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Ta strona nie jest dostępna w następującym jezyku: 'Polski'. Z tego powodu zostanie ona zaprezentowana w języku angielskim.
 Finding suppliers, obtaining offers, conducting orders - fast, easy and free.
Every year 2.5 billion Euros (3.3 billion USD) worth of print & media production are managed via HIFLEX systems. HIFLEX has been a leading global provider of Management
Information Systems (MIS) for some 20+ years. The HIFLEX name has become synonymous with JDF and total integration of the print manufacturing process,
which spans from e-Commerce or web-based procurement and order entry to delivery of printed products. The JDF integration that HIFLEX MIS provides is
significant to the bottom-line profitability of a printer's business and also offers its users a competitive advantage for them in their marketplace
because of the added improvements of speed and efficiency. |
| In autumn of 2006, HIFLEX expanded its product portfolio with the advent of a significant new web-based, print procurement automation tool called
"HIFLEX Print Support". The purpose of HIFLEX Print Support is to expand HIFLEX's automation and print production workflow concepts from the printer,
out to the print procurement or print buying environments and also provide the tool to printers who generally procure many items that they outsource. |
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Thomas Reichhart, Board Chairman of the HIFLEX Group, led the development of the internet based procurement tool HIFLEX Print Support. |
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| The traditional methods and processes used in print manufacturing are often slow and arduous, requiring many costly steps that are also often unproductive
and redundant. It is to this point that HIFLEX MIS has provided printers workflow solutions that speed up and automate the processes required to getting
printed orders through a printing plant. Print Buyers also have many arduous steps that are required to get print orders to the printer and demand a better
and more cost effective way to communicate with printers and place orders. |
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The newly developed internet based Software HIFLEX Print Support connects the supply chain between purchasers, printers and their suppliers. The functionalities
of the application were optimized according to traditional standards and in close cooperation with users |
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| HIFLEX Print Support is a comprehensive web-based procurement tool that optimizes business processes in the printing industry. It connects the partners of the
supply chain which are: the print product purchasers, printers who order externally and the suppliers of the corresponding products. |
Print buyers, printers and other related vendors to the print production process are then brought together into a single platform or system. HIFLEX Print
Support simply functions as an internet and e-mail based transaction system or "forum" for the purposes of requesting quotations, ordering and
managing print & media jobs.
Thomas Reichhart, Board Chairman of the HIFLEX Group, who led the development of HIFLEX Print Support comments: "Within a period of only few months,
print & media purchasers with a total buying power of more than 200 million Euros (270 million USD) have registered and are using HIFLEX Print Support. This rapid acceptance
speaks in great favor of our new HIFLEX Print Support System and to the future success of the product as well. We have great expectations with the product's
early success and the extremely positive feedback we have received from our users; many commenting about their desperate need for a system that does exactly
what Print Support is designed to do - save time and money".
One of the early users of HIFLEX Print Support is Ralf Hasford, Print Production Coordinator at a large supplier of medical equipment in Berlin. He explains:
"Nearly 100 percent of our print products are standardized with regard to paper, format, finishing processes and the handling of the production process. Exceptions
occur only seldom. This makes the definition of our products easier; nevertheless the huge amount of different projects running at the same time needs an
absolutely accurate management". He states that, due to HIFLEX Print Support, communication processes and ordering processes have become easier for him and also
for the printers. "Quotation requests are more transparent and at the same time, I have realized that printers are at least one day faster with their
quotations now".
Regarding the features of this innovative application, Thomas Reichhart explains: "HIFLEX Print Support is a valuable tool to optimize everyday processes,
in the field of requesting and placing orders in the printing industry. It is not an auction tool or competitive bidding platform". He further explains:
"Print Support does not redesign the traditional process of print procurement: it merely provides a highly developed tool to organize it". |
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Technical specifications that are essential for requests can be entered manually or transferred by copy & paste. HIFLEX Print Support also contains an extensive
database with specifications for print products. These can be imported as templates into the request. The screenshot shows the import of a template for a poster. |
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HIFLEX Print Support creates an efficient interconnection within the supply chain as it brings together print & media procurement firms with printers and their
suppliers. Each user can work with their individual supplier database. The following explains the dynamics of HIFLEX Print Support in further detail:
Print & media purchasers can use Print Support in order to send requests for quotations concerning their print products and once they find a print supplier
that matches their requirements, directly place an order with them. In addition, via an SAP MIS interface, HIFLEX Print Support and SAP's order system, typically
already used by many print buyers, in large corporate environments, can also be networked together. Above it, job order data can be transferred from HIFLEX Print
Support and via JDF, be placed directly into the printer's Management Information System, whether it is the HIFLEX MIS or any other MIS system. The benefits to
this will be a faster and more accurate exchange of information.
Printers can use HIFLEX Print Support for their project outsourcing as well. HIFLEX Print Support offers printers a comprehensive tool to manage their purchasing
requests to their suppliers, for the outsourcing of the products that they do not produce in house. Some examples of these would be: book binding, laminating,
foil stamping, die cutting and all other processes that printers traditionally outsource. HIFLEX Print Support is not just limited to HIFLEX users. Nevertheless,
companies using HIFLEX MIS in conjunction with HIFLEX Print Support can send job data from HIFLEX MIS and import it directly into HIFLEX Print Support. From there,
the purchasing requests can be e-mailed to the suppliers of their choice and then HIFLEX Print Support is again used to complete the transaction between the vendors
also acting as a powerful communication tool that organizes and significantly expedites the process. |
| For HIFLEX Print Support to be accepted as a procurement tool by the print & media industry, it was important that we created a solution that both partners,
the buyer and supplier, can truly benefit from using. To achieve this, the functionalities of HIFLEX Print Support were developed and optimized with the close
collaboration of experienced industry users from both sides. |
"At the inception of HIFLEX Print Support, HIFLEX established an advisory board representing the two groups. This board consists of five major print buying
concerns with a very high level of purchasing power of printing products", states Thomas Reichhart, HIFLEX GmbH Board Chairman. He adds that "HIFLEX Print
Support was designed to minimize the effort and costs currently associated with the transactions between the print buyers, their vendors and the many related
suppliers to the process, so that communications and productivity are heightened to the ultimate, possible levels. Improvements in speed and communications and
to completing these transactions are lightning fast with HIFLEX Print Support - parties on all sides are thrilled with how well the product works".
The clear benefit for print buyers using web-based HIFLEX Print Support lay within the use of the internet and e-mail in conjunction with HIFLEX Print Support,
saving significant money and time as requests and quotations are communicated in a highly efficient manner. Many suppliers, in turn, find it very important to
receive quick feedback to their offer. With the communication functions that are part of HIFLEX Print Support this can be accomplished with a minimum of effort
on the buyer's behalf. |
| Anybody with internet access can easily work with HIFLEX Print Support. Registration is located at www.printsupport.com
and is free for the buyer. |
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1) Enter and check basic data: each purchaser, whether print buyer or printer, works with their own individual supplier database which are created manually or
imported from the HIFLEX Print Support database. A print supplier is defined in HIFLEX Print Support by their printing capabilities.
2) Define and place print & media job orders: A print & media job is defined via three areas: 'basic data' (title, product type etc.),
'detail data' (conditions and deadlines) and 'technical specifications'. The technical specifications are entered completely freely or done in a
structured way, with database access to standard specifications, if desired. Once the print & media job has been defined, the request can be sent by
the push of a button to the suppliers of one's choice. Page layout and graphic files are easily attached and uploaded to your print suppliers at
this point.
3) Tracking deadlines and viewing reports: Deadlines such as 'offer until', 'order to supplier', 'data supply', 'proofs from supplier' and 'date of
delivery' will be stored in the HIFLEX Print Support database. To help track them, they are displayed in a deadline list. It is also possible to send
reminders, cancellations, orders, etc. with complete archiving of the print & media jobs.
The suppliers respond to the request for quote via a link in the e-mail that is initiated by the print buyer. All quotes will be of a uniform structure and will
be received online. The system automatically highlights which supplier offers the best price and for which print run or project. The suppliers quote can then
be accepted, rejected, or negotiated. If accepted, the order can then be placed. The print buyer may also cancel the project altogether if necessary.
Furthermore, Print Support offers a growing number of reports of one's print & media jobs, suppliers and completed Print Support transactions for better controlling. |
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