible Markup Language (cXML). Four51 joins other participating companies in promoting the PrintTalk standard, including Avanti Computer Systems, Cirqit.com, Collabria, Inc., Graphic Arts IT, GraphiTech Computer Systems, httprint, Impresse, MediaFlex.com, Noosh, Parsec Corporation, Press-tige Software, Printable.com, printChannel.com, Profit Control Systems, Streamline Solutions and Wam!Net. "Our commitment to PrintTalk is an investment in the independent distribution channel," Rich Landa, Four51's founder and CEO, said. "With PrintTalk, independent distributors serving print buyers and suppliers can ensure systems interoperability within their own organization, and proactively ensure interoperability with their customers' and suppliers' existing systems." To promote PrintTalk further within the independent distribution channel, Four51 will launch a Four51 Partners Program to promote PrintTalk's standards to other software providers who serve independent distributors. Four51 will publish a web services description language (WSDL) document to promote interoperability using cXML and the PrintTalk standard for software vendors whose customers also use Four51. Four51's initial efforts will support interoperability with a distributor's back office accounting system. "PrintTalk is a tremendous opportunity for Four51 to continue to promote the independent distribution channel's value to print buyers and suppliers," Landa said. "By taking a leadership stance, we're hopeful we can encourage other software providers to support the role and workflow of distributors." Four51 is a Minneapolis-based e-procurement provider serving the print materials market. Four51 enables mid-market businesses with an e-procurement network linking print materials buyers with their distributors and suppliers. Delivered via subscription, Four51's e-procurement network standardizes the highly variable purchasing process and promotes efficiency and significant cost reduction for its subscribers. For more information, visit www.four51.com. Founded in July 2000 by 19 print management system and e-commerce companies, PrintTalk defines a "best practice" common and open communications interface between their products. The PrintTalk implementation supports the Job Definition Format (JDF) standard for its job specification semantic and Commercial eXtensible Markup Language (cXML) to define the business objects. The PrintTalk interface specification will be distributed free of any license fees or royalties, in order to address the need for end-to-end connectivity in the printing industry. For more information, visit PrintTalk at www.printtalk.org.