HP PrintOS is part of a broad portfolio of digital printing solutions that HP Inc. will showcase at Drupa 2016. HP PrintOS is a secure cloud-based operating system that will simplify and automate print production management.
Featuring a suite of intuitive web-based and mobile applications, PrintOS can help simplify and automate print production. Users will be able to start print jobs faster, monitor print status remotely, and track and improve production performance over time. Ultimately, it could create a platform for new types of collaboration among print-service providers that create different niche products.
According to HP, all types and sizes of print-service providers will be able to benefit from this new open and integrated platform for print production management. PrintOS can be used not only with HP’s Indigo, PageWide Web Press, Scitex and Latex digital printing technologies, but also with digital printing equipment made by other manufacturers such as Roland or EFI.
According to Simon Lewis, PrintOS Business Director, Graphic Solutions Business for HP Inc., the capabilities of PrintOS will change over time. HP will encourage third parties to leverage the openness of PrintOS platform to bring new capabilities to HP’s large and diverse customer base. He predicts that what PrintOS will be able to do three years from now will be radically different than what it can do this year or next year.
Through the PrintOS platform, small printing business owners will be able to “rent” specific capabilities for the length of a certain project. That can be much more cost-effective than having to spend thousands of dollars on software that might not be used much after the client’s project is finished.
“We’re trying to make it easier for our customers to have new capabilities more accessible to them,” explained Lewis. “We’re in it to help our customers be more successful and to help drive their print volumes. No one guarantees that all of their printing will be printing will be on HP equipment, but we still want to do whatever we can to drive our customers’ success.”
The first two applications available through PrintOS include Box and SiteFlow.
Box is a tool designed to reduce the amount of time and intervention required to handle each file that comes into the shop through e-mail or a file-transfer service such as Hightail or WeTransfer. In these cases, the customer service rep has to open up each file and preflight it to make sure it ready to send into production. When print-service providers set up a Box account for their clients, the onboarding of jobs will become more standardized. Box will preflight the job either drop it into the RIP for process or send it to prepress for corrections. By standardizing processes, Box reduces upfront overhead, increases capacity and improves profitability.
Site Flow combines automated order submission, pre-press and shop floor management capabilities. This app addresses the needs of print-service providers who serve the business-to-business and business-to-business-to-consumer markets. With SiteFlow, PSPs will be able to offer attractive costs and higher levels of service to fulfill hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of individual, personalized print orders every day, including direct shipment to end customers.
Additional applications for PrintOS will be introduced at Drupa in May. Many apps will be available without charge to existing customers with a service contract. Some apps may be subject to monthly subscriptions and usage charges.
HP Indigo and PageWide Web Press customers can begin using PrintOS on May 31, 2016. It will be rolled out the users of Scitex and Latex printing equipment in 2017.