Powerful partnership! Teaming up with Konica Minolta to create a complete printing production solution
Recently, Horyo International Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Horyo") and Konica Minolta, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Konica Minolta") jointly released an important announcement: the two companies have signed a business cooperation agreement to jointly develop a new production workflow that integrates both of their technical solutions. The goal of this collaboration is to achieve seamless connection between digital printing and post-press processes, boost automation levels in print production, and reduce manual labor.
Background and reasons for cooperation between both parties
Today, the printing industry is rapidly shifting toward short-run printing, product diversification, and shorter delivery cycles. Labor shortages and improving production efficiency have become major challenges for the industry. Although the automation level of single-machine digital printing and post-press equipment has continuously increased, further unleashing productivity requires not just automating a single machine; it is also necessary to rely on data to connect printing production, in-house material transfer, and post-press processing across the entire chain, achieving overall production optimization.
Based on this industry situation, Haoli has officially signed a business cooperation agreement with Konica Minolta to jointly develop a new production workflow that integrates both companies' technologies. The core of this collaboration is to integrate Haoli's post-press workflow system "iCE LiNK" with Konica Minolta's printing workflow software "AccurioPro Flux." Relying on operation information, postpress processing instructions, and printing process progress data, by sharing operation information, postpress processing instructions, and printing process production progress data, a complete production workflow integrating prepress preparation, digital printing, material handling, and postpress processing is created, reducing time lost due to manual information transmission, equipment order changeover preparation, and waiting between processes.
The results of this collaboration will be unveiled at the "Horizon Smart Factory 2026 International Week" event held at Horizon Innovation Park in Takashima, Japan, from November 4~6, 2026. At the exhibition, both parties will showcase an interconnected workflow using Konica Minolta's AccurioPress C14010S press (equipped with the AccurioPro Flux system), the user-friendly iCE LiNK system, and related post-press equipment. Subsequently, the company will continue to promote digital transformation and workflow automation in the printing industry based on feedback from exhibitors.
Seiji Nakajima, head of Konica Minolta's professional printing business, said: "Currently, printing production sites generally face the dual pressures of a shortage of skilled workers and short-run orders. Improving productivity throughout the entire process, including post-press stages, has become a core challenge for the industry. Relying on the 'The Intelligent Press™' concept, Konica Minolta has realized an autonomous printing model that senses operating conditions and automatically adjusts parameters, reducing production dependence on operator experience and skills. This collaboration with Haoli aims to extend this technical approach from the printing process to in-house transfer and post-press processing, minimizing production interruptions throughout the entire process. "
Ryuji Iekawa, President of Haoli International Company, stated: "The transition from printing to post-press processing still involves a large amount of manual work, such as information handover, equipment selection for the end, and preparation for equipment model changeovers." Haoli's iCE LiNK post-press workflow system has always aimed for overall production optimization. This time, by partnering with Konica Minolta, they aim to connect the entire process from printing to finished product through data, relying on data analysis to improve production efficiency and create a more flexible production environment for customers. "
Details of the cooperation and future plans
The foundation of this collaboration is the integration and integration of two sets of mainstream workflow software in the industry:
(1) AccurioPro Flux: A professional digital printing solution software launched by Konica Minolta, capable of optimizing prepress processes by improving production efficiency through typesetting, print data editing and preprocessing, job management, progress tracking, and automation of repetitive tasks; It also supports API interfaces, enabling bidirectional operation data exchange with external systems such as Print Management Information Systems (MIS) and Web-to-Print.
(2) iCE LiNK: Great for making use of post-press workflow systems. It centralizes all information from printing and post-press operations, visualizes production progress, and connects to various post-press equipment; it also supports standardized operation information formats like JDF, enabling efficient flow from printing to post-press.
After integrating the two systems, they will enable seamless communication of job management, imposition information, and JDF postpress data, achieving digital connectivity between printing and postpress. Both sides are also exploring full production process automation, where the completion signal from printing acts as a trigger to automatically handle internal transport of printed materials and transfer them to postpress workstations, allowing pre-preparation for postpress tasks so that postpress operations can start immediately after printing finishes.
For printing company clients, this means shorter waiting times between steps, reduced manual info transfer, and less material handling. Operators can focus on higher-value tasks, and companies can maintain stable production even with limited personnel.
Beyond software-level workflow integration, both parties are also exploring in-house automated transport solutions for printed materials between production stages. This will make good use of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and manual lifts, combined with Konica Minolta's high-capacity stacker LS-507. Based on job completion status and production conditions, printed materials are transported from digital presses to postpress equipment. This approach reduces manual handling and creates a flexible, automated production environment that can adapt to equipment layout and production task changes.
With the 2026 Haoliyong Smart Factory Expo as a demonstration platform and with audience feedback, Haoliyong and Konica Minolta will continue to test and refine this integrated workflow. By connecting data across printing devices, in-house transport systems, and postpress equipment, and combining both companies' technology and industry expertise, the goal is to build a flexible, scalable smart factory that helps printing production sites improve efficiency, reduce manual dependence, and lighten the workload on operators.