At the upcoming drupa 2008 trade show, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
AG (Heidelberg) will be demonstrating how Prinect now enables
postpress to be fully integrated into the complete print shop
workflow. This marks the final part of the company's JDF-based
(JDF = Job Definition Format) process integration, making
Heidelberg the first supplier in the industry to integrate all a
print shop's processes - from management and prepress to press
and postpress - in a single end-to-end workflow. Prinect Postpress
Manager is thus the logical addition to the Prinect Integration
System and Prinect Pressroom Manager integration modules unveiled
by Heidelberg at Ipex 2006.
"The incorporation of postpress in a complete integrated
workflow for drupa 2008 will provide print shops with significant
further potential for productivity gains. It will be possible to
control print jobs automatically across a print shop's entire
value-added chain, process them without wasting any unnecessary
time, repeat them easily and carry out precise preliminary and
actual costing. The scalability of the solutions allows customers
to adapt their systems to their particular growth trajectory, and
the modular design also safeguards their investment in the long
term. This is exactly what our customers have been waiting
for," states Dr. Jürgen Rautert, Director for Engineering
and Manufacturing at Heidelberg, as he sums up the significant
customer benefits of Prinect based end-to-end process integration.
Prinect Postpress Manager enables Heidelberg postpress
equipment to be linked up online via a JDF interface, providing
bidirectional data exchange with a print shop's management
information system (MIS). The Stahlfolder TH/KH series of folders,
saddlestitchers from the Stitchmaster ST 350 model onwards, the
Eurobind 4000 perfect binder and the Dymatrix/Diana die cutters and
folder gluers can all be linked online. This will also be possible
for POLAR cutters at a subsequent stage. The Prinect Data Terminal
facility allows the remaining Heidelberg postpress systems that
cannot be linked up online and third-party equipment to be
integrated in the Prinect workflow. This means that postpress too
can benefit from fully automated central production data entry and
comprehensive evaluation options such as actual costing of jobs.
Licensed users can obtain an overview of the status of a
print job at the prepress, press and postpress stages at any
Prinect workstation or "cockpit". What's more,
machine operators are able to download job information such as
customer data and details on paper, format, print run etc. online,
directly onto the relevant machine. Once the job has been
completed, the machine returns the analysis data (setup, startup
and production times, for instance) directly to the MIS for actual
costing.
Analyze Point - detailed evaluations of print jobs
As with the Prinect integration solutions for prepress and
press, Analyze Point is a Prinect Postpress Manager option for
on-screen display of the current status of all jobs and postpress
machines. The machine status, the postpress speed, a variety of job
and counter information, and details of the job currently loaded
can all be displayed in graphic form. The module also compiles job
reports that can be used to analyze the previous 15,000 jobs
produced and display them graphically. This means that it is
possible to show both the status and progress of the process.
Process integration with Prinect - the story so far
For a number of years now, Heidelberg has gradually been
developing various Prinect components to visualize the complete
integration of all a print shop's processes in an end-to-end
workflow. The company recently introduced the Prinect Integration
System at Ipex 2006 in Birmingham - a system for centralized
JDF-based data management at print shops. Also unveiled in
Birmingham, the Prinect Pressroom Manager is the world's first
purely JDF-based pressroom system for controlling and managing all
the different data required for print production. For some years
now, it has been possible to integrate industry software into a JDF
workflow using Prinect Prinance, and the same applies to prepress
thanks to the Prinect Printready System. The introduction of the
Prinect Postpress Manager now means that all the key areas of a
print shop are integrated in an end-to-end workflow.
Image:
Central process integration for postpress operations with the
Prinect Postpress Manager.
Further information for journalists:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Matthias Hartung
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 50 77
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 46
E-mail:
matthias.hartung@heidelberg.com