Inkjet's Age, a print supplement to Quick Printing, is a business and technology brand dedicated to corporate and senior management and focusing on issues surrounding inkjet printing technology in all its forms. Inkjet's Age covers the industry news,
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22 SEPTEMBER 2014 ¥ INKJET'S AGE www.MyPRINTResource.com A Strong Finishing Partner Helps You Reach New Heights Best Practices Help Inkjet to Soar Higher (continued from page 21) (continued from page 13) digital book manufacturing system that could meet the demands of different types of workflow, different product formats, as well as variable data print- ing (VDP) capability, a key advantage of digital manufacturing that some of their customers began to request. SigmaLine's modular design delivered. Muller Martini engineered an all-new SigmaFolder II platform which allowed greater speed, greater widths (up to 60 inches), and greater workflow flexibility for perfect-bound and saddle- stitched products. This new SigmaLine technol- ogy delivers individual book blocks at a cycle time of less than one second, or an unprecedented 4,000 copies per hour. By enabling the one-of-a-kind prestacking function in the system's collator, one can deliver stacks of individually preglued book blocks at speeds well exceeding 10,000 cph. That means it can accom- modate the speed of any print engine in today's market. Webcrafters is bullish on the capabili- ties of its second Muller Martini Sigma- Line, particularly since it's able to keep up with the full operating speeds of the Kodak Prosper Press. In addition, uptime production percentage continues to im- prove dramatically with the addition of the SigmaFolder II platform, which fea- tures a straight horizontal paper path that provides excellent control of lightweight stocks. John Filsinger, Webcrafter's executive vice president and COO, remarked, "I've always viewed Muller Martini as an engineering company. They've been a great partner who brings tremendous engineering solutions to the binding and press finishing lines. What's more, Muller makes us think about opportunities that we might not have even realized were possible. Their scalable finishing solu- tions give us the required flexibility to meet not just our current customer de- mands, but those that lay ahead." What's Next on the Digital Landscape? Whether it's higher speeds, wider for- mats, an increasing use of variable-data printing and personalization, or true one-off book production, the possibili- ties for digital print manufacturing are as endless as the technological advances still to come. Which is why, no matter if you're a lo- cal printer, or one of the world's largest print manufacturers, to truly reap the benefits of your digital future you need forward-thinking solutions that: • Provide scalability so you can add components and new features. • Deliver a high degree of workflow to accommodate the very latest trends and products. • Keep up with presses that will con- tinue to get faster—and widths that will grow wider. Bottom line? Success in the digital fu- ture requires a commitment to change— and to solutions that can grow and keep you competitive today and tomorrow. Not only does scalable engineering en- able expandability as production needs increase, it also protects your investment from the start. So secure your digital fu- ture by choosing a partner you can grow with. ✚ Practice Makes Perfect "What business are you in today and where do you want to take it?" That is the big question that HP encourages its high- volume inkjet customers and prospects to ponder, according to Murphy. Run lengths and the need for customization are considerations for all of digital printing, he noted. "They are not unique to inkjet." Here are seven additional inkjet best- practice tips from the other people IA interviewed for this story: Find Your Sweet Spot: This is a quan- tity issue—for Hudson Printing, multiple- signature work and relatively short runs of under 5,000 copies are its sweet spot for inkjet web. "Between six and 30 forms is ideal," said innovation director Gardner. "Sheetfed can't compete on price because there are too many plates to hang." The sheetfed Fujifilm J Press 720 inkjet device at Gilson Graphics is limited to 2,000 sheets for non-variable print jobs. Optimize Ink Usage: Hudson is using software to minimize the amount of ink it uses. "Inkjet still is an aqueous-based pro- cess, so [using] less ink is better," Gardner added. Manage Color: Documation uses Al- wan Color Expertise for ink levels and also employs GMG software to build profiles, reported VP/COO Aalsma. "We run 'fin- gerprints' and print by the numbers," he said, adding that "flexo principles apply to inkjet." Fast RIP Required: "Make your work- flow RIP-friendly and portable," advised Aalsma. Documation runs a PDF work- flow "to prevent log-jams," he said. The goal is to RIP as fast as you print. HP's SmartStream computer server is the lan- guage that seems to "play" best with his firm's pair of T230 inkjet web presses. Fishing for Data: "Cast a wide net for jobs," advised Kodak's Mansfield. That means using an open-architecture workflow for variable data. "We employ controllers that accept data from multiple formats, including AFP [Advanced Func- tion Presentation] and PDF." Data Integrity: Use a system to validate and verify that every page is printed to the appropriate data, Kodak encouraged. Campaign Management: Offer some level of campaign management and a closed-loop tracking system. Some tracking systems even can moni- tor response rates for customers, Mansfield pointed out. "These help to separate and differentiate" PSPs from the herd," he added, "so that it's not just a charge-per- piece discussion." ✚