Konica Minolta Set to Launch New Printing Software

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. announced April 11 that it will unveil its Printgroove software next week at the 2007 On Demand Conference in Boston.

Printgroove provides businesses, CRD (central reproduction departments) and small and midsize print shops with software that can manage, monitor and set up the companys various bizhub MFP (multifunction printer) platforms, which gives users an all-in-one device that has printing, scanning, copying and fax capabilities as well as various management capabilities.

Available in Serve, Guide and Queue modules, the printing software provides bizhub users in CRDs and data centers with print queue management, device status monitoring, 24/7 job submissions, automated job ticketing and quoting, as well as e-mail notifications regarding specific print jobs.

“Printgroove caters to the needs of bizhub customers in the CRD, in-plant, print for pay, commercial printing and data center environments,” said Kevin Kern, vice president of product planning and development for Konica Minolta, based in Ramsey, N.J.

Printgroove Serve provides users with Web-based digital job submission capabilities, allowing users to contact their printer, set up jobs, set job requirements and track order status, while also sending automatic e-mail notifications regarding different print jobs.

“Printgrooves modular design allows for an exact configuration to target a specific need with the right platform, including the ability to handle any traffic volume and accommodate as many printing steps and stations as business processes demand,” Kern said.

Printgroove Guide controls print job traffic volume and manages job ticketing and job tracking. It also monitors device status while also providing for print quoting, billing and invoice tracking information.

With Printgroove Queue, users will be able to link their various bizhub devices and assign print jobs to the bizhub platform that best matches their print job, while also having the ability to divide color output between color and black and white devices.

“Printgroove, provides an affordable, automated production printing workflow software that costs less than large-scale legacy production systems,” Kern said.

Printgroove is available now through Konica Minoltas North American direct sales, authorized dealer and value-added reseller channels for the following prices:

• Printgroove Serve: $5,000
• Printgroove Guide: $5,000
• Printgroove Queue: $2,500

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