)
| January 2010 : Data One Cuts Production Times by 50% with Alwan PDF Standardizer |
|
Data One Cuts Production Times by 50% with Alwan PDF Standardizer
Lyon, January 2010. Data One, has solved its workflow and color management issues, and slashed its production times by up half since using Alwan Color Expertise’s PDF Standardizer. Data One is one of the largest digital printing companies in France specializing in full color industrial label applications and direct mailing activities. They have five high-speed full color Kodak Versamark ink jet printing systems installed and an impressive selection of B&W xerographic systems, including three Xerox iGen 3s, two Xeikon 6000s, four OCE PS 440s, and two IBM 4100s. "Our customer base comprises large telcos, banks, insurance companies and retail chains,” says Laurent Quéré, Data One's customer integration manager. “We use our xerographic machines to print personalized marketing collateral as well as personalized direct mailings and our ink jet systems to print invoices and other transactional documents." Workflow automation Despite its advanced printing equipment, until recently Data One relied on a relatively basic prepress workflow. "We typically received native QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign files from our customers,” explains Nicolas Halabura, project manager in charge of color solutions at Data One. “We didn’t rely on an automated prepress workflow system, as our requirements were too specific for most out-of-the-box workflow products." However, workflow automation was not the only challenge. Data One was also struggling with color management issues. “We were facing an ink coverage issue with our ink-jet machines,” says Quéré. “Excessive total area coverage (TAC) resulted in paper bloating, which in turn created problems with our folding and envelope conditioning systems." Plus color consistency between different printing units was often insufficient, producing unreliable results in a distributed printing configuration. Implementing Alwan PDF Standardizer Data One discovered Alwan Color Expertise’s PDF Standardizer at the Intergraphic trade show in Paris: "The product has a flexible workflow architecture, so we can assemble our own bespoke system by linking components together,” says Halabura. “And PDF Standardizer includes the CMYK Optimizer engine, which automatically adjusts the color of incoming images and pages to match our accepted color standards and TAC limits." After an initial two-week trial using PDF Standardizer, Data One was very impressed with the results. “The solution is really easy to use – setting up the system and training our users took less than two days,” says Quéré. “It has solved all of our issues." “The system has reduced our file preparation overheads dramatically. Previously, manually checking a complex document like a catalogue could take up to three or four weeks. Now, files are preflighted on the fly and customers get confirmation that everything's OK within minutes. The business impact has been huge – we’ve cut our production times by half."  On the color management side, PDF Standardizer has delivered what Data One needed most – color consistency. "All documents receive identical treatment, resulting in stable and consistent color output,” says Halabura. “We’ve done away with unpredictable color deviations from one machine to another. Also, our TAC is now under control, with a maximum value of 300%, which is well below the generally accepted offset threshold. Plus ink bleeding has been greatly reduced and our envelope conditioning issues are gone." "PDF Standardizer has given us a huge productivity boost and is extremely reliable,” concludes Quéré. “And, crucially, we’ve had great feedback from our clients, who are enjoying the many benefits of the new system."  "PDF Standardizer delivers a high level of flexibility and color management that other workflow systems can’t match," says Nicolas Halabura, project manager in charge of color solutions at Data One.  " PDF Standardizer offers us excellent throughput and reliability," says Laurent Quéré, Data One's customer integration manager. About Alwan Color Expertise Alwan Color Expertise was founded in Lyon, France, in 1997 by the current managing director Elie Khoury and his vision - to demonstrate how important standardizing and controlling color throughout every stage of production is - has resulted in the company becoming a world leader in standardization and color management implementation. Today, Alwan provides software, consultancy and training to key players throughout the graphic arts industry, from printers to publishers and from software developers to hardware manufacturers. Alwan Color Expertise offers a choice of four full-featured software solutions within the Alwan CMYK Optimizer product family. Each delivers specialized capabilities that enable all partners along the graphic production line to guarantee the color accuracy of their work, while ensuring optimum production further down the line. Alwan has recently established very strong partnerships with many graphic industry players who are involved in standardization worldwide. They include research organizations, Universities, software publishers and OEMs. The outcome of these co-operations is the recent release of two new and unique ISO 12647 out-of-the-box standardization solutions: · PDF Standardizer, developed in partnership with Enfocus, offers a simple and reliable way to create PDFs that comply with ISO 15930-1 (PDF/X1-a), Ghent PDF Workgroup specifications as well as with ISO 12647 color printing standards. · Print Standardizer, developed in partnership with X-Rite, provides an affordable and easy-to-implement G7 and ISO 12647 standardization in the press room. Alwan Color Expertise has appointed specialist distributors for each of the targeted market segments. An ever-growing number of leading pre-press manufacturers are either bundling Alwan software with their products or recommending it with their systems, such as Compose System, Dalim, Enfocus, Nazdar, X-Rite and others... For more information, please contact: Lutt Willems Duomedia Public Relations Tel: +32 2 454 85 57 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |