NGP extends its role to digital printing
Initiated at the second annual meeting for NGP partners, the new steering committee will drive the cross-vendor initiative. "NGP has reached the next level of industry involvement. The number of different organizations now represented on the forum committees is proof that NGP is a true industry initiative," said Tim Daisy, NGP Chairman. "The ultimate winner here is the end user, the printer who sees their personal business partners and vendors represented and bringing him greater value."
Responsibility for raising the group's profile within the industry and promoting its work rests with Wilton, who recently transferred to Creo HQ in Vancouver.
"This is an exciting time for the NGP partners as the number of integrated solutions developed passes 140," said Wilton. (pictured front row third from right at the NGP meeting). "The industry can expect many more value-adding solutions to come in the future as more manufacturers recognize the benefit of being part of the initiative."
The new Digital Print Forum in NGP has been created to deliver the value of integrated solutions to digital printing. This new forum provides the opportunity for additional digital printing vendors to participate in the Networked Graphic Production initiative.
The forum will address the evolving needs of commercial printers looking to integrate their offset workflows with their digital printing operations, and provide more flexible, cross-vendor solutions. As well, digital printing vendors will be able to further integrate digital printing operations with other prepress systems, adding value to digital printers' investments in the future.
More than 40 print industry vendors are members of Networked Graphic Production. NGP Partners have developed more than 140 pairs of integrated solutions that provide a seamless flow of job and production data across the entire production process.
Increased efficiencies through automation, integration, and cross-vendor interoperability are the goals of Networked Graphic Production. This is being made possible through the definition of a standard set of NGP interfaces, based on the JDF standard.
By adopting this JDF interface, each of the NGP Partner solutions will be able to communicate with one another, thereby creating a family of solutions that can be combined to provide a seamless flow of job and production data across the entire production process. For more information about Networked Graphic Production, visit the official web site at www.ngppartners.org.
"This is an exciting time for the NGP partners as the number of integrated solutions developed passes 140," said Wilton. (pictured front row third from right at the NGP meeting). "The industry can expect many more value-adding solutions to come in the future as more manufacturers recognize the benefit of being part of the initiative."