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Avanti Previews Slingshot Enhancements

Avanti Computer Systems Limited of Toronto, which develops Print MIS software, unveiled details about feature enhancements that have been made to its Avanti Slingshot MIS platform, which will be released this September at Graph Expo 15.  

“It’s really our customers who were the driving force as we developed these new capabilities,” said Josh Perkins, Avanti Slingshot Product Manager. “Their input helped us make some of our best-selling modules even better, further solidifying Avanti Slingshot as a leader in Print MIS.”

One of the new Avanti Slingshot features includes Grand Format Estimating, which leverages complex algorithms to consider unique imposition/layouts (number across/number along), material requirements, edge sealing, grommet placement, ink coverage, square inch/feet calculations, and substrate utilization to optimize workflow. The company continues to explain the software feature accounts for all aspects of the process, including tiling, handling multiple rolls across the bed, ganging, as well as logistics like finishing, assembly, installation, and multi-location shipping.
 
The upcoming Slingshot release is to also include enhanced Gang Run Tools using Avanti’s rules-based Automated Press Sheet Optimizer that automatically processes ganging criteria and calculates the optimal layout for an estimate and sales order.

Avanti explains its Gang Run Tools take into account specifications of the press and substrate, as details for the gang run (plates, ink, substrate, and press calculations) are determined. Handling all of the complexities of single form/multi form, versioning and combo jobs, Avanti Slingshot calculates and displays the number up of each item on the gang sheet and then shares that information throughout the entire Avanti Slingshot system, driving production planning, scheduling and job costing.

For its upcoming Slingshot release, Avanti also points to the Automated Purchasing feature, which allows users to manage purchases to proactively control stock levels, costs and suppliers. Avanti Slingshot’s Automated Purchasing is described as providing real-time visibility into all supplier transactions and supplier performance over time, and helps maintain relevant levels of inventory by generating a rules-based purchasing plan, based on the shop’s pre-set criteria.

Leveraging Avanti’s enhanced Slingshot Touchless Workflow tools, jobs are automatically created in Slingshot’s Sales Order Module via integration into a range of Web-to-print platforms. Avanti Slingshot is also fully integrated with production systems like Xerox FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection, Ricoh TotalFlow and HP’s SmartStream portfolio.

On Thursday, September 10, Avanti will host a Webinar featuring the latest version of Avanti Slingshot, in advance of its full unveiling at Graph Expo 15.