Lynnwood, Washington, March 26, 2002 - ScenicSoft and Muller Martini, the world’s largest manufacturer of print finishing systems, today announced the first working CIP3 link based on the PPF format. This CIP3 link connects ScenicSoft’s pioneering print production planning tool, UpFront, and Muller Martini’s versatile saddle-stitching systems. The two companies will demonstrate the CIP3 link at IPEX 2002, to be held in the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, UK, from April 9 – 17, 2002. The introduction of CIP3 integration drastically cuts the makeready and changeover times for motorized Muller Martini stitching lines that are equipped with AMRYS (Automatic MakeReadY System). Resulting productivity gains will have an immediate positive impact on a printer’s bottom line. The AMRYS system is currently available for Prima and Optima saddle stitchers. Binding a book by hand is an art. To bind a large number of books with consistent quality requires skill and knowledge. Many aspects have to be considered. Which materials go together? What are the stresses on the book? How long is it to last? And how can it be produced efficiently? The optimal combination of paper and ink in one book is a science of its own. While the customer decides the quality requirements, the printer or trade binder determines how to achieve those requirements. In a modern print production facility, most of these decisions have to be made early in the production cycle, at the estimation and production planning stages. “Prepress software tools and the expensive high-end prepress workflow solutions have not been able to deliver CIP3 data for binding equipment,” says Felix Stirnimann, division manager, Print Finishing, Muller Martini USA. “This information is simply generated farther upstream and then becomes irrelevant for prepress purposes. ScenicSoft’s UpFront solution, however, sits at the right place in the execution chain. Through its JDF import link, the product can directly capture estimation records and manufacturing instructions from Print MIS systems such as Prism WIN or Prism Enterprise. Or the production planner can directly enter job ticket data via the product’s user interface. UpFront is a truly remarkable product, and it is the only one we’ve seen to date that is capable of generating all the information required to successfully drive Muller Martini’s binding equipment. “Ever since Muller Martini successfully demonstrated the potential impact of a CIP3 link at drupa 2000, our customers have consistently expressed serious interest in more automated solutions,” adds Stirnimann. “The benefits are obvious. But until we discovered UpFront we had to conclude that while the market was ready, solutions were not. After learning what UpFront is all about, people at Muller Martini are very excited about the new prospects and options that the product will offer to our customers.” Productivity in bookbinding systems can be measured by keeping track of two main components: running speeds and makeready times. For decades, Muller Martini has developed and manufactured machines for efficient book production. Every new generation of products has allowed Muller Martini customers to become more productive. Running speeds of the machines and quality of the finished products have consistently improved. While makeready times have also been consistently trimmed over the years, digital setup through CIP3 has the potential to turn this aspect into an entirely negligible component.