Based in San Diego, California, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is a leading national defense contractor that provides software and systems engineering services to the U.S. government. SAIC’s host servers consist of a 3090 mainframe, DEC, and Novell Network, with thousands of PC and Macintosh users around the world. Whereas SAIC previously outsourced various applications to a copy shop, users now print all of their corporate demand documents in-house through a Solimar print server onto two Xerox 4890 highlight color printers.

The Solimar server passes ASCII, EBCDIC and Metacode directly to the printers, and converts PostScript applications to Xerox images and forms. Solimar also converts PCL 4, 5, and 5C applications to Xerox Metacode, including forms, fonts, and images. “From day one, I could tell that Solimar was a powerful system because it was built to optimize network printing on the Xerox printers”, says John Pedrin, SAIC Systems Programmer. Prior to bringing Solimar in-house, the printers were used only for printing mainframe data processing applications.

By connecting the network to their production printers, SAIC is now able to print many documents that were formerly reproduced on copiers. Most notable is their internal quarterly newsletter called the Computergram. “Solimar’s highlight color support for PCL and PostScript was key to bringing this application in-house,” says Pedrin. “The Computergram is created and designed page-by-page by designers and managers throughout SAIC, on PC and Macintosh systems using PageMaker and Illustrator,” explains Pedrin. “We used to print the entire book on a LaserJet and then take it to a copy shop for duplication. With Solimar, we’re able to bring this application in-house, add highlight color, link the files into a book, and print on-demand nearly 200 pages per minute on the 4890s!”

When SAIC has questions and new applications, they call Solimar. “Someone patient and helpful is always there to answer my questions,” says Pedrin. “They are friendly and knowledgeable and can walk me through even issues that are totally printer-related, with no problems. They even follow up to assure that my problems are resolved and my questions answered. Solimar has great technical support!”

“Before we printed reports in-house, we would waste a lot of paper due to overruns, or run out of copies, and get hit hard for small runs,” explains Pedrin. “Now we have a print-on-demand system in-house that’s ready to print, reprint, and even archive anything we need. Solimar also enables us to continue to use all of the great features of Xerox printers! With Solimar, we have a powerful printing solution, backed with quality service!”