An integrated workflow delivers valuable performance data, optimising your CTP, says Soeren Lange at Heidelberg.
Measuring the performance of your company, from the production floor through to administration and management can give you an edge over your competitors. Soeren Lange, Product Manager Prinect & CTP for Heidelberg Australia & New Zealand (HAN) says the tangible benefits of an integrated workflow are why more printers are adopting this approach.Lange says that compared to their counterparts in other mature print markets print companies in this region have been somewhat slow to recognise the advantages of an integrated workflow. But the tide is now turning.
According to Lange, “Printers in Australia and New Zealand are known as early adopters of technology so it is surprising to me that many companies here haven’t picked up on the benefits of a full level integration until now. However we are seeing a definite increase in the number of customers both here and in New Zealand investing in integrated processes across their workflow.
"I believe the reason for this rise is simple. Print companies have come to realise that harnessing the production data that is available to them on a daily basis is the best way to gain a clear understanding of performance. And if you can chart your performance then you can identify the areas that need improvement."
Being able to pinpoint those steps in the production chain that are slowing you down is invaluable as Lange explains. “When you know where the kinks in the chain are you can do something to remedy the situation. In today’s highly competitive market where turnaround times are critical and short make readies the order of the day, you need to know the status of your production line and be able to quickly make adjustments".
Lange says the JDF component of presses and finishing equipment isn’t being used to its full advantage. "When you integrate the front end, press room and finishing all of a sudden you have a wealth of information at your fingertips, which may lead to a more efficient way to handle the work. If you know how to use this information you can make substantial savings in production time, operator hours and time to market".
For those printers who don’t know where to start Heidelberg’s Prinect is the ideal solution as it is modular and can be added as equipment is upgraded. “Prinect is an integrated JDF workflow solution that can integrate every step of the production process from electronic scheduling, prepress, digital and offset printing through to post-press”.
Prinect is designed so that companies can mould it to suit their specific needs. Starting at the front end Prinect will connect pre-press to the press and utilise the data between these two production areas. "Even if that's all you are able to do at the moment that is a great step in the right direction," says Lange.
"In most cases it does not make sense to integrate across the entire workflow in one hit. Taking the first step is often the most difficult, but when customers see the ease of application and the benefits it isn’t long before they are moving towards the next step."
He continues, "When CTP first came onto the market printers assumed that the CTP device was the primary consideration in terms of driving efficiencies. That may have been true in the past, but globally that focus has shifted from CTP to the workflow in front of it. The plate at the end is just the output of the data. But how to handle the data most efficiently really makes the difference."
And this is where Lange says that buyers should be cautious. “There are a number of pre-press workflow solutions on the market that are not capable of integrating beyond prepress. That means there is no pathway forward and by ignoring the pressroom and finishing you are missing out on a great opportunity to realise true efficiency improvements.
"The real message here is that not all workflow solutions are able to be integrated. Prinect is one of the few JDF based workflows on the market that encompasses the entire production spectrum. Prinect enables companies to fully benefit from automating make ready processes, sharing job information to reduce errors and save time, and at the same time collect data for effective and timely performance analysis."
Lange reports there are many companies in our region who have JDF compatible equipment in the press room and in finishing, but are not taking full advantage of it because they haven’t integrated their workflow.
The benefit in being able to utilise an electronic job ticket throughout the production for each job with tracking, benchmarking and reporting the job’s ‘performance’ is invaluable."
In conclusion Lange says, “When you have the figures in front of you it is very easy to understand the value of the JDF data generated across the production process and how analysis of your performance can only benefit your bottom line."
