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The Suite

Technology today and its unique selling points

Since its foundation in 2004, the company docuFORM has been preoccupied with the subject of

printing within the company. Originally, hardware-based controller solutions were used, which

employed the most diverse software components for print data processing.

Due to the rapid increase in performance of modern PCs and printing systems, docuFORM ultimately

decided not to develop hardware-based controller solutions in the future. The know-how accumulated

over decades was used to develop a purely Microsoft-based software solution.

The new product idea consisted of being able to serve multiple printing systems in parallel and

optimally via a Microsoft-based server solution and to eliminate the need for vulnerable hardware

solutions on the devices themselves. DocuFORM was the first company in the world to consistently

pursue the path of a manufacturer-independent print server architecture. Analogous to the pioneering

achievements of NASA in space, docuFORM named its new product Mercury.

Today, as a universal print middleware product, Mercury is a vendor-independent, cross-functional

solution for any business. However, printing is just one part of the overall solution, as Mercury can

now deliver integrated workflow applications to the enterprise.

Essentially, the Mercury Suite consists of the following modules, which can be combined or deployed

individually:

1. Managed Print Services Solution (MPS)

This is used to monitor and serve the print systems. Mercury MPS receives all device data in real-

time, enabling targeted service control, supplies, statistical analysis, and cost center analysis.

Various interfaces to downstream ERP systems are available.

2. SAP Connectivity

The Mercury Suite is SAP certified and can accept print jobs as well as raw data from any SAP

system for processing. There is a bi-directional interface (BC / XOM) for this purpose, which can

also provide corresponding event confirmations to the respective SAP system. The raw data itself

can be processed as print data via the Mercury module Atlas or the Mercury Forms & Overlay

Manager.

3. Global Printer Driver (GPD)

This is a virtual printer driver that allows you to generate print output without the use of

traditional printer drivers. The GPD is vendor-independent and comprehensive and can also be

used in a Windows cloud. A Follow "2" print solution is directly integrated, which guarantees

manufacturers optimum print output at all times. A variant of the GPD with "Serverless Printing"

functionality as cloud variant is currently in development.

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4. Mercury Output Management System (OMS)

This is the actual Mercury print server, which in the classical sense covers the preparation of the

print output and the distribution of the print data. The editing and enrichment of the print data

itself can be handled within the Mercury print server via a range of modules. An interactive control

system takes over the control of the print data. At the same time, the Mercury OMS system has

an intelligent security workflow as well as the possibility of personalized printing in the context of

a manufacturer-independent pull-print solution (Follow "2" Print).

5. Mercury Atlas

This is a document composing tool that allows you to accept XML data structures from the most

diverse data processing systems, place them on dynamically generated forms and be able to

output them to printing systems in a targeted and dynamic manner, depending on the content.

This end-to-end concept of the Mercury Suite as a cross-vendor solution is unique on the world market.

Only through this comprehensive product portfolio can highly complex requirements be implemented

within a business. At the same time, using Mercury as a strategic workflow solution means decoupling

any kind of hardware dependency in the enterprise, resulting in increases in efficiency and cost

optimization.

For the following reasons, a market comparison indicates the attractiveness of docuFORM Mercury:

The most varied products of the manufacturers themselves always focus on the technical

functionality of their systems in conjunction with in-house software solutions. As a result, these

solutions can only be used to a limited extent in the product areas of MPS and Pull Print if they

are used within heterogeneous device landscapes.

Alternatively, independent market entrants have mostly focused on one or two product areas or,

in turn, use purchased products themselves. The provision of services is always very difficult for

the user. Also, solutions that combine different products always must make technical

compromises.

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Ultimately, the rollout of Mercury can start small. Step by step and, depending on the respective

growing requirements in the company, modules can be installed as needed. Therefore, Mercury

is never a bad decision, and with its unique modular technology, it is actually able to evolve along

with the requirements in the business. Fundamentally, this also means the highest possible

investment protection for every company. That's why companies such as WMF have been using

Mercury continuously for 20 years, even though their requirements for the Mercury workflow

have changed constantly over time. However, these could be implemented time and time again

thanks to Mercury's unique modular technology.

At a glance comparison of the most important providers

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The Mercury Suite in Detail

As described earlier, the five product modules are the cornerstones of the Mercury Suite. These can

be used individually or in combination, depending on customer requirements. Today, it is no longer

just about the subject of printing itself, but rather the mapping of complex processes within

companies. The result is ultimately the printed page.

Due to these requirements, docuFORM decided in 2007 to develop its own "Managed Print Service"

(MPS) solution. This is now the basis for secure printing within the Mercury Suite. Additionally, the

acquisition data of the MPS solution controls the docuFORM Global Printer Driver (GPD). At the same

time, this MPS solution device information, as well as the user data and print job information from the

Mercury print server, supports the Accounting module. This means that all printing costs can be

captured at any time and evaluated via cost centers. Insights into the printing behavior of the users

themselves can also be obtained, which in turn can then be used for optimization purposes. The SAP

certification, as well as the newly added Mercury Atlas document design module, complete the

Mercury Suite as a comprehensive workflow solution.

The individual modules of the Mercury Suite with their unique selling points are briefly described

below. Likewise, the interaction of these and the associated product advantages for the user are

summarized. Also, the main advantages over market competitors are outlined.

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The Mercury MPS Module

All service providers in the printing service environment are confronted with new challenges time and

time again. Simultaneously, printing systems are constantly increasing in functionality and complexity.

In addition, there is an ever-growing price pressure in the field of on-site service costs and the

expandable material of the devices themselves. Therefore, a print service provider can no longer afford

to not have an optimal working MPS solution when it comes to staying competitive in the market.

As a result, the Mercury MPS solution was much more than just fleet management. The various

interfaces within the MPS solution guarantee complete embedding in the customer workflow. It does

not matter if the solution is offered by the service partner (hosting) or if the customer runs and

maintains the solution itself.

In addition to the MPS basic version, the user can also operate additional modules so that the solution

is suitable for both micro enterprises and large installations with more than 100,000 printing systems

per customer. These are:

Order shop as own ERP application incl. VB - manufacturer databases.

Statistics and analysis module for long-term evaluation as well as an expert system for the

detection of malfunctions and discrepancies in the devices themselves.

Contract module for the integration of commercial frameworks of customer installations as

well as the management of device histories.

The analysis and contract module was developed together with the Compass Group, one of Europe's

largest dealer associations, which now manages more than 100,000 printing systems using the

docuFORM MPS solution.

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In addition to the individual MPS modules, large installations require comprehensive interfaces for

embedding the solution in a higher-level workflow. These are:

Flexible import interface of device infrastructure from asset systems as an alternative to network

device discovery using Mercury MPS capture clients.

Flexible export interface for transferring meter readings, service and VB orders to subordinate

ERP systems.

Comprehensive programming interface for customer applications

Import of device master data, order numbers and VB databases.

The other extremely important requirement for a cross-manufacturer MPS solution is that the system

can also communicate optimally with all devices. The so-called MIB information of the devices

themselves serve this purpose. This information is not firmly anchored in the MPS software. Instead,

it is data that exists once in the docuFORM Cloud for each device and is maintained continuously. These

will then be made available to the capture clients worldwide, which are capable of automatically self-

provisioning the latest MIB information. The decisive advantage of this technology is that on-site data

capture clients already validate the device data prior to transmission, thereby significantly relieving

the actual MPS server. This guarantees system performance even in large installations and automates

the process of maintaining device data.

The automatic roll-out of the clients, as well as their remote updates, worldwide, is state-of-the-art

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Significant development efforts were also made in the validation of the individual device data itself.

Already at the beginning of the MPS development in 2007, it was very clear that one could not always

rely on the transmitted values of the individual devices. Complex mathematical algorithms ensure

precise long-term evaluation of device data. This is the only way to optimally determine the

consumption data and thus to calculate the most cost-effective time to change the toner. The print

habits of the user themselves are also taken into account when calculating the optimal toner exchange

time in days. This, too, exemplifies another unique selling point of the docuFORM MPS solution.

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Mercury OMS /DMS including SAP Certification

The Mercury OMS / DMS server is the original and fundamental evolution of a pure software-based

print middleware solution. The Mercury workflow itself always begins with the data collection of the

information to be processed. There are five different input interfaces available for this purpose:

Data acceptance from the SAP world

Interfaces to mainframe systems including Atlas Document Designer

Global Printer Driver for the Microsoft Office world

Cloud printing / Airprint

After receiving the data to be printed, it is standardized within the Mercury OMS server into a unified

format. Subsequently, depending on the application, the data, which was originally very different, can

be further processed by various modules within the Mercury OMS server. These are:

OMR and barcode module for the creation of labels, general barcode printing or for the control

of various post-processing systems.

Overlay und Forms – Manager for superimposing static forms on raw data

Reprint und Cluster Module for distribution of printed pages

Follow "2" Print Module for the protected collection of all print data, manufacturer

comprehensive

Rule system for implementing the corporate workflow

Conversion modules to process host data such as AFP, IPDS, Prescribe, Metacode, XES

Email input and output port, cloud printing and Apple Airprint

PDF workflow and interface to archiving systems

Fieldscanner for extracting and interpreting data content for workflow control.

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Based on Mercury's rich data delivery capabilities, from SAP printing to Microsoft applications and

cloud printing to host printing, Mercury can dynamically process this input data through its internal

processing modules and map them into a single, cross-vendor workflow. All print data is standardized.

In the area of host printing, data conversion is today still an important Mercury module.

Supplementary modules in the area of bar code generation, font conversion and rule-based printing

are very important in the field of SAP printing and are used continuously. It converts traditional host

data into standardized formats so that it can be integrated into the overall, unified workflow of the

Mercury Suite. If the host application also provides user IDs, then in addition to SAP and GPD Print,

this data can also be integrated into the global Mercury Follow "2" print workflow.

This is where the module technology and compatibility within the Mercury Suite come into play. No

matter what data source the information originates from, Mercury can process and map it to a

standardized workflow - one of the unique selling points of the Mercury Suite. In other words, if a user

retrieves print jobs from any output device using authentication, they see all of their documents, no

matter what application they were created with: be it SAP, GPD Cloud or a host application. In addition,

formatting can be performed in this workflow at any time, individually according to rules, or graphical

elements can be added to enrich the overall layout.

The modules of the overlay manager within the Mercury print server are responsible for the

enrichment and processing of already formatted raw data. In this case, the data parser in conjunction

with the rule module controls each of the contents of the data itself, the application of the overlays

and barcodes. These can also be generated by an integrated bar code module of data content, an

extremely important process for SAP printing.

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Mercury Atlas – Module for Dynamic Form Processing

The processing of future-oriented formats is also possible with Mercury. This is handled via the Atlas

module, the "document composing tool". Mercury Atlas is yet another very important new pillar of

docuFORM, a form designer that allows you to fill variable documents with content using raw,

unformatted data.

These will then be output via the Mercury print server. Atlas can therefore be used to process

unformatted legacy data from host environments as well as state-of-the-art and up-to-date XML

structures, to be mapped into documents, and finally output.

In addition to a wide range of companies, Daimler AG has already opted for Atlas. Their recent

development in the area of production applications is delivering pages that are no longer formatted,

only XML structures. These will be forwarded to Mercury Atlas. In a one-time design process, the

variable data is placed on dynamic forms. This means that in actual production printing, aside from

labels and barcodes, complete engineering drawings and vehicle data sheets as well as all other

production documents can be printed dynamically and output variably using the Global Printer Driver.

Atlas is also a fully integrated solution within the Mercury workflow. On the input side, the raw data is

always compared with the dynamically generated print pages for completeness. Only then will the data

source be informed whether the raw data has been printed correctly. This is called bidirectional secure

printing, again a unique feature of the Mercury Suite in conjunction with Atlas.

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The Mercury Global Printer Driver (GPD)

In the course of the worldwide project development for Daimler AG, the employees of docuFORM

GmbH have been involved with, among others, the topic of printing without a printer driver. The result

is the development of a virtual print data interpreter that allows you to dispense with any type of

traditional or other printer driver. The unique selling point of the dynamic workflow is primarily the

self-learning ability of the system. For the user, this means automatic and constant updating of its

device database via control codes, by means of which a neutral print data stream is then dynamically

and automatically adapted to the given hardware environment shortly before the printing process

itself in real time.

The relinquishing of all printer drivers and the elimination of Microsoft print servers reduce

maintenance and operating costs in the company. At the same time, a uniform and manufacturer-

independent user interface ensures increased efficiency and ease of use.

The core of this invention is an SNMP monitoring of the printing systems. As part of this SNMP

monitoring, all changes in the printer landscape are transmitted in real time to a database within the

Mercury OMS system. The current control sequences of new devices can then be constantly retrieved

from the central docuFORM server via the docuFORM Cloud. As a result, the on-site system is

constantly updated automatically even with a changed infrastructure, and the on-site database is

updated with the control sequences of all printing systems. The printing process itself then consists of

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sending a desired data stream to be printed, which is then enriched in real time at the Mercury OMS

Server with the corresponding printer-specific control sequences. Only then does the printable data

stream emerge, which can then always be optimally output without compromise to the respective

printing system. This patented unique selling point is manufacturer-independent and includes all

device options including final processing. This guarantees an optimal printout at any time.

Direct Follow "2" Print Functionality ("pull print")

In the course of this development and patenting an optimized Follow2Print solution is included. This

stands out as a unique vendor-neutral and manufacturer-independent solution. The print data is

always optimally printed, in which the neutral data is enriched with the control sequences for the

respective device in real time only shortly before the printing process. Also, this solution dispenses

with the use of diversified printer queues.

Also part of the invention is the real-time searching and selecting of devices according to the respective

properties. This functionality is also made possible by the SNMP monitored device database, which

also offers the user all available paper formats and their exchange.

Serverless Printing

Simultaneously, docuFORM has also devoted itself to the subject of so-called serverless printing. Soon,

in addition to the described GPD workflow, local print data should also be printable directly via on-site

output devices. The combination of GPD with integrated Follow2Print solution and the new, Serverless

Printing aspect mark another milestone in the docuFORM product development Global Printer Driver

(GPD).