A.B. Data Chooses InfoPrint to Enable Transition to AFP Color Production

Market Wire, October, 2008

GraphExpo Booth #2276 -- InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, today announced that direct marketing company A.B. Data has installed the InfoPrint 4100 next-generation digital publishing platform and InfoPrint Manager (IPM) print management solution to produce its transactional, financial and government notification mailings. This enables the company to combine data and information on statements to create TransPromo communications in monochrome. This technology is supported by InfoPrint's industry-leading maintenance and support services, which provide A.B. Data with maximum technology uptime and lifecycle from InfoPrint's digital output solutions.

A.B. Data uses Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) color emulation functionality for both its cutsheet and continuous forms printing, for precise color output across all devices and data streams receive precise color output. The company also relies on AFP to control formatting, select the type of paper output, initiate online viewing and manage document storage and access across multiple operating system platforms. This technology will enable A.B. Data to use existing infrastructure to implement color in the future, with a particular focus on TransPromo.

TransPromo is a pioneering strategy that combines transactional data with promotional documents and information to provide more targeted marketing, on trusted communications such as statements. The use of monochrome printers is a first step on the path to using color on the statement.

"As the economy continues to force organizations to refine spending and budgets, many of our customers are looking for methods of maximizing existing infrastructure. A.B. Data has seen impressive cost savings working with InfoPrint with our next-generation technology solutions and maintenance services," said Chris Reid, Director of Production Monochrome Solutions at InfoPrint. "The exciting prospect is that through using existing technology, A.B. Data can embrace the next generation of color technology, such as TransPromo, without huge additional costs."

Based in Milwaukee, A.B. Data are experts in processing, printing and mailing statements, billing notices, disbursement checks, collection letters, renewal notices and more.

"The InfoPrint 4100 along with AFP and other software solutions from InfoPrint provide us with an extremely high level of ease-of-use. Adding to this the superb professional and maintenance services we've always received from InfoPrint, and our print operations run seamlessly," said Michael Stephens, Vice President of Operations for A.B. Data. "Since we've upgraded to the newer InfoPrint 4100 models, we've seen many cost-savings resulting from the newer technology requiring less maintenance and if we do need to call in the services, the problem is fixed quickly and properly."

InfoPrint provides customers an easy route to the next wave of technology

InfoPrint has recently enhanced its InfoPrint 4100 platform to drive pan-industry color accuracy. New InfoPrint 4100 models support Color Management Architecture for AFP. Color Management Resources (CMRs) carry information used to render color and greyscale, and define conversions, calibration and halftoning. They allow a colorized job to be printed on both color and monochrome printers with no change to the base data.

This groundbreaking enhancement is a real benefit for those InfoPrint customers who are starting to combine variable data and image color on must-read documents such as statements and bills, allowing them to build new applications in color and output in either monochrome or color using the same architecture. Customers can now reduce costs on application development, maintenance and infrastructure by driving InfoPrint monochrome and color platforms with a single application.

The InfoPrint 4100 printer is managed using IPM Enterprise Output Management print and output management software. IPM is designed to help clients reduce costs, improve quality, and quickly respond to changes in their processes. IPM unifies output infrastructure for maximum efficiency by combining AFP architecture, comprehensive datastream transforms and multiple output-management capabilities into a single solution to provide ultimate control over all aspects of the print process. Content from multiple sources can be securely transformed, printed, faxed or converted into PDF files for distribution via e-mail.

InfoPrint Solutions Company

InfoPrint Solutions Company, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, brings to market the advantages IBM and Ricoh have in the development, manufacturing, marketing and building of strategic solutions for customers, creating a growth-oriented global enterprise that is strategically focused on the output market.

The InfoPrint Solutions Company portfolio includes solutions for production printing for enterprises and commercial printers as well as solutions for office workgroup environments and industrial segments. The company offers customers the highest quality output solutions that optimize productivity by providing efficient workflow and, at the same time, delivering low cost of ownership and high return on investment. The heritage of InfoPrint Solutions Company includes the development of the IBM Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) Architecture -- now an industry standard -- and Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS), which has since become the standard for mission critical business printing. The company also leads the industry in print management solutions with both InfoPrint ProcessDirector and InfoPrint Manager. Please visit www.infoprint.com for more information.