Workflow software specialist PrintFactory will be sharing 'trade secrets to achieving greater levels of automation’ with visitors to their stand at this year’s FESPA Global Print Expo.
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| PrintFactory MD Asia Ivan Khoo (right) is no stranger to Australia having lived and worked here a few years back. He will be at both FESPA and PrintEx in August. Pictured here on the Kayell booth with Andreas Johanssen at Visual Impact 2018. |
The PrintFactory software team (ex-wide format printers themselves), say the process involves taking three successive steps on the Automation Journey.
The explosion of possibilities begins by achieving perfect colour. Then, reducing the need for manual repetitive tasks, the journey moves on to harness smart technology that can deliver increases in all-round productivity, 24/7, worldwide if necessary. Industry 4.0-level integration and interoperability is the end-goal. However, in PrintFactory’s experience, even one small step up for wide format printers can deliver productivity increases of 25% or more.
From their stand – G31 in Hall B5 – PrintFactory will be running their ‘What’s Your Number?’ quiz, inviting delegates to explore those three stages of digital automation:
Level 1, improvements in colour management
Level 2, the automation of repetitive tasks
Level 3, the move to lights-out production.
“When wide format printers hear the word ‘automation’, what often comes to mind is a facility with fewer and fewer people working on the production floor – but that’s not the case.” said Toby Burnett, director of sales EMEA.
“Automation is about using technology to help people do more, at a higher quality, and lower cost. There are several steps along the way. We’ll be reporting back after the show on people’s perceptions of where they are in the automation journey – which will help us to help them even more.
“For most small businesses, for example, there are massive gains to be made just by ironing out the day-to-day inefficiencies in a workflow – colour management issues, centralising the RIP, and cutting wastage. So much of a business’s profits goes straight into a bin, due to colour management being hard to master and media being wasted unnecessarily.”
Using their experience as wide format printers, the PrintFactory team have developed a suite of workflow tools that deliver simple fixes and processes to overcome these problems.
“Automation isn’t just for enterprise-sized printing," Burnett said. "You might have three standalone printers or you might be running a network of 33 print devices – but there’ll be unnecessary bottlenecks in every part of the process. Our customers have reported productivity gains of up to 25% by using PrintFactory software, streamlining their operations and getting to just the first stage of automation alone.
“Of course, we’re looking forward to sharing some behind-the-scenes technical details with like-minded visitors to FESPA – but we’ll be asking for people’s views on where they think they are in the automation journey, too. ”
Visit PrintFactory on stand B5-G31 at FESPA Global Print Expo in Munich between 14th - 17th May.
