Sohokkai Corporation, located in Asahikawa on Japan’s northernmost main island, Hokkaido, celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2023. The company offers a wide range of marketing services, mainly to clients in Tokyo and across Hokkaido. These include printed materials like publications and commercial print, as well as website design, data systems, and network maintenance.
Sohokkai has used HEIDELBERG’s Prinect workflow software since 2003. In 2015, with the installation of the Speedmaster CD 102, the company fully integrated its prepress and printing processes. Then, in 2020, Sohokkai switched from the traditional license model to the Prinect Production Manager subscription.
President Tamura explains the decision:
“We wanted to improve how we work with clients, especially when checking proofs and giving correction instructions. We needed a system that let us do this through a web browser.
At the time, upgrading Prinect’s online features was expensive. So when we learned that the subscription model included a customer portal and future updates at no extra cost, we decided to switch.”
Even after starting to use the Portal, it took time to see real business benefits. “It took about a year before submissions through the portal became regular. Since the customers had to use it too, we first had to guide them. Our sales staff were hesitant at first, but once they saw it working well and customers were happy, they began promoting it actively.
Over time, as small successes added up, people inside and outside the company saw the value of the portal. For our sales team, it became a useful tool to stand out from competitors. Digitalization also improved our efficiency, reduced errors, and cut waste and time,” says Tamura.
Prepress Manager Aki explains the earlier challenges:
“Our day shift press utilization was low, and many jobs were submitted late in the day, causing delays. As a result, the presses were often idle during the day. We wanted to fix this by increasing jobs ready for the day shift. That meant improving overall efficiency, and we knew Prinect’s automation could help.”
After using Prinect Production Manager, the changes were clear. “The portal sped up the flow of jobs into prepress. For simpler jobs, files pass through the RIP with automatic imposition, so there’s no need for manual plate work—just a quick check, and some don’t even need checking. We reduced our workload by about 50 hours per month, especially across 20 regular jobs. Thanks to this, overtime and weekend work, which used to be common, have been greatly reduced.”
President Tamura concludes:
“We’ve heard that many useful features of Prinect Production Manager are included in the subscription. We want to explore them more and use what fits our needs. For example, we’d like to enter paper information into the system to streamline production, digitize our schedule planning, and simplify pallet sheet creation.
As a manager, I believe in visibility. If we can’t see the process clearly, we can’t improve or plan ahead. Prepress is especially hard to monitor, so we want to digitize this area as soon as possible. We also hope HEIDELBERG will continue to suggest new ideas that support our business.”
