Graphics Network
Print & Graphics
Volume 25
No. 9
September 2004

Pressroom Report
By John Snyder

Increased productivity is the print industry's future

There have been some sobering numbers expounded recently regarding the state of pricing in the printing industry. According to one study, printers will be charging 40 percent less in 2010 than they were in 2000. Given the rising paper costs, this is hard to imagine, but the trends of the past few years certainly point to a steady decline in pricing and profit margins.

The dilemma facing printers is how to remain profitable with prices continually trending downward. It is not an effective long-term strategy to sit back and wait for an industry shake out to stem the tide of price reductions. While there are a bevy of ways to cut costs to achieve greater profitability, one of the most effective measures may be the most obvious: increase productivity!

Fortunately, advancements in technology have improved nearly every aspect of the print manufacturing process. When state-of-the-art systems are implemented in unison, the result is a highly efficient, automated workflow that allows us to wring as much productivity as possible from our cylinders.

Attack makeready

In the world of printing, "increased productivity" is often equated with "impressions per hour." Technology is creating a productivity gap between the industry haves and have-nots. I have talked to a broad group of printers only to find that a standard four-color makeready can range from 50 minutes to 2.5 hours. The variation between net running speeds is equally wild ranging from 4,500 impressions per hour to 11,500. This mounting productivity gap helps to explain the chaotic market pricing.

If the current trend in market pricing holds, today's productivity leaders need to increase efficiency by 20 to 30 percent over the next three to five years to remain profitable. This is very bad news for the productivity laggards who are currently operating in the red.

There are physical limits on how fast a mechanical device can run and how quickly it can be set up.

While press speed certainly plays an important role in a company's productivity, finding the fastest press shouldn't be the sole focus of your investment and improvement efforts. The average sheetfed press spends less than 60 percent of its time running saleable product. Most of this downtime is spent in makeready. And, while makereadies can never be eliminated, reducing the down time during machine and material preparation can help printers optimize.

Minimizing changeover time between jobs provides an opportunity for improvement. For instance, taking the time to order jobs by color, sheet size, and press configuration is well worth the additional scheduling time.

Computer Integrated Manufacturing

The best weapon in the battle for higher productivity is intelligently-used technology. To achieve substantial productivity gains in the pressroom, the entire print production infrastructure, including estimating, planning, scheduling, file delivery, prepress, post press, material handling and delivery should be reviewed.

To use a rough analogy, if you had owned a BMW 100 years ago you would have been better off with a horse. A high performance automobile requires an infrastructure of interstate highways, gas stations and garages to realize its potential. You will have similar results if you install an automated printing press in an antiquated production operation where the pressmen have to ask a supervisor what their next job is, mix ink or look for paper in the warehouse before they can actually start the makeready.

One of the major advancements in the printing world during the past few years is the development of industry specification standards such as Job Definition Format (JDF), which was developed out of CIP4, an international operating standards body that seeks to create computer-based integration of all prepress, printing and post press processes.

CIP4's creation, the JDF file, consolidates all job information from estimating to binding and finishing so as to significantly reduce downtime at every stage of the print production process. The idea is to create an entire CIP4-compatible, JDF-enabled infrastructure that allows all job information to be transferred digitally throughout the entire manufacturing workflow - no more written schedules, and no more bulky envelopes or folders that serve as "job tickets". The JDF is the virtual job ticket and automates the set up of JDF-enabled equipment throughout the plant. Downloading preset ink information from prepress to the press console is a common example of this concept.

The process begins with a CIP4-compatible estimating system that creates a JDF file that includes guidelines for all production related to a project. The JDF file will then be sent to customer service for planning and on to the prepress department where the job will be entered into the CTP workflow system.

The data in the JDF file is then sent electronically to the CIP4-compatible press on which the job will print. Makeready tasks such as ink key setting, sheet size, and back cylinder pressure will be automated saving the press operator time. Modern CIP4-compatible presses equipped with closed-loop spectrophotometers can work in conjunction with the CIP4 data to get the press "up to color" quickly. This further reduces makeready and allows saleable sheets to come off the press sooner. In addition, presses with CIP4-compatible, JDF-enabled systems can save all job settings to make reprints a snap.

The prepress and pressroom environments aren't the only production areas that can benefit from the information found in JDF files. CIP4-compatible binding and finishing equipment such as folders and saddle stitchers can also be made ready automatically. The result is further enhanced productivity through the reduction of time spent in makeready and the subsequent compression of production schedules.

Automating print production functions with JDF-enabled systems allows, by extension, additional productivity enhancements through the reduction of labor-intensive processes. For example, as schedules are optimized, thanks to the real-time flow of job information, the time and staff required to perform material handling can be minimized.

Printers generate revenue by selling time on printing presses. Profits are made by tightening their procedures to maximize the time those presses are spent producing saleable product. Increasing productivity by automating as many print production functions as possible requires a substantial investment in time as well as money. If a plant can increase productivity ten percent or more by creating an infrastructure that maximizes automation and minimizes downtime, returns on that investment will be substantial.

HBP Inc. • 952 Frederick St., Hagerstown, MD 21740 • 800-638-3508 • 301-733-2000 • FAX 301-733-6586