The development trend of digital printing after the process
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The Ipex2006 exhibition was held in Birmingham, England. For several days, visitors to Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Océ and other digital press manufacturers' booths were bustling and the scene was extremely hot. One of the most popular topics in the printing industry, which was once called a small part of printing and limited to digital printing in a small number of markets. In addition to this cutting function, there are also triple cutting and punching devices for customers to choose.
The LQD8F (NOVA10) saddle stitching linkage is a new saddle stitching motive after a number of technical improvements to the LQD8E. It improves the jaw structure of the sheeting machine, and adopts the slot cam torsion spring opening device, which makes the structure more durable, and wear-resistant synthetic rubber pad, so that the biting force of the biting on the signature is more Suitable. The removal of the booklet is placed under the stapler to throw the bookshelf, which brings convenience to the adjustment of the stapler. In addition, in addition to folding page machine, three-sided cutting machine, nylon rail chain, skewing of signatures, multiple posts, missing posts and the number of nails detection and monitoring, there are single, double cutting function and so on with LQD10 In addition to (NOVA12), it also has a triple cut and punching device for customers to choose.
This article will elaborate on the digitalization of printing and the development trend of JDF, UP3I and other recent years in the field of binding, especially on saddle stitching machines.
Prerequisites for finishing equipment for digital printing
Here, from the perspective of the necessary conditions for the digital printing press in the subsequent process, the following three aspects are introduced.
1. Suitable for small batches and short delivery times
The advantage of on-demand printing is that it is suitable for small-volume jobs. In order to take advantage of this, it is necessary to quickly perform the job of replacing the post-press equipment. To achieve the goal of rapid replacement, "operability improvement" and "automation" are necessary conditions. To be more specific, the design considerations are how to make the user who frequently uses the graphical user interface (GUI) have a more convenient control panel for minimal manual setting, while at the very least requiring operation. Use your skills to make minor adjustments.
In foreign countries, this is called a "pushbotton operation", that is, pressing a button, and the subsequent work is done by the machine. This concept is not limited to binding machines, but is also suitable for other post-press equipment such as folding machines, cutting machines and other machines. In addition, in recent years, the industry is moving towards a short lead time, and the improvement of operational performance and automation is a concrete manifestation of this development trend.
The reason for this trend is that the development background is not only that the industry is moving towards small batches and short delivery times, but because it is a part of the world to ensure that skilled operators are More and more difficult things. Therefore, for relatively small-scale printers, they are increasingly in need of introducing more high-end postpress equipment.
2. Features suitable for digital output
Since the use of powdered ink or liquid ink in the digital output, when saddle stitching is performed, if the groove is not pressed in advance at the crease, the crease will crack the ink, so that the quality of the product is significantly degraded. . However, if the indentation is performed in other processes before the binding operation, the production efficiency is hindered, which contradicts the above-mentioned necessary conditions for short delivery. Therefore, in recent years, the development trend of saddle stitching machines is that machines equipped with a press groove function are increasing in both the production line and the near-line production machines. In addition, the cutting of the burrs at the foot of the sky is also an indispensable process. This process is not treated as a separate process using a cutting machine. Instead, the cutting function is added to the saddle stitching machine to make it part of the machine, and every effort is made to reduce the number of processes.
As for the upper bookbinding machine, the product with the cover paper indentation function in the past is only a small part, and now, even for the entry level machine, the function of the groove is necessary. In addition, in the upper package machine, it is common to use EVA hot melt adhesive as the adhesive, but since the digital print contains a certain oil, the use of EVA may also result in a less adhesive force. Therefore, the trend in recent years has been to use a PUR adhesive which is increasingly used due to its strong adhesive force.
3. Suitable for variable data printing
According to research by survey companies that conduct specialized market research on the digital imaging market, variable data printing has achieved an annual growth rate of 10% to 15% in recent years, and binding equipment is also in line with this trend of variable data printing. For example, it is becoming increasingly common to have a device that automatically detects the actual thickness of the binder in the upper package, thereby automatically adjusting the position of the press line or the groove. Therefore, even if the thickness of the bound product is different, it is not necessary to re-adjust it every time.
As for the saddle stitching equipment, some higher-end technology is needed to adapt to variable data printing. There is a bar code leader line installed in the paper feeding device to control the entire saddle stitching system, thereby performing variable data processing locally (making a booklet having a different number of pages per page); and reading the reference mark Guide line, a variable booklet is made according to the mark (terminal mark) printed on the final paper set; in addition, a smart device is attached to the conventional collating machine, and the paper supply shelf is attached each time. It is made variable when set.
In recent years, in the saddle stitching system of the Japanese DYUPURO company, an example of making such a variable booklet has also increased. Examples of applications include personalized car catalogs, travel brochures, and school textbooks.
Connected, offline, nearline
When it comes to post-press equipment, it often refers to words such as connection, offline or near-line. First, you need to define the definition of these terms. Wiring refers to the form in which the printing equipment is physically connected to the post-press equipment for real-time communication. Off-line refers to the form in which the post-press equipment is actually separated from the printing equipment, and the paper loading operation must be performed and the post-press equipment is separately set. The form in which the two are called the near line is a form in which the post-press equipment is actually separated from the printing equipment, but the processing information is transmitted in some form.
For the concept of the near line, it is further explained that the information such as the barcode and the terminal mark in the above example is printed on the paper by the printing machine, and when the saddle stitching is performed, the product is processed by the information on the barcode. However, the JDF-based contact method, although actually separated from the device (machine), communicates information, which is consistent with the concept of near-line.
So, which form is the best in choosing post-press equipment? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question. The situation is different, the answer is naturally different. For example, what kind of equipment do you have now? What kind of equipment will you invest in in the future? These are the reasons why the answers are different.
With the connection, the time spent in the work setting can be minimized and the work load is light. However, there are cases where the binding quality cannot be satisfied due to the difference in the machine. In addition, since the connection can only be used on a specific printing machine, even if it can only be used in this printing machine, if you plan to invest in multiple printing equipment in the future, then it may be appropriate to choose another method. of. Furthermore, when using the connection method, it is necessary to consider in advance how to deal with the failure of the printing equipment.
In terms of offline and near-line, the increase in the workload is a major drawback. However, since it can be used as a post-processing device for a plurality of printing presses, and the processing speed of the post-pressing device is not affected by the output speed of the printing press, the production performance of the post-pressing device itself can be maximized.
UP3I and binding machine
Recently, there have been many topics about JDF, and the degree of recognition in the market is quite high. The JDF concept is also introduced in the field of binding, and various vendors are beginning to work hard in this area.
In the prepress stage, the necessary information in the post-printing device setting is added to transmit the information to the post-pressing device. In this way, the above-mentioned "button operation" reflects its true meaning, which is processed after the post-press. The basic concept that is consistent with JDF.
Focusing on JDF is a natural development trend in terms of achieving the most appropriate overall effect. On the other hand, is the market awareness not too low for UP3I, which provides great convenience for improving production performance? Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about what UP3I is all about and explain what it can bring to everyone with practical examples.
UP3I is a general abbreviation of UniversalPrinter, PreandPostprocessingInterface, meaning "global printing, prepress, postpress processing common interface", which is an open standard for achieving end-to-end information exchange. The purpose is to standardize the various pre-press, print, and post-press operations in a digital printing workflow environment. This is mainly due to the following considerations, that is, since it is troublesome and inefficient to set up the machines in all the processes, a centralized controller is used to set all the machines connected by the connection method. Thereby managing. The UP3I Standards Committee, established by leading suppliers in the printing industry, has developed the first system based on UP3I to digitize postpress processing equipment. The core members of UP3I are Duplo, Hunkeler, IBM, LasermaxRollSystems, Océ, and Xerox (in alphabetical order).
From the above concept, the convenience is reflected in shortening the operation preparation time, realizing remote setting, improving efficiency, and shortening the time for repair when errors occur. These are great advantages for practitioners who perform a wide variety of small batch operations. In addition, the controller has a graphical user interface that is convenient for the user to use, and in this case, in the event of an error, it is possible to instantly determine which part of the system has any problem in the system. This is also one of its characteristics.
However, one of the questions that often arises here is where is the difference between JDF and UP3I? Before discussing the differences, it is necessary to first understand the problem, that is, the commonality between JDF and UP3I. In order to improve the efficiency of the workflow, this is the goal that JDF and UP3I must achieve together, and it is definitely not the opposite. As for the difference, UP3I is currently mainly used for connection with printing presses, while JDF is suitable for information exchange using near-line, which is the fundamental difference.
An example of practical application on a real device is a rich and detailed introduction on the UP3I website. One of the cases described in this website is to connect the Japanese Duplo saddle stitching machine with the digital binding system OcévairoPrint5000 series with UP3I, and put it into actual operation (Figure 2). If it is offline, the post-press equipment needs to be set separately, but since it is connected by UP3I, the setting of the post-press equipment can also be concentrated on the printing machine. In addition, even if it is necessary to frequently change the job, since the machine including the post-pressing machine can be fully set, the operator's operation load is light.
For example, at the beginning, 10 A4 size booklets were bound, and then 10 A5 size booklets were bound, and then 10 A4 size jobs were bound, etc., even if there were such things as frequent changes. The job can also be completed by the operator without operating the finishing equipment. Regarding the setting examples in this system, Sweden's Elander, a company dedicated to large-scale printing and binding, introduced five systems to produce personalized financial instruments. Since it is a personalized document, the number of pages per booklet is of course different. However, since it is consistent with the UP3I, a variable saddle stitching operation can be performed without special setting in the post-pressing.
The field of binding has also evolved with the digitalization of printing and the development trend of JDF and UP3I.