BOULDER, Colo. – InfoPrint Solutions, a Ricoh company,  today announced enhancements that further improve productivity for companies using the InfoPrint 5000 inkjet system for a variety of color and monochrome applications.  With today's announcement of the InfoPrint Ink Suite, the company is taking the next step to integrate existing stand-alone ink management tools into its InfoPrint ProcessDirector workflow solution, in addition to adding complementary new functions.  Integrating these already proven tools and functions with InfoPrint ProcessDirector enables more automated job preparation and management, increasing efficiency.

Customers can choose to implement any of the following Ink Suite tools that are initially being integrated with InfoPrint ProcessDirector:

• Enfocus PitStop Connect – Automates the preparation of PDF files for print, increasing accuracy and repeatability by eliminating manual steps.
• Ink Savvy – Optimizes InfoPrint 5000 color files to enhance output quality and reduce ink usage, while maintaining the overall "look and feel" of the document.
• Ink Estimation – Enables ink job cost estimates to be quickly generated for PDF or AFP files, customized based on the InfoPrint 5000 settings
• Preview Print - Allows customers to print sample pages of a job on the InfoPrint 5000 with key print setting information on a banner page, for review, before printing the entire job, and for tracking purposes.

 In addition, to provide flexibility to customers with different workflows, the existing versions of Enfocus PitStop Connect, Ink Estimation, and Ink Savvy will be offered as stand-alone tools, as well as the InfoPrint 5000 Ink Monitor feature which tracks actual ink consumption during print.
 
Since the initial launch of the InfoPrint 5000, numerous tools and enhancements have been delivered to help customers leverage their InfoPrint 5000 investment to improve their business operations.  With this announcement, customers can now achieve even more process automation by using the InfoPrint ProcessDirector integrated Ink Suite tools to streamline their operations.  For example, a single automated workflow can be created that will identify multiple color quality options for a job, estimate the price for each color option, create custom banner pages documenting the color options and ink costs, print a subset of the job multiple times with different settings applied, choose and approve the appropriate color option, and then print in high speed production mode.
 
The benefits to customers of using Ink Suite of tools include:

• Automation to reduce labor and process step costs - With the integration of the tools with InfoPrint ProcessDirector, customers can reduce the risk of errors and delays
• Achieving optimum document appearance with minimal ink consumption - These ink tools can improve the overall document appearance, while reducing ink cost
• Optimization of cost estimates for improved ROI – This empowers customer to make faster and easier decisions to improve business results.

"Printers today need more options to manage processes and costs – plain and simple.  The new InfoPrint ProcessDirector features in Ink Suite provide that to printers, along with the added bonus of increased flexibility and productivity," said Gary Borgese, Director, Software Product Management, InfoPrint Solutions.  "Based on our customers' needs, we've developed this integration of InfoPrint 5000 ink tools with InfoPrint ProcessDirector with their business requirements in mind.  This offering is a natural choice for anyone running the InfoPrint 5000."
 
InfoPrint ProcessDirector is the industry's leading workflow automation and print management software that manages end-to-end output processes from a single point of control.  Customers across an array of industries such as healthcare, utilities, outsourcing and many more have selected this solution to support their workflow and output demands.  InfoPrint ProcessDirector is the core platform of InfoPrint Solutions' Automated Document Factory (ADF) offerings which have received top accolades from leading analyst firms IDC and Gartner.  Most notable, a 2010 IDC survey found that 68 percent of respondents receive their ADF solutions from InfoPrint Solutions*.
 
For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/InfoPrintInkSuite.