Warrenville, IL, 22nd August 2007 - Today nearly everything can be purchased on the Web, even print products. The necessary portals are essentially the print shop's individually programmed shop solutions. If a print shop would now like to enter into web commerce and take advantage of the huge market potential, it was previously possible only through protracted, cost intensive in-house development.  
With the new product "Hiflex Webshop," software supplier Hiflex (developer of the Management Information System "Hiflex MIS") now offers a complete web shop system that is fine-tuned to the needs of the print product market.
The portal layout can be configured freely and, using a network API, references a streamlined Hiflex MIS packet. This packet pulls the strings in the background, by managing customers, orders, and products. "In order to implement a best-in-class solution we analyzed several web shop systems in advance of our new development, and we are very pleased with the result," said Stefan Reichhart, Hiflex CEO.
In May 2007, the first implementation of the new Hiflex Webshop went online. At www.printplaza.com, the Düsseldorf company Print Plaza AG offers over 160,000 print products. Their selection ranges from flyers, business cards, brochures and folders to XXL posters. Additional products are available per individual request.
The system facilitates a simple product configuration. A print product can be assembled from several modules (such as number of pages, color, paper, finishing, and refinement) at lightning speed. During the configuration process, unworkable combinations are excluded using a plausibility check, and necessary processing steps are added (e.g. scoring with 200g/m2 paper). The products can also be based on multiple product components, for example, envelope and content. This leads to a huge number of possible combinations. The special feature: only a few modules are needed in the background, because up to 1024 product combinations can be generated from only 20 modules. Modifications to the products (e.g. a new price for a specific paper grade) can be entered easily, and will then apply to all dependent products.
The price feedback (market price) is immediately generated, and scaled according to print run. The prospective buyer can open a PDF quote with complete fact sheet (product specification) and receive immediate notification when the print data must be delivered and when the product will ship. He can define the shipping type based on the calculated weight.
Exactly like at Amazon, he brings his virtual shopping cart to the checkout. After the customer has registered, various payment methods can be selected, including credit card payment. The customer receives the invoice through an automated e-mail PDF.
At the next step, the portal offers the upload of the print data for the issued order. The print data is checked immediately (Preflight), and the customer receives immediate notification of whether the data can be further processed. If "Softproof" was selected when the order was placed, the Print Shop system will digitally process a proof (online proof.)
The customer can keep track of the order status all at times during the order processing. As soon as the delivery process has begun, he can also track the status using Package Tracking.
But the Hiflex Webshop is not only convenient for buyers. A large portion of a print shop's administrative and technical processes are automatically processed through the Hiflex back-end. Customer master data, supplier addresses, and orders are automatically applied. The system automatically generates quotes, order confirmations, job dockets, invoices, and delivery notes. Furthermore, the order is placed in package pickup using a direct UPS interface, and a standard UPS shipping label with tracking number is generated.
Stefan Reichhart of Hiflex emphasizes: "The application of Hiflex Webshop should be viewed independent of your MIS System, with which the classic print orders are processed. Our shop system is therefore a useful tool for every print shop that would like to enter the online business world." And because the first implementation of Print Plaza is already online, everyone can experience the Hiflex Webshop System for himself at www.printplaza.com.