Features Premedia Software
Tilia Partners with Aleyant for Lights-out Web-to-print

Tilia Labs of Ottawa, a developer of planning, imposition, and automation software reached a new technology partnership with Aleyant, which also serves as a software developer for the printing industry. Their joint development aims deliver simplicity, efficient end-to-end quality control for printing companies that provide commercial and large-format services via online storefronts.
 
The partnership has already resulted in two new integrations that connect Tilia Labs’ flagship imposition system, tilia Phoenix, with Aleyant’s Web-to-print and workflow solutions Pressero and tFlow. The integrations, explains Tilia, mean that customers can leverage automated imposition capabilities for calculation of the most cost-optimal production layouts direct from order input through to completion. The company explains this end-to-end cross-platform automation covers virtually any printing, cutting, and finishing combination.
 
“We’re very excited by this partnership with Aleyant because Web-to-print imposition is an area where we feel tilia Phoenix can make a massive difference to print service providers,” Sagen de Jonge, CEO of Tilia Labs explains. “Phoenix was purpose-designed to automate impositions that deliver the best scenario for the printer, in terms of equipment utilization, materials and consumables, turnaround times, and overall cost.

“By its nature, web-to-print involves the greatest range of variables: thousands of individual files, each specified differently, submitted in every available format and via a variety of protocols,” continued de Jonge. “It calls for unprecedented speed, flexibility, and accuracy. The combination of Aleyant and Tilia will be hard to beat.”
 
tilia Phoenix, explains the company, draws on new developments in Artificial Intelligence in automating planning and imposition for all types of devices and print applications using nesting, die cutting, guillotine optimization, and planning algorithms. The system factors in parameters like job specifications (quantity, dimensions, colours, substrates), presses/print devices, postpress requirements, and delivery considerations, to deliver optimal layout options.
 
Pressero’s use of XML open architecture enables it to automatically hand off orders and files to a hot folder designated for Phoenix software. First, Pressero will generate a csv file that can be saved locally or in FTP. Once the file is received via Aleyant’s Automatic Workflow Integrator (AWI), it is sent to the Phoenix hot folder where is has automatic access to Phoenix tools and protocols that, explains the company, search across millions of possibilities in calculating the most cost-effective ganging and nesting combinations. The Phoenix Plan identifier helps control which incoming jobs are considered to be in the same group in identifying layouts for up to 1,000 orders at a time.
 
Integration with Aleyant tFLOW links tilia Phoenix into a digital and large format workflow specifically designed to control difficult file management tasks and processes. Aleyant tFLOW can automatically check and fix jobs and forward them for approvals or production. With tilia Phoenix as partner technology, imposition plans, production options and cost implications can be calculated simultaneously on-the-fly.
 
“Our principal mission is to help customers become more available, efficient and profitable by unifying production processes,” said Darrian Young, tFLOW Product Manager at Aleyant. “This partnership creates a very powerful capability to do exactly that without adding any complexity for the user. Printers of everything from custom packaging, labels, decals, cases, sign and display, to more traditional commercial jobs, can now benefit from ultimate process efficiency and cost-optimization.”