Joint development offers end-to-end automation for a wider variety of jobs

Ottawa, Canada – As part of its strategy of integrating with key technology partners, Tilia Labs, a leading developer of planning, imposition, and automation software solutions for the graphic arts industries, is pleased to announce a new technology partnership with Aleyant, an innovative leader in providing robust software services to the graphic communications industry at value-driven prices. The joint development is designed to deliver simplicity, efficiency, predictability, and end-to-end quality control for printers offering all types of commercial and large-format print services via online storefronts.
 
The partnership between Tilia Labs and Aleyant has resulted in two new integrations that connect Tilia Labs’ flagship imposition system, tilia Phoenix, with Aleyant’s web-to-print and workflow solutions Pressero and tFlow. Available immediately, the integrations mean that customers utilizing these joint solutions will benefit from automated imposition capabilities for dynamic calculation of the most cost-optimal production layouts direct from order input through to completion. This end-to-end cross-platform automation covers virtually any printing, cutting, and finishing combination for a wider variety of jobs than was previously available.
 
Sagen de Jonge, CEO of Tilia Labs explains: “We’re very excited by this partnership with Aleyant because web-to-print imposition is an area where we feel tilia Phoenix can make a massive difference to print service providers. Phoenix was purpose-designed to automate impositions that deliver the best scenario for the printer, in terms of equipment utilization, materials and consumables, turnaround times, and overall cost. By its nature, web-to-print involves the greatest range of variables: thousands of individual files, each specified differently, submitted in every available format and via a variety of protocols. It calls for unprecedented speed, flexibility, and accuracy. The combination of Aleyant and Tilia will be hard to beat.”
 
Tilia Labs’ flagship imposition solution, tilia Phoenix, draws on new developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in automating planning and imposition for all types of devices and print applications using advanced nesting, die cutting, guillotine optimization, and planning algorithms. The system factors in parameters, such as job specifications (quantity, dimensions, colors, substrates), presses/print devices, postpress requirements, and delivery considerations, to deliver optimal layout options. 
 
Pressero’s embrace of the XML open architecture approach to workflow enables it to automatically hand off orders and files to a hot folder designated for Phoenix software. First, Pressero will generate a csv file that can be saved locally or in FTP. Once the file is received via Aleyant's Automatic Workflow Integrator (AWI), it is sent to the Phoenix hot folder where is has automatic access to Phoenix tools and protocols that search across millions of possibilities in calculating the most cost-effective ganging and nesting combinations. The Phoenix Plan identifier helps control which incoming jobs are considered to be in the same group in identifying layouts for up to 1000 orders at a time.
 
Similarly, integration with Aleyant tFLOW links tilia Phoenix into a digital and large format workflow solution specifically designed to simplify and control difficult file management tasks and processes. Aleyant tFLOW can automatically check and fix jobs and forward them for approvals or production. With tilia Phoenix as partner technology, imposition plans, production options and cost implications can be calculated simultaneously on-the-fly.
 
“Our principal mission is to help customers become more available, efficient and profitable by unifying production processes,” comments Darrian Young, tFLOW Product Manager at Aleyant. “This partnership creates a very powerful capability to do exactly that without adding any complexity for the user. Printers of everything from custom packaging, labels, decals, cases, sign and display, to more traditional commercial jobs, can now benefit from ultimate process efficiency and cost-optimization, seamlessly and dynamically from the point of job submission through to despatch.”
 
A webinar explaining the benefits of the new capabilities to web-to-print providers is available. Entitled “Adding Automated Imposition to Your Workflow: Do More, Save Time & Stop Errors”, to view it go to the Aleyant webinar library. 
 
The latest video from Aleyant covering its automated print workflow solutions can be viewed here.