Above: Hybrid Software CEO Mike Rottenborn

Hybrid Software will launch MyPACKZ cloud-based software at drupa – complementing the existing MyCLOUDFLOW launched last year.

The announcement was made by Hybrid Software executives at the 2024 Pre-drupa press conference at Messe Düsseldorf where the company also described itself as the ‘heartbeat of industrial printing and packaging’.

Hybrid Software is a software developer of products and technology for both print providers and OEMs to power digital and conventional print production.

MyPACKZ, to be launched at drupa, is a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) based pre-press application for any printing process, digital or conventional, derived from Hybrid Software’s very successful PACKZ software. PACKZ, with more than 5,000 copies sold, provides a full set of packaging prepress tools from preflight to step & repeat and trapping.

MyPACKZ offers the same functionality in a hosted SaaS business model for increased production efficiency, quality improvements and reduced error rates. It’s the ideal editing solution for MyCLOUDFLOW customers, since it allows their files to remain in the cloud at all times, even when editing is required.

CLOUDFLOW is Hybrid’s popular enterprise production workflow. The highly configurable enterprise production workflow system provides fast and effective automation of prepress tasks for more than 1,000 customers worldwide.

All demos at drupa will be run using MyCLOUDFLOW, a 100% cloud-based SaaS solution running in a dedicated Amazon Web Services (AWS) cluster. The No-IT solution offers quick access to CLOUDFLOW through a private and secure environment for each customer with strong data protection and immutable backups. Like any SaaS solution, there is no hardware purchase, and easy scalability without requiring local IT support. The installed base of MyCLOUDFLOW users grew steadily through 2023 as print providers accepted the power of SaaS and the advantages it can bring to their businesses.

“We are a unified Hybrid Software built from six distinct operating companies with one common mission – we are the heartbeat of industrial printing and packaging,” said Hybrid Software executive chairman, Guido Van der Schueren.

“It communicates our DNA to our customers and the industry; one of long-term mutual partnerships and a commitment to expert local support. We will continue to deliver leadership in software and electronics for industrial printing and packaging, driven by the intelligence and passion of our people, speaking the language of our customers, and sharing their heartbeat.”

Hybrid Software also announced a number of projects with key cooperating partners. They include:
• Fujifilm: A workflow and SmartDFE front end for the new FP790 flexible packaging press (Hall 8b/A02–A02-6)
• AB Graphic International: Label finishing automation with FleyeVision integration
• Weigang: Printhead electronics and digital front end for its new high-end label press (Hall 4/D10)
• Koenig & Bauer AG: PrintFusion software for fast press setup (Hall 3/B31)

Other key points from the press conference included:

• Digital presses are here to stay, but conventional printing is not disappearing.
• Efficient print production not only requires good manufacturing practices, but also the craftsmanship and knowledge of traditional print developed over generations.
• Customers expect connectivity across all their hardware and software systems, but the IT environment where they operate is challenging and unforgiving.
• Hybrid Software operates at the nexus of prepress production and cutting-edge IT: The IT experts who know prepress, and the prepress experts who know IT.

“Hybrid Software is the only company that can drive any digital printing press with its own technology developed 100% in-house. More than 100 Hybrid Software engineers have worked together to build the broadest product line in the industry. The result is a full stack solution for digital printing,” comments Mike Rottenborn, Hybrid Software CEO.

“This represents all of the tasks required to manufacture print, from file pre-flighting and ink estimation, to prepress workflow and layout, to all facets of colour management, RIPping files to the digital printer, overseeing inkjet printhead performance, to analysing and reporting to networked MIS/ERP solutions. Yet, just as important as the technology is that we care, on a very local level, about the successes of all of our customers. We look forward to meeting visitors at drupa and helping them achieve exceptional print accomplishments.”

Hybrid Software is eager to welcome drupa visitors at their stand from May 28-June 7 in Hall 7A, Stand D03. Anyone who would like to schedule a meeting or product demonstration in advance can visit https://www.hybridsoftware.com/eventhub-event/drupa-2024/.

Click on the video below to view an invitation from Hybrid Software CEO Mike Rottenborn for local visitors to drupa 2024 in May and June.