Page 30 - Print21 Magazine May-June 2022

PacPrint
Head to
While it is the hardware on show at PacPrint that fi st catches the eye
it is often in the print software that real savings can be made, effic ncies garnered, and markets opened, reports Wayne Robinson.
the cloud
For an industry that was based on mechanical engineering, the transition to a
digital manufacturing business integrated with,
well everyone, thanks to the internet, the cloud and any number of acronyms has been handled remarkably well.
Computers have been
around for 40 years, since
the electronic page make-up systems from Crosfield, Hell, Screen and Scitex ruled
the roost, and in a major
way for the past 30
years since the Apple Mac demolished both those page make-up and the entire typesetting industry. Electronic MIS systems came into being 25 years ago, both
PacPrint visitors will also see software solutions that includes the latest in MIS, from the likes
Packaging software will also be at the show with Esko, which estimates 90 per cent of all packaging produced in the world has some kind of Esko input. And then there are the opportunities available from the likes of XMPie, which will enable print businesses to become multi-channel digital and print communications companies. Programmes from the latter show its capabilities as a platform for marketing and communications, that the
company says increases trust and loyalty across the entire customer lifecycle,
through personalised print services, video, email, SMS,
store fronts and omni-channel campaigns.
XMPie says it can be considered
the internet and digital workflow solutions at the start of the century, the cloud at the last drupa.
Print businesses then have had
a long time to embrace digital software, and it is, or ought to be,
at the core of every print operation in the country. The digitalisation of printing is a reality, even for printing with analogue offset or flexo presses, digital workflow and digital connection is very much part of the equation.
At PacPrint print businesses will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with a wide range of software designed for print. This includes the digital workflows from the likes of Kodak and Fujifilm, whose software enables the complete connection of the print business, both within itself and to everyone else through the cloud, and which are essential to any modern-day printer.
30 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2022
Above
of printIQ, Quote & Print, and eProductivity Software, which was formerly the EFI software division.
The eProductivity business, which included MIS, ERP and W2P, has become a substantial operation over the years, as the company acquired
a plethora of developers around the world and merged them into one entity. It now has 4,000 printers as customers around the world working in everything from commercial print to packaging display graphics, corrugated, labels and packaging, and publications. It is now a stand- alone business.
Most MIS systems are now available in the cloud, and connect to pretty much everything. Cloud based computing has major advantages; you don’t need your own servers, you never need to update software, and cloud based systems should be far more secure than local systems.
as a set of Lego bricks that can be assembled as required, allowing the system to scale from a small print company just starting on the digital journey through to major industry leader. It certainly offers print businesses entry into a world that many of their clients are demanding, digital communications, in what
its adherents say is a relatively painless way.
Software takes more work to comprehend than a print system,
but putting the work in can lead
to rich rewards. Progressive print businesses have known this for years, and seek to use software
as much as they can to automate whatever they can. PacPrint will provide a worthwhile opportunity for every print business, large and small, offset, digital, display or label, to discover how software can work for their businesses. 21
Cloud based software: Efficiencies