The FLO Suite is primarily used in web based environments. Web-to-print applications, online database publishing, approval websites, and so on. But once the technology is theirs, a large amount of our customers also use it to automate their internal prepress workflows.
Types of workflows
Obviously the prepress workflows that are most suited for automation are the ones with repetitive materials. Business cards, point of sales materials, posters, and so on. But automation needn't just be about the creation of materials. Often just gathering the correct information for the prepress operators can save a lot of time. Or streamlining the communication between the different stakeholders in the prepress workflow.
And of course a big part of the automation usually is the link with existing systems. MIS software is a perfect candidate for this. Job information can be passed to them by the FLO Suite. But also integrations with other (more advanced) workflow systems happen quite a lot. Adding personalization or online approval functionalities to an Enfocus Switch workflow, for example.
Types of users
Usually this type of automation is triggered by the more technical persons in the department. In some cases they keep executing the prepress workflow even later on. But usually, the goal of the automation is to pass on the execution to the rest of the department, leaving time for more implementations of other workflows.
Types of templates
When it comes to variable data publishing workflows, the same rules apply as for online publishing. First of all, you decide wether to work based on a template or on a free design. If you're going with templates, you can choose between InDesign Server templates or PDF templates. And of course you choose the level of automation. Are you going for 100% automated business cards, or for 20% automated posters? The 20% might still save you a lot of time because the studio doesn't have to search for the right images, texts, and so on.
Loose ends
One of the major advantages about internal workflows is that you don't always have to tie all loose ends. For an internal prepress workflow, it's much easier to explain some things. Surely, the workflow needs to be stable, and it needs to be easy to pass it on to new employees. But input control is not quite as difficult (or important) as for external customers.