Archive for March, 2011

EDSF Excellence in Education Awards at On Demand

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

On March 23 at this year’s On Demand, Jonathan Gibson, a professor at Xavier University, was honored by the EDSF (Electronic Document Systems Foundation) at their Industry Leaders Reception. He received the EDSF Capstone Excellence in Education Award, Innovation in Education category, presented by InfoPrint Solutions’ own Sandra Zoratti.

Sandra Zoratti and Carrie Murphy of InfoPrint Solutions with award winner Jonathan Gibson, Professor at Xavier University

 

The Innovation in Education Award honors an international academic institution along with professional organizations for their educational and innovative efforts relating to the document management and graphic communications industry. Based on that description, it’s clear that Jonathan was a perfect candidate.

I’ve been a fan of Jonathan’s work for five years.  His techniques for teaching allow students to truly grow and expand their horizons.  Students demonstrate their accomplishments at the end of their senior year through a student produced show, in gallery format, on Xavier’s campus.  The level of expertise and creativity expressed in their work is remarkable.  It is clear that they have been challenged academically and aesthetically by Jonathan and will thrive when stepping out into the working world.

Jonathan’s program at Xavier University’s College of Arts and Science focuses on small class sizes, group learning environments, foundational skills and the importance of a Liberal Arts education for artists. Intentionally smaller class sizes allow for the development of curriculum designed for each student’s interests and career goals. Students who advance from this course are well rounded and are able to draw upon a diverse intellectual background to generate unique visual solutions.

Jonathan said, “This award validates past hard work but, more importantly, I am motivated to develop an even better future for our department and students.”

Jonathan currently teaches Graphic Design, Photography, and 2D Design at Xavier University, with a research focus in Web Design. He received his BFA from Brigham Young University and his MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.   Aside from these credentials, Jonathan started his own ceramics and photography businesses. He believes that creative cross-training is critical in becoming successful artists, designers and individuals. Community engaged service drives much of his scholarly interests and teaching.

Congratulations, Jonathan!  You deserve this prestigious award and we appreciate everything you are doing for this important industry.

To read more about Xavier University’s program, please visit their website.

Best,

Carrie Murphy

Market Development Manager, Americas Group

Front and Center at On Demand 2011

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Today’s report from On Demand 2011 comes from Caitlin McBrair, WW Program Manager, Collateral & Translation.

The InfoPrint presence at On Demand 2011, held in Washington, D.C., March 22-24, can be summed up in three words “front and center.” This is my first time attending a trade show, so as I was coming down the escalator to the show floor, it was impossible not to be impressed with InfoPrint’s space when I saw the high-flying circular and color signage over the booth, which we shared with Ricoh.

Set up right in the front row, customers, media and analysts couldn’t miss us or our “InfoPrint rock stars” — also known as Laura Clark, Briefing Center Coordinator; Michele Bollig, WW Marketing Program Manager; and Lesley Wylie, Director, Global Marketing, with big smiles greeting everyone.

First things first, visitors to our booth wanted to hear about our hot Managed Automated Document Factory (ADF) Services. What a buzz it caused! Customer after customer after customer wanted to learn more about Managed ADF -– the industry’s first managed workflow service powered by the cloud. Don Dew, ADF Solutions Manager, John Hankins, WW Services Offering Executive, and Mike Phipps, Senior Solutions Consultant, Software & Services, were armed with Managed ADF security-focused FAQs, paddle-shaped pens, and their ADF expertise, ready to talk to prospects about the operational efficiencies available to mid-market companies. The top messages were high document integrity and efficiency, immediate cost savings and enhanced productivity from a turnkey solution. And our customers, the media and the analysts were eagerly listening!

The attention-worthy InfoPrint 5000 MP drew a crowd, as well, as visitors watched Bonnie Whitaker and Paul Turner, Solutions Specialists, demo this color platform for the first time in the United States. Finally, the long-time focus of On Demand, our cutsheet family of printers -– InfoPrint Pro C901, InfoPrint Pro C900AFP and the InfoPrint Pro 907EX -– were a steady source of interest and excitement.

The first day of On Demand was a success from start to finish, and we expect great activity for the rest of the show. Stay tuned!

And check out these great photos from the show floor:

The high-flying circular, color signage was front and center at this years ON DEMAND in Washington D.C.

The InfoPrint team at ON DEMAND gets briefed by Don Dew on the new Managed ADF, powered by the Cloud, announcement.

Customers visit the InfoPrint booth at ON DEMAND to see the latest in flexible and fast inkjet color solutions from InfoPrint 5000 MP.

Day one proved to be busy with a steady stream of customers visiting both the InfoPrint and Ricoh portions of the booth at ON DEMAND.

InfoPrint Solutions Takes Home Xplor International’s Technology Innovation of the Year Award

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

By Don Dew, ADF Solutions Manager

InfoPrint Solutions is excited to announce it has won Xplor International’s Technology Innovation of the Year Award for its work with Merrill Corporation. Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, awards this prestigious award annually to recognize an outstanding achievement in the imaginative application of current technology and unique implementation of existing electronic document systems.

Merrill Corporation is a global provider of technology-enabled marketing and communications solutions across a range of industries including healthcare, financial, real estate, legal and corporate management and one is of our most valued customers. Merrill realized the need for an end-to-end, software platform that could not only streamline the daily fulfillment of jobs, but also enable document management at record, page and piece levels.  Merrill teamed up with us and chose the Automated Document Factory (ADF) offering (which is powered by InfoPrint ProcessDirector).

One important factor Merrill had to consider when choosing a solution is the rapidly changing healthcare regulatory environment. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) and revamped Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are a few prime examples of regulations that health plans must meet. Failure to meet established requirements can result in increased monitoring, penalties, and fines – up to $25,000 per individual offense.

With InfoPrint Solutions’ ADF implementation, Merrill can be confident that the highest level of integrity is applied to sensitive documents such as complex healthcare enrollment kits, containing everything from pre-printed plan information to customized letters and geo-encoded provider directories.   Each of these is personalized in every kit.  In fact, one job has more than 190 variations of content that can go into a personalized kit, which is astounding!

To achieve this, Merrill leverages InfoPrint ProcessDirector ADF backbone as a technology platform throughout its production environment. What makes the offering so compelling to industry innovators such as Merrill is its combined ability to manage work at the document and page level, connect to a number of different hardware and software platforms, and be flexible for future changes in technology, regulation or other business requirements.

A final reason, among the above factors, Xplor chose this application is because it was in active production and generating impressive results.  Merrill’s use of the InfoPrint ProcessDirector-based workflow is revolutionary in the healthcare industry. For example, in one case more than 2.9 million welcome kits were printed consisting of both variable data printing and pre-picked inventory, with a defect rate of zero. In another instance Merrill saved a client $300k in a single mailing with proactive monitoring of changing regulations.  This combined with the successful execution and valuable partnership with InfoPrint Solutions, Xplor felt they deserved this honor and so did we! Congrats to InfoPrint Solutions, Merrill Corporation and everyone involved with this award win!

To learn more about InfoPrint Solutions and Merrill Corporation’s joint efforts click here.

InfoPrint Solutions Veteran Brian Doyle Awarded Xplor Honor

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

InfoPrint Solutions is excited to share that our own Brian Doyle has been awarded the Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award from Xplor International! Xplor, the worldwide electronic document systems association, gives this particular award to an individual whose efforts and contributions have significantly changed the course and development of the digital document industry.

Doyle has been a strategic and valued member of the InfoPrint Solutions team for 45 years, beginning his career as a programmer and architect and currently holding the title of Consulting IT Architect.  He joined IBM in 1966 and transitioned to InfoPrint Solutions when the IBM Printing Systems Division was acquired by Ricoh in 2007.  He has been recognized as a certified architect from IBM and Opengroup, the open standards consortium.

Doyle’s foundation of achievement is rooted in his position as an IT architect.  He is one of the architects responsible for the development and creation of the first InfoPrint workflow software.  This solution, developed in 1997, is used worldwide to support a variety of print and mailroom operations.  With InfoPrint Solutions’ workflow technology, enterprises can address a wide array of business process challenges related to automation and productivity, while discovering new routes to cost savings, increased operational sustainability and more visibility into all areas of production.  A range of additional offerings have been developed using this workflow backbone as a key component, including InfoPrint Mailroom Integrity, Postal Optimization Services, Business Continuity Services, ADF Sustainability Services and many more.

Other noteworthy accomplishments Doyle has achieved throughout his career at IBM and InfoPrint Solutions include:

  • The invention of the foundational “document pool” technology for customer BellSouth in 1999.  Now in its third generation, this key tool is the foundation of many of the advanced features of InfoPrint Solutions’ workflow solutions, such as postal sortation and commingling.  For large mailroom operations, this technology is crucial to achieving a more automated, productive and streamlined print environment.  It also provides an increase in cost savings and return on investment.  Without this development, it is likely that InfoPrint’s Automated Document Factory offering would not carry the impressive title as the most deployed software of its kind in the world today.
  • Doyle has worked with leading global entities across various industries including financial, government, utilities, healthcare and insurance to deliver software, services and support that meet the specific needs of their unique operations.  With customers ranging from Merrill Corporation, 21st Century Insurance and the country’s largest municipal utility, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Doyle has spent countless hours ensuring the quality of their solutions.  In fact, many of these deployments have led to broader adoption of the technologies across vertical industries, which can be attributed to Doyle’s dedication and extensive knowledge base.
  • Doyle is considered a visionary in the industry and has many dedicated followers.  He has published a number of white papers, case studies and other articles in publications such as Mailing Systems & Technology. Doyle has also been heavily pursued as an industry voice over the years, presenting to customers and peers at such internationally recognized events as On Demand, National Postal Forum, GraphExpo, Xplor and others.  Doyle has also participated in multiple CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing) events throughout his career.  This innovator has routinely been sought to participate in events to help provide the industry with a better understanding of the value that workflow solutions offer.

Doyle has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Colorado.  He became an IBM certified IT architect in 2001 and ITAC (Open Group) certified in 2004.   The Open Group consortium aims to enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability.

It is evident that throughout the past 45 years, Doyle has made significant contributions to the evolution and advancement of the document design industry. His innovation, technical expertise and leadership have not only contributed to InfoPrint Solutions’ success, but have demonstrated to the marketplace that workflow is a solution with many facets – all of which bring immense value to any organization.

Congratulations, Brian Doyle, on this outstanding accomplishment and all you have achieved over the years!

Thank you,

Steve Anderson

Software Manager, Software & Services