Wilmington, DE – Associates International, Inc. (Ai), a leading integrated marketing services provider, is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a first place winner of the CIP4 International Print Production Innovation Award.  The award is presented annually by the International Cooperation for the Integration of the Process of Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4), an association which recognizes outstanding and pioneering digital print applications and integrations.

Associates International was honored as the winner in the "Biggest Improvement in Quality Production and Customer Responsiveness as a Result of Process Automation" category for its excellence in JDF-based production.  Ai won this award for the first time in 2008.

Ai took a highly effective workflow with limited communication capabilities and added a communication path to all partners.  Key benefits and cost savings realized by this integration were compatibility; lights-out automation (the ability to run jobs with no operators or personnel on premises); automated accounting; enhanced accuracy and automation of inventory; capture of accurate costing data and process management integration.   

"We are extremely proud to receive this important award for a second time," said Dave Zamorski, Chief Operating Officer at Associates International.  "The investments we made in innovative software and programming have visibly demonstrated significant return on investment.  We've also achieved a steady pace of continual process improvement which is key to satisfying our customers' changing needs."

"I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge our vendor partners – Avanti, Creo, and Xerox – for their contributions to this JDF User Certified integration," added Zamorski.  "Their involvement is an invaluable part of the process."