During the December 2003 Interoperability Event in Orlando, Florida, USA, 16 companies tested 24 products, resulting in 66 successful pairings among the 80 pairs tested.
CIP4 began quietly testing their products against the JDF specification in May 2003, proving out JDF interoperability in the process. Over the course of four, week-long, face-to-face ’interoperability events’ the number of companies participating in these events increased from nine companies testing 16 products in May 2003 to the 31 companies that participated in the Zofingen event. In many cases, the participating companies had not worked together prior to the event.
“JDF is all about providing a common language and method for implementing process automation in the graphic arts industry, which implies that systems, software, and equipment on the shop floor be capable of sharing job information, specifications, commands, and feedback data. While this isn’t a new concept for printers, achieving it has generally meant sticking with one lline of products to get the automation you were looking for”, explains James Harvey, CIP4 executive director.
“In reality, most printing or prepress shops have software, systems, and equipment from multiple vendors. The real test of JDF is its ability to support interoperability between systems, software, and equipment of different manufacturers. The results of CIP4’s interoperability testing is encouraging given that each product pairing only has a short time to be tested during these events.”
During drupa 2004, CIP4 will host the first large-scale demonstration of JDF interoperability at the JDF Parc (drupa Hall 4, stand A33), as 20 companies organised into 18 ’pods’ will demonstrate interoperability between a variety of JDF-enabled products. Elsewhere at drupa, other companies with JDF-enabled products plan to participate in this demonstration from their stands. A complete list of companies demonstrating JDF capabilities will be published at drupa in the “JDF Roadmap”, a joint project of CIP4 and Messe Düsseldorf.
The companies that have participated in these interoperability events include:
Adobe
Agfa
Creo
Dalim Software
Dynagram
EFI
Enfocus Software
Esko-Graphics
Fujifilm Electronic Imaging
Global Graphics
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Horizon International Inc.
Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA)
Komori Corporation
LithoTechnics
MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG
Markzware
MBO Binder GmbH & Co.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, LTD
Müller Martini
NovaVision Software
Objective Advantage
Oc
OneVision Software AG
Optichrome Computer Systems Ltd
Prism Group Holdings Ltd
QuadTech Inc.
Screen (Dainippon Screen)
Tharstern Ltd
Vio Worldwide Ltd
WAM!NET, a division of Savvis
Xerox
To learn more about these companies and how their JDF-enabled products exchange JDF data and to participate in an automate workflow, stop by the JDF Parc at drupa 2004.
About the Job Definition Format (JDF)
JDF is an industry standard designed to simplify information exchange between different applications and systems in and around the Graphic Arts industry. JDF builds on and extends beyond pre-existing partial solutions, such as CIP3’s Print Production Format (PPF) and Adobe Systems’ Portable Job Ticket Format (PJTF). It also enables the integration of commercial and planning applications into the technical workflow. JDF joins the growing number of standards based on XML, ensuring maximum possible portability between different platforms and ready interaction with Internet-based systems.
About CIP4
CIP4 brings together vendors, consultants and end-users in the print communications, Graphic Arts industry and associated sectors, covering a variety of equipment, software, peripherals, and processes. Members participate in focused working groups to define future versions of JDF, to study user requirements, and to design the JDF SDK.
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