CIP4 Announces Appointment of Avanti’s Patrick Bolan to Board
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions today announced that for the second consecutive
year, Avanti’s President and CEO, Patrick Bolan, has been appointed to the CIP4 Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is CIP4’s governing body
and Mr. Bolan is a representative of the “full” level class of membership which is comprised mainly of systems and software vendors.
CIP4 unites print vendors, consultants, and end-users to foster process automation, to focus on defining the Job Definition Format (JDF) and other
relevant standards, and to develop a range of JDF software to test product interoperability for the integration of processes in pre-press, press and
post-press.
“Automation has become a critical component of printing and JDF continues to evolve to encompass advances in digital printing, post-press
automation, wide-format printing and packaging. MIS systems such as Avanti’s have become the hub of automated printing operations and it is
important that CIP4 keep up with the industry and MIS systems,” said CIP4 Executive Director James Harvey. “That’s why Mr. Bolan’s commitment
to continue on the CIP4 Advisory Board is important; he brings with him an understanding of what printers need today and in the future. Avanti has
been active in CIP4 educational programs as well, and Mr. Bolan’s leadership and input give voice to the need to communicate complex
technical advances to printers in a way that is clear and easy to understand,” adds Mr. Harvey.
“Avanti continues to invest in JDF integration and automation as we add more web-to-print, pre-press, press and post-press vendors and
technologies to our growing roster of integrations,” says Patrick Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti.
“Avanti customers are seeing a rapid return on their investments in automation projects as they reduce the turnaround time and eliminate touch-
points on the job as it makes its way through Production,” adds Mr. Bolan.
Patrick Bolan is responsible for the company’s corporate strategy and business development. Mr. Bolan continues to focus Avanti on growing its
automation and integration capabilities to ensure that Avanti is the most open and most flexible system on the market.
Avanti and ePrint Take Their Technology Partnership to the Next Level
Two print technology players combine expertise and technology to provide world-class workflow solutions
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions and ePrintDirect Ltd., (ePrint) a UK-based Web-to-
Print developer, today announced a new strategic partnership. Integration of ePrint’s Skyline Web-to-Print software with Avanti’s production
management system is now available to commercial and In-plant organizations across Europe. Print providers can take advantage of significant
savings in time and resources, thanks to the benefits of a fully integrated workflow.
“From early discussion, the synergy in our products and the benefits to our customers was obvious and I am very excited by the many new
opportunities that are already presenting themselves as a result of this partnership” said Chris Camp, ePrint Managing Director. “In addition to the
technology advantages, there will be significant benefits from the experience and exposure each company brings from diverse markets around the
world.”
Skyline, ePrint’s Web-to-Print software, provides an easy, fast and accessible way for users to order print and products via the Web. Avanti’s
award-winning production system completes the print workflow cycle by enabling print providers to automate all facets of their shop - from Web-to-
Print to production, shipping and billing.
“ePrint has an excellent reputation across Europe so we are extremely excited to be launching in Europe with ePrint as a partner,” says Patrick
Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti. “Leveraging ePrint’s existing infrastructure, presence and tenure in the European market with Avanti’s North
American MIS leadership, both companies are well positioned to help their customers achieve new levels of productivity.”
The entire suite of Avanti Print MIS software is now available from ePrint. ePrint and Avanti will be demonstrating their joint product offering at
Drupa in Düsseldorf taking place in May.
Avanti Now a Certified Reseller of Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft’s Cloud offering
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, is pleased to announce today that its Microsoft Gold
Partnership has gone to the next level and Avanti is now a certified reseller of Microsoft® Office 365. Microsoft® Office 365 incorporates the rich
features of Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Link Online into one platform accessible via the Cloud.
This Software as a Service (SaaS) model will enable customers to eliminate costs associated with licensing fees, software upgrades, in-house
infrastructure and IT support. Powerful technology to improve business productivity is now available to companies of all sizes.
“As part of Avanti’s on-going cloud strategy, we are pleased to offer our customers the ability to take advantage of enterprise level software at a
fraction of the cost,” says Patrick Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti. “Organizations can eliminate the costs associated with licensing fees,
software upgrades and aging infrastructure, while having quick and easy access to the latest software upgrades and functionality available
anywhere and from any mobile device, PC or browser.”
Microsoft® Office 365 is Microsoft’s next generation of cloud productivity service, and is one of the first and only major cloud-based platforms to
offer leading information privacy and security standards to customers around the world.
Customers of all sizes transitioning to the Cloud can realize significant benefits including:
· The ability to only pay for what they use versus the traditional licensing model associated with number of users and pricey annual
subscriptions,
· Access to the latest in Microsoft software with no patching or maintenance required,
· The ability to eliminate corporate file sharing servers, exchange servers and other in-house infrastructure,
· The reallocation of expensive IT support resources to more value-added tasks,
· Easy access to services which can be deployed within minutes and are scalable to each company’s unique requirements,
· Low monthly fees and many other benefits which can be discussed in more detail with your Avanti representative.
Avanti Named Xerox’s Print MIS Partner of the Year
Avanti Computer Systems Limited was named Xerox Corporation 2011 Print MIS Business Partner of the Year for its continued contribution to
Xerox, its customers and the printing industry as a whole. Xerox Corporation’s Elizabeth Fox (pictured above) presents Avanti’s Stephen
McWilliam with the Award for Print Management Information Systems at the Xerox Partner Summit held recently in Tampa, Florida.
The Xerox Partner Conference is an opportunity for Xerox to recognize the partner community and highlight their partners of the year. With over
100 industry-leading software and hardware providers participating in the Xerox Business Innovation Partner Program, Avanti was honored to
receive this recognition in the Print MIS category for the fourth time.
“The running of the print shop has changed dramatically over the years. Ten years ago, a shop would have 10 jobs that had to get out in the next
10 days,” says Stephen McWilliam, EVP of Avanti. “Now they have 10 jobs that need to get out in the next hour! The only way to do that, without
throwing people at the problem, is through automation. Xerox customers realize Print MIS plays a key role here.”
The Xerox Business Partner of the Year awards are presented annually by the Xerox Global Business & Strategic Marketing Group, which brings
to market the full portfolio of Xerox document solutions, software and systems for production and office environments. The awards honor business
partners that contributed most significantly to the business success of Xerox and its customers.
Avanti’s Print MIS receives Integrated Digital Printing Certification from CIP4
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, is pleased to announce today that CIP4 has certified Avanti for Integrated Digital Printing (IDP), its newest standard.
“Avanti was an early adopter of the JDF standard and the company is very committed to the CIP4 organization,” says Brandon M. Iskey, JDF
Product Certification Program Administrator at Printing Industries of America. “Avanti has invested a lot of time, R&D and energy in CIP4’s
certification process and it is not surprising that its thought leadership has enabled the company to lead the way in providing digital print services,”
adds Iskey.
Avanti’s digital automation solution underwent a stringent testing process by Printing Industries of America, (the certification body for CIP4) and
was officially certified by the CIP4 Organization (International Cooperation for the Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress) for its ability to
seamlessly communicate through JMF and JDF (Job Messaging Format and Job Definition Format), with the digital equipment in the print shop.
“Avanti is excited to be at the forefront of digital print workflow automation. Digital automation is not new to Avanti as we have been delivering
these services for over five years to a significant number of customers including Earth Color, Associates International, Buffalo Printing, Ministry of
Government Services, Variable Image Printing, to name a few,” says Patrick Bolan, CEO of Avanti and CIP4 Board Member. “Our current digital
integrations include Agfa, Canon, HP, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Xerox. We are pleased to be adding yet another JDF certification to our
portfolio and support CIP4 in their on-going mission.”
The integration of Avanti’s Print MIS and SmartLinc’s Process Shipper streamlines operations while reducing the cost of shipping
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions and SmartLinc, Inc. a web-based shipping solutions
provider, today announced their integration partnership. The bi-directional integration of Avanti’s MIS with Process Shipper, SmartLinc’s multi-
carrier shipping solution, will enable print providers to better monitor and track customer shipments, eliminate inefficiencies and improve their
bottom line.
EarthColor, a premier provider of digital print and integrated marketing solutions in Moonachie NJ, has already implemented the Avanti/SmartLinc
integration. “Both Avanti and SmartLinc are important applications in our operation. The integration of the two enables us to save time and effort in
our shipping and billing departments, by eliminating the data entry errors that inevitably occur as multiple departments re-key in the same data at
multiple points in the workflow,” says William Chilin, Director of IT at EarthColor.
Once an order is placed in Avanti, the integration of the two applications shortens the ship-to-bill cycle time by automatically updating the shipping
status, carrier information, number of packages, tracking numbers, and freight charges in Avanti in real-time. This enables printers to enhance
cash flow and provide their customers with up-to-date shipping status.
“We are excited to extend the integration capability of SmartLinc and Avanti to our customers and provide for a more streamlined shipping process
which is simple to use, cost effective and accurate,” says Patrick Bolan, CEO of Avanti.
SmartLinc has been EarthColor’s preferred shipping integrator for over the past five years. “With the addition of the Avanti Business Management
Software, it was a natural decision for us to develop an interface with Avanti to provide the automation capabilities of Process Shipper for Avanti
shipments as well.” says Scott Kwiatkowski, Vice President at SmartLinc.
Avanti and Ultimate Announce New Integration Partnership
Powerful connectivity provides printers with Automated MIS to prepress and finishing capability, eliminating imposition bottlenecks and
accelerating production
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions and Ultimate Technographics Inc., the Monteal-
based leader in imposition software and the inventor of digital imposition, are excited to announce their new integration partnership. Avanti’s Print
MIS (Management Information System) integrates with Ultimate’s Impostrip® imposition technology, enabling printers to optimize their production
workflow from production planning to the prepress and finishing stage.
The objective of this joint Avanti/Ultimate partnership was to develop a high level of integration that would provide print professionals with a
simple to deploy cost effective yet powerful solution, without needing to invest in IT resources or programming. With the exponential growth in the
print on demand and short-run printing market, print providers need to automate as many touch-points as possible in order to remain profitable.
“As more and more book printers move to print on demand (POD), everyone is looking for ways to streamline the workflow. Historically, sharing
information between estimating, prepress and bindery has been very difficult, resulting in the reentry of information which is both redundant and
prone to human error,” says Patrick Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti. “Through this integration partnership, we now offer a complete web-to-
print-to-finish automation platform which provides an immediate ROI.”
Ultimate’s Impostrip® OnDemand Automation solution for digital printing and Impostrip® client-server for hybrid printers are both integrated with
Avanti. Ultimate’s XML Director triggers the imposition no matter how complex, from the job ticket generated by Avanti’s MIS. Once the job is
created in Avanti, the job ticket is consumed automatically by Impostrip® XML Director Module, which imposes and creates the final PDF for print
with all the elements required such as dynamic barcode, marks, etc. and automatically sends the PDF to the selected press. Simultaneously, and
again automatically, a JDF job ticket is produced and sent to the selected finishing device through JMF communication.
“We are excited about our new partnership with Avanti, says Joanne David, President and CEO of Ultimate Technographics. It is the first MIS
system that has fully completed the integration of our Impostrip® OnDemand automation software which connects to our Ultimate Bindery for
finishing automation. This ‘off the shelf’ connectivity between the Avanti system and Impostrip®, is designed to take advantage of the most
advanced imposition features needed in a modern prepress department today, allowing more versatility, better optimisation for various presses,
more automation in post-press and, therefore, greater profit margins on short runs.”
Avanti Wraps Up its 19th Annual User’s Conference in Washington, DC
Avanti Computer SystemsLimited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, completed its 19th annual user’s conference in
Washington, DC earlier this month with a great mix of both In-Plant and Commercial printproviders. The conference provides Avanti customers a
unique opportunity to network with peers and swap ideas that they can execute on as soon as they get backto their shops.
The three day conference, sponsored by Xerox, HP,Gimbel and Associates and Pageflex, was kicked off with a keynote address by Patrick
Bolan, Avanti’s President and CEO. Mr. Bolan focused on thecompany’s 2011 strategy and vision. “Printers are re-defining themselves and their
business management software has to change to help them do so.”Automation, integration and cloud computing were dominant themes of Mr.
Bolan’s presentation.
Other conference highlights included presentations fromSappi, Print Art and PIA and break-out sessions focusing on hot print industry topics
geared towards management, operations and executive level attendees.
Daniel Dejan, North American Print and Creative Manager at Sappi gave an inspirational presentation on the changing role of print in today’s
market, while Frank Nardi, VP of Operations at New Jersey-based Print Art,talked passionately about how the company was able to completely
transform itself by challenging the status quo, developing a personality and fun and energeticculture that is attractive to both customers and
employees.
“Frank’s presentation really resonated as our company has experienced this need for change as well as many others I’m sure. A lot of print
provider’s are stuck inthe ways of the past and believe that what worked 10 years ago can still work today,” says Kevin Lanuke, President and
CEO of Blitzprint. “Frank demonstrates the importance for companies to step out of their comfort zone,” adds Lanuke.
Shop Tours Help Bring It All Together
One of the benefits of having the conference in Washington was the opportunity to see Avanti’s software “in action”. A very busy agenda of
presentations and roundtable discussions was augmented with onsite tours of shops running Avanti. Delegates were able to spend time at two of
the US Senate’s shops (the digital operation as well as the litho/mail facility) as well as Alexandria-based Global Printing, where Mark Smith, VP of
Sales and Josh Hirschorn, VP of Operations, talked the entire group through how Avanti helps them manage all facets of their business: Web
design, Marketing Services, Printing and Fulfillment.
“It was exciting to see in all three shops how deeply integrated Avanti is into their workflow. As a first time conference attendee and new user of
Avanti, we are taking lots of great ideas back with us that I know we can act on immediately,” says Terry Sutter, Vice President and COO of
Runbeck Election Services.
Team Building and Networking
According to Karen Meyers, Business Manager atMichigan Farm Bureau’s Printing Services Department,“It really is that one time per year to catch
up with old friends and to make new friends with users that attend the Avanti Conference who we communicate with and rely on as resources
throughout the year.” The three day agenda left lots of room for networking and also some team building. Delegates formed teams to compete in
a challenging scavenger hunt at Washington’s Spy Museum and many ambitious individuals hit theWashington streets for an evening bike tour of
the monuments.
The planning has already begun for the 2012 event with the Executive User Committee now looking at the finalist cities.
Helps Commercial Printers Transition to Marketing Services Business Model Complementary strengths accelerate business transformation through
analysis, training and strategic campaigns
The need to transform is well understood within the commercial printing market. Print executives know that by adopting better customer
relationship management, workflow automation, web-to-print processes, and multichannel marketing services, they can boost their relevance and
competitiveness. But it’s one thing to recognize the need and another to know how to address it.
A new partnership, announced by Gimbel & Associates and Avanti Computer Systems Limited, uses a proven, consultative approach to close this
gap and helps small to medium-sized graphic arts and commercial print operations upgrade and transition their capabilities. Print operations gain
not just one experienced partner, but two, both well prepared to help companies make important transformations.
Re-inventing Sales and Marketing Teams
As Avanti clients move from print-centric models to more profitable, integrated marketing services, sales strategy and service execution are key
success factors in this business transformation. Print providers must engage their sales, e-service, prepress, estimate and quoting departments,
and other teams in the new business model, but re-inventing these groups often presents a challenge.
“Companies need a combination of technology, training and coaching to transform as quickly as possible and get it right the first time,” said Patrick
Bolan, President and CEO of Avanti. “This partnership is designed to help Avanti customers accomplish that.”
“Commercial printers invest in Avanti CRM tools to streamline their digital workflows and automate MIS operations. That’s a straightforward
decision, but it’s only part of the journey. Deployment is the hard part: changing workflow and employee behavior in any organization is difficult.
This partnership guides companies past that obstacle to a more productive point where they can maximize their CRM investment and launch new,
effective marketing services,” said Roger P. Gimbel, EDP, President of Gimbel & Associates.
The partnership gives companies access to Gimbel expertise and consulting to leverage their Avanti investment more quickly and successfully.
“We connect the dots between the initial business strategy behind the software investment and getting it launched as a productive part of the
business,” said Gimbel.
Complementary Strengths
The partnership combines the strengths of two complementary organizations. Both offer solutions and services for the commercial print/graphic
arts market. Award-winning Avanti is a leading provider of print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, including Business Intelligence and CRM. This
enables clients to more efficiently create, track, and manage their marketing campaigns, sales processes and business operations.
Gimbel & Associates consulting helps clients improve performance and make the highest utilization of digital technologies. Gimbel complements
Avanti’s solutions with service offerings to drive increased sales and top line revenue. Gimbel brings strategic resources, knowledge and
experience to help Avanti customers achieve their business goals. Support includes sales training, business development consulting, and solution
selling.
Helping Printers Walk the Talk with Digital Campaigns
Digital campaigns and variable data are often new territory for printers making the transition to marketing services provider, but these can be
profitable new directions for a business and critical to its ongoing success. Avanti‘s CRM software helps clients manage their customer contact,
sales and marketing campaigns, making all customer information available immediately.
Gimbel & Associates then conducts a strategic assessment that focuses printers on what they can accomplish with Avanti tools and identifies
what changes will be needed within their organizations. Specialized training teaches companies how to create and execute high-value digital
campaigns and master the sales model needed to market these services. “We help implement the deployment strategy, so customers can be
effective with the software,” said Gimbel. “We get them to the point where they can walk the talk and build their own success stories.”
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Goes Live with Avanti
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, today announced that Rochester Institute of
Technology’s (RIT) in-plant print operation, has gone live with Avanti’s Print MIS production system. Avanti will enable RIT’s in-plant to
significantly enhance operations by eliminating manual processes, streamline the production workflow and provide true job level insight to better
understand and support the University’s printing needs.
RIT is a renowned university with over 17, 000 students, and 243 campus buildings spread over 1,300 acres of property but is perhaps best
known for its Graphic Communications program. The in-plant which dates back to 1985 offers both digital and offset printing capabilities and is
responsible for fulfilling the printing requirements of the university, including the nine colleges that comprise the academic disciplines at RIT. One
of the primary challenges the in-plant was facing was the time that it took for jobs to get to the production stage. The ticketing process was
entirely manual, causing production backlogs, processing errors and unsatisfied customers due to slow job turnaround time.
“The goal is to get the jobs in quicker so production can begin as early in the cycle as possible. This will enable us to keep up with demand and
even increase the number of jobs coming through the shop,” says John Meyer, Director of In-Plant Operations at RIT. “With Avanti, jobs that were
taking days to get to production now take only hours. Data entry errors are significantly reduced and customer satisfaction improves. Instead of
staff answering customer’s calls about where their jobs are, they can proactively communicate with their customers in advance and focus on
improving service.” adds Meyer.
Another key advantage that RIT will realize with Avanti Print MIS is the ability to obtain accurate information on every job that is produced. This
will enable the in-plant to have an intimate understanding of their costs, better identify products that are a good fit for the department and eliminate
services that are too expensive to produce with their current equipment and workflow. It will also provide the shop with the ability to accurately
forecast and more competitively set product pricing relative to outside vendor estimates. RIT will be armed with the information that they need to
better compete for customers.
“Given RIT’s reputation in the Graphic Communications community, we are thrilled to add such a renowned university to our list of customers, says
Patrick Bolan, CEO of Avanti. “Before selecting us, RIT put Avanti and our competitors through probably the most intensive due diligence process
we have ever been through. With Avanti, RIT will be able to decrease costs and realize significant efficiency gains through improved workflows
and more automated processes.” The second phase of the project is now ramping up and includes the implementation of Avanti eAccess (Web-to-
print) in RIT’s POD walk-up centre and main in-plant shop.
Avanti CRM provides Central Reproductions with Actionable Insight into Critical Customer
Information
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, today announced that Central Reproductions, a full
services commercial print provider in Toronto, has implemented Avanti CRM to provide a more streamlined and automated approach to the
company’s management of sales, marketing and customer information.
Central Reproductions, (Central) has been in business for 28 years. Central has recently completed a million dollar investment in expanding their
location and purchasing new equipment to better service their growing business. Their print shop now incorporates three buildings under one roof
(55 000 sq ft.). Central has been an Avanti customer for over twenty years, working with Avanti’s Print MIS and production modules. With the
introduction of Avanti CRM, Central is now achieving greater internal efficiencies and the ability to better monitor and react to changes in c
customer behavior.
“It’s all about the customer! Avanti CRM provides all Central staff with one screen where they can view all of the real-time information regarding a
customer, significantly enhancing customer service and response time,” agreed Doug Snow and Ward Spencer, owners of Central
Reproductions. “Avanti CRM provides our CSR’s and sales team with ‘information at their fingertips’ such as instant access to customer quotes,
important notes and job information, invoices and customer history to more effectively handle customer inquiries,” added Spencer.
Attracting new customers and sales personnel is a priority for Central’s 2010 business strategy as the company continues to grow despite the
tough economy. Avanti CRM technology will give Central’s CSR’s the ability to do more in less time and focus on customer-centric activities that
provide tangible results. Campaign management enables Central’s marketing team to send out more targeted campaigns to their customers and
prospects while easily tracking revenue and profitability per campaign, production costs and total marketing ROI. In the past, this has proven to
be difficult and very time consuming without an automated solution.
We are excited to be working with such a forward thinking organization like Central. Not only are they modernizing their equipment and embracing
new technologies to realize efficiencies, but they are also introducing new tools that help their team exceed customers’ expectations,” says
Patrick Bolan, CEO of Avanti. “We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship and supporting Central in their upcoming endeavors.”
The next phase of their deployment includes integrating Avanti CRM with Microsoft Outlook Exchange. This will enable the sales team and
business to synchronize all their tasks, notes and activities from Outlook to Avanti CRM automatically and share important customer information
between departments.
Avanti Launches Version 12 with Enhanced Print Shop Intelligence
Avanti Version 12 Print MIS features greater integration, automation and Business Intelligence capabilities
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.
Avanti and Printable Technologies Announce Partnership
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS and Web-to-Print solutions, today
announced a new integration with Printable Technologies® Inc., a premier provider of Web-to-Print and
marketing personalization solutions. Avanti’s Print MIS is now integrated with Printable’s MarcomCentral®
ideal for creating, printing and managing the delivery of static, versioned and variable data pieces.
“We are pleased to offer this new integration with Avanti,” said Coleman Kane, CEO and President at
Printable Technologies. “Printable remains committed to expanding our partner network in order to achieve
best in class workflows. MarcomCentral customers will now have access to Avanti’s JDF-certified, open
architecture Print MIS which will better manage and track important customer data and provide more
accurate reporting functionality.”
The integration of these two powerful technologies will provide print shops with a zerotouch work environment
rom job creation and submission, right through to delivery. This will reduce costs and inefficiencies and
increase customer satisfaction by reducing turnaround time.
“As the Web-to-Print market continues to grow, it is important for Avanti to partner with a market leading
technology such as MarcomCentral®,” said Patrick Bolan, President of Avanti. “Printers are looking for very
tight integration between their customer-facing Web-to-Print portals and their back-end production
environments as they strive to drive down the cost of doing business. This is achieved by eliminating the
re-entry of data as a job makes its way through the shop.”
The integration of Avanti and Printable will bring our shop up to the next level of automation,” said Blake
Leduc, President of Duke Printing. “We can now offer our customers the ability to order, proof and process
their print projects quickly and from any location as well as track job status throughout the entire process.
This tight integration will save us 10-15 minutes per job - which doesn’t sound like much until you multiply
that time savings across the hundreds of jobs we receive over the Web.”
Avanti’s Print MIS Software Joins the HP SmartStream Portfolio
Bringing the benefits of highly automated workflows into reach for thousands of HP Indigo users, Avanti
Computer Systems Limited today announced that it has joined the HP Graphics Solutions Partner program
and has developed with HP an interface to integrate Avanti’s award-winning Print MIS software with the HP
SmartStream workflow portfolio. Avanti is the only provider of MIS software in the North American market to
offer this level of connectivity with HP SmartStream.
“Being able to deliver on the customer’s demand for tighter turnaround times and for substantial cost-cutting has
become a matter of survival for print providers,” said Riley McNulty, a Research Manager at IDC. “An
automated system such as Avanti’s is one effective way to accomplish it.”
With Avanti, virtually all facets of the print shop, such as job submission, printing, finishing and business
management functions like estimating, purchasing and job tracking, are now automated. Printers can
significantly reduce costs throughout the print production process by eliminating points at which human
intervention is typically required.
“The value of HP’s digital printing solutions goes beyond the press to encompass end-to-end workflows that
help our customers increase productivity and reduce operating costs,” said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president
and general manager, Indigo division, HP. “Together, HP and Avanti are helping customers become more
competitive in the current market by streamlining business management functions and speeding time from job
start to completion.”
Avanti’s modular print-MIS system integrates with the HP SmartStream Production Pro Print Server.
Using JDF/JMF, data can be transferred bi-directionally between Avanti Print MIS and HP SmartStream
print servers in real time to update job and device status.
“Now HP Indigo users can get even more productivity from their SmartStream investment,” said Stephen
McWilliam, executive vice president, Avanti Computer Systems Limited. “After in-depth testing of the
integration, they can be certain that Avanti software will work seamlessly with their current workflows.”
Avanti’s Print MIS and HP’s SmartStream systems are based on open standards for interoperability, including
JDF, demonstrating their commitment to provide print shops the ability to choose the right processes for their
environment.
Cajun-style party includes Dixieland band and jambalaya
Avanti Computer Systems Limited celebrated their 25th anniversary in style, inviting customers, friends and
family to visit them in their new offices. The theme of the party was Cajun as they also begin to ramp up for
their next User Conference which will take place in New Orleans in March 2010.
Avanti got its start back in 1984, right around the time of the introduction of the IBM PC and Microsoft’s DOS
operating system; two technologies that revolutionized the computing industry. The origins of Avanti were all
the result of a conversation between Avanti’s founder, Dr. Richard Wallin, and one of his close friends who
happened to work at a printing company. The friend was complaining about how difficult a process it was to
put together accurate, consistent estimates for print jobs. Surely, this was something these new “personal
computers” could help with!
Requirements were scoped out on the back of a napkin and the original code was programmed at Dr. Wallin’s
dining room table on a PC that IBM had lent to Dr. Wallin as part of IBM’s program to get applications up and
running on their new platform. The original version of Avanti’s software literally ran on a PC with two 5 ¼ floppy
drives - the entire application running off of one floppy disk and all the data stored on the other floppy (with a
capacity of 360K!).
Fast forward 25 years and a lot has changed at Avanti. While Avanti remains completely focused on software
for the printing industry, Avanti’s product now goes well beyond the original litho estimating system. Avanti
software now has over 1.5 million lines of code, and includes over 35 modules and over 20 JDF integrations
into 3rd party applications and equipment.
“It’s the perfect time for a party” says Patrick Bolan, Avanti’s President and CEO. “Renovations are now
complete on our new offices; our 25th year in business was another very successful one for us and, with the
Avanti User Conference coming up in New Orleans, it was very easy to pick the theme for the party”.
Dr. Wallin is now enjoying retirement, after a successful transition of the business to three new owners who
came on the scene 5 years ago; Patrick Bolan, Stephen McWilliam and Peter Funnell. All three are actively
involved in the day-to-day running of the business and have seen the company more than double in size in
that time. The four of them took some time this summer to celebrate the 25th anniversary on Dr. Wallin’s
sailboat, spending a great day sailing on Lake Ontario.
Avanti Leverages Print 09 to Show Real World Benefits of Automation
It’s all about driving costs out of your business.
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of JDF-Certified Print
MIS and Web-to-Print solutions to the graphic communications industry, will use the backdrop of Print’09 to
deliver a series of presentations that will highlight how Print Shops are driving down the cost of doing business.
Scheduled demonstrations include:
· Microsoft Outlook Integration: Avanti will be demonstrating their ability to automatically synchronize all
contacts, tasks, notes, calendar and email bi-directionally between Microsoft Exchange Server and Avanti
CRM. A few of the benefits:
- Sales reps, often working remotely, can always remain in sync with the most current information about
their customers and their customer’s jobs.
- CSR’s have all the information regarding a customer on one screen including full access to all Outlook
correspondence.
· “Lights Out” Printing: Through a powerful combination of Web to Print technology and Prepress, Press
and Finishing automation, Avanti delivers “Lights out” Printing. Learn how your print shop’s workflow can be
streamlined and how costs can be driven out of your business.
· Direct Mail Management: Integrated mailing module ties together Direct Mail Estimating, Postage
Accounting and Inventory, Shipping, Billing and Reporting helping Print Shops evolve from Print Service
Providers to Marketing Service Providers and become a ‘one-stop-shop’ for the Value-added Services
customers are demanding such as Direct Mail Management, Fulfillment, and Creative Services.
· Kodak Prinergy Business Link: Demonstrating Avanti’s JDF integration into Kodak’s Prinergy
Workflow as part of its entire JDF-certified Print MIS solution. Avanti acts as the information hub of the
Print Shop, sending and receiving information to Prepress, Press and Finishing equipment.
· Best Practices in Automation: Associates Graphic Services’ COO David Zamorski walks people
through AGS’s success in integrating their multi-vendor environment. AGS’s investment in automation has
resulted in productivity gains that have AGS generating revenue per employee 52% above the industry
average.
Avanti’s modular software is broken down into four components:
· Production including estimating for digital, traditional offset and mail, job ticketing, scheduling,
inventory management, fulfillment, mailing, purchasing, shipping, and invoicing.
· Web-to-Print provides full eCommerce, POD job submission, catalogs, variable data, soft proofing, and
fulfillment.
· 3rd Party Integration: Supporting open standards such as JDF and XML, Avanti provides seamless
integration to over 20 best-in-class software applications and Direct Machine interface (DMI) to equipment
in both the press room and the bindery.
· Business Intelligence featuring Executive dashboards, Customer Relationship Management (CRM),
triggers and alerts, and reporting.
Avanti launches Direct Mail Management at ON DEMAND 2009
Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of JDF-Certified Print MIS solutions to the graphic
communications industry, will use the backdrop of On Demand to launch its new Direct Mail Management
System. As an extension of Avanti’s Print MIS System, the Direct Mail Management module provides an
ntegrated mailing solution that ties together Direct Mail Estimating, Postage Accounting and Inventory,
Web-to-Print Integration, Shipping, Billing and Reporting.
Now print shops are able to manage all lines of business and their entire operation with one application
including Print Production, Marketing Services, Fulfillment, Mailing, Billing, CRM and Shipping.
“Print shops are looking for ways to expand their Value-Added Services as they transition from Print Service
Provider to a Marketing Services Provider.” Says Patrick Bolan, Avanti’s President and CEO. “Adding Direct
Mail Management to Avanti Print MIS portfolio helps them become a ‘one-stop shop’ with the integrated
services their customers are demanding.”
Highlights include:
· Direct Mail Estimating: Fast accurate estimating of all elements of a project including postage,
data services, drop and packages.
· Postage Accounting: Deposit Management and Reconciliation of each client’s postage activity,
capturing and reporting actual usage including mail.dat imports to track actual postage used for each job.
· Postage Inventory Management for all Types of Postage: Stamps, Permits, Franked and Metered.
· Web-to-Print Integration: Provide full online access for the Print Shop’s customers to postage
summaries, replenishing of customer’s postage account, credit card processing, file and job submission.
· Shipping: Plan, manage and track multiple drops including items to be part of the drop, quantities
within each drop, drop locations and the mandatory drop completion dates.
· Billing/Accounting: Manage refunds, overages, and available funds for timely accurate Invoicing.
· On Demand Management Reporting: Open/Closed Drop Shipments, Client-Level Deposits vs. Usage
Summaries, Postage Inventory.
TORONTO, October 21, 2008 – Avanti Computer Systems Limited, a leading provider of Print MIS solutions to
the graphic communications industry, today announced that their core product has been JDF certified by the
CIP4 Organization (International Cooperation for the Integration of the Processes in Prepress, Press and
Postpress Organization)
The Avanti Print MIS software has passed CIP4’s stringent Job Definition Format (JDF) testing by PIA/GATF
(Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation), the official certification body for CIP4.
Having passed these rigorous standards for JDF product certification, Avanti’s Print MIS is now certified to
create and accept updated job details as the job is running, via JDF/JMF (Job Messaging Format).
Avanti’s award winning JDF framework gives print shops the ability to send automated JDF job instructions
directly to the prepress department; and subsequently, to the digital and litho presses as well as finishing
equipment. Upon completion, the job costing and accounting information is automatically passed back to
Avanti using JMF messaging. This saves time and eliminates the risk of data entry errors.
“By using JDF certified solutions, print providers can be confident that their entire workflow will run smoothly from
Prepress to Press and onto Postpress. Avanti continues to be a leading supporter of JDF and we are pleased
to have them participate in our initiative,” says Dr. Mark Bohan, Vice President, Research and Technology,
PIA/GATF.
Automate the Unbillable
“Avanti is proud to receive the JDF certification for our Print MIS,” says Patrick Bolan, Avanti’s President &
CEO. “This achievement is part of our vision to provide Print Shops with seamless integration of the prepress,
press and finishing departments. All printers are looking for ways to eliminate touchpoints in the workflow that
will reduce turnaround times and decrease unbillable costs associated with a job. Avanti continues to be
committed to JDF and CIP4 and we are very pleased our efforts have resulted in this certification.”
Bolan adds, “Why is this certification important? Avanti spent a lot of time and money to achieve this certification
so that customers have a ‘Quality Assurance stamp’ to ensure that the different applications they count on to
run their shop, can work together. We aren’t just talking about integration; we’re delivering on the promise.”
Avanti Shows Off New "Look and Feel" at Print World 2006
TORONTO, Ont. – Avanti Computer Systems is proud to announce the release of the latest version of its
Business Management Software for Commercial Printers and In-plant facilities.
A few highlighted features and enhancements that will be demonstrated at Print World 2006 in Toronto include:
· CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module: Completely integrated with all Avanti modules, Avanti
CRM includes full Contact Management functionality, Sales Forecasting and Marketing Campaign Management
capabilities
· Avanti eDashboard: Delivers a graphical view and real-time status Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
impacting customer service, financials, operations and sales and marketing – all with powerful filters and online
analytical capabilities
· Triggers and Alerts: Get immediate email notification of events or status changes impacting a job, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
“In this world of short runs and on demand printing, having the most up-to-date information on the status of a job
inside the shop is a critical requirement in order to deliver excellent customer service,” states Patrick Bolan,
president and CEO of Avanti Computer Systems. “Receiving a call from your customer asking, ‘Where’s my
job?!?’” can be an unpleasant conversation if you don’t have a quick and accurate answer.”
