Aleyant Gets Responsive with Commitment to Mobile Storefronts In Booth 439 in the Software: Workflow & Design/ Prepress Show Floor Pavilion, Aleyant celebrates its 10th anniversary with a demonstration of the latest version of its Pressero web-to-print system. Version 6 is a complete overhaul of the software and a rewrite of the code. “Every four years or so, rather than continuing to add new features and capabilities to the existing old code, we rewrite the entire system from the ground up,” says Steve Ciesemier, Direct Sales Manager for Aleyant. The primary reason for a complete rebuild, he says, is that “the platform that was a good platform four years ago may not be best platform today.” The side benefits of rebuilding and rewriting software are that it runs faster and more efficiently. The new version also extends Aleyant’s interest in responsive design—automatically formatting web storefronts according to the specific device that is accessing the site—from the storefront side to the administrative side. This means that not only can customers access the web storefront and buy print from any mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, but the print service provider can now use those same devices to handle the administrative functions of the site, such as check on active orders, get information about where jobs are in the workflow, and even make changes and corrections to the storefront, such as correct a typo. “Mobile is really changing all industries, including print,” says Ciesemier. “We are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of people who are connecting with mobile devices. 2014 was a tipping point; for the first time, mobile browsing exceeded desktop or laptop browsing. There are many people today who are not addressing mobile for their print-buying customers. It’s not just about having responsive design for the print buyers anymore, but also for the print service provider.” Aleyant is also demonstrating how Pressero now integrates with digital printing workflows such as HP’s SmartStream, and Fujifilm’s XMF. “It’s completely seamless integration,” says Ciesemier. “And it coexists with our own online design system eDocBuilder, which is included with Pressero. Customers can take advantage of HP’s design system, but also take advantage of eDocBuilder.” Aleyant is also showing a “sneak preview” of a to-beannounced product called Aleyant Print Job Manager, a job management system designed to fill the gap between companies that are using a “back of the envelope” or Excel file approach to job management and estimating, and fullfledged systems that run in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. And, as befits Aleyant’s commitment to mobile technology, it has been designed from day one to be compatible with mobile devices, as well as desktops and laptops. “If people are doing fulfillment out of inventory this could be running on a tablet,” says Ciesemier. “A guy in warehouse could be scanning barcodes right from their tablets. “Studies by Google have found that many people today use a ‘multiscreen workflow process,’” Ciesemier adds. “They might be on a commuter train the morning on their cellphone, they get to the office and switch to working on that same project on their laptop, then get home at night and work on their tablet. We’re looking at mobile as a huge differentiator.” Revolutionary UnSquaring the Wheel TProject Rolls Out at GRAPH EXPO 15 oday, Wednesday, September 16, print business owners and executives will have a unique opportunity to participate in the debut of a new approach to strategy and operations. It’s called UnSquaring the Wheel, the brainchild of Professor Chris Bondy, Gannett Distinguished Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology; Dr. Joe Webb, Principal at Strategies for Management and Director of WhatTheyThink’s Economics and Research Center; and Wayne Peterson, Principal at the Black Canyon Consulting Group. “The objective of Unsquaring is to guide top executives in the assessment of their business and guide it in reinventing and transforming itself,” says Peterson. “It is comprehensive, covering sales and marketing, operations, and other key decision areas.” Bondy adds, “We wanted to create a program that applied to graphic communications organizations of all sizes and across all operations. It stresses the integration of company functions as essential.” To assess a company, the business is divided into three broad areas: Platform, Resources, and Customers. Each of these is subdivided into three specific areas of concentration, representing nine spokes of a wheel. “Platform” assesses a company’s services, processes, and technologies; “Resources” assesses a company’s employees, financial situation, and strategic alliances; and “Customers” assesses the overall customer experience, the “brand,” and business development strategies. All of these elements are evaluated on a scale of 0 to 5 and plotted on a circular grid, with 0 in the center and 5 along the circumference. If all nine of the assessed elements score a 5, the graph describes a perfect circle, or wheel. Elements scoring less than 5 cause the wheel to become less round—or more square. Identifying where the “squareness” occurs shows what the company needs to improve to thus “unsquare the wheel.” GRAPH EXPO 15 attendees had an opportunity to unsquare their own wheels during the show. Last night, from 2:00 to 5:30 pm, attendees received an introduction to the methodology and learn about the three disciplines and the nine vector areas, including case studies. Then, today from 8:00 to 11:30 am, they are reconvening for the continuation of the topics and the Q&A session. At that time, they complete the company assessment. Within two weeks after the program, attendees will review their confidential results with one of the UnSquaring leaders. Program attendees will receive a copy of the UnSquaring the Wheel book. The session is held in Room S105abc McCormick Place South. Attendees can sign up for this event at the registration area at the entrance to the show. VS+Company: Consistent Viewing Conditions Help Deliver Results With four viewing areas VS+Company wanted to create an environment that enabled its staff to work interchangeably between viewing areas with confidence VS+Company is an elite New York City-based post-production studio whose work includes fine art photography, fashion, still life, and beauty imagery. VS+Company is known for creating high-quality images and exhibition prints for artists and estates. A high-end client base requires that VS+Company pay attention to the smallest detail and give strong consideration to the final viewing environment. With four viewing areas, VS+Company wanted to create an environment that enabled its staff to work interchangeably between viewing areas with confidence. To establish room-to-room viewing consistency, VS+Company made each room compliant with the ISO 3664:2009 standard for color viewing. This was achieved by installing GTI’s (Booth 435) D5000 Graphiclite overhead luminaires in each room. These luminaires use GTI’s Graphiclite 100 lamps, which are specifically designed for color viewing applications. Graphiclite lamps deliver a very close match to the industry’s D50 specification and as a result they produce a true full spectrum white light that renders color to the highest degree of accuracy and efficiency. VS+Company’s main viewing area is equipped with four GTI GLE-532A overhead luminaires. The GLE-532A is an asymmetrical luminaire with a clear lens that evenly distributes light over the dedicated viewing area. Three smaller rooms each have two GTI overhead luminaires. All viewing rooms have been painted neutral gray as specified by the ISO 3664:2009 standard with GTI’s Standard Gray Neutral 8 vinyl latex paint. By following the ISO 3664:2009 standard, VS+Company can now view artwork in all four viewing areas with confidence. 22 September 16, 2015 | GRAPH EXPO Official Show Daily | PrintingNews.com
GraphExpo Show Daily September 16, 2015
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