JDF & CIM -- Issues Are Not so CIMple

With industry margins being so tight, it won't take much of a cost savings for JDF to have a noticeable impact on the bottom line. Accurately judging those savings requires first getting a good accounting of costs.

The concept of production being driven by digital data raises two more concerns, Romano says. The first is the need to accurately capture proper job information, or meta-data, before a job moves into production. "There is dispute as to who will do this—the creative person, planner, estimator, salesperson or customer service rep." Most customers don't have a good track record with even just providing print-ready applications or PDF files, he adds.