Global Print Platform Job Allocation and Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital printing systems face inefficiencies in managing global print communications, leading to high costs and low utilization of print capacity, as they lack a single printer with the necessary workflow management, global presence, and production capacity to effectively deliver print on demand services.
Innovation Solution
A global print platform is established that enables local printers to operate as global providers, leveraging existing systems to optimize print production by allocating jobs based on minimum cost, availability, and location, ensuring print quality through standardized color references, and integrating disparate systems for efficient production and financial transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single centralized printer is used to manage global print communications, then workflow management capability and production capacity are improved, but shipping and handling costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized printing function into multiple distributed printing locations. Instead of one centralized printer handling all global print communications, the system divides printing capacity across multiple geographically distributed printers, allowing documents to be printed locally at each destination rather than shipped from a central location.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimension centralized model to a multi-dimensional distributed network. By adding the spatial dimension of multiple printing locations across different geographic regions, the system enables local printing at each destination, eliminating the need for physical shipping and handling of printed materials.
2Ease of operation
If manual client interface is used for print service management, then system complexity is reduced, but operational efficiency and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automated feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors print job status, capacity utilization, and delivery information, then automatically adjusts job allocation and routing decisions. This closed-loop feedback system replaces manual intervention while maintaining operational simplicity for users.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service automation where print jobs are automatically routed to appropriate printers based on real-time capacity and location data, without requiring manual client interface intervention. The automated workflow management system handles job distribution, tracking, and coordination independently.
3Productivity
If existing disparate printing systems are integrated into a global network, then print capacity utilization increases, but system integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal communication protocol and standardized interface layer that enables diverse printing systems to interoperate within the global network. This universal interface allows different printer types and manufacturers to be integrated into a single coordinated system, maximizing capacity utilization across heterogeneous resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary workflow management system that acts as a mediator between disparate printing systems. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of integration by translating between different system protocols and providing unified job management, thereby simplifying the integration process while maintaining high capacity utilization.
4Device complexity
If local printers operate independently, then system simplicity is maintained, but cost optimization and resource allocation efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the independent local printers into a coordinated global network while preserving their local operational simplicity. By combining the printing resources into a unified networked system, the platform can optimize job allocation across all locations based on real-time capacity and cost data, achieving cost optimization without compromising local system simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system is provided for printing jobs received from enterprise customers through a global printing network. One aspect relates to an architecture that interfaces customers, communication service firms (CSFs), and downstream digital print service providers (PSPs) in a global communications network. Such an architecture permits last-mile production functions that allow the distribution of print jobs to be optimized, containing costs, maintaining quality, and performing billing functions that improve the quality of such networks and make a global print network feasible. As a result, Enterprise customers benefit from lower costs and global sourcing while print service providers and graphics service firms benefit from increased revenue due to increased utilization of the overall global network.