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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

Star product

Midmarket Print Suite

A suite of applications “decades in the making” aimed at optimising production processes, says Simon Eccles

collection; and Process Shipper for single
source multi-carrier shipping integra-
tion. The solutions can be run locally at
the user’s site or hosted by ePS as a cloud
service. There are also some certified
links to third party Rip-workflow produc-
tion systems including EFI Fiery and HP
Print OS for digital printing, EFI Fiery
and Caldera for wide format presses and
other prepress systems including Agfa
Apogee, Heidelberg Prinect, Esko
Automation Engine and Kodak Prinergy.
Pace has integrated accounting, but cus-
tomers can link to third party accounting
systems. Connectivity options to other
systems can use JDF, ePS’s Integration
Toolkit or a full SOAP or JSON based
API.
What does it do? offerings: the Quick Print Suite, for
It’s a modular solution of a core MIS/ smaller printers; and the Enterprise Suite What’s the USP?
ERP application set (called Pace) with a for large multi-site, multi-national firms. According to Benkovich the Midmarket
range of certified workflows including There are also more specialised variants Print Suite is unique due to “the breadth
e-commerce, ganging, scheduling, data Specifications for publications and direct mail work. of the ePS solution and the certified
collection and shipping optimisation. Modules: ePS also recently acquired UK MIS devel- workflows, allowing a single-vendor
Estimating, plan- oper Tharstern. The Midmarket Print
When was it announced and what ning, purchasing, Suite is targeted in between these, for approach and removing the need for the
are the target markets? invoicing, inven- commercial printers with up to about customer to be the integrator for their
The Midmarket Print Suite is the cur- tory management, £15m turnover, although ePS emphasises workflow”. He also claims it offers users
“unlimited flexibility in their growth and
rent name for an ongoing development of shop floor data col- it’s more about workflows than precise scale, to add modules and workflows as
MIS modules that was started by EFI and lection, scheduling, revenues. “The workflows are many and their business grows and evolves”.
continued when EFI’s production soft- and reporting varied and that is why we spend so much
engine
ware operations were spun off last year as time on certification of workflows for off- How easy is it to implement and
eProductivity Software. Its core is the set, digital and wide-format printers,” use?
Pace MIS, which uses some elements says Benkovich. “Add to this the com-
developed out of EFI’s many MIS devel- plexity of how they receive jobs via “Many of our consultants that imple-
oper acquisitions over the past two dec- e-commerce, email, spreadsheet or even ment the Midmarket Suite are former
ades, and before that to the acquisitive a phone call – it’s all about delivering a consultants on our legacy platforms, so
PrintCafé that launched in 2000 and was workflow that optimises data entry, they are adept at helping customers tran-
itself acquired by EFI in 2003. So it’s hard reduces production costs, minimises sition to the new solution,” says
to put a precise date on it. According to employee fatigue and lets businesses get Benkovich.
Nick Benkovich, VP portfolio product on with the profitable production of print What training and service support
management at ePS, “the Midmarket and fulfilment jobs.” is offered?
Suite has really been decades in the mak-
ing given the history of many of the mar- How does it work? ePS provides training for new installa-
ket-leading and award-winning The Midmarket Print Suite is based tions and also for new recruits working
components. However the Suite solution around ePS’ core Pace MIS with optional with existing installations. There’s
approach launched a little over eight modules that include the MarketDirect “extensive” documentation, online help
years ago during our Connect user event storefront for e-commerce and cross- and recordings of remote online training
in Las Vegas”. media, and online fulfilment; Pace sessions made as part of the system com-
Essentially mid-to-large sized commer- scheduling or PrintFlow dynamic sched- missioning – to help recruits learn the
cial printers, as the name suggests. ePS uling; Metrix for job ganging; Auto- specifics of their own company’s configu-
has two other general-purpose print MIS Count real-time shop floor data rations and operating procedures.
“The Midmarket Print Suite is based around ePS’ core Pace MIS with optional modules.”

30 PrintWeek MENA October 2023 www.printweekmena.com