Wilmington, MA, — Executives from around the world disclosed the roadmap into the coming years for Prism’s graphic arts applications WIN and QTMS. Manfred Lange, Prism technical director for management information system (MIS) product development disclosed the software architecture that will enable Prism’s users to enjoy the very best in reliability, security, and functionality. David Sparling, Prism technical director for Prism QTMS gave users a peak of the latest major version of QTMS that will be released at Graph Expo in September. Forty attendees from across the US and Canada attended the four day event which included an architectural boat tour of Chicago.

Lange, travelling from Auckland, New Zealand, Prism’s world-wide headquarters, described the move toward Prism WIN’s three-tier architecture.

“Architecting three discreet modules for the user interface, business rules, and database allows Prism to update each of the modules independently as enhancements and technology dictate,” said Lange as he addressed the general session. “This also sets the stage for continuing Prism’s heritage of open architecture and connectivity to external systems. We are continuing to supplement the existing Prism WIN Connect module with state of the art web services allowing robust and secure two-way access to the database layer.”

This year was the first year Mark Kuehn, Chief Technology Officer at the John Roberts Company of Minneapolis, MN, attended the conference.

“We recently purchased Prism WIN and QTMS and are in the midst of implementation,” says Kuehn, “and what attracted me to the product offering and the company was Prism’s dedication to staying at the forefront of technology. Having the opportunity to meet Manfred and hear first hand his plans for the product made the conference worthwhile for me. I hope to be back year after year.”

Sparling, travelling from Colchester, UK, grabbed the attention of the attendees as he demonstrated the latest in automated shop floor data capture and material tracking. This, combined with Jim Zeman’s case study of QTMS material tracking in a labels operation laid the foundation for a strong return on investment for controlling shop floor material handling, counts, and waste reduction. Zeman is Production Manager at Outlook Group of Menasha, Wisconsin.

President and CEO, Filip Buyse provided a year in review which included Prism’s strong financial performance, business unit performance and goals, and organizational changes.

“Prism has had a strong year,” Filip said during his presentation, “showing that when you help your customers become successful, it helps your company’s performance.”

Buyse also highlighted the successful year in North America with record new sales.

This year marks the first year that Prism holds three user conferences around the world within a 12 month period open to all Prism customers. Chicago was the first conference with two additional conferences in the UK and Australia.

“One of the many values of the user conference is networking between customers,” states Kathy Mitchell, Global Director of Professional Services and Technology. “We feel that sharing ideas across continents will be a great benefit to all Prism users.”

Mitchell, who arrived from Brisbane, Australia, encouraged North American attendees to join future conferences in Australia and the United Kingdom.

“Jet Litho has been a long time Prism user and has attended just about every user conference since the first North American users gathered together,” says Jeff Norby, President and CEO of Jet Lithocolor, Downers Grove, IL. “The face to face interaction with Prism staff and customers is invaluable to Jet in our pursuit to maximize our utilization of Prism WIN.”

The next Prism user conference is in Birmingham, UK, September 6 and 7, 2011.