Kodak has teamed up with EFI to develop connectivity between Kodak Prinergy Workflow and EFI Fiery Digital Print Servers, providing print service providers with a fully-integrated product that allows them to manage jobs for multiple offset and digital devices from a single user interface. According to the companies, using a centralized workflow in an offset and digital blended production environment drives higher levels of automation and increased job control, both of which are key to delivering profitable print across different job sizes and run lengths.

Attendees at last year’s EFI Connect annual users’ conference were the first to see a live technology demonstration of this solution. After completion of a successful testing program, this connectivity is now commercially available.

“The release of this Prinergy Workflow connectivity with Fiery Servers demonstrates that Kodak remains committed to the success of our customers. This integration allows them to maximize their existing technology investments and cut costs from the manufacturing process,” said Jon Bracken, Kodak’s general manager of unified workflow solutions. “It also represents another milestone in the evolution of Prinergy Workflow as a true unified workflow solution that enhances productivity in any printing environment.”

John Henze, vice president of Fiery marketing at EFI, said, “The Fiery Server and Prinergy Workflow combination is ideal for today’s common blended production environment, routing jobs to the most appropriate and cost-effective device while providing centralized control from a single operator station. The integration is not only simple to deploy but it eliminates errors and touch points to ensure the greatest efficiency, and customers have been anxiously awaiting its release.”

According to the companies, two-way flow of data between Kodak Prinergy Workflow and Fiery Servers is enabled by Job Definition Format/Job Messaging Format (JDF/JMF), allows users to drive output to the most suitable device for the job, schedule jobs more easily, and maximizes press usage while also providing critical tracking and reporting information. Centralized control allows users to easily and quickly direct jobs to offset or digital systems using the same content files and dynamic layouts for the target device. This connectivity is available for EFI Fiery, fiery Central, and Fiery Wide Format Presses.