KENNESAW, Ga., September 29, 2004 – Heidelberg USA has announced the installation of a Prinect Prinance Print Management System at Steve Woods Printing Co., a general commercial printer located in Phoenix, Ariz. Since Steve Woods opened its doors in October 2003, the general commercial printer has logged more than 12 million impressions, a portion of which reflect work that was booked before the company’s presses were installed. With a lot riding on the company’s ability to follow through on its commitments, there was no room for trial and error. The company needed to deal with reality: real time, real costs, real deadlines and real expectations. In short, it needed real control over an array of variables notorious for wreaking havoc with scheduling and job preparation. Consequently, the company left nothing to chance when it came to selecting a print management package that could ensure it continued to meet customer expectations and fulfill its business goals. Why Prinect Prinance? The reason is simple, explained Chuck Timmerman, Special Projects Coordinator for the new venture: “Amount, access and accuracy of information is essential to running a successful operation. Determining how to take advantage of every sales dollar throughout the production process was one of our objectives in choosing our workflow solution. The more seamless the information from estimating to invoicing, the greater a printer’s success. Decisions can be made on the basis of real data rather than unreliable estimates, wishful thinking and faulty assumptions.” Although the Steve Woods venture is new, the combined experience of its management and staff is formidable and extensive. Among the assumptions the company made prior to equipping and staffing the business were that: • Better workflow management means more cost savings. • Management decisions supported by accurate information will be sound decisions. In addition, said company President Steve Woods, “The fundamental principles of our company are simple: Define your business by your actions, care about your customers, be trustworthy, and be committed to providing the best product possible.” Heidelberg’s Prinance solution fit the bill in every way. Interoperability in Action Especially important to Steve Woods, said Timmerman, are the accessibility and connectivity built into the Prinance print management package. Prinect Prinance provides comprehensive job-specific information in a series of Microsoft Word-based templates for estimating, delivery, receipt and invoicing functions that can be customized and stored according to the recipient’s needs and preferences. JDF formatting ensures that information generated at the job planning stage will be readily available to the pressroom and bindery. Prinect Prinance collects product-speci?c details and guides the user step-by-step through the process of costing prepress, press and postpress work, even complex projects involving different color and paper options and different presses. After production parameters are automatically calculated, quotes are issued and passed to the relevant sales personnel in familiar Microsoft Outlook format for easy follow-through. Prinance links the business processes of a printing company with its production processes by enabling: • Transparent order processing. Provides a precise overview of the current status of quotes, orders, invoices at every stage of the job preparation process. • Integrated capacity planning. Lets you know immediately whether a job is going to be produced to schedule. Capacity reserves can be identi?ed early and utilized appropriately. • Production planning and control. Gives a precise picture at any time of exactly what stage a job is at and how far away it is from completion. A wide range of reports accurately log performance and event data during each press shift. • Automated costing. Permits precise pre- and post-costing of every job. Reliable figures, produced in a clear, simple format, reveal how profitably you are working at all times and provide comparative operating data and analyses. • Automatic exchange of job data/operating data with other CIP3/4-JDF-compatible production work?ow components, including but not limited to Heidelberg Prinect Signa Station, Prinect Printready, Prinect CP2000 Center and Prinect FCS 100. • Improved job preparation. Prinect Prinance determines all the production steps that will be required and pre-packages them into an electronic job ticket that gives a clear, precise picture of which steps need to be taken in which order, at which cost center and according to which key deadlines, reducing the risk of cost-intensive corrective post-processing. In Steve Woods’ case, the Prinance package works seamlessly with another manufacturer’s digital prepress system and a trio of competitive large- and small-format presses, as well as with its Heidelberg / Polar 137 cutter, and TD66 and TD78 folders. “Everything just flows,” Timmerman said, “accelerating the throughput from estimating to purchasing to materials management to scheduling.” Twice a day the Steve Woods team meets to discuss the status of jobs in the pipeline. In preparation for these meetings, the individual team members review all job-relevant data. With respect to Heidelberg’s service and support, said Timmerman, “Installation and training on the new Prinance Print Management System were scheduled during the second month of operation, four months prior to plant completion. Our time line didn’t allow for excessive ramp up for the product. Nevertheless, the company was working on live jobs toward the end of the training session. Service and training have been ongoing. Answers are only a phone call or e-mail away and always prompt.”