Kodak’s Prinergy Connect

NK Kajaria of Anderson Printing House, says this software may not earn you more jobs but it does make work easier for both clients and service providers

08 Dec 2012 | By Gokul Krishnamurthy

Describe your company?
Kolkata-based Anderson Printing House is a commercial printing firm which has been catering to the book printing space for more than 30 years. We are a customer-oriented company striving for excellence in terms of quality printing. 

What does the software do?
Kodak Prinergy Connect is a pre-press workflow which takes care of all the pre-press activities from the entry of files from the clients-side to platemaking. In addition, it is also a B2B web-to-print solution which enables our customers to host their job-related  files on our server. The customers can place print orders, provide approvals, make changes to the orders, check the status of their jobs; remotely, via the internet.
 
Did you look at any other similar machine?
We saw and evaluated all the options available in the market. However, the vast extent of functionalities including the web-to-print facility and high degree of automation makes Prinergy Connect stand out from the crowd.
 
What features do you particularly like?
The software is JDF compatible, and thus it integrates with Shuttleworth, the print management system which controls print estimation. Furthermore, it is a very user-friendly software which can be accessed remotely over the internet.
 
Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
A module for B2C segment. Kodak will need to look into the software’s B2C functionality.
 
How fast is it?
The speed of the solution depends on the speed of internet connection of the user. It provides real time service and hence with good internet connection and speed, it works perfectly. The Prinergy Connect has been hosted on our server and our servers are pretty fast. 
 
How reliable is it?
It is a fairly reliable solution. Any new technology is bound to have failures. We’ve had relatively much lesser problems.
 
Has it won you any new work?
The number of jobs may not increase because of such softwares, but it makes work much easier both for our clients and us.
 
How much time or money has it saved?
The one thing that saves money and time is remote handling of jobs, for example, getting approvals. This in turn saves a huge amount of time and money for both the clients and ourselves. 
 
Would you say that it offers value for money?
Yes. It has increased productivity and saved time – so the customer has benefitted.
 
Were there any difficulties experienced during the installation or after?
When any sophisticated software is implemented, there will be certain issues. We worked closely with Kodak’s team to resolve the minor issues. By and large, the installation was smooth. 
 
Who do you think the machine is right for?
It is suitable for commercial as well as packaging printers having a requirement of more than 70 plates a day and a customer base of 100 clients from distant locations.
 
Under what circumstances would you invest in another?
The licensing for the software comprises of two parts: user license and administrative section, which are within our plant. We have five administrative licenses and ten for concurrent use. For now, those licenses are adequate. However, if we expand our locations or more users are added, we shall need more licenses.
 
Conclusion
User’s verdict
Speed  4/5
Quality  4/5
Reliability 4/5
Value for money 3/5 
Supplier’s Response
Prashant Kamath, manager service for ES, graphic communications group at Kodak India, says, “The Kodak Prinergy Connect workflow with portal products like Insite Prepress Portal and Insite Storefront system together with the rule-based automation can automate a number of routine jobs and save time and money for our customers. Since Anderson Printing House caters to both domestic and overseas customers, they found the need to have an automation in handling their plate production in conjunction with their MIS system. The rule-based automation, takes away the need to work on a repetitive jobs, with minimum operator intervention.”
Contact
Kodak India
Prashant Kamat
prashant.kamath@kodak.com / +91 9920815995