Future trends in postpress processing
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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 rapid, personalized and targeted customer requirements. Today is the era of information explosion, information is calculated in hours, minutes or even seconds. For printers, speed (rather than format) has become the basis for competition and the key to ensuring the long-term development of the post-press industry.
First, the intelligence of post-press processing equipment
Existing equipment has too many processes. Plug and play doesn't have much value. Intelligent devices are used in intelligent systems. To make the process smooth, it is important to eliminate the gap between processes. In fact, it is necessary to shorten the cycle time, and the fusion between processes is necessary. For example, postpress processing has been extended to the mailing section. Postpress processing is responsible for all postal information, from address inkjet or labeling to sorting and packaging to the postal department. Previously, these techniques of tiller delivery shortened the time it took for a print to leave the press. If the prints are ready for direct processing, the duty cycle is greatly reduced.
Second, the automation of post-press processing
In recent years, many printers have invested a lot of money in prepress and printing, making great progress and reducing costs. But for companies that invest little or no investment in binding, they can only get a small amount of production and the price increases. These companies will find that after 2001 they must pay more attention to the postpress and binding parts, as well as automation technology.
First, automation of finishing can save money. Most devices have automatic adjustments instead of manual labor. The operator can control the cutting, locking, or folding by simply adjusting a few buttons on the console. Of course, old machines can do a good job, but new devices are easier to adjust.
For example, the new folding machine has a zero adjustment function that automatically adjusts the bending plate. This feature allows the operator to fine-tune the plate by simply turning the knob instead of removing the roller as before (at least two talent lines) ). The CNC of the console saves a lot of time. Some manufacturers such as Heidelberg, MBO, and Manroland have already placed corresponding products on the market.
Outsourcing is also seen as a good way to save money, but a coherent workflow also achieves its goals. Current third-party systems, like QTI's, allow control of printing on a console including binding. To improve efficiency, future workflows include all the printing processes. CIP3 was born for this purpose.
The CIP3 system is based on international standards. This international standard is called pre-press, printing and post-press integration. CIP3 means unification between prepress, printing and postpress. It was launched by Heidelberg and is now supported by 33 manufacturers and a printer. This system links the various parts of the print to shorten the job preparation time. In prepress and printing, CIP3 has been used, such as adjusting ink volume and controlling color. Currently, Polar's CompuCut, Stahlfolder's CompuFold and MBO's Navigator support this system.
CIP4 is the next generation standard. It contains all the features of CIP3 plus ADOBE's standard file format JDF (Job
Definition
Format). The electronic files currently used contain only printed information, while CIP4 also contains the entire workflow and feature descriptions on different platforms. This can control process variables and improve quality.
The entire printing industry, especially the postpress 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 increases productivity without overtraining employees. We can see that working hours have been greatly shortened and new equipment has been designed to be more and more perfect.
The cutting machine illustrates the development trend of ergonomics. The cutting system reduces operating time and the overall efficiency is 200% of the individual cutting machines, reducing overall costs and stabilizing operation. Equipment that adjusts paper, such as stackers, paper jammers, 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 mention, the portable paper feeder is now popular in Europe. The paper feeding mechanism can be transferred from the printing press to other processes, such as a folding machine. It is not necessary to reload the paper onto the folder.
Third, the diversity of post-press processing
Printers strive to provide consumers with more efficient processes and equipment, as do postpress processors. Over the past few years, many post-press processors have added processes, UV glazing, lamination, folding/gluing and even printing operations in post-press processing, which enhances the competitiveness of post-press processing.
Rotating bronzing and gravure printing have opened up new markets. There are two main ways to rotate bronzing: narrow web roll bronzing and sheet-fed turn bronzing.
Narrow web reeling is a stamping unit used in gravure presses. With the development of bronzing technology and speed. Gravure printing presses have been able to produce at low cost and high speed. The market for narrow web reels is very broad. Especially for instant printing, such as trademark and cartoon printing. Large-volume labels can be incorporated into decorative processes such as bronzing and embossing in narrow-format printing, with little or no additional cost. Hot stamping and embossing are no longer expensive for consumers who need to process large quantities of print. Narrow web reeling has opened up the market and attracted more attention. At the same time, it also poses a threat to sheetfed printing (such as the trademark printing of wine), but the development of bronzing and embossing will benefit the printing market.
Sheet-fed turning hot stamping is done using a curved die on the drum. Although it does not finish printing and bronzing online like a narrow web roll, it is still faster than standard pattern printing. This is advantageous for mass production of cartoons, greeting cards, book covers and other similar items. The more mature and familiar the process is, the faster the business rises, and the better the position of post-press processing.
Fourth, on-demand processing
In the new century, there are new changes in binding equipment. Personalized direct mailing and variable printing account for an increasing proportion. All elements, graphics, and layouts are personalized, and there is still a long way to go. However, some devices have been personalized. Heidelberg's finishing equipment provides a personalized inkjet output. Each printed sheet to be mailed is printed with a different address or even a different pattern.
Because each print is different, the binder has encountered new problems. How to solve the waste of different sheets? Manufacturers have tried many methods such as printing marks on printed sheets, and there is currently no efficient solution. Current solutions work well, but they are expensive.
Heidelberg offers NexPress for personalised printing, a new, single-printing press. Both Poler and Heidelberg's stacking machines offer solutions for personalized printing for NexPress products. The market for on-demand printing will continue to expand.
Fifth, post-press processing will adapt to multi-function digital printing
DEUPA2000 is an exhibition of various digital presses. In 1999, the two-color printing press produced 85 billion 8.5 x 11 inch digital seals, mainly including news letters, software texts and ISBNs (soft covers). How and where to bind these sheets is a great staple market.
On-demand printing (POD) emphasizes flexibility, personalization, and short-run printing. Nowadays, POD printers can usually print products within 24 hours. E-base can meet complex requirements and automation problems, and quality control is also important.
Today, the binding equipment for short black and white soft cover books is already complicated. Many suppliers offer highly automated online or off-line solutions for the binding of small batches of paperback books. This new device is equipped with a book sealer and a new generation of highly automated three-sided cutting machines. This binding device can be adjusted for different spine thicknesses and adapted to on-demand printing.
Short-running postal advertising now has a large market. Many digital printing commercial binding machines are used to produce hardcover books. The complexity of the binding equipment, the limitations of the short-end hardcover book decoration and limited technology and experience create opportunities for the program binding machine. At the same time, because of the flexibility of short-run printing, many program binding machines have been designed to meet the needs of customers by printing short-form book blocks.
6. Industrial standards are important in terms of future on-demand printing levels.
In the past three years, the printing industry has been committed to establishing pre-press, printing, and post-press communication standards. Although the CIP3 action originated from prepress and ink equipment, it has begun to have a certain impact on the postpress. Multi-function digital presses emphasize personalization. Today, both color and multi-color printing require a consistent level of information transfer throughout the production process. Sheetfed integration technology is turning to the publishing market. Currently, several standards have been developed to ensure the accuracy and consistency of complex text pages.
●Color
In the past eight years, the printing industry has accepted a two-color multifunction digital press. However, the success of the two-color multifunction digital press is not simply a replacement for a two-color lithographic press. New features of the device include: short version, personalization (critical). Reducing paper costs and improving print quality are the future directions for digital presses.
Today, short-run color is calculated as a small amount, such as 500 sheets. The minimum standard is determined by the cutting machine. Cutting 500 sheets at a time is the most practical and economical. Although we can't predict the future based on current details, we know that many color digital printing opportunities reduce the number of short versions to 5 to 10. When the printing press can be economically printed, the single-sheet color finishing technology will face challenges, and can be cut, folded and indented without human manipulation. This technology is expected to be realized in the next few years.
●Color and two colors
Color digital presses cannot print two-color products as economically as two-color presses. Therefore, in the next three to five years, the two printing opportunities will develop in the direction of merger. Equipment with a collating machine ensures that the sheets are neat. The future digital color printing press will have a revolutionary breakthrough in quality, and at the same time, it will strengthen investment in the on-demand book production market.
In the black and white and color printing technologies of electronic imaging, the flexibility of speed, quality and format will be enhanced. This will also affect post-press processing. Future post-press processing equipment is more powerful, with lower technical requirements for workers and high-speed and high-quality production. Over the next three years, we expect that printing ISBNs on multifunction digital presses will reduce costs by up to 10%. In addition, more than 60,000 non-printers and publishers also use digital presses internally. At the same time, the technology provides a choice of business models, with the choice of decentralized or centralized production. Waiting for another two years, we can see that in the bookstore, the printing and binding of paperback books is the same.
Postpress processing is different from the past, and it has inevitably changed. Competition is becoming increasingly fierce, technology is becoming more mature, and market expansion is an inevitable result, but attention should be paid to the gradual approach.