Four of the biggest names in the graphic arts — the CIP4 consortium, Creo, Printcafe and MAN Roland — have joined forces to develop a continent-wide seminar series that will explore the productivity benefits provided by Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). Titled "CIM in Print: It’s Here. It’s Working. It’s Ready for You," the free seminars are designed to provide practical recommendations on how printers can utilize Computer Integrated Manufacturing in their facilities to streamline their workflows and maximize their use of automation. "The graphic arts may be one of the last major industries to learn about the advantages of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, but it is now in a position to implement CIM benefits quite rapidly," says Christian Cerfontaine, Director of Marketing for MAN Roland Inc. "Printers who attend this half-day event will discover how CIM can put a competitive edge on their workflows and help them win new business." The seminar series will be launched in the West in November, according to the following schedule: - November 12: Phoenix - November 13: San Diego - November 14: Los Angeles - November 19: San Francisco - November 20: Seattle - November 21: Vancouver The CIM road show is scheduled to visit major cities in the South and Southwest during January 2003 and will cover the East and Midwest throughout February. "This event takes a look at the potential impact of a computer integrated manufacturing environment on the profitability of a printing company," notes Gerald Walsh, Vice President of Market Development at Printcafe. "We’ll begin with an introduction and presentation by a member of the CIP4 consortium, looking at the state-of-the-standard for JDF," Walsh continues. "We’ll follow with a presentation from three industry leaders, reviewing their integration efforts, focusing on the real-world value of a shared manufacturing/data network." Creo will present an overview of its work to link printers’ prepress workflows with their management systems and with their customers. The presentation will highlight the abilities of Synapse Insite and Synapse Link to collect and share valuable production information. A demonstration of the flow of information from Prinergy to a printer’s management system will follow, taking a close look at the value of that information to the management/production process. MAN Roland will key on how its PECOM press operating and automation system brings the advantages of CIM to the pressroom. Emphasis will be placed on the advanced PECOM modules JobPilot and PressMonitor, which recently received an InterTech Award. Success stories featuring printers who use the software modules to reduce makereadies and increase pressroom productivity will be presented. Also: the importance of digitally driven mechanical advancements in the CIM workflow will be discussed. These innovations include Automated Plate Loading and QuickStart. Printcafe will look at the role of an integrated management system in a CIM environment. The presentation will examine prepress, press and postpress connections between production equipment and the management system. That will be followed by a review of the value of a truly dynamic scheduling system in the management of a CIM environment. A continental breakfast will be provided at the beginning of each seminar. The event itself runs from 8 to 11:30 AM. Special breakout sessions will let attendees get more detailed information on areas that apply to their individual production environments. "The advantage of our CIM seminar is that it covers all print production, prepress, MIS and postpress in one morning," Cerfontaine notes. "That gives participants a big picture perspective on CIM so they can better understand how it can fit into their own production scenarios. And they’ll get it all in the course of a few hours because we’re assembling all the experts in one place, at one time." More information about the CIM in Print seminars will be released as soon as it becomes available.