Four areas in particular have been driving business in the print
media industry in recent times - management information systems
(MIS), web-to-print solutions, and digital and packaging printing.
These developments have prompted Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
(Heidelberg) to extend the functions of its Prinect print shop
workflow in these areas in particular. The company will be
presenting these Prinect innovations and further developments at
drupa 2012, which will be taking place in Düsseldorf from May
3 to16. The solutions focus above all on boosting productivity and
flexibility, and on enhanced integration of all print shop
processes. The Prinect solutions on show at drupa are therefore
entirely in keeping with the HEI Integration, HEI Productivity, HEI
Flexibility, and HEI End trends.
In future, Prinect will be the only workflow solution in the
industry to offer a fully integrated MIS. This system is based on
the MIS technology developed by software manufacturer CERM, which
Heidelberg acquired at the start of the year. The solution is
currently being introduced worldwide under the name Prinect
Business Manager. It has a broad application spectrum and a modular
design, which makes it ideal for various sizes of print shops.
Full workflow integration of management processes with Prinect
Business Manager
The recently introduced integration of Prinect Business
Manager into the Prinect production workflow based on JDF/JMF is a
market-leading technological development that ensures users a high
level of process automation, far greater transparency, and
simplified data handling. This helps print shops significantly
improve their competitive edge in a tough market environment.
In the next development stages, which are already under way,
Prinect Business Manager from Heidelberg will provide a dedicated
solution that accesses the same database as the production
workflow. As a result, job planning and production data will be
available in the same system as, for example, job processing and
materials management data. This will give rise to a print shop
workflow with an unprecedented level of integration that covers all
areas of a print media company and thus offers the highest level of
process automation available in the print media industry to date.
"Thanks to the integration of MIS and the production
workflow, Prinect will deliver even greater transparency and
automation in future. This means, for example, that changes made to
jobs at short notice will be implemented automatically in Prinect
in terms of both machine selection and materials management,"
explains Christopher Berti, Head of Prinect and CtP at Heidelberg.
"We are driving forward the merger of two system environments that
have thus far remained separate in many areas despite JDF
integration."
Support will still be provided for the Prinect Prinance MIS
solution previously offered by Heidelberg and connection of
third-party MIS to Prinect and partner programs will continue.
Web-to-print business models still offer excellent potential for
the industry
The market potential of web-to-print (W2P) solutions
continues to grow - both for print shops and for industry
suppliers. Prinect Web-to-Print Manager, which was developed in
collaboration with US company Pageflex, offers Heidelberg customers
the opportunity to move into this market segment with a highly
automated solution.
Depending on their business model, Prinect Web-to-Print
Manager enables users to operate one or more online shops -
including a combination of shops that are accessible and not
accessible to the public - with typical functions such as order
processing complete with approval process, shopping cart, user
administration, dispatch, and payment. The customer portal
(frontend) enables variable data processing and online document
editing. Adobe InDesign or PDF files can also be used as templates.
Interfaces to payment and dispatch systems are available, too,
along with analysis tools from third-party suppliers.
Prinect Web-to-Print Manager is based on a standard software
program with intuitive operation that requires no programming
know-how. The frontend can be tailored to customer requirements.
Numerous print shops are on the lookout for a W2P solution,
primarily for their B2B activities. Prinect Web-to-Print Manager is
perfect for this. It also supports business models for B2C
(business-to-consumer) applications and franchise networks.
"In launching Prinect Web-to-Print Manager, Heidelberg is
integrating the entire process - from job acceptance via the online
shop and template generation via web-to-print all the way through
to integrated, highly automated print production. By the time drupa
arrives, Heidelberg is planning to have completed the market launch
worldwide," says Berti.
The Partner Program from Heidelberg for connecting W2P
solutions from software suppliers RedTie, EFI Digital Storefront,
BrandMaker, Neo7even, and MS-Visucom will remain in place.
Full workflow integration is vital to improving efficiency in
digital printing
Prinect Digital Print Manager, which is used to connect
digital presses of various manufacturers, is being expanded and
enhanced with new functions in cooperation with Ricoh. In future, a
single workflow for digital and offset printing will enable
extremely flexible print production by making it possible to
automate the processes of creating and costing a job, selecting the
most suitable production technology or hybrid production, and
performing inline finishing in an imposition layout. For instance,
color management will be optimized in the workflow so that a
particular color in the digital print will match the corresponding
color in offset as closely as possible. What's more, it will
still be possible to connect digital presses from HP, Canon, Xerox,
and Kodak via Prinect Digital Print Manager.
Integration solutions for packaging printing
Due to the highly industrialized nature of folding
carton and label production, the complete integration of all print
shop operations is even more important for these applications than
for advertising printing. Here, too, Prinect offers comprehensive
functions for cost-effective, industrialized production and
sustainable data management - in the case of repeat jobs, for
example. First and foremost, Prinect focuses on optimizing
makeready times for presses and for die cutters and gluers in
postpress with the aim of cutting production costs. Material
savings, reliability in production, and optimum repeatability are
further factors that play a key role in the further development of
the workflow for the packaging sector. Prinect Package Designer -
the highly productive CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided
Manufacturing) software that integrates the structural design in
Prinect - will provide graphic designers with contours, 3D images,
and dimensions via a special Adobe Illustrator plug-in. This will
enable them to use Adobe Illustrator to create the graphic design
directly using the contour data and to run the 3D check straight
away. Sheet assembly functions are also being constantly expanded
to meet customer demands in this area. Furthermore, production
managers particularly appreciate the clearly structured and precise
production information that is used to approve and reliably execute
the planning, costing, and workflow optimization processes.
Figure:
For the further development of the Prinect print shop
workflow, Heidelberg is focusing on four growth segments in the
print media industry - MIS solutions, web-to-print, and digital and
packaging printing.
Further information and images can be found on the Internet
at
www.heidelberg.com.
Further information for journalists:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Public Relations
Matthias Hartung
Phone: +49 (0)6221 92 5077
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 99 5077
E-mail:
matthias.hartung@heidelberg.com
Heidelberg at drupa 2012
Today's print media service providers are faced with a
dynamic and challenging market. Companies that want to achieve
success in such an environment need to optimize their business
models by seizing on market trends in the industry and using them
to their advantage.
During drupa 2012, from May 3 to 16, Heidelberg will be
showcasing in Hall 1 an extended portfolio of products and
solutions that have been developed specifically for the latest
market requirements.
The trade show presentation, held under the banner "Discover
HEI", will center on lean production (HEI Productivity), green
printing (HEI Eco), web-to-print (HEI Integration), print-on-demand
(HEI Flexibility), differentiation through coatings and special
effects (HEI Emotions), the future of packaging printing (HEI End),
and gaining an edge through the latest know-how (HEI School). The
company is exhibiting solutions that enable print shops and
postpress businesses to meet the latest market requirements in
full.
www.drupa.heidelberg.com