A Speedmaster XL 105-6-LX2 with Prinect Inpress Control inline color measuring and control system is enjoying great success at Medienhaus Reuffurth in Mühlheim am Main.
Medienhaus Reuffurth
When it comes to quality, Hans Reuffurth is uncompromising. This former litho producer moved into the printing industry in 1997 and today has around 75 employees in Mühlheim near Frankfurt am Main. The media house's pressroom is home to a Speedmaster XL 105 six-color press with coating unit and Prinect Inpress Control, and a Speedmaster XL 75 Anicolor five-color press with coating unit. Several POLAR cutters, a saddlestitcher, and a Stahlfolder for postpress operations complete the company's full-service offering.
"To deliver quality in the time available requires cutting-edge technologies and cooperation between all departments. A print product that matches the proof can only be achieved through standardization and automation," explains Reuffurth. The media house therefore uses the JDF-based prepress and color workflow of Prinect. This enables the entire color process to be monitored on the fly and immediately corrected in the event of changes. The company thus satisfies key quality assurance requirements up to and including the presses. It is able to achieve identical print results that conform to ProzessStandard Offsetdruck (German Offset Printing Process Standard) on different presses.
To ensure it stays within the time frames for color management, Reuffurth uses Prinect Inpress Control. A color measuring unit installed in the press performs measurement and control operations online and enables make-ready without pulling sheets or halting the press. This results in clear benefits in terms of time saved and productivity.
Prinect Inpress Control is located in the last printing unit of the Speedmaster XL 105-6-LX2, upstream of the coating unit. Measurements are therefore neither corrupted nor influenced by the coating process. The data is visible at the press control station and can also be set there. Once OK sheets have been approved, they are adopted by the system - including for repeat jobs - as a target value reference and are monitored. Deviations are corrected to within the tiniest of tolerances.
"Prinect Inpress Control saves us 20 to 30 percent of make-ready time per job - that soon adds up to several hours a week. Furthermore, around 20 percent of waste is also eliminated. The system is therefore of interest not just for long runs but also - and in particular - for short runs involving frequent job changes," says Peter Hofmann, Technical Plant Manager at Reuffurth. In addition, integrated register correction allows uninterrupted monitoring of color and register. The press control system also supports the measuring unit through continuous learning and adaptation of color presettings, so that sheets are inked up quickly when a job is started. Furthermore, spectrally stored L*a*b* values enable accurate printing of spot colors. "We are committed to ensuring that the proof presented to our customers also reflects the subsequent print result. Prinect Inpress Control is a further step forwards in achieving this goal," Reuffurth explains confidently.