Olivia Cahoon

Advances in Production Workflow

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By Jeff Weldon

If we start with the bottom line, digital production workflow is all about getting the most out of your digital production equipment. It’s as simple as that. There are many steps that go into a particular workflow, but in the end, the objective is to get information onto paper and off to a consumer. This might be a transactional workflow where the objective is to get statements printed and mailed within very tight service level agreements and budgets, or it could be about getting brochures or enrollment kits to a client to drive new business. In either case, the printers and finishing equipment are at a standstill until the digital production workflow is executed for each job. Several recent advances in workflow technologies can help improve the end-to-end process of getting print jobs out the door efficiently.

Modular Technologies

Up until recently, if you wanted to create a multi-step workflow it would involve some level of programming in the workflow engine and around each of the tools you wanted to incorporate into the workflow. Software vendors offered system integration solutions to help you integrate all of the components into your workflow and then worked with you once again when your requirements changed, often resulting in a costly process.

Today, there is a change in thinking that allows business users—rather than IT programmers—to define and implement a workflow using standard building blocks, and software suppliers are responding to this trend. For example, Ricoh Process Director is one tool that meets these current requirements. The latest version has a graphic user interface that allows the user to drag-and-drop workflow steps into the correct order. There are pre-defined modules to wait for some other activity to complete, branch based on multiple inputs, and alert when an activity—such as receiving a file—has or hasn’t occurred.

Sefas has been modernizing its offerings based on its experience with existing customers. One such advancement is its “utility application” that enables its customers to rapidly onboard large numbers of legacy applications in a short time period. The company has also reviewed the common processing requirements of successful deployments, and created a prepackaged workflow that meets the needs of a range of customers, reducing the cost and time to implement a successful workflow system. Today, Sefas customers are offered a set of preexisting functions and plug-ins that enable the platform to integrate with their existing infrastructure. These preexisting functions are available as standard modules that can be further customized to meet the specific needs of the site.

Solimar Systems is another company with an interesting approach to workflow management. Solimar markets its Chemistry platform as a dashboard to provide visibility into the steps within a workflow. At Chemistry’s core is a workflow engine designed to integrate with a range of software systems. It provides an overarching umbrella to monitor, control, and report metrics from each step in a workflow. Chemistry approaches the workflow problem as one of control and provides the means to collect and report on a full range of metrics about each step in the process. This level of detailed analytics provides the information that allows shop floor management teams to identify bottlenecks in their workflows and make changes as appropriate.
With their approach to simplifying the process of designing and implementing production workflows, Ricoh and Sefas are part of a sea of change in modern application development. Increasingly, software companies are building software products that require less programming and provide more business user enablement. The goal is to allow IT to define a framework in which business users can operate, but doesn’t require constant intervention by IT developers to operate and maintain the solution.

What Can I Do In an Automated Workflow Today?

As software applications have evolved, their builders have added ways for them to be controlled by external applications. Whether through a proprietary API, a generic API (e.g. ODBC), or another mechanism, it is increasingly possible to send commands to control the actions of another program. This has improved the ability to incorporate components from multiple companies into the end-to-end workflow.
With the objective being to get output in the hands of a consumer as efficiently as possible, a number of processes can be incorporated into the workflow that help achieve that goal.

One major slowdown in the print and insertion area is job changeovers. The process of changing paper stocks, adjusting inserter feeds and folders, and changing out inserts is a labor-intensive process that chews up a considerable amount of time. Short job lengths is one of the main culprits in requiring frequent job changes. Tools that can help minimize the number of changes have a significant impact on a shop’s daily output capacity and overall cost. As a simple way of thinking about the cost and output impact of a roll change on a continuous feed printer, consider this—at 450 feet per minute a two-up job generates approximately 980 sheets of output per minute, a ten-minute change is 9,800 sheets of lost capacity. If those are one-page letters, the result may represent up to an hour of lost production opportunity on an inserter too. Most shops have accounted for these capacity losses in their facilities planning, but imagine how much additional capacity is gained if the job flow is streamlined.

Moving to a white paper workflow is a way to create larger job runs. Longer runs require minimizing preprinted paper stocks. This can be done with a number of tools that allow the matching of stored background images with various page types within a document. So where you might have had multiple paper stocks in a job before, you can now print the background on each page on the fly, allowing a virtually unlimited amount of customization on each page.

However, just eliminating preprinted paper isn’t going to allow you to combine a group of jobs into a single one. You also have to think about address and barcode locations so that you can gain efficiency on the insertion side of the house. Fortunately, the tools that allow you to “flash” the page backgrounds also support document reengineering functions that support adjusting address locations so they will all fit in a common envelope design. And any existing barcode symbologies can be removed and replaced with a single barcode for the entire run of multiple merged jobs.

A large file containing similar jobs offers an opportunity to save significant money on postage. Once the files are combined, running a postal sort over the resulting file may result in higher zip code density than would have been achievable from the separate files. This step may also minimize the amount of output that needs to go to a mechanical presort vendor in order to qualify for a discount.

Providing piece-level tracking and accountability becomes more difficult when you combine multiple print runs into a single file, but the workflow engine providers have already addressed that concern. They can keep track of what jobs rolled into what print files and can reconcile when a piece was inserted, using data from the inserters and camera systems. This also allows the workflow system to create a reprint file if needed.

An additional workflow improvement can be found in switching from physical inserts to onsert pages. The same post-composition tools that can combine files can also replace calls for physical inserts by printing the information inline on an additional sheet in the mailpiece.

In Summary

Ten years ago, if you wanted an end-to-end production workflow system you needed to cobble together a number of products from different vendors and then build your own control system on top of them. With the tools available today, you can put standard off-the-shelf solutions to work for you and gain a significant number of features over earlier commercial and homegrown systems. Any company currently seeking a production workflow system should be looking for tools that allow the use of existing technology while bringing new and more robust capabilities to the table. dps

Jeff Weldon, CDIA+, is a senior analyst with Madison Advisors, an analyst and consulting firm specializing in customer communication technologies including enterprise output management, content management, customer relationship management, e-billing, and infrastructure technology.

Aug2016, DPS Magazine

Across All Segments

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By Melissa Donovan

The production color digital print market is segmented by technology, duty cycle, and speed. For technology, the electrophotographic (EP) and liquid EP market is known for its versatility, higher productivity, improved color stability, and substrate flexibility. Meanwhile, inkjet is noted for speed, ability to output onto offset stock, and lower operational costs.

Duty cycle and speed is categorized into various segments. The mid-volume segment is defined by duty cycles of 301 to 999K pages per month output at speeds just under or at 100 pages per minute (ppm). For high-volume, ppm may exceed 100 and tout duty cycles of up to 10M pages per month.

EP printers that are included in the high-production volume segment often offer features like fifth imaging, which provide users with capabilities to print spot colors and varnish. While traditional inkjet production devices fall in the ultra-high production segment, the emergence of new cutsheet solutions provide options in high-volume segments to give users even more choices.

Growth in the production print market is depicted in IDC’s Worldwide Quality Production Printer Tracker. The research firm reported in June 2016 that the first quarter of 2016 showed solid growth, with a 7.9 percent year-over-year increase. The worldwide unit shipment value increased 1.4 percent to nearly $1.2 billion in the same time period.

Today EP and inkjet printing technologies are both active players in the mid- and high-volume production print segments, it depends on the various applications printed in a specific shop, but there are advantages to each, which explains the growth across all of the segments.

The EP Effect

EP technology in particular effects both the mid- and high-volume segments. When it comes to liquid versus dry toner, vendors believe there are advantages to which is used and what segment as well.

According to Francis McMahon, VP marketing, BISG/Canon U.S.A., Inc., it really all depends on the application being produced with the equipment. “EP technology has proven over time to be tremendously reliable, all while producing exceptional quality which can impact mid- and high-volume segments.”

“We’re seeing the mid- to high-volume production segments experiencing the highest percentage growth rates in the market. The prices for current EP cutsheet products targeted in these volumes have been in decline, which is lowering the barrier to entry while simultaneously, the products are increasing in their printing capabilities and media handling,” explains Ed Wong, product marketing, production printing business group, Ricoh.

Heather Barrett, director of marketing, North America, Xeikon, says liquid toner requires a higher investment in equipment, which can be more difficult in the mid versus high segment of the market.

However, it does offer “exceptional quality, as liquid toner allows for the mixing of colors to achieve output beyond CMYK,” continues McMahon.

Dry toner provides advantages in storage, durability, sustainability, and even cost. “In terms of shelf life for stored inks, image quality stability, image durability, and ease of ink switchovers dry toner is more advantageous. It is also more sustainable with no volatile organic compounds/hazardous solvents and is de-inkable in typical paper recycling streams,” shares Len Christopher, worldwide product manager – Kodak NexPress Platform, Kodak.

“The advantage with dry toner is that it can deliver high-quality output with the durability required to meet the challenges of finishing and post processing,” adds McMahon.

Barrett believes that for the mid-volume segment, dry toner provides the best productivity-to-cost ratio.

Emerging Cutsheet

While traditional inkjet devices fall into the ultra-high production segment, the emergence of cutsheet inkjet solutions effects the high-volume landscape. Cutsheet inkjet changes the dynamic by offering a stepping stone for users traditionally not positioned to enter into the high-volume space. Because of this, cutsheet inkjet offerings are positioned to take pages away from EP technologies.

“In the mid- to light-production market, customers are looking for a more cost-effective solution that allows them to streamline the process. These customers have switched their EP machines to cutsheet inkjet because they can introduce the white paper factory solution, removing the need to store preprinted materials,” explains Kristina Donehew-Tamilio, marketing manager, Riso, Inc.

McMahon says cutsheet inkjet serves a space of the market left between traditional cutsheet toner and continuous feed inkjet equipment. Applications found in this space include packaging, transactional/statements, and direct mail.

“If quality is suitable for those applications, total cost must be lower for EP replacement in order to take pages away from EP,” points out Christopher.
“Where full substrate range flexibility is required, EP will remain a leading solution,” he adds.

Despite the flurry of activity, Will Mansfield, worldwide sales and marketing – inkjet presses, Kodak, believes it is premature to think cutsheet is taking pages away from toner-based devices. He cites cutsheet inkjet as “still a nascent product segment.”

“Although the peak image quality from some of the devices appears to be suitable to take work from toner and offset presses, the reliability, throughput, and cost of operation require significant improvements before cutsheet inkjet can be viewed as a viable alternative,” continues Mansfield.

“For the majority of customers looking for higher print quality with better image contrast, wider gamut range, smoother gradations, and sharper details, compromises in their requirements need to be made if they consider transferring pages from EP today,” agrees Wong. He further points out that the potential of page migration is not necessarily from EP, but alternative technologies, including offset and coated feel inkjet.

Company Positioning

With some companies exclusively EP providers, they must remain competitive against inkjet—especially with cutsheet emerging in the high-volume production space. Similarly, these vendors offering both technologies must adequately balance the two.

Xeikon only offers EP. It believes image quality is the most important element to compete. “High-speed inkjet has difficulty accessing the higher coverage applications that tap more into commercial printing,” says Barrett.

Kodak offers both EP and inkjet, with each aimed at different application spaces. “EP is mainly targeted at commercial print providers that typically demand a combination of high quality and high productivity and substrate flexibility. Inkjet is aimed primarily at book, transactional, and direct mail providers,” shares Christopher.

“The way the industry is transitioning, one can’t rely solely on EP. That is not to say that inkjet will completely replace EP, they will become complementary forces in the same office. The book market is a target market where we are already utilizing both technologies,” says McMahon. Canon offers both EP and inkjet solutions.

TCO and Cost per Page

In terms of total cost of ownership (TCO) and cost per page, the benefits of inkjet versus EP in the mid- and high-volume production segments varies.

For example, Riso focuses on the mid-volume production segment, with all of its inkjet printers rating a duty cycle of 500,000 prints a month. “Extremely economical, they offer spot and full color for nearly the same cost as B&W prints from other systems. The initial investment is extremely low. The small footprint and low energy consumption makes it even more attractive from a TCO point of view,” admits Donehew-Tamilio.

“There are numerous benefits of inkjet, especially if a print provider has the volume that the press can accommodate. The sheet productivity that inkjet provides significantly can lower the overall TCO in some cases as high has 50 percent that of traditional EP technologies,” explains McMahon.

This savings can come from a series of places including ink costs, the ability to print on offset papers, service reliability, and color consistency—all are aspects on the ever-increasing value of inkjet technology,” he adds.

According to Barrett, EP competes more in the mid-volume segment due to lower investment rates. For the high-volume segment, EP is most successful for high-coverage/high-quality work.

Across All Segments

While EP technologies have enjoyed a stronghold in the mid- to high-volume production print market, the maturation of inkjet—specifically cutsheet inkjet—increases the options for print providers that play in this segment. Mid- to high-production printers are used in a number of environments for a variety of applications. dps

Aug2016, DPS Magazine

Presenting Packaging

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By DPS Staff

Label and packaging products are the next hot application for digital. In terms of print engines, automated finishing equipment, embellishment solutions, and software tools, the recent drupa trade fair featured abundant announcements and product debuts relevant to the digital creation of label and packaging products.

According to recent research from Smithers Pira, The Future of Digital Print for Packaging 2016, the digital packaging print sector is experiencing rapid growth. The firm estimates that the use of digital print for packaging is valued at $10.5 billion in 2015 and the world market will grow by an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6 percent in constant value terms to 2020, with a print volume CAGR of 16.2 percent globally. While Smithers Pira points out that labels account for 85.5 percent of this value and 93.5 percent of the printed volume in 2015, this is changing as new applications are introduced and growing, including cartons, corrugated, flexible, rigid plastics, and metal decorating.

The expected continued growth of the digital packaging segment is supported by numerous vendors, including print engine manufacturers, finishing manufacturers, and software and workflow vendors. At drupa, the latest technologies targeting these segments were unveiled and showcased. Here, we provide a snapshot of announcements from popular sub categories of packaging—labels, folding carton, and corrugated. We also touch on software and workflow solutions targeting digital package production.

Label Announcements

Some of the hottest digital label production announcements at drupa focused on combination printing, which targets the production of high-end, short-run labels that are printed digitally but feature embellishment features, including effects like foil and varnish.

HP previewed its HP Indigo Digital Combination Press concept, which incorporates HP Indigo print and digital embellishments in one press for a fully digital, single-pass solution targeting high-value label and packaging production needs.

Showcased as a technology demonstration as part of a dedicated line with an HP Indigo WS6800 Digital Press, the combination concept—developed in alliance with JetFX—enables the streamlined production of digital spot and tactile varnishes, digital foils, and embellishments of unlimited designs with HP SmartStream Mosaic.
Targeting the high-end label and packaging segment, Xeikon demonstrated its Fusion Technology, which is a combination platform that allows users to digitally produce embellishments by combining different digital print technologies.

The company says that its Fusion Technology is comprised of a series of embellishment modules that will be released over time as components of an entirely new modular system with the digital front-end taking care of prepress, data processing, color management, and press operation as well as full control and operation of all embellishment modules without any manual intervention. Potential modules include hot/cold foiling; screen prints; matte, gloss, and structured flood and spot varnish; and digital Braille.

In other embellishment label news, MGI Digital Technology announced an addition to its JETvarnish 3D digital enhancements product portfolio, the JETvarnish 3DW. The JETvarnish 3DW and iFOIL W system is an integrated, roll-to-roll print embellishment solution suited to the label and tag marketplace. It provides customized foil on demand and variable data foiling options.

The JETvarnish 3DW and iFOIL W system adds impact with colorful special effects. The system produces 2D spot UV coating, 3D embossed varnish textures, and embossed foil effects all in one pass. The full JETvarnish 3DW iFOIL solution also includes flexographic priming station options for substrate surface management. MGI integrated this unique pre-treatment process inline to optimize the rendered input for digital enhancement effects.

The MGI JETvarnish 3D W also features a new, artificial intelligence-based sheet registration system, which the company has termed the SmartScanner.

Cartons

Many recently introduced digital printing solutions are specifically designed for the production of folding carton applications. As vendors continue to invest in this segment we can be assured that growth and adoption by traditional and digital print providers and converters will continue.

HP Inc. announced strong worldwide customer adoption of its next-generation HP Indigo 30000 Digital Presses, demonstrating its position in digitally printed folding cartons and removing traditional packaging production limitations.

The HP Indigo 30000 Digital Press is a 29-inch format sheet-fed solution empowering folding carton converters to capture high-margin opportunities and move to more efficient production. Enabled by the company’s HP Indigo liquid ElectroInk technology, HP Indigo offers users up to seven ink stations on press and the widest digital color gamut to fulfill strict brand color requirements with up to 97 percent of PANTONE colors.

MGI released its Meteor DP1000 digital press, the sixth generation of MGI Meteor digital presses. It complements the existing DP8700 XL+ and DP8700 S+ solutions, enabling the company to offer a full range of production presses with high speed, plastic, synthetic, and paper substrate and application diversity.

The DP1000 supports formats up to 13×47 inches. This longer format allows users to produce five panel, panoramic gatefold documents such as brochures, signs, and banners on stocks that range in weights from 80 to 450 gsm. According to MGI, these specifications make the solution ideal for printing brilliant colors on board stock for small- to medium-sized folding carton and box designs. It is well suited for package printers looking for a high-speed solution with variable data options, and commercial printers looking to enter packaging.

Another digital folding carton development comes from a new partnership between Xerox and KBA Sheetfed Solutions, a business unit of the Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA). The two companies are developing an industrial digital sheetfed press for the folding carton market, which will produce wide format cartons for items like cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals.

The solution, the KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox, integrates Xerox Impika inkjet technology into the KBA Rapida 106 press platform. Xerox says the press is in the final stages of development and will print 4,500 B1 29.5×41.7-inch sheets per hour (sph). Featuring a modular concept, it enables the combination of digital inkjet printing with optional inline capabilities such as coating, cold foil application, rotatory die cutting, creasing, and perforating.

For finishing, Baumer hhs introduced the latest version of the Xtend controller series. The new controllers are designed to cover the latest industrial requirements, which involves the ability to produce a variety of products and small runs.

In its third generation, the Highcon Euclid Series was showcased at drupa. It is a digital cutting and creasing solution for the packaging market.

The Highcon Beam digital cutting and creasing solution offers speeds of up to 5,000 sph and is developed for the folding carton market. The solution replaces conventional die-making and setup with a digital technology.

Finally, the company provides the new Highcon Pulse digital cutting and creasing solution into B2/29-inch sheet size workflows. Highcon’s digital cutting and creasing technology enables an in-house controlled digital system that delivers improved responsiveness, design flexibility, and entry into a range of applications in numerous markets.

According to the company, for converters and print service providers with digital print equipment, the Pulse enables an end-to-end digital workflow, removing the bottleneck at the post-print stage. For those with conventional printing equipment, digital finishing offers a way to grow business by extending the services they offer with a differentiated product offering.

KAMA presented innovative solutions designed to deal with trends such as short runs and digital package printing. The company premiered a complete solution for short runs of folding boxes.

The solution includes the DC 76 ASB automatic die cutter with the newest in servo technology, and the newly developed KAMA FF 52i, which is a folder/gluer dedicated to short runs. The combined solution is optimized for fast job and format changes and electronic job tickets, and fits into the digital workflow, carrying out all of the applications from the printed sheet to the ready-to-deliver folding box. With short set-up times, faster finishing, inline stripping without tools, and automated set-up, the company says the solution paves the way for making short-run converting of folding boxes both efficient and profitable.
KAMA says another highlight for the commercial market is the “Generation S” of the ProCut line of automatic die cutters, with servo technology and an asynchronous main drive that delivers more power and flexibility for the professional finisher.

Kluge launches the newest generation of its folding and gluing system, the OmniFold 3000. The new, modular system features synchronized touchscreen controls, interchangeable feeding units, a modular alignment system, a modular pre-break device, interchangeable bearing bed transports, and interchangeable vacuum transports.

In addition, Kluge, in partnership with LasX, premiered CartonsInMinutes at drupa. The on demand laser processing and converting solution allows for the laser cutting, scoring, blanking, and converting of multiple folding carton designs.

MBO offers finishing systems from Herzog+Heymann, including the flexible Stamina line, a folding carton system with an integrated rotary die cutter. With these two processes combined, print providers are able to produce ‘nickless’ folding cartons in one pass, eliminating the need for additional production steps, such as refining. According to the company, the combination is also able to eliminate transfers and staging between the die cutting and folder-gluer processors because it takes place inline, allowing for a streamlined folding-carton process.

The Stamina line also features an integrated camera system that can match pre-printed inserts to the folding carton job, greatly improving job integrity as it practically eliminates the possibility of accidental job mixing.

Masterwork USA offers the Promatrix 106 CSB die cutter with blanking, ideal for short to medium production volumes and performs die cutting and embossing at a speed of 8,000 sph. The machine offers a range of standard features, user-friendly operation, and an attractive price-performance ratio. The Promatrix 106 CS handles substrates from 65-lb. text to 48-pt. board. It outputs 8,000 sph, and has a maximum sheet size of 29.92×41.7 inches.

The Masterwork Easymatrix 106 CS die cutting machine with stripping is rated at 7,700 sph and is designed to deliver precision in folding carton production. It offers short set-up times, productivity, and cost effectiveness.

TRESU offers its new iJET inkjet coater, which is designed to enhance the flexibility of the digital folding carton printing workflow with the ability to variably apply UV spot varnishes inline. The TRESU iJet is designed to integrate seamlessly with the HP Indigo 30000, HP Indigo 12000, and HP Indigo 10000 digital presses. It processes the same software as each of the presses and, where necessary, the accompanying analog coater. As a result files are ripped in minutes.

TRESU iJet can be customized to accommodate any number of printheads, between one and 11, along the bar. The printheads can be repositioned in the cross direction, to apply coating anywhere on the package.

Matching the productivity of the printing press, TRESU iJet achieves speeds of 4,600 sph, and uses specially formulated UV varnishes that offer high gloss and scratch resistance.

Debuting at drupa 2016, the Scodix E106 is a digital press delivering enhancement solutions for printers in the packaging sector. With new and innovative capabilities, Scodix E106 provides viable, profit-generating opportunities for the folding carton market. Uniquely designed in B1 format for ultra-fast production of up to 4,000 sph, the company says the press supports short to medium run lengths not yet achieved in the printing industry. Exclusive to Scodix, this combination of features and functionality provides many benefits for folding carton printers and converters to differentiate their offering and boost profit margins.

Corrugated Solutions

The corrugated packaging segment is also seeing some attention from digital printing and finishing equipment providers.

Durst unveiled a new corrugated packaging and display printer and showcased single-pass and multi-pass printing systems for corrugated cardboard manufacturers and converters. The new Rho 130 SPC, with a print speed of up to 9,350 square meters per hour, offers the industrial productivity needed to transform the packaging sector towards digital technology.

Alongside the more cost-efficient production of shelving and sales packaging in small- and medium-sized job runs, the Rho 130 SPC also supports sampling, customizations, and versioning—directly and without setup costs.

EFI’s new Nozomi one-pass inkjet platform, the EFI Nozomi C18000—is a 1.8 meter-wide, single-pass, ultra-high-speed LED inkjet corrugated packaging press using technology that can change on demand printing in corrugated, paper packaging, and display printing.

Leveraging its HP Thermal Inkjet single-pass HP PageWide Printing Technology, the new HP PageWide C500 Press introduces a versatile, offset-quality cost-effective solution for corrugated direct-to-board printing.

The press is designed to integrate into a standard production environment, from large integrated packaging converters with centralized or distributed printing, to small, independent sheet plants, enabling customers to affordably adopt digital technology for mainstream production and reinvent a segment ripe with opportunity.

Helping customers expand media versatility and enhance production flexibility, HP Corrugated Grip Technology allows customers to handle a range of media from the lightest micro-flute to the heaviest double-wall board. Additionally, new water-based HP inks are designed for printing on the non-food contact surface of paperboard packaging and comply with global food safety regulations and industry guidelines necessary to produce food-compliant packaging, thus allowing customers to capture more opportunities with leading food and packaging brands.

Workflow

Efficiency is essential to the digital production of label and packaging applications. In order to remain profitable on complex, short-run jobs, production and workflow software promotes a touchless, end-to-end workflow that improves productivity and reduces waste.

In addition to printing and finishing equipment targeting the various packaging segments, software and workflow tools aim to add productivity to digital and hybrid package print environments.

EFI and Esko collaborate to bring a combined packaging workflow solution to market. The plan is for the solution to connect EFI Fiery digital front ends, Esko workflows, and EFI enterprise resource planning/management information solutions to provide a unified production eco-system for packaging companies. Additionally, customers using the Esko workflow will be able to prepare jobs once for output and use EFI’s optimization tools to route them to Fiery-driven digital production devices with a single seamless experience.

The first of the new offerings was showcased at drupa, featuring integration between Esko Automation Engine, EFI Packaging Productivity Suite, and Fiery.
The up-to-date costing model for the new HP Indigo 8000 digital press is incorporated into Label Traxx version 8. Label Traxx customers who have made the decision to invest will be able to generate accurate and consistent estimates immediately. Converters considering the press can also use the cost model to do estimate comparisons in advance, and analyze whether the press is a good fit for their business.

Packaging Potential

Every four years, the drupa trade show is a venue for major announcements, in the form of strategic partnerships, future technology previews, and product debuts that set the stage for the next several years. We continue to see a trend towards short runs and variability, making each drupa event more focused on digital technologies across a range of popular application segments. dps

Aug2016, DPS Magazine