Located in the heart of Tucson on 352 acres, the University of Arizona (UA)
has approximately 35,000 students enrolled from all 50 states and more than
100 foreign countries. UA?s Center for Computing and Information Technology
(CCIT) supports the Research, Instructional, and Administrative Application
needs of the University. Its mission is to provide central print services for
the entire campus. Solimar Systems interviewed Tom Baron, Resource Information
Analyst, for CCIT to discuss his experiences with implementing new print equipment
with a Solimar print server solution. Baron has filled many roles over the past
33 years at UA, including Operations, Facilities, Problem Management, Production
Management, and Printing Services.
A solution that included products from Solimar Systems was selected to meet
the requirements. Two 110 page-per-minute network printers were chosen as the
horsepower and Solimar's flagship product, Print/Director, was selected as the
front-end driving force. Print/Director converts UA's existing legacy Xerox
LCDS/Metacode print data into the PostScript needed by the new printers and
provides centralized job management for improved flexibility and ease of operation.
"By going to a Solimar solution, we were able to convert to PostScript printers, double our print speed, and continue with our current legacy forms, fonts, and logos."
Tom Baron
University of Arizona
The results of the Solimar solution improved print operations beyond processing
capabilities. Baron explains, "By going to a Solimar PostScript solution,
we now have the best of both worlds. We continue with our legacy DJDE applications,
and have the benefits of being able to also route PostScript files directly
to these printers. We now have full-page graphic capabilities. We can create
PDF files from print files, and FTP them to other hosts. We can take a form
created in MS Word, PowerPoint, or any common desktop software and by using
Solimar's XIMAGE™ software, create a form that can be used immediately
on these printers. The quality of forms after being converted through Solimar
is as good or better than before."
Centralized print management with Print/Director's feature-rich and flexible
GUI interface has improved day-to-day operations. Baron describes the benefits,
"The operators love the drag-and-drop reprint queue. Any lost outputs,
or required extra copies, etc., can be reprinted quickly and easily without
having to resubmit the job. Drop down windows make it easy to follow the status
of print jobs."
"I've always received excellent quick service when dealing with Tech Support. I could not ask for better service."
Tom Baron
University of Arizona
The Solimar solution has also reduced costs associated with print images,
toner and maintenance, especially compared to the HP8100's. Print/Director includes
a Windows driver that creates Xerox forms from any Windows application. Baron
expands on other benefits realized with having the increased throughput and
complimentary Solimar products, "Speed is double our previous setup. When
one printer is down for maintenance, we do not fall behind in printing. We save
a lot of time by converting a Word document to a form image with Solimar XIMAGE.
This has been very helpful when doing graphs and pictures on United Way Campaign
forms."
