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Last week, Racami released a press release about acquiring the Canon Solutions America (CSA) Conveyance platform, which automates commercial printing and book manufacturing processes.
To me, this acquisition is a big deal because Conveyance is an impressive product that would benefit from the broader market exposure that Racami brings—it is a win for Racami and the book production industry.
First, a little history. CSA has been developing this book production solution for over a decade. In the 2003-2007 timeframe I worked as the Book Production Segment Marketing Manager for Océ, which later became Canon Solutions America. The company produces high-speed, digital inkjet and toner presses that are well suited for book production and develops in-house software to support its customers. CSA evolved and productized the solution over nearly 20 years using customer input and real-world experiences from mid- to high-volume book manufacturers like Amazon and LSC Communications. The result is a robust and well-considered book production solution that the marketplace needs.
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This solution performs essential tasks for preparing book masters and accepting, scheduling, and producing book orders in quantities ranging from one to tens of thousands. It addresses a complex problem in that books contain book blocks and covers and can come in various sizes. Scheduling, ganging, impositioning, combining, and finishing these products can be challenging, especially as next-day delivery, paper shortages, and staffing issues continue to challenge book manufacturers and commercial printers.
Racami is a fast-growing software and IT services company that improves the performance of customer communications, creates satisfying customer experiences, improves production processes, and supports digital payments in organizations. Racami provides industry-specialized IT services for insurance, financial, healthcare, book publishing, and marketing corporations. What a terrific fit with this solution!
Racami is rebranding the Conveyance workflow automation product as Alchem-e™ Books and intends to utilize the product’s advanced JDF and JMF toolset with its Alchem-e™ CCM/CXM-focused platform used by transaction processors and direct marketing companies.
Racami has a wide variety of CCM and other solutions under the Alchem-e umbrella, which have been rearchitected from large, monolithic systems into a dozen smaller, more manageable applications that are far easier to implement and utilize. Said Matt Mahoney, Racami’s Executive Vice President of Sales: “Alchem-e™ Books has good synergy with the other Alchem-e products, and incorporating the JDF/JMF capabilities it brings into the Racami system will enhance the entire ecosystem.”
To which we say that Alchem-e™ Books fits nicely in this application suite.
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