Close to Users - Development Trends of Postpress

Today, faster, better, and cheaper are the requirements of printing customers, especially magazine printing and catalog printing. Customers want high-speed binding without increasing costs or lower costs. This trend is determined by the fast, personalized and targeted customer requirements. Today is the age of information explosion. Information is calculated in hours, minutes and even seconds. For printers, speed (rather than web format) has become the basis of competition and the key to ensuring the long-term development of the post-press processing industry.

Personalization and goalfulness are powerful competition factors because only in this way can they be closer to users. At present, the one-on-one market is a big cake. With the development of personalized printing, post-press processing will also be affected. For better, faster, cheaper customer requirements, post-press processing may be more critical than other printed production parts. Post-press processing technology has not yet made revolutionary progress (DRUPA is a bit disappointing). However, post-press processing technology has been linked with printing and mailing, which has improved the printing quality and the speed with which products are put on the market.

Revolutionary breakthroughs Drupa 2000 demonstrated advanced post-printing technology, but they are not revolutionary technologies. In fact, these technologies only increase the speed, reliability, and diagnostic capabilities of the equipment without becoming more intelligent.

Customers need smarter devices. Intelligent devices can be produced faster, cheaper and cheaper. However, installing many sensors, detection devices, and other accessories on the machine requires the cost to be doubled and the cost to be doubled. This is the condition of the equipment we use today. So, what kind of machines do we need in the future?

New technologies provide new ways for binding magazines and catalogs to meet customer requirements. The competition of other media does not need to care because it does not affect printers and the entire printing industry.

Of course, there is no free lunch. As long as the constant pursuit of better, faster and cheaper printing, buyers are willing to invest, do not need to spend much money on operations, as long as the guarantee of long-term living. The operator’s technology and funding need this assurance.

There are too many processes for smart devices and smart devices. Plug and play doesn't have much value. Intelligent devices are used in smart systems.

To make the process smooth, we must eliminate the gap between the processes. In fact, to shorten the cycle, the integration between processes is a must. For example, post-press processing has been extended to the mailing section. Postpress processing is responsible for all mailing information, from the address of inkjet or labeling to sorting and delivery to the postal service. Previously, these delivery deliveries were done by people. The technology of delivery delivery now shortens the time for prints to leave the press. If the prints are ready to be processed directly, the work cycle will be greatly reduced.

The replacement of equipment and processes is a continuous and evolving process. They can save printing time without affecting the quality, functionality, and service of the product.

In the near future of post-press processing, people will find that powerful printing technology can accommodate all the post-press processing operations. 4-color digitally printed and bound magazines or pamphlets, this technology has emerged, but has not yet moved out of the laboratory, for the practical use of high-speed printing.

Of course, it may also be that printing is integrated into post-press processing. The insertion process is likely to include printing. In the future, as in the past, customer demand is the direction in which people are going. And keep it better, faster and cheaper.

Ignoring the post-press processing will make you lag behind. Printers often encounter such problems: they will have to pay tomorrow, but they will keep up with the plan from the beginning; the finalization will be too late, the customer will not confirm the proofs, and the printing will take a little longer. Some, but the printers promised that customers will ship on time.

Customers often say that shipping on time is the main reason they find another manufacturer. So whether the task can be completed on time or not, it will depend on the post-press processing. Since printing became the key, printers wanted it to be perfect and automatic. However, as the final step in print production, post-press processing is always the slowest and often the problem. In fact, post-press processing is the most important one because it is related to the success or failure of the mission.

Time pressures have prompted post-press processing and binding to develop at a rapid pace. When a print was sent to the bookbinding, it contained a lot of labor, so the mistakes and wastes caused by the post-press processing were more serious than the prepress and print parts.

If the customer's personalized requirements are more and more, then the binding will be affected as well. Old-fashioned folding machines, sewing machines, and page inserters can perform simple tasks, but they cannot meet the needs of on-demand printing and direct post-press processing. Customers want to be able to achieve the quality of traditional prints by relying entirely on digital technology for finishing.

Stapling is the last process. If the binding is fast and good, the printer can win many customers and even a market.

Automation of Postpress Processing In recent years, many printers have invested a large amount of money in prepress and printing, and have made great progress and reduced costs. But for companies that have little or no investment in binding, they can only get very small output and prices increase. These companies will find that in 2001 they must pay more attention to the post-printing and binding parts, as well as automation technology.

First, automation of postpress processing can save money. Most devices have automatic adjustment functions instead of manual labor. The operator can control cutting, sewing, or folding by simply adjusting a few buttons on the console. Of course, old machines can do well, but new equipment is easier to adjust.

For example, the new folding machine has a zero adjustment function to automatically adjust the bending plate. This function allows the operator to fine-tune the plate simply by turning the knob, without having to remove the roller as before (at least two people Row). The CNC of the console saves a lot of time. Some manufacturers such as Heidelberg, MBO, Manroland have already put the corresponding products into the market.

Outsourcing is also seen as a good way to save money, but a coherent workflow also serves the same purpose. The current third-party system, like a QTI product, allows control of printing, including bookbinding, on one console. To improve efficiency, future workflows will include all printing processes. CIP3 was born for this.

The CIP3 system is based on international standards. This international standard is called pre-press, printing, and post-press integration. CIP3 means pre-press, printing, and post-press integration. It was initiated by Heidelberg and now 33 manufacturers and one printer support this system. This system combines the various parts of the print to shorten job preparation time. In the prepress and printing area, CIP3 has been applied, such as adjusting ink volume and controlling color. Currently Polar's CompuCut, Stahlfolder's CompuFold and MBO's Navigator all support this system.

CIP4 is the next generation standard. It contains all the features of CIP3 plus ADOBE's standard file format - Job Definition Format (JDF). Currently used electronic files contain only print information, and CIP 4 also contains the entire workflow and feature descriptions on different platforms. Doing so can control process variables and improve quality.

The entire printing industry, especially the post-press processing sector, lacks qualified and skilled workers. The binding part is trying to solve this problem. The first step is to use ergonomically designed equipment. It can increase productivity without too much training for employees. We can see that working hours have been greatly shortened and new equipment has been designed to become more and more perfect.

The cutting machine shows the trend of ergonomic development. The cutting system reduces the operating time, the overall efficiency is 200% of the individual cutting machine, the overall cost is reduced, the operation is stable, and the operation is convenient and friendly. Equipment that adjusts paper, such as stackers, bumpers, and waste collection systems, reduces operating time and improves control accuracy. The goal of the cutting system is to increase efficiency and reduce labor intensity.

To point out that Europe is now a popular mobile paper feeder. The paper feeding mechanism can be transferred from the printing press to other processes, such as folding machines. It is not necessary to reload the paper onto the folder.