IKON Picks Workflow Tools

IKON Office Solutions (www.ikon.com) announced an expanded relationship with EFI (www.efi.com) that brings two print management control solutions to IKON's integrated portfolio of document management solutions.

IKON, through its global services organization - IKON Enterprise Services - will employ EFI Digital StoreFront and EFI Balance to help production customers maximize productivity, increase customer collaboration and reduce manual steps in document workflow, resulting in faster turnaround times and lower production costs.

"IKON Enterprise Services was formed to meet the growing industry demand for comprehensive end-to-end document management solutions," said Michael Kohlsdorf, Senior Vice President of IKON Enterprise Services.

As print centers and business environments increasingly require streamlined, digital print file management, the EFI Digital StoreFront creates an in-house, company-branded website and transaction server that manages, automates and streamlines the entire print procurement and production process.

IKON selected EFI Balance for the scalability and flexibility it offers as a printing output management solution. EFI Balance (formerly EFI Velocity) is an integrated, modular software solution that provides complete, device-independent workflow management for organizations doing distributed digital printing.

In addition to the two newly added software solutions, the IKON document solutions portfolio also includes IKON-exclusive solutions that feature EFI's leading MicroPress(TM) technology - IKON PowerPress(TM).

IKON Office Solutions is the world's largest independent distribution channel for copier and printer technologies. With Fiscal 2003 revenues of $4.7 billion, IKON has approximately 600 locations throughout North America and Europe.