Toronto – Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, today announced the launch of Version 12 of its Graphic Arts Management System. Version 12 builds on previous versions of Avanti's core Print MIS and incorporates new capabilities, providing customers with enhanced print shop intelligence.

"Everyone from customer service to sales is psyched about the new functionality of the Avanti Version 12 release," said Dave Zamorski, COO of Associates International, Inc.  "The reduced time to create estimates and the flexibility of integrating seamlessly into our workflow allows us to maintain our lights out automation on the presses," Zamorski added.

"We are very excited to launch Version 12 which adds powerful insight into customer behavior, enabling print providers to better understand and re-act more quickly to customer needs," said Patrick Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti. "With more integration and automation capabilities, Version 12 will give our customers the opportunity to reduce costs and more efficiently process jobs.  Enhancements to eAccess, our Web-to-Print offering, will help our customers remain competitive and will help generate new sources of revenue."

Version 12 also provides new functionality enhancements to Avanti's Finite Capacity Scheduling and Purchasing and Inventory Management modules, such as:
- JDF-based job status updates can now automatically update milestones in Avanti's Finite Capacity Scheduling module,
- Avanti's Purchasing and Inventory Management application now interfaces with XPEDX, automating the web submission process of purchase orders.

In addition, many user requested enhancements have been added to Avanti's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and eDashboard Business Intelligence modules. Selected enhancements include:
- Aggregation and reporting of customer orders, quotes, print job status and other important shop information which can be tracked in Avanti eDashboards through a simple, easy-to-use GUI,
- New business generation and lead tracking capabilities in CRM,
- Microsoft Outlook integration within CRM including automatic synchronization of emails, contacts, tasks and appointments bi-directionally.

Early feedback on Avanti's CRM/Microsoft Outlook integration has been very positive both from Avanti customers and analysts. Avanti won the "Best of Show" award in the Print MIS/ERP category at the On Demand 2010 Conference and Expo.

"As an early adopter of Avanti's Version 12, we are quickly realizing the advantages of the new automation and integration features in the latest version," says Chris Campbell, VP of Operations at PacBlue Digital Imaging. "Our sales team now has quick and easy access to real-time information about all their opportunities and active jobs in the system. Management utilizes the CRM to quickly create ad-hoc operational and financial reports that help us keep a finger on the pulse of our operations quickly and easily."

Another important addition to Version 12 is the bi-directional integration of Avanti Print MIS with Printable Technology's Web-to-Print application. This further automates print shop workflows and provides customers with the ability to manage and track projects remotely at anytime and from anyplace. Other leading third part integrations to be included in Version 12 are NowDocs, XMPie and Heidelberg Prinect.