The latest and greatest trends in HMI software today

The human-machine interface (HMI) is the window to the equipment's operations. As remote connectivity and data sharing continue to play larger roles, machine builders capitalize on the HMI's digital capabilities. This select panel of experts discusses where HMI software is leading operator interface, as well as the equipment it puts a face on.

What are some of the latest and greatest trends in HMI software today?

Lee Clore, Onyx Industries: HMI software advances have propelled HMIs well beyond their original function of replacing push buttons and posting ASCII status messages.

Inexpensive HMIs regularly include database-driven recipe functions, advanced alarming/reporting, conditional logic/scripting and Web publishing. The HMI is often a better place to handle these control functions than inside of the PLC, getting more done with less software. In the case of robotics or dedicated motion controllers, it may be the only place to provide these control functions.

Recipes store machine run-time variables in tables and usually consist of data of different types. This could include ints, floats, bits and string data. Manufacturers of HMIs provide software that includes a database for efficient storage of large recipes. Recipes are designed for organizing database records with data of different types. The recipe data may be transferred to one or more PLCs or motion controllers allowing centralized storage of recipe data in a distributed control environment.

In the old days, HMI software offered trending, which showed the last few minutes of data in a moving graph. Now many HMI companies offer time-interval or event-based data logging to SD memory cards storing vast amounts of data.

HMI software vendors are expanding use of ladder-logic engines capable of running small logic programs in the background from the GUI. This allows high-level functions to be executed at the HMI device. Some HMIs allow scripting using Basic-like, C or Java languages. Using this, integrators can tailor the solution they offer their clients. It might be something simple like a routine to parse bar code data or a more complex recipe lookup to make sure the operator doesn't duplicate an existing recipe when setting up a new job.

Many HMIs on the market offer dynamic HTML Web publishing, allowing access to the HMI, and therefore the machine, from anywhere. An integrator who's deployed a machine hours away can log in and help to troubleshoot. A production scheduler can log in to see current production part counts. Maintenance can log in to check service intervals programmed in PLCs accessible via the HMI. Some even allow camera connections providing video feed out for visual aid in troubleshooting remotely.

While HMI software development has advanced dramatically in recent years, it's not over. The Industrial Internet of Things, wireless and Internet security will continue to push software boundaries.

Lee Clore is owner/controls designer at Onyx Industries.

John Kowal, B&R Industrial Automation: By far the biggest development in HMI is HTML5. Operating system independent, HTML HMI works on any Web-enabled device. Toolkits are available so that no knowledge of HTML programming is required. Conversely, put this HMI software in the hands of a talented Web developer, and there is no limit to the potential graphics and usability. And with integrated HMI/machine/robot/safety controllers featuring high-definition, multi-touch screens and running processors all the way to multicore i7, there is also no limit to the hardware capabilities.

OPC UA is looking to be the automation market's communications interface of choice between smart devices, controllers, HMI and edge/fog/cloud. Also consider what OMAC is doing—a companion specifications for both MTconnect and ISA TR88 (PackML) and OPC UA. Now you'll have the benefit of a PackML state model on each HMI for a common look and feel, plus M2M communications. OMAC also has a new HMI template, based on work developed by Nestle, that puts commonly used functions such as software buttons surrounding the main HMI touch screen, so operators always know where to find core functions, regardless of make or model. The icing on the cake is OMAC also has a stack-light template corresponding to TR88 states. It's simple and simply brilliant.

Another IIoT capability to implement on HMI is the machine's digital twin, allowing more simulation, modeling and updates machine-side.

John Kowal is director, business development at B&R Industrial Automation.

Chris Harris, Revere Control Systems: High Performance graphics techniques are used to improve decision-making with uncluttered graphics and prioritized alarming. HTML5-compliant graphics are being adopted to streamline the presentation of HMIs across mobile platforms.

Chris Harris, PE, is senior project engineer at Revere Control Systems and a Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) member.

Allan Evora, Affinity Energy: Today's most significant trends in HMI software surround analytics, the cloud, and security. All three are related. Today's operators are expected to not only keep facilities and processes up and running, but also make decisions that impact the bottom line. IIoT creates a much richer data set for making both operational and business decisions. Connectivity to the public, private or hybrid cloud allows complex analysis with results pushed back down to the edge. This cloud connectivity, in addition to the growing need for HMI software to support mobile, has put an intense focus and concern on security.

Allan Evora is president of Affinity Energy and a CSIA member.

Chuck Harrell, Advantech: HMI software is not just HMI; it plays roles for both machine visualization and data connectivity. Enhanced capability is the latest trend, such as an open HMI solution such as a PC-based platform with HMI software.

Chuck Harrell is key account and product marketing at Advantech.

Robert Zeigenfuse, Avanceon: Trends include ease of use and simplicity in design, mobility and actionable information/messages.

Robert Zeigenfuse is president of Avanceon and a CSIA member.

Alicia Millinger, GE Digital: We are at a transition point in being able to leverage the Industrial Internet for the HMI/SCADA system and bring it forward into new, fourth-generation technology that makes the operator the center of the universe. By leveraging the Industrial Internet, we can have a closed loop from the operator to the cloud and analytics and back to the operator, optimizing performance.

Many users underestimate the importance of a good HMI design. The goal is simple: Operators should be able to recognize which information needs their attention and what it indicates at a glance. For that, the operator not only needs a good user interface but a system that delivers a great user experience. Efficient HMI is all about facilitating the operator's situational awareness. Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening. More simply, it's knowing what is going on around you.

We have equipped the operators with eye-trackers in order to measure various parameters such as navigation time—the time they spend browsing for information, areas of the screens which are focal points for them. The results are represented under the form of heat maps on each of the screens.

Alicia Millinger is marketing manager, automation software at GE Digital.

Vikram Kumar, EZAutomation: The latest and greatest trends in HMI software involve the world of IIoT. Getting real-time data in a secure and reliable format is becoming more and more important for productivity monitoring and maintenance alerts. HMIs are doing more historian type computing as do high-end SCADA software by supporting trend graphs and statistical analysis tools. For example, one can store local data on hot swappable USB sticks or MicroSD cards and send that data to local plant networks or cell phones. One can even remotely access the data in raw .csv format or trend graphs using a mobile app.

Vikram Kumar is president/CEO of EZAutomation.

Ramey Miller, Siemens: One of the trends today is automatic object creation based on other objects or code external to the HMI itself. When multiple repetitive objects need to be displayed but the data behind is to different data elements, the time to create these elements goes up; plus possible errors can be made. Having the ability to dynamically generate a consistent screen object and map the data behind the animation to the correct elements becomes important and efficient.

Ramey Miller is HMI product manager at Siemens.

Allen Tubbs, Bosch Rexroth: HTML5 systems are becoming more popular, along with Web servers on machine controllers. This allows operators to use their phones or standard tablets to access the HMI pages. This in turn reduces the cost of the HMI hardware, makes the software independent of the hardware and provides greater accessibility.

Allen Tubbs is product manager, automation and electrification solutions at Bosch Rexroth and a CSIA member.

Jeff Hayes, Beijer Electronics: Best-practice guidelines in HMI project design include colors, text size and fonts, objects, images, screen navigation, charts, graphs, trends, error notifications, failures and related actions, data collection, dimming control, visual dynamics, video and sound, as well as support for ANSI/ISA-101.01-2015.

For security, trends are affecting authentication, authorization, user groups, password policies and logs. Remote access is facilitating secure, read-only or read/write access to an HMI as if one were local to the HMI. For preventive maintenance, it's enabling temperatures, operating hours, CPU performance history, storage and memory usage, power cycles and display usage.

Cloud options to be aware of are storage and aggregation of collected data, preventive-maintenance information, dashboard views via Web-enabled devices, firmware and project updates.

Jeff Hayes is regional product manager at Beijer Electronics.

ALSO READ: HMI software often starts with the hardware

Chirayu Shah, Rockwell Automation: The latest generation of HMI software helps manufacturers to converge IT and OT systems to reduce deployment inefficiencies and gain better access to information once buried in operations. When an HMI can directly connect with a controller, the traditionally lengthy and error-prone process of design becomes a thing of the past. HMI developers can now directly access tag descriptions, engineering units and minimum/maximum settings, saving hours and sometimes days of effort.

What's powering this change is that engineers designing the displays or content can repurpose a lot of the work done for the control layer. When designing an alarm in the HMI, for instance, they can reference the definition of an alarm directly from the controller, helping to eliminate the need to reconfigure that alarm. When an alarm occurs, it's more accurate because the controller is providing the time stamps and controlling other alarms on the plant floor so they don't get out of sequence.

The anywhere, anytime workforce has also directed where HMI software is headed. Mobile solutions scale the display and content to the device. Operators have instant access to information with responsive, configurable views that can be tailored to their preferences. Operators can acknowledge or shelve an alarm notification from within the app.

Centralizing HMI content management and visualization while reducing hardware and operator costs has also become a focus for many manufacturers. Thin client software turns display content into an information layer that fluctuates depending on the operator's need. An engineer who is servicing a terminal, for instance, will only receive the instructions and displays relevant to the role and the job being performed.

Chirayu Shah is marketing manager, HMI software, at Rockwell Automation.

Asako Takayasu, Fuji Electric: We believe cloud service is becoming the trend. You can store various kinds of data such as logging, alarm and operation log in the cloud server. If you have multiple plants worldwide, you can keep all data in one location and the authorized managers will have an access to the server and can easily use them for analysis or troubleshooting to identify problems and share the improvement simultaneously.

Asako Takayasu is international product specialist, HMI, at Fuji Electric.

Mike Bacidore is the editor in chief for Control Design magazine. He is an award-winning columnist, earning a Gold Regional Award and a Silver National Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Email him at mbacidore@putman.net.

Source: The latest and greatest trends in HMI software today

Global Web-To-Print Industry

LONDON, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Web-to-Print in US$ Thousand.

The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/552796/

Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2015 through 2022. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs.

The report profiles 85 companies including many key and niche players such as:- Agfa-Gevaert Group- Aleyant Systems, LLC- Avanti Computer Systems Limited- B2CPRINT Ltd.- Citation Software, Inc.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/552796/

WEB-TO-PRINT MCP-6550 A GLOBAL STRATEGIC BUSINESS REPORT CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & PRODUCT DEFINITIONSStudy Reliability and Reporting LimitationsDisclaimersData Interpretation & Reporting LevelQuantitative Techniques & AnalyticsProduct Definitions and Scope of Study

II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEWE-Commerce Catches Up With the Print Industry in the Form of Web-to-PrintTable 1: Percentage Breakdown of the Value of E-Enabled Print Shipments as Against Traditionally Ordered Print Shipments in the U.S. for the Years 2010, 2014 & 2016 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)The Need to Evolve With Changing Digital Times & Capitalize on the Benefits of the Digital Age Drives the Evolution of Print E-CommerceW2P: Market OverviewTable 2: Cost Savings Epitomized by the W2P Business Model as Compared to Traditional In-House Printing & Brick & Motor Printing Services (In US$) by Specific Print Order Tasks (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Review of Key Trends & DriversSemi Positive Out look for the World Printing Industry & the Need to Fight Disruptive Technological Changes Encourage Growth of W2PTable 3: World Market for Print (In US$ Billion) by Geographic Region for the Years 2016 & 2018 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 4: World Market for Print (In US$ Billion) by Segment for the Years 2016 & 2018 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Growing Print On Demand Services Strengthens the Business Case for W2PTable 5: Global Venture Capital Investments in the On-Demand Economy (In US$ Million) by Geographic Region for the Years 2010, 2013 & 2016 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Era of Personalized Print Adverts Fuels Interest in Variable Data Printing Feature of W2PSelect Variable Data Printing ApplicationsShifting of Ad Budgets from Mass to Direct Advertising & the Ensuing Re-Emergence of Direct Mail Spells Opportunities for W2PTable 6: U.S. Market for Direct Mail Marketing as a Case in Point (In US$ Million) for the Years 2014, 2016 & amp; 2020 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Cost Benefits Spur Migration to Hosted W2P SolutionsThe Stellar Rise of Cloud Computing Drives the Emergence of Cloud-to-Print as the Most Preferred Hosted Service Model for W2PW2P Breathes New Hope of Competitiveness for Small-Scale Printing HousesSteady Recovery in Retail Trade: A Key External DriverTable 7: Global Breakdown of Retail Sales (In US$ Trillion) for the Years 2013, 2016 & 2020 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)W2P for Large Format Printing Rises in Prominence Supported by Technology Innovation & Strong Growth in Outdoor AdvertisingDevelopments in Internet Infrastructure Provides the Foundation for the Growth of W2PTable 8: Breakdown of Average Net Connection Speeds in MBPS by Leading Countries for the Year 2017 Q1 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Market Outlook

2. PRODUCT OVERVIEWWeb-to-Print: An IntroductionFeatures of Web-to-PrintA Glance at the PastWeb-to-Print SolutionUsers of W2P SolutionsCriteria f or Choosing W2P SolutionFactors Affecting Success of W2P SolutionEssentials for Establishing W2P SystemWeb-to-Print ModelsW2P Hosted SolutionsSoftware as a Service (SaaS) ModelApplication Service Provider (ASP)Licensed W2P SolutionWeb-to-Print ProcessParties Involved in Web-to-Print ProcessWeb-to-Print Portal: A Key ConstituentApplications of Web-to-PrintBenefits of W2PBenefits of W2P for Printers and CustomersMajor Drawbacks & ChallengesMajor Challenges Facing W2P ImplementationDTP Vs Web-to-Print

3. PRODUCT INTRODUCTIONS/INNOVATIONSKonica Minolta Unveils Printing and Web SolutionsHP Rolls Out HP JetAdvantage Connect SolutionsSilicon Publishing Re-architectures Web-to-Print SolutionOnPrintShop to Unveil Advanced B2B Web-to-Print SolutionHP Launches HP WallArt SuiteAleyant Redesigns Pressero Web-to-Print PlatformClickar Unveils Augmented Reality (AR) Web-to-PrintAgfa Graphics Unveils Version 3.1 of W2P SoftwareIntelligenceBank Unveils New Web-to-Print FeaturePrintUI Launch es New Cloud-Based Web to Print ServicesDesign'N'Buy Unveils Upgraded 2.3 Web-to-Print SolutionRGA Introduces Web-to-Print WebsiteRacad Unveils New DIY W2P Wordpress PluginOptimus Introduces Optimus Dash MIS and XMPie W2P SystemPTI Marketing Technologies Changes Name to MarcomCentralLiving Sport Develops New Online W2P PortalXMPie Unveils New SaaS Web-to-Print SolutionThe UPS Store Collaborates with PrintSites to Launch Online Printing Store

4. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITYElectronics For Imaging Takes Over CRC Information SystemsEden Advertising & Interactive and Racad Tech Launch Web-To- Print Website for Rainbow PrintingRicoh Snaps Up Avanti Computer SystemsIVE Acquires AIW Printing and Franklin WebCanon Solutions America Collaborates with AleyantFujifilm Europe Announces a New Partnership with AleyantWorldwide Printing Solutions Selects Fuji Xerox's W2P PortalLiquidPixels Partners with Silicon PublishingCimpress to Acquire WIRmachenDRUCKAleyant Takes Over Web-to-Print Busin ess of KeenCimpress Acquires Exagroup SASCimpress to Acquire druck.atEnfocus Partners with e-CervoDesign'N'Buy Acquires PrintCommerceHeidelberg UK Announces Partnership with ROI360

5. FOCUS ON SELECT GLOBAL PLAYERSAgfa-Gevaert Group (Belgium)Aleyant Systems, LLC (USA)Avanti Computer Systems Limited (Canada)B2CPRINT Ltd. (Israel)Citation Software, Inc. (USA)Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (EFI) (USA)GMC Software Technology, Inc. (USA)Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P (USA)InterlinkONE, Inc. (USA)MarcomCentral (USA)NowDocs International, Inc. (USA)PageDNA (USA)Pageflex (USA)PagePath Technologies, Inc. (USA)Print Science (USA)Quark, Inc. (USA)Quarterhouse Software, Inc. (USA)Racad Tech, Inc. (Canada)RedTie Limited (UK)Rocketprint Software, LLC (USA)Vpress (UK)Xerox Corporation (USA)

6. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVETable 9: World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 10: World Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 11: World 14-Year Perspective for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World Markets for Years 2009, 2017 & 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

III. MARKET

1. THE UNITED STATESA.Market AnalysisShift towards Online ProcessesProduct LaunchesStrategic Corporate DevelopmentsSelect Key PlayersB.Market AnalyticsTable 12: US Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 13: US Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

2. CANADAA.Market AnalysisProduct LaunchStrategic Corporate DevelopmentSelect Key PlayersB.Market AnalyticsTable 14: Canadian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 15: Canadian Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

3. JAPANA.Market AnalysisMarket OverviewStrategic Corporate DevelopmentB.Market AnalyticsTable 16: Japanese Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 17: Japanese Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4. EUROPEA.Market AnalysisHigh Growth Prospects for W2P in EuropeB.Market AnalyticsTable 18: European Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 19: European Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 20: European 14-Year Perspective for Web-to-Print Software by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for Fran ce, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets for Years 2009, 2017 & 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4a. FRANCEA.Market AnalysisStrategic Corporate DevelopmentsB.Market AnalyticsTable 21: French Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 22: French Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4b. GERMANYA.Market AnalysisStrategic Corporate DevelopmentsB.Market AnalyticsTable 23: German Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 24: German Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 ( includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4c. ITALYA.Market AnalysisMarket OverviewB.Market AnalyticsTable 25: Italian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 26: Italian Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4d. THE UNITED KINGDOMA.Market AnalysisMarket OverviewProduct LaunchesStrategic Corporate DevelopmentSelect Key PlayersB.Market AnalyticsTable 27: UK Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 28: UK Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4e. SPAINA.Market Ana lysisInternet Adoption Determines W2P Adoption RatesProduct LaunchB.Market AnalyticsTable 29: Spanish Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 30: Spanish Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4f. RUSSIAMarket AnalysisTable 31: Russian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 32: Russian Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

4g. REST OF EUROPEA.Market AnalysisProduct LaunchStrategic Corporate DevelopmentSelect Key PlayerB.Market AnalyticsTable 33: Rest of Europe Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 34: Rest of Europe Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

5. ASIA-PACIFICA.Market AnalysisProduct LaunchesStrategic Corporate DevelopmentsB.Market AnalyticsTable 35: Asia-Pacific Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 36: Asia-Pacific Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

6. LATIN AMERICAMarket AnalysisTable 37: Latin American Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenu es in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 38: Latin American Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

7. REST OF WORLDA.Market AnalysisKey PlayerB.Market AnalyticsTable 39: Rest of World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2015 through 2022 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)Table 40: Rest of World Historic Review for Web-to-Print Software Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Thousand for Years 2009 through 2014 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

IV. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPETotal Companies Profiled: 85 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries - 90) The United States (50) Canada (5) Japan (1) Europe (25) - France (2) - Germany (5) - The United Kingdom (11) - Spain (1) - Rest of Europe (6) Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (7) Middle East (1) Africa (1)Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/552796/

About ReportbuyerReportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishershttp://www.reportbuyer.com

For more information:Sarah SmithResearch Advisor at Reportbuyer.comEmail: [email protected]Tel: +44 208 816 85 48Website: www.reportbuyer.com

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-web-to-print-industry-300508043.html

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Source: Global Web-To-Print Industry

10 new web design tools for August 2017

It may be the end of the summer, but there are plenty of hot new web design tools to get stuck into. One of the standout tools this month has to be Video Indexer from Microsoft, which can do some very clever things with video. There is also a handy static website builder, and a tool that will help you out when working with SVGs generated in Illustrator.

Beyond that there's the usual roundup of new resources that make our lives that bit easier. Ready? Here we go!

01. Microsoft Video Indexer

Extract insights from inside your videos

Microsoft's Video Indexer uses artificial intelligence to search for spoken words, faces and other characteristics within videos. It can detect when a scene changes and when text appears in a video, and can produce an audio transcript. Somehow, it can even look for particular emotions. You can use it to extract useful metadata that makes it easier for people to find your videos.

02. Supernova

Supernova converts mobile designs into fully-fledged native apps

Supernova turns Sketch designs into working native iOS and Android apps in a few minutes, enabling designers to create functioning apps without any coding. It converts design layers into native components and deals with responsive layouts for you. It's currently still in beta, and free to try.

03. Parallax SVG Animation Tools

A great way to work with SVGs in Illustrator

Hand-editing SVG code can be a pain, so someone built this post-processor for SVGs produced by Illustrator. It uses layer names to create attributes, classes and IDs so they're much easier to select in JavaScript or CSS.

04. Fontface Ninja

This free browser extension lets you dig into different sites' font info

Fontface Ninja is a browser extension that lets you play around with and buy fonts on any website. Hover on a font on any site to see its name, line height, size and other specifications – you can even try it out by typing in an overlaid box to see how it will look for the text you have in mind. If you like it, the download or purchase link is provided so you can click straight through.

05. Publii

Sites created with Publii are based on static HTML files, making them very safe

This is interesting: Publii is a desktop app that makes it easy to build stylish static websites. It's geared up for building blogs in particular, and uses Google AMP technology for speed, and also handles layout on different devices for you. Running a static site is a great choice if you're worried about security, as it makes your website much less vulnerable to intrusion.

06. JPNG.svg

Keep your images light with this helpful tool

Combining the transparency of a PNG with the compression of a JPG, this tool uses SVG to make PNG files smaller. Plus, it works in all modern browsers.

07. Uploadcare 3.0

Uploadcare works on any device and supports files up to 5TB in size

Uploadcare is a fast file uploader that deals with storage, processing and delivery. It will optimise your files and deliver them via its super-fast CDN. Version 3.0 offers some major improvements, including face recognition, colour extraction and image enhancement features.

08. Stockio

These stock assets are free to use

Stockio is a great stock resource that offers thousands of photos, videos, vectors, icons and fonts that are free for personal and commercial use.

09. Vecteezy Editor

Customise Vecteezy content directly in your browser

Vecteezy offers free and premium vector art and now it has an editor that can be used to make changes to Vecteezy artwork or to create your own vectors from scratch. It's quite a handy way to edit vectors in the browser, and it works in Chrome, Chromium and Opera.

10. Sketch for Designers

Supercharge your Sketch designs

Billing itself as 'A growing collection of the best Sketch resources', this site curates some of the most useful plugins and apps for Sketch so you can get the best out of the software.

Read more:

Source: 10 new web design tools for August 2017

Webspec Design Acquires Web And Print Company

URBANDALE, Iowa, Aug. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EDJE is a web, app, and print company in the Des Moines area specializing in agricultural and livestock businesses. With over 20 years of experience, EDJE has completed more than 3,500 client projects. As of July 1, 2017, it will become part of Webspec Design under owner Jeremiah Terhark. Terhark is also partial owner in both Iowa Sign Company and Computer Repair of Des Moines.

EDJE does work in web and print design, as well as mobile app development. Its 18 full-time employees work with a variety of client types and consist of developers, designers, and print specialists. Both companies combined will total nearly 50 employees. On top of adding these new, creative employees, Webspec will also be acquiring all the current EDJE services and clients.

"We are really excited about this opportunity and cannot wait to have everyone at EDJE officially join our team," said Webspec Design founder and owner, Jeremiah Terhark. "They have a variety of services and a large portfolio of clients. We're looking forward to collaborating together and learning from each other."

Webspec Design is known for its custom projects and strong client relationships. At Webspec, the employees believe a web project is just the beginning of the client relationship. Terhark plans to use the unique services at EDJE and the strong relational skills at Webspec to help grow both businesses.

"This is a new adventure for everyone involved," said Jeremiah Terhark. "The employees at both businesses are very passionate about what they do and I'm looking forward to all that is to come."

About Webspec Design Webspec Design is an industry-leading team of designers, web and software developers, project managers, and digital marketing experts based in Urbandale, Iowa. We hire the best and brightest to develop creative web design solutions and deliver businesses unparalleled results. After fifteen years and hundreds of web design and development projects, we are proud of our reputation for service and have worked with over 700 happy clients. Along with custom web design and development, Webspec also specializes in software development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).

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SOURCE Webspec Design

Source: Webspec Design Acquires Web And Print Company

15 Things to Consider When Hiring a Web Development Company

Web development companies are mushrooming everywhere and claiming big. The needs for web development is growing despite stalwart from mobile applications. Mobile friendly websites have created a new audience that loves mobile browsing only.

Therefore, a charm for web development among the various business communities is intact and even growing thanks to preferences of the audience that requires the web as well as a mobile entity both to accomplish buying lifecycle.

Marketers are pitching the ground by offering real-time and location-based incentives to leverage mobile audience with full capacities. It again compels businesses to have high-tech websites, and mobile apps accompanied the latest technologies, features, and functionality to gain an edge over the competition.

Thus, businesses are rushing to knock the doors of a number of prestigious web and mobile development companies, particularly offshore companies, which can avail benefits of outsourcing without compromising on quality delivery.

Unfortunately, everybody is not lucky enough that they have sweet relationships with such web development agencies in the outsourcing industry. They have to pass through a long process to make a right selection and establish a rapport with it.

To ease your life, we have decided to give some useful tips or consider things in this regard. Let's check some 15 things, if not more.

Tip No.1: Know Your Requirements First at Tech Point of View

Differentiating a website from a web application for a business is a tough job. Similarly, they hardly recognize a dynamic website or web portal from a static website. To do so, you have to go to the web and find out some informative blogs like this one that can help to improve your tech knowledge.

The best way is to converse with more than one web development companies and place your needs to the experts. They probably help you to define your website category. Besides these, you should know that:

What degree of customization is essential for your project?

Which stages are required in the web development project?

Know your competitors and what they did?

What is your budget?

Based on it, you can search a few right firms for you and take an in-depth interview with their developers for a fixed rate project or hire web developers through hiring resources packages.

Know what you want first so that you can find out a right provider for it. Tip No.2: Cross Check References

The general perception of people seeking software development services is to check the portfolio of company or developer in question. Unfortunately, a website or a web application depicted in portfolio hardly answer all queries of a client. For instance,

Which developers and designers have participated in the project and the same team is available for your project

Whether project delivered on-time or not

Whether project accomplished within budget or not

What is attitude of the team & company with clients regarding project management, conversations, and reporting

How the team or company behaves once the project finished or payment had done, and bugs or maintenance issues arising, i.e. post development behavior

How long the web development companies have retained their talents for long and kept reputations in the market intact

To obtain the answers to the questions above, you need to come directly in the contacts of clients who already benefited from the services of the said company or the team.

Fortunately, software development industry has provisions to provide valid references of their previous clients upon the request and willingness of those clienteles to come into contact with upcoming clients.

You can leverage cross reference checking and know everything regarding your selected company from the previous clients directly. Tip No.3: Take Interviews of Your Developers

When you opt to hire a web developer or a team of designers and developers for your web development project, web development companies, by rules, provide you profile links or CV of web developers going to assign you.

It is good to know educational qualifications and list of projects they have done, but the main thing is to know their creativity and gauge their practical expertise to deal with complexities of your project.

Therefore, the best way is either video conference or individual visual chats. Direct conversations with your team may assure you regarding their conversational abilities and provide you opportunities to know their skills with some practical tests if you are able to carry.

Tip No.4: Ask for Privacy and Security Policies

Each business has some confidential data and concerns for personal info securities. Many software development projects require those confidential data and dive deeper into the business process.

The threats to reveal business secrets looming when those open to unknown third parties like offshore/onshore web development companies passing through the business analytic process in the course to gather business and personal data.

Therefore, NDA (Non-Discloser Agreement) signing like the legal and moral process is prevailing in software development industry and almost all web development agencies. It ensures your data confidentiality and privacy as the best policy.

For the sake of digital data security, web development companies always use the local server as a development server, and at the time of deployment web, developers take help of hosting providers to run Internet-based development server to test and get approvals of clients.

Once your website published, your data remains with web development companies, and it demands physical to virtual security. You can mention those in NDA and ask web development firm regarding it.

In short, NDA signing with complete provisions is an ideal way. Tip No.5: Ask for Source Ownership

Many frustrated clients approach our support team asking for help to make small changes on their websites, which they have developed with some notorious web development firms keeping source code ownership with them and refraining provide post-development supports for some dirty reasons.

What our support team can help them without access to the source code of their websites or web applications? If wish to save you from such horrible and devastating consequences, you must ask for source code ownership and authenticate access.

Today majority of web programming taking place in open source technologies/languages, so there is no reason to make any excuse regarding source code access for a web developer.

Therefore, you must confirm that how source code authentication provided with required access credentials including source file access, hosting account access, backend access, and so forth.

Upfront clarifications are the best policy for you, as smart and aware clients. Tip No.6: Know How Many Tasks Your Web Development Company Accomplish In-house

There are myriads of technologies, tools, and resources involved in web design and web development. It is natural that all web design & development companies hardly afford to hire in-house talents for those all and invest in costly infrastructure.

Therefore, smart web development companies keep their expertise in particular niche or niches and leave other tasks to others. To keep their loyal customer base intact, they outsource or subcontract some selected tasks of a web development project to others in their group.

In such condition, the best way is to ask your company directly with required politeness and tactfulness regarding outsourcing of the critical tasks of your project. However, the best way is to award the project to the company, which has all required talents, tools, technologies, and infrastructure to support collaborative and conductive web development environment.

Thus, you must opt for a company that can accomplish all web development tasks in-house. Tip No.7: Ask for Expertise & Experiences

Just like a company, a web developer never acquire expertise in all niches because learning different technologies and obtaining mastery is costly in many respect and all developers can't afford it.

Therefore, developers stay in selected and relevant niches when skill set development is in question. Those experts are capable of delivering high quality, show flexibility, and scalability in your projects.

Thus, it is imperative that you inquire regarding skill sets available in your selected web development companies and match it with your project requirements.

Another important consideration in selection is experiences of the talents, the more experienced and seasoned developers you find in the company; it may prove the best place for your projects and long-term relationships.

Tip No.8: Ask for Project Management

Client satisfactions, client-centric designing & development, client-centric approaches are cloying words and capable enough to tempt clients to work with such companies. Unfortunately, in real-world experiences, things are opposite, and you can reveal it during your cross checking of references and testimonials.

The majority of web development companies in outsourcing arena are delivering false claims and end up with mediocre work with annoyed or unsatisfied clients. Based on previous experiences, we can say that it is project management, managers, team leaders, and finally, developers/designers are responsible for it.

Therefore, reputed web development agencies always focus on providing best client experiences using the latest project management software and training project managers with best project management practices.

They allow clients to participate in project activities through their project management software where clients can freely interact with the entire team and provide their valuable suggestions, feedback and required a resource in real time to encourage the creativity of the development team and speed up the project.

Apropos to it, trained project managers guide clients properly and save them from indulging into technical jargons.

Regular updates and reporting are possible with the latest PMS and cooperative team only. Tip No.9: Ask for Your Business & Target Audience Understandings

Each business is unique and operating with unique processes for a unique audience. The uniqueness is one of the secrets of success. Therefore, meeting needs for uniqueness lead web development project to customization where custom features, functionality, and interactions can address.

If your web development agency lacks knacks to understand the unique needs and audience of your business, your website or web application may fail to meet your business goals. In due course, web development companies hire business analysts with some special qualifications and traits to understand business requirements.

Check whether your web development team consisting of business analysts with desired expertise and experiences. Tip No.10: Ask for Website Security

With the increased user base, the world of the Internet is becoming a lucrative place for antisocial, mischievous, and malicious elements who are always in search of victims to accomplish their bad intentions.

They are not ordinary people, but computer experts are known as hackers in colloquial term on the web. They can harm your small to big online identity, just not to steal your valuable data or personal info of your audience, but also make your website an anchor point to spread viruses and malware to harm the entire community of the web.

Therefore, ask your web development team regarding security measures, security standards, and security technologies/tools they know and where they have implemented.

Know security expertise of your web developer team and security planning for your project upfront. Tip No.11: Ask for Website Deployment Expertise

Website deployment means selecting a right host and carry website publication process by following standard practices. There are various hosting options such as web server hosting and cloud hosting. Selection of server demands knowledge of pros & cons of shared hosting, virtual private hosting, and dedicated hosting.

If you have right Website Development Company at hand, you can get righteous guidance.

Just discuss with your web design team that what kind of hosting solution they prefer for your website or web application. Tip No.12: Ask for Website Support, Maintenance, & Upgrade Provisions

Just the publication of your website, the role of your web programming agency is not ending. Instead, it begins to stay for longer. A live website may have bugs with the pace of time. It may have compatibility issues with the advent of web technologies and tools.

Your business may evolve and scale further thanks to your website, and you need to address several issues with that growth. For example, increased traffic, demand for personalization, burgeoning databases, disruption in interaction, disturbance in dynamic updates, hosting-related issues, downtimes, performance regression, marketing related issues, SEO issues, and so many in line.

To tackle all, you need a team of web designers, programmers, QA developers, UX developers, and Internet marketers. The most important thing is a point of contact that can respond your any query at any time and from any device.

It is better, you ask regarding free and paid supports, maintenance and upgrade service packages, and anything beyond, that can keep you with that web development team to foster a long-term relationship. Tip No.13: Ask for Website Marketing Expertise & Packages

Suppose you have started a brick-and-mortar store. What you have to do to grow your business? You must broadcast that you have opened the shop and shop are selling something that interests you. Otherwise, none may come, except passerby who can see your shop and read your board.

The same is true for the Internet business. You should apply all Internet marketing principles and leverage technologies, tools, and tweaks to spread your words across your targeted audience and prospective customers to grow your business. It termed as the Internet marketing, and it consists of organic SEO, social media marketing, and paid marketing including PPC and Internet advertising.

If your web development company is offering all and can develop SEO-friendly websites, the best way is to hire it because technical SEO has a big role and it begins with the website development process.

Ask your web development company that whether it offers marketing services and what the packages are. Tip No.14: Take Final Cost Estimation Along With Complete Documentation

We know quality always comes with a price. Web development companies are hiring talents at a high salary or rates per hour. If they hire mediocre developers, the outcome should be mediocre.

The same is true for clients who are seeking high quality results. They must pay for whatever they get. However, you can do comparative shopping here if you are tech-savvy enough and know web development technologies enough to manage your project with or without the help of a technical advocate.

First up, you should ask for a ballpark estimation documents, listing all major tasks, from all your selected companies. Based on it start a dialog with very few selected companies and ask for detailed estimation with in-depth estimation along with payment terms, methods, and timeline.

It may help you to select the most suitable one to take an informed decision based on those documents. Finalize the project and sign NDA to start it. Bravo, you had done!

Costing is vital to take project decisions so never ignore it.

Tip No.15: Hire a Technical Advocate for You

It is true that without detailed knowledge of technicality, you may face hard time to select The Best Web Development Company and even manage the project with smooth sailing.

Therefore, our advice is to hire a technical advocate that can act or help you on technical issues right from the selection process for web development team and managing project on behalf of you to effectively deal with technocrats team leaders and project manager.

Hiring technical advocate may prove worth when you are yourself is a non-tech project manager. Takeaways:

With these insights, we know that selection of suitable web development company is daunting and demanding tech expertise in due course. However, you can hire a tech advocate for you and sail this tide easily.

It is true that hiring one additional tech is also costly and some reputed companies like Perception System offer free Web Development Consultancy Services and devote highly expert and experienced web developers for the same purpose.

You can take benefits of free consultants and also leverage the technical talents available at Perception System to create high-end web development project for you at highly affordable and competitive rates. Just come into contact with our team and know more in this regard.

Source: 15 Things to Consider When Hiring a Web Development Company