Process automation for printers

Process automation is the key to greater efficiency, reduced waste and increased profitability for narrow web label converters. It should be as big a focus for company management as sales and hardware investment. Process automation affects all areas of the converter’s business including ‘front end’ estimating and warehouse departments, planning, production and finishing.

We have moved a long way since the introduction of job definition format (JDF) and job messaging format (JMF) opened up the theoretical possibility for software and hardware to interact in completely new ways.

Management information system (MIS) developers soon set about developing bi-directional links with pre-press, meaning a ‘master’ PDF held on the graphics workstation could drive workflow throughout the plant.

To show how this could be extended, Cerm and GSE developed a JDF-enabled link between pre-press, MIS and an ink dispensing system. This fully automates the mixing of colors according to the density and spectrophometric information contained in the PDF file held on the Esko system.

What other areas have been affected by this kind of process automation?