Issue November 2005

Genus Golf Day 2005

New Faster Fiche and Roll Film Scanners

SURESCAN soars with the MULTI-FLY

Large Format launch the KIP 3000

Large Format installation - Case Study

C-Cube Solutions from OITUK Ltd

New Equipment Service Division

Porterhouse News keeps staff informed and entertained


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Genus Golf Day 2005

On Wednesday 10th of August The Genus Group held its annual golf day at the Hinckley Golf Club in Leicestershire.

This year’s event attracted 39 customers and suppliers from all parts of the country. The weather forecast had predicted a very hot day, which tempted some of the more adventurous competitors to venture out in shorts, not a pretty sight!!

With the course in superb condition the thirteen teams of 3 started the morning 9 hole Texas Scramble. First on the tee were last year’s winners, ‘Age Concern’, confident that they would retain their title for a second year. But alas, just like their sales forecasts, their confidence was misplaced, finishing well down the field. The eventual winners were ‘Tee for Three’ consisting of Alastair Galbraith from Micrographic Techniques, Tim Shearing from Chelsea Building Society and our very own Stephen Hobbis.

After lunch the individual Stableford competition got under way, with some dubious handicaps being registered and no obvious improvement in the standard of golf being played. The winner and second place both came from the last group out, ‘Gulliver’s Travellers’. Bob Randle of Wicks & Wilson shot a very credible 35 points to beat his nearest rival Bob Gristock of Headway Technology with 33 points. The third member of the team, our very own Sales Manager Ian Case, did not register a score worthy of note!

Other winners on the day were, the ladies section won by Lynn Broughton of Surescan, longest drive Trevor Broughton of Wansdyke Security, nearest the pin Ken Scott of Arrow Imaging Services and for the most golf played the honour went to Jason Kabi of KIP UK. At least Jason can argue he never spends a quiet Friday afternoon on the Golf course!

In addition there was an overall team competition where all the players were split into either the purple or blue teams, eventual winners with the best individual average were the purple team. Final prize was the ball draw with Lyndon Price of Access & Archive walking away with a golf bag. A great day was had by all and we thank everyone for making the effort to come along. A special mention to Frank Drummond of Kodak, Phil Pearson of Canon and Phil Hall of Headway Technology for supplying prizes and golf accessories.

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New Faster Fiche and Roll Film Scanners

Wicks and Wilson have just launched the brand new FS300 Fiche/Jacket scanner which can scan at speeds of up to 135 frames per minute (A4 24x at 200dpi, 6 x 12 fiche) which represents a 40% increase in speed over the previous FS200 for only an 8% price increase.

To complement the FS300, Wicks and Wilson have also launched the new FS150 Fiche/Jacket entry level batch scanner which can scan at speeds of up to 72 frames per minute (A4 24x at 200dpi, 6 x 12 fiche). Both new scanners come with a new and improved camera card and the brand new SMARTSCAN 10 image processing board to provide improved image quality and performance.

Also launched is the RS325 16/35mm Roll Film scanner that is Wicks and Wilson’s fastest ever roll film scanner at 325 images per minute (A4 at 200dpi). The RS325 is a direct replacement for the RS300 and is sold at the same price.

The new RS325 comes with the improved camera card and the new SMARTSCAN 10 image processing board. Used on the new Fiche and Roll Film units, the unique new SMARTSCAN 10 image processing system features Dual File Output (simultaneously of both greyscale and bitonal images allowing offline QA of images); Greyscale Contrast and Brightness (more detailed greyscale imaging controls to produce a better image); Greyscale Gamma Correction (compensates for non-linear response in film density and ccd sensitivity by adjusting the tonal curve of the film); Bitonal Duplex Thresholding (RS Roll Scanners only - templates can be set differently for top and bottom duplex images); Automatic Greyscale Template settings (Automatically generates initial greyscale settings for a particular film) and Bitonal Areabased Dynamic Thresholding (Each pixel is dynamically thresholded by considering the area around it).

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SURESCAN soars with the MULTI-FLY

Surescan continues to win contracts to convert microfiche, microfilm and aperture cards into tiff images and has chosen to use the STAUDE MULTI-FLY automated fiche/jacket carrier with KODAK ABR3000 DSV-E scanners to manage the increased demand.

Surescan considered the high performance microfilm production scanners before deciding on the Kodak 3000 DSV-E. It was important for Surescan to be able to offer their customers a scanning service across the range of microfilm formats. The ABR3000 DSV-E combined with its various film carriers, including the ACF7 automated aperture card carrier, gave them just that. The addition of the Multi-Fly automated fiche/jacket carrier system convinced Managing Director Lynn Broughton to purchase two systems.

Lynn Broughton goes on to say "It was clear that the bureau not only needed to increase the speed to handle the volumes whilst ensuring the production of high quality images, but also needed to build an infrastructure to increase capacity for more business in the future. I have been delighted with the performance of the two MULTI-FLY systems which have immediately given us enormous flexibility with the media that can be converted as well as a greatly increased throughput, allowing Surescan to remain highly competitive across a range of scanning services".

Surescan was established 5 years ago as a scanning bureau for paper of all sizes and this remains highly successful and in great demand. GENUS, incorporating THE MICROFILM SHOP has given the company excellent advice and professional support in the introduction of microfiche, microfilm and aperture card conversion which has helped Surescan position itself as a company that offers total scanning solutions.

Surescan - Tel: 01666 841341 www.surescan.co.uk

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Large Format launch the KIP 3000

Genus Large Format Systems has recently launched the brand new KIP 3000 multifunction digital copier, printer and scan to file system. Due to their status as a KIP Premier dealer, Genus LFSD will be able to provide competitive pricing packages not only to end users but also to potential re-sellers of the product. Genus has also taken the decision to have engineers trained at a formal training course at KIP America .

The KIP 3000 is the result of intensive market research from KIP organisations around the globe. The new machine is ideal for companies with a low to medium volume print requirement or decentralised print rooms of large organisations.

The KIP 3000 is a true single footprint device and is available in three configurations:

As with all new KIP printers, the 3000 utilises KIP’s unique High Definition Print Technology. HDP not only delivers exceptional print quality, it also means that the printer is 100% toner efficient – there is no waste toner to dispose of.

The KIP 3000 has been designed to allow casual users to be able to walk up and start making prints on the machine – no specialised skills are required. The machine is operated from the intuitive touch screen provided. The machine can be programmed to operate using user authorisation codes. This ensures that all printing, either from hard copy or via the network can be measured and accounted for via the KIP accounting software. www.genuslargeformat.co.uk

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Large Format installation - Case Study

East Riding of Yorkshire Council is the largest unitary council by area in the country covering an area of 930 square miles. The council is one of the biggest employers in the area with an equivalent of nearly 9,000 full time employees. East Riding has a population of 321,300, over half of which live in rural communities, many of which are small, scattered and geographically isolated. East Riding of Yorkshire Council infrastructure & facilities department recently purchased a new digital scanning and printing system from the Large Format Systems Division of GENUS.

The system consists of the KIP 6202 Large format Digital Reprographic system and a Kodak 3000DSV microfilm scanner / printer. The council had for some time been looking at equipment suitable to replace their old analogue plan printer and microfilm printer. Purchasing the new equipment has meant that the infrastructure and facilities department has taken a major step forward in the provision of services they are able to offer for copying, scanning, plotting and archiving of engineering information.

Phil Jones, Business Development Manager for Genus Large Format Systems said of the deal “It was a great time for East Riding of Yorkshire to upgrade their equipment as they were able to benefit from some of the latest technology that had recently been launched by KIP”

The KIP 6202 large format printer consists of the KIP 6002 printer and the new KIP 2200 monochrome / colour scanner. The printer can print A0 drawings at a speed of 4 per minute copied either from hard copy originals or sent directly from the CAD network. The new system purchased by the council enables the infrastructure & facilities department to offer the following services:

The main benefits of the new system are that as all the new equipment is digital, the machines are available to anyone on the network to scan or print. The Kodak 3000DSV microfilm scanner / printer can scan and print all types of microfilm to the dedicated A4/A3 laser printer or the KIP large format printer.

Sean Lightowler from East Riding of Yorkshire Council explains why they selected the chosen system and why GENUS Large Format Systems was the preferred supplier: “The chosen system met all of our future requirements” “GENUS showed that they are experts in both the microfilm and large format markets. We felt they would be able to recommend and install a system to meet our needs”

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C-Cube Solutions from OITUK Ltd

The UK EDM & Workflow market is getting increasingly crowded and complex as legislation kicks in and business requirements become more sophisticated.

To meet these challenges, OITUK Ltd., continues to develop and provide a range of EDM & Workflow solutions which are closely integrated with business processes and line-of-business applications. With additional development resources on-board and associations with other technology providers, OITUK will be releasing a number of new products and add-ons during 2005 and 2006, including:

• C-Cube Lite – a new, entry-level EDM Solution;
• C-Cube ERMS - TNA 2002 Compliant Electronic Records Management System;
• C-Cube Planning - new system to support Local Authority Planning Applications.

The ongoing developments are in line with the strategic plans to grow the business and develop the market over the next five years.

C-Cube Lite – a new windows-based entry level EDM system which will include the following functionality:

• Scanning via any TWAIN-compliant capture device
• Capture of electronic documents
• User-definable indexing
• Multiple applications
• Built-in reporting tool
• User configurable look and feel
• Optional web access module

The C-Cube Lite system has been designed to provide all the functionality "out-of-box" with minimal requirements for IT support. The Lite system can be upgraded to the full suite of enterprise-wide EDM & Workflow solutions provided by OITUK Ltd.

The C-Cube ERMS - Electronic Record Management System helps businesses to manage records in compliance with guidelines dictated by The National Archives – TNA 2002. ERMS enables organisations to be accountable for both physical and electronic records that have to be retained over specified periods and (equally important) records that have to be destroyed after given time periods.

The scope of ERMS is as follows:

• To create, manage and organise records
• Tracking & Retrieval of organised records
• Import and Export of the records and their metadata to other ERM Systems
• Support s robust access control, authentication and encryption features with built in audit trail
• Integrating the Internet Mail (both inbound and outbound)

The C-Cube ERMS is currently going through the TNA accreditation process. The capture and management of planning drawings and all associated documentation can be readily carried out using existing Electronic Document Management (EDM) and Workflow systems. These systems, typically used within other departments in Local Authorities, can be expanded to support operations within Planning Departments, optionally integrated with existing Planning administration applications. OITUK Ltd. working closely with a number of Local Authorities in the UK , providing integrated EDM & Workflow solutions within Housing and Revenues & Benefits Departments. We are currently developing new applications to support operations within Planning Departments, where a high proportion of the requirements can be met via existing EDM & Workflow solutions provided by OITUK.

OITUK has released a new planning application to meet Local Authority requirements. The system will support capture of paper based and electronic plans, accessible via a web based retrieval system which can be integrated within web portals and web sites. In addition, the web retrieval system can be integrated with a number of planning administration systems.

A web based demonstration of the OITUK Planning Module has been set up, to demonstrate some of the basic functionality, including options in the image viewer to support a measuring tool for scanned drawings. The measuring tool will allow users to measure distances between any two points, allowing for drawing scale and image manipulation.

Please visit the OITUK web site at www.oituk.com to try the planning retrieval system.

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New Equipment Service Division

In our last Newsletter we reported the formation of our new Large Format Systems Division. T his division has been incredibly successful especially with the KIP range of large format scanners and printers. Coupled with enormous success right through the summer on sales of Wicks and Wilson production film scanners we decided that the time was right to add a service technician with specific knowledge of software, microfilm scanners, computer networks and Large Format products. As such Jerry Wierzan was a perfect choice with his 20 years worth of microfilm/scanner experience working for Imtec, PCL Group, Mekel and a microfilm bureau.

With this experience Jerry has worked on CAD software systems, microfilm equipment product development, the first ever digital to microfilm plotter, CAR software, large microfilm scanning projects, computer system support, covering the whole of Europe for Mekel support and he was even involved with the beta testing of Wicks and Wilson microfilm scanning software.

With his software writing skills Jerry will make an excellent addition to our service division to add a very high level of technical and software knowledge.

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