Potential for a truly Collaborative Workflow

(NPES International E-commerce Website, August 19, 2008) Arizona positions itself as a digital brand management company, also offering printing and prepress services, currently employing 150 people (30 are involved in software development). In early 2008 Arizona established a strategic partnership with Globo Cochrane, sharing a printing facility with 500 employees. Bruno Schrappe joined Arizona in Sao Paulo (Brazil) as a partner and Technology Director in 2007.

drupa technology guide: How do you access the progress of networked production in the Brazilian printing industry?
Bruno Schrappe: We have seen a few interesting applications of CIP4/JDF in workflow integration cases, though JDF still has a long way to go before fulfilling the expectations and hype seen during Drupa 2004. Finishing operations still have lower integration priority, with a notable exception in selective binding systems. The prepress arena in Brazil reveals interesting developments, such as web-based collaboration and advertisement processing systems. There is still market potential for truly collaborative workflow systems to be installed at major publishers and commercial printers.

drupa technology guide: What wishes and requirements have your customers recently expressed?
Bruno Schrappe: Besides speed and cost effectiveness, color consistency among different print media and substrates is a common demand. Therein lies a major advantage of an integrated, networked print production system, adding real value as perceived by customers.

drupa technology guide: What has the impact of this been to your company? Where are you particularly looking to invest in the near future?
Bruno Schrappe: We focus on developing solutions that streamline communication processes (which eventually lead to print) at our customers. Arizona has invested heavily on developing proprietary software for brand integrity assurance. Future investments should focus on improving the level of process automation at the prepress level.