The bright lights of Las Vegas were ablaze and the clatter of the slot machines were not too distracting at the 3rd Annual Printcafe Connect 2002 users group meeting held June 9 - 12, 2002. For the over 700 graphic arts professionals gathered in the rebuilt Aladdin Hotel, the hopes of learning all about the latest developments and visions in Printcafe’s diversified product line were fulfilled.

It became abundantly clear that the fancy rhetoric of past years was gone and the company was getting back to the basics by placing all resources on enhancing the value of the print management systems under its control. Partners like Creo, MAN Roland and Komori demonstrated its commitment to linking its MIS structure to CIM, (Computer Integrated Manufacturing). The world of e-Commerce was definitely taking a back seat position to the fundamentals of helping printers be more productive in these challenging economic times.

Stephen Whitman, Chief Executive Officer of Whitman Communications in Lebanon, New Hampshire was an early adopter of Logic and a three year participant at Connect. Whitman illuminated the new Printcafe perspective eloquently. "It seems (Printcafe) has finally recognized that the MIS system is critical to the overall structure of a printing company." Steve feels, "That Printcafe in its short three year life has gone from hype to smoke and mirrors to recognition of the key position of MIS." Whitman believes, "As the pressure mounts to squeeze more profits out of shrinking printer sales, the real value in MIS is to identify new opportunities to capture lost dollars." Printcafe has clearly gotten the message from its diverse customer base.

While a key disappointment for Printcafe was the stalled IPO, the anticipation of the reengineered public offering on the attendees was rather neutral. There was very little discussion among the printers except they knew it was critical to the survival of the company and in turn important to them. It didn’t happen before the event, but on June 18th the long awaited IPO occurred and Printcafe raised over $37 million dollars.

Now CEO Marc Olin and his team should be able to stay focused on the MIS systems as Whitman suggests without the financial distraction.

Most of the attendees were pleased with what they heard. The overwhelming response of attendees polled by this writer was positive. Some of the major highlights was a new Logic release based on Microsoft SQL that will bring Logic users into the 21st century with increased computing power and reporting capability. PrintFlow, a new intuitive, scheduling program created by Udi Arieli and his staff. The introduction of true integration links between business partner Creo’s content management workflow and management information workflow with products like Printcafe’s Prepress Connector and the soon to be release Synapse Link from Creo.

One interesting new web enabled product shown for the first time was PrinterSite Internal. This online tool permits sales people to remotely connect to the plant’s MIS system for inputting estimates and checking orders in real time. Printcafe did a great job of making a truly user-friendly program. The exciting point will be when this software tool will be available on PDA’s - stay tuned - a prototype was at Connect.

I saw no products addressing the important trends and issues surrounding variable data printing (VDP). PrintSmith Composer, primarily for quick printers, is not really adequate as a full blown VDP product.

An announcement that a major effort to coordinate the printer MIS structure with local paper merchants and mills was diminished after hearing some of the details. This noble effort to provide printers with a better mechanism to request pricing, order paper online and check inventory needs to be thoroughly researched as to the practicality of coordinating the many archaic legacy computer systems residing within the paper distribution network.

Another point of contention was the price level of the new Logic SQL upgrade costs. Several printers balked at the idea they would not get credit for recent Logic upgrades and basically would be paying twice for software.

Last but not least - how could anyone talk about true integrated systems like CIM without the involvement of industry leader Heidelberg? While I know Printcafe always has an open door policy to other vendors, they must be more aggressive with this relationship to be considered serious about CIM.

One of the event attractions was a presentation labeled "Titans of Industry Connect". This presentation included Amos Michelson, CEO of Creo; Yves Rogivue, CEO & President MAN Roland; Mark Little, President, Document Management, Standard Register; Paul Reilly, CEO Mail-Well. It offered the audience a perspective into both the manufacturers and larger printers vision of CIM. The conclusion drawn by these executives was simple and straight forward - printers must focus on tools for the future that can help their customers do their jobs better.

PSI and PrintFlow user David Baldree of Progress Printing in Lynchburg, Virginia said, "Overall, I was very excited about the underlying theme of better connectivity of all systems under a printers control." He liked the direction Printcafe was taking with CIM. "As a PECOM user, what I saw makes great sense for us.” David was also impressed with the recently announced commitment to develop some CRM integration with 3rd party vendors. He concluded, "Printcafe is working very effectively for us."

Maybe those that tried the gaming tables came up a bit short. But the attendees who spent their time participating and networking with their peers came away with a better knowledge of their workflow future.