Workflow Manager for Large Mailroom and Print-on-Demand Applications

An object oriented approach has been defined to model the hardware and software processes involved in high volume, customized document printing and finishing work flow applications. Based on the open system architecture of the Desktop Management Interface, a set of standard groups and attributes are described using the Management Information Format (MIF) language. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) interprets the MIF structures, extracts object data, and maps the manageable characteristics of the work flow processes to windows on a display to monitor and control the operations. This paper describes the architecture of the system and demonstrates the capabilities provided through the GUI to manage work flow in a large scale document printing and finishing environment.