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CHALEX Corp.
https://www.smartflo.global

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    Vendor Details

    Contact Name
    Murray Oles
    Company Profile
    Company Background: Formed in 2002, CHALEX offered consulting and custom software development to clients in publishing, packaging and retail. Pivoted to the (SaaS) business 2009. Launched SmartFlo at IDL Worldwide to manage chain store promotions for national convenience store chains of BP, Sunoco, and Chevron. 2013 Won the MillerCoors Marketing Contributor of the Year award for Madden Graphics successful implementation of SmartFlo to manage MillerCoors NA promotions. 2014 the Mars Company selected SmartFlo to replace Shawk Graphics’ “Blue System. 2017 CHALEX was informed by North Plains that the International Olympic Committee confirmed SmartFlo as their choice to manage all IOC Advertising workflows. 2018 NPN360, a national packaging services broker sponsored the expansion of SmartFlo to manage the entire product lifecycle of private label and brand products. 2021 Federated Foods and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer onboard.

    Founders: Murray Oles, CEO has over 30 years of experience leading the technology transition in the graphic arts market. Murray co-founded CHALEX after leaving Vertis Communications where he was VP of Image Technology with the executive team founding Big Flower Press (NYSE now Quad Graphics). Gary Bollinger, CTO and co-founder is CHALEX principal software architect and developer. Prior to CHALEX, Gary co-founded Artesia, a leading DAM company (now Open Text). Gary has extensive experience workflow enabling DAM systems and is the inventor of the DAM enabled BPM approach to asset management.

    Products and Services: SmartFlo is a DAM enabled workflow management system optimized to manage brand and regulatory compliant marketing for consumer-packaged goods companies. Each SmartFlo SaaS server incudes; project and digital asset management, workflow through business process management, and a multi-tenant distributed role-based Admin. SmartFlo is fully configurable by its users and deploys on AWS in minutes. The architecture is a web-based client / server model where each server may be scaled to support the entire organization structure of multiple global corporations. SmartFlo provides a single comprehensive source of project and job process information fully integrated with a uniquely efficient digital asset management and dynamic content publishing service. SmartFlo manages secure file sharing and version control, eliminates redundant data entry and the inefficient practice of managing projects through manual access to disconnected toolsets. SmartFlo may be configured to integrate and automate task level communications with legacy ERP, MRM, and special purpose production automation and scheduling systems.

    Special Know–how and Technology: SmartFlo is uniquely architected to manage workflows with vastly variable requirements. The core component is the workflow service. Any number of process models may be shared amongst secure affiliated groups of user, each capable of configuring their own secure SmartFlo services. A unique digital asset management system serves every workflow instance in a way that automates metadata entry to support users searching for projects, jobs and assets. SmartFlo users employ a unique drag & drop workflow modeler to create workflows with dynamic form-based and purpose-built task assignments. SmartRules is a user configurable task routing service that analyzes Form and Job data to automate workflow task routing. SmartFlo is developed using a component architecture, available with SSO, and SAML authentication. Over 100 web APIs support SmartFlo integrations with ERP, production, and other supply chain systems. Esko Vproof, Ziflow, and Review Studio collaboration tools integrated.

    Contact Telephone
    410-924-7422
    Contact Email
    gmurray@chalexcorp.com
    Company Website
    https://www.smartflo.global
    Years Trading
    21
    Company Turnover Category
    The turnover of the vendor can give an indication of their size. US Dollars is used as common currency to allow comparisons. Note that turnover is not necessarily any indicator of financial stability but as part of any procurement due diligence you are obliged to carry out by your organisation, any vendors who have not agreed to show their turnover here might be required to do so if subsequently appointed.
    • $500k - $1m
    Percentage of Revenue From DAM Software
    A vendor might have a large turnover and many employees, but their DAM software division is a very small element of what they offer. If a large proportion of their revenue comes from DAM solutions (licenses, support, hosting, consulting etc) then this may mean they are more specialised, but also there are risks to their overall financial stability if there is a downturn in the DAM software market.
    100
    Number of Full-Time Employees
    Along with turnover, the number of full-time employees gives an indication of the size of the vendor. Note that although a firm might have many employees, not all of them might be dedicated to developing DAM solutions, so this cannot be relied on in isolation.
    3
    Office Locations
    • Tucson AZ
    • Centreville Maryland
    Product Name
    SmartFlo

    Licensing

    Licensing Model
    This refers to the type of licence the DAM system software is supplied under. Proprietary means that the developer restricts access to the source code (the instructions used to generate the software). Open source means that the developer provides full access to the code so you can modify it yourself. Split model is hybrid and means they may offer both options with some restrictions removed (or added) depending on the model chosen. If split is selected, it is advisable to verify the differences with the vendor.
    • Proprietary
    Licence Notes
    Sold as a white label multi-tenant SaaS platform thats scales at a cost of one and a half times the AWS service.
    Add optional APIs to integrate ERP, Production and Marketing services.

    Products include SmartFlo, and its headless DAM artFlo, which can scale to include the BPM services that make up SmartFlo.
    Available to Value Added Resellers and qualified customers.

    Open Source OSI Licence Used
    If the vendor has indicated they offer an open source or split model licence (i.e. both open source and commercial options) then for the open source element, they should be able to provide an OSI (Open Source Initiative) approved licence. If one is not specified, their product may not be genuinely open source.
    OS License listing is published through artFlo web
    Use of Open Source Components
    Many DAM systems use freely available open source components to deliver key functionality. The products themselves may not be open source, however. This question will help to identify to what extent they are open source.
    • Some open source components used, but core product is not open source
    Open Source Component Usage Notes
    JAVA, and Tomcat with the community edition of MySQL, are some of the listed open source declarations at:
    https://chalex.smartflo.biz/oac-home/exports/Open_Source_Declarations_and_License_Matrix.html

    Hosting

    Software Delivery Methods
    • Cloud/SaaS

    Technology

    Client
    Client refers to the type of hardware or software device that can be used to access or control the DAM system.
    • Web client
    • Desktop client
    Client Notes
    The web client includes all of the production tools and many of the admin tools and is developed using SmartFlo REST APIs.
    The native client is compiled for Mac OS and Windows using the Samsung SDK version of Adobe Air .

    Server Operating Systems supported
    This only applies for installed or hybrid DAM systems and refers to what types of OS they can be run on. This question is less relevant for DAM systems where a third party will be hosting it for you.
    • Windows
    • Mac OSX
    Web Server
    The type of web server software that the DAM system can operate with. Not all DAM systems use a web server and for pure SaaS products the question is irrelevant. If you either want SaaS or non-web DAM systems, do not choose an option.
    • Tomcat
    Software Development Technologies Used
    This means the programming language or development technology used to implement the DAM system. This question is more important for open source software or if you have IT policy restrictions that require you to use (or not use) some technologies. It may not be relevant if you require a hosted DAM and never intend to host the system in-house.
    • Java/J2EE
    Database Technology
    The Database that the DAM system uses. All DAM systems require some kind of storage for asset metadata and they are usually based on an existing technology - but that may not always be a conventional database. If the DAM will be hosted by someone else (e.g. SaaS/Cloud) this question may not be relevant.
    • MySQL
    Search Technologies
    This refers to third party search components that the vendor uses to provide the text search features (and sometimes other related search functions).
    • ElasticSearch
    Service Oriented Architecture
    Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) means the vendor's product uses a modular architecture where each core DAM function is delivered as a service which can be separated out independently from other functions. It is important for large-scale Digital Asset Management implementations or more complex integration requirements.
    • Yes
    Service Oriented Architecture Definition
    Some vendors have widely differing opinions of what Service Oriented Architecture means. Their response to this question allows you to understand if their definition concurs with your own. If you are not contemplating a large scale DAM implementation or one with many complex integration requirements, SOA may not be relevant to your needs.
    SmartFlo is developed on a client server architecture where TomCat orchestrates the component services with the MySQL database. Each module is interchangeable including the CHALEX workflow engine that ingests a .XPDL workflow model for publication, configuration, and production management. The email server is the AWS email service, also totally interchangeable. Review the list of Open Source declarations to reveal greater detail about the SmartFlo architecture.

    Unique SOA Services
    If the vendor uses a Service Oriented Architecture, they should be able to identify a number of unique services that are isolated from each other. Note there is overlap between with question and the one about scalable asset processing. Some vendors do not have an SOA but do offer large scale asset processing capabilities.
    • Storage
    • Asset Media Processing
    • Metadata
    • Metadata Extraction
    • User Management
    • User Authentication
    • Permissions (Access Control)
    • Instance Management
    • Workflow
    • Search
    • Collections (lightboxes and arbitrary selections)
    • Other
    SOA Other Services
    • API to Esko Vproof CMYK viewer
    • API to Review Studio RGB and video file markup and annotation tool
    • API to MultCloud file transfer service (ftp to artFlo)
    Microservices
    Microservices are similar in nature to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) with the key difference being that they can be deployed entirely independently of the platform that uses them. Microservices are usually prevalent in Digital Asset Supply Chain projects.
    • Yes
    Microservices Definition
    As with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) some vendors have different opinions of what microservices are. Their response to this question allows you to understand if their definition concurs with your own. If you are not contemplating a Digital Asset Supply Chain project, large scale DAM implementation or one with many complex integration requirements, microservices may not be relevant to your needs.
    SmartFlo microservices are many and growing. Examples include API order entry of packaging source data from the client's "Acumatica" web ERP platform to a SmartFlo Job Data sorting and processing queue, and a similar web application that exercises the same API to export new product request data from key customer locations via embedded service teams.
    Internally, SmartFlo leverages the Image Magic processor to render thumbnails, and previews to speed up access to graphical search results.

    Unique Microservices
    If the vendor uses microservices, they should be able to identify a number of unique services that are isolated from each other. Note there is overlap between with question and the one about scalable asset processing. Some vendors do not have microservices but do offer large scale asset processing capabilities via an alternative method.
    • Storage
    • Asset Media Processing
    • Metadata
    • Metadata Extraction
    • User Management
    • User Authentication
    • Permissions (Access Control)
    • Instance Management
    • Workflow
    • Search
    • Collections (lightboxes and arbitrary selections)

    Search

    Search Features
    This describes the search strategies that can be used to find assets. If you do not understand any of them, leave the options de-selected. Most DAM systems should support at least keyword search at a minimum.
    • Keyword
    • Folders
    • Filters
    • Faceted Search
    • Linked Asset Search
    Search Notes
    Matching search that associates project, job, task and related properties with assets in running job bags.

    Index/Search Text Content Of Documents
    Some DAM systems can search the text content of document assets and that might be important for your DAM solution.
    • Yes
    Visual Search
    Visual Search allows your DAM to search and identify digital assets based solely on their visual qualities, as opposed to relying on metadata and keywords. This is often achieved using a combination of natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and image recognition.
    • Yes

    Metadata

    Embedded metadata support (reading)
    Embedded metadata refers to information stored within asset files which can be searched from the DAM system. There are different standards for this type of metadata. Some image cataloguing software like Adobe Lightroom will write this data to asset files and a device like a camera may capture details also such as GPRS coordinates where an photo was shot. XMP metadata is often used with other types of files such as InDesign or PDF. If you are unsure whether this applied to you, do not check any options.
    • IPTC
    • IPTC Core
    • XMP
    • EXIF
    • PLUS
    • Dublin Core
    • Other
    Embedded metadata support (writing)
    See the reading question above for more details on what embedded metadata is. This question refers to whether embedded metadata can be written back to files if edited within the DAM system.
    • IPTC
    • IPTC Core
    • XMP
    • EXIF
    • PLUS
    • Dublin Core
    • Other
    Controlled Vocabularies
    Controlled Vocabularies are predefined lists of search terms. They can be realised in many different ways but the common factor is the user picks from a restricted selection rather than enters a keyword. Most DAM systems will usually support both controlled vocabularies and keywords.
    • Yes
    User Defined Metadata Fields
    The ability to configure metadata your own metadata fields is important for DAM systems so you can assign a dedicated field for certain items of information rather than using a generic classification method or one of the vendor's own standard fields.
    • Yes
    Cataloguing Interface Options
    When cataloguing assets with custom fields, some metadata will be controlled selections, others will be free text. There are further choices like date fields, file attachments etc.
    • Text field
    • Text area (narrative)
    • Radio
    • Drop down menu
    • Combo-box (multi-item selection)
    • Checkbox
    • Date
    • File attachment
    • Numbers
    • Other

    Business Intelligence & Reporting

    Asset Usage Records
    To enable reports to be generated, DAM solutions must retain records of asset usage, including searching, download and editing of records. The reporting should include the user who carried out the activity and the date/time it occurred.
    • Yes
    Audit Trail
    A detailed audit trail that logs every user action in a central record is useful to gain insight into user behaviour. Comprehensive audit trails allow DAM system users to produce reports that address their unique needs.
    • Yes
    Built-In Reports
    A range of built-in reports that you can quickly generate is useful to answer common questions such as the "what is our most popular asset?".
    • Most active users by uploads
    • Most active users by downloads
    • Download activity over a given period
    • Login activity over a given period
    • Popular search terms
    Reporting Notes
    CHALEX Corp.
    233 N Brook Drive,
    Centreville, Maryland 21617
    Phone: 410-827-6070
    Http://www.chalexcorp.com
    Copyright CHALEX Corp. 2024
    Best Practices for On-boarding New SmartFlo Customers
    This guide is intended for the use of CHALEX Corp., and its designated resellers.
    SmartFlo is a virtual private cloud-server configured for multi-tenancy. The software
    design is based on a component architecture, where web APIs connect components in a
    variety of product configurations. The digital ass

    Asset Processing

    Dedicated/Scalable Proxy or Derivative Asset Generation
    Nearly all DAM systems will generate thumbnails and previews of media, including more dynamic types like video or audio. Some products use a separate server to do this which usually makes them more suitable for large scale asset ingestion and processing.
    • Yes
    Multi-Page Document Asset Previews
    If you deal with document oriented assets, having a solution which can generate multi-page previews (and also zoom in on them) can save the hassle of downloading a file only to discover it is not the one you need. For assets with very similar content, this can be a useful feature.
    • Yes

    Asset Manipulation

    Image Manipulation
    Many DAM systems allow users to manipulate images by resizing, cropping etc. Choose any features which are important to your users.
    • No image manipulation features
    Video Manipulation
    Some DAM systems may allow video assets to be converted or modified. If that is a potential requirement for you, specify those features which are likely to be needed. EDL = Edit Decision List and refers to providing in/out points when editing video footage.
    • No video manipulation features
    Video Manipulation Notes
    These are integrated services with bi-directional comment sharing.

    Data Import/Export

    Importing Metadata
    Importing metadata is an important feature if you have either legacy assets or metadata is generated using some other tools (for example a spreadsheet). Not all systems offer this, but usually if the feature is not available, the vendor will be able to carry out batch importing for you via professional services (note: this will usually incur a cost, unlike a built-in capability).
    • Yes
    Metadata Import Formats
    This question only applies if the vendor has features to import metadata. There are common formats like CSV, XML and Excel which DAM solutions may support. If this is a requirement you are likely to make frequent use of, it is essential to verify whether the product supports the formats you typically work with.
    • CSV (or any delimited file)
    • XML
    • Excel (XLS or XLSX)
    Exporting Metadata
    As well as importing metadata, sometimes it is important to be able to export sections of it to conduct further analysis in third party applications. Not all products support this, but usually it will be possible to request the vendor provides an export via professional services (although a fee may be charged).
    • Yes
    Metadata Export Formats
    This question only applies if the vendor has features to export metadata. There are common formats like CSV, XML and Excel which DAM solutions may support. If this is a requirement you are likely to make frequent use of, it is essential to verify whether the product supports the formats you typically work with.
    • CSV (or other delimited file)
    • Excel (XLS or XLSX)
    Metadata Export Notes
    Most reports export via automated rules engine triggers, and tend to be formatted PDF files with thumbnail links embedded in emails.

    Integration

    API
    API means Application Programming Interface and allows third party software to control a DAM system. If you intend to integrate your DAM with another existing solution then you need to choose the API protocol that is compatible with that.
    • REST
    API Notes
    Available upon request.

    API-First Architecture
    API-First means that anything the user can do via the graphical interface is possible via the API. If a DAM has an API-First architecture it is far more likely to be easier to integrate with other solutions than one that does not.
    • Yes
    API-First Notes
    If the vendor claims an API-First architecture then they should be able to provide a definition of it. In addition, documentation which describes their support for it will typically be available. Implementing API-First is a complex undertaking so vendor development teams will definitely know whether they have this attribute or do not.
    The notion of API first is good, and SmartFlo is entirely developed using an API architecture, but our philosophy for product development is based on the entire architecture. The need for special purpose high performance user experiences super-cedes any "rule". We delivered our first product based on this architecture in 2012. There have been many architectural updates and more will come. Currently it is scaling rapidly and the API architecture has really helped.

    Hooks
    Hooks are related to APIs but are initiated by the application rather than by an external application making the request. Hooks allow other actions to be initiated based on events, for example if a user downloads an asset, an action can be commenced to notify another application that this has taken place (along with the ID number of the asset, date/time etc).
    • Yes
    Hooks Targets Supported
    In most DAM applications that support them, hooks are initiated as web requests, so the system will call a given external URL and provide some parameters. Some solutions also support initiating scripts or applications which can run on the server where the system is hosted.
    • Web hooks
    Hooks Definition
    If the vendor claims support for hooks, check how they define them and see if their interpretation concurs with your own. A reasonably detailed explanation along with citations/links should be given here.
    The rules engine can execute any API, conduct SQL queries and trigger external actions based on task activity and status reporting.

    Storage Integration
    Many DAM solutions will now allow assets to be stored on the server of Cloud storage providers. This allows asset files to be distributed and/or integrated with other solutions. Some third party services use generic protocols like FTP, others are proprietary.
    • Amazon S3
    AI Component Integration
    A number of DAMs integrate with multiple third party AI image recognition components. This question allows you to see which ones they use.
    • None
    Content Delivery Networks (CDN) Integration
    Content Delivery Networks allow digital assets to be distributed across a wide geographic area to improve performance and reduce the pressure on the DAM system for in-demand assets.
    • None
    Content Management Systems (CMS) Integration
    Many DAM solutions now provide specific integration modules that allow users to select assets from their Content Management System of choice without leaving the CMS application in order to do so.
    • None
    Creative Tools Integration
    Some DAMs will integrate directly with specific creative tools so designers and creatives do not need to leave them in order to use assets from the DAM.
    • None
    E-commerce Integration
    A number of DAMs integrate with e-commerce systems so that product catalogues can be updated automatically from the DAM. There might also be features like tracking of asset usage and conversion ratios for product images etc.
    • None
    Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Integration
    • None
    Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)
    • Zapier
    Marketing Operations & Project Management Integration
    • None
    Master Data Management (MDM) Integration
    • None
    Mobile Apps Integration
    • None
    Office & Productivity Integration
    • None
    Product Information Management (PIM) Integration
    • None
    PIM Integration Notes
    SmartFlo can integrate with any PIM through a simple data-mapper tool, and the SmartFlo DAM service is being used as a PIM.

    Rights Management Integration
    • None
    Sales & Marketing Integration
    • None
    Social Media Integration
    • None
    Stock Media Providers Integration
    • None
    Templating & Print On-Demand Integration
    • Ziflow
    Templating & Print On-Demand Integration Notes
    Review Studio.com
    Esko Vproof

    Video Integration
    • None
    Web Analytics Integration
    • None

    Scripting & Plug-Ins

    Scripting Capabilities
    Some advanced DAM solutions have a scripting capability that allows users or third parties to add functionality which the vendor did not originally envisage. Usually programming skills will be required to use this, but some tools have visual interfaces also.
    • No
    Plug-In Support
    In addition to scripting (or sometimes instead of), some DAM solutions will have a plug-in architecture that allows third party developers to extend the core platform.
    • Yes

    Authentication

    Authentication Support
    If you need to integrate with an existing corporate authentication service then this option will be important for you.
    • Google SSO
    • SAML

    Multi-Lingual Options

    Multilingual Application Interface Support
    The interface means the controls to use the DAM system. This is different from the metadata support which is usually entered by end users when cataloguing assets.
    • English
    Multilingual Metadata Support
    See previous question. Most DAM systems with multi-lingual support will provide it for metadata.
    • Yes
    Multilingual Support Notes
    UTF8 for any language is supported the application is fully internationalized, and has been localized for Brazilian Portuguese.

    Version Control

    File versioning
    File versioning refers to the digital media associated with an asset record. This is usually the minimum requirement for a DAM system to claim support for versioning assets. See also responses to the related question about metadata versioning below.
    • Yes
    Metadata versioning
    Metadata versioning is separate from the files associated with assets. Many DAM solutions will track updated digital assets but only retain a single current version of the metadata. Since metadata is likely to be edited many more times than assets get replaced, this can be an important point to check.
    • Yes
    Independent Metadata And File Versioning
    This questions assesses whether the solution allows versions of either the file or metadata to be reverted independently or if both are linked to a single shared version instance.
    • Yes
    Version Control Notes
    Version control is a check-out procedure that locks asset control during the versioning process. The version viewer supports editing and promoting of older versions. Selected assets that represent different versions of a document can be auto-stacked by upload date.


    Profile Last Updated: 05/12/2023
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      All profile information has been provided by the vendors themselves and they are responsible for both its accuracy and validity.