(May 08, 2008) Print production professionals from throughout the industry convened April 26-29, 2008 in Schaumberg, Illinois for this year’s Offset and Beyond 2008 Conference.  Among the highlights of the event was a presentation by Brick Rossie, Project Manager for Cox Target Media who explained the company’s new production facility in Florida. The presentation gave the audience a snapshot of the latest developments regarding the implementation of JDF (Job Definition Format) and JMF (Job Messaging Format) technologies.

Leading the way in the utilization of these technologies is Cox Target Media, producers of the well-known blue Valpak direct marketing coupon envelopes.  Cox, collaborating with Muller Martini and other companies, has constructed a new Valpak Manufacturing Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The $220-million facility is the industry's first of its kind fully-automated, JDF-compatible and JMF-enabled print manufacturing system.

By combining the very latest automated prepress, printing, finishing and distribution JDF/JMF technology the company has created the world’s most automated offset printing plant. This process has helped the company create a “lean manufacturing” production model that both lowers the cost of print and shortens the production cycle.  Cox utilizes JDF and JMF messages to harmonize the workflow in its new plant by maximizing the management of buffers (storage of signatures between press and the bindery), eliminating over production and optimizing resource activity. Cox anticipates that the new plant in Florida will be able to more than double the company's previous production capacity and simultaneously cut cycle times in half while also lowering labor costs as much as 40%.

On the floor at the new Cox facility are two 8-unit Goss Sunday 4000 AT web offset presses with up to 12 different products coming into a fully-automated high-speed Muller Martini Press Delivery System consisting of a Floorveyor conveyor, in-line deserting units, Topveyor overhead conveyors, and 12 PrintRoll twin winding stations.  The complete press delivery operation is controlled by the proprietary Muller Martini MACOS Master Control System.  Utilizing JDF and JMF in the CIP4 (International Cooperation of the Integration of Process in Prepress, Press and Postpress) protocol, the system tracks all of the 12 products delivered for print finishing.  For the first time ever in the industry, this "smart" Press Delivery technology communicates back to the press, in real time, to commence auto transfer to begin printing the next set of 12 signatures.

The opening of Cox's new facility represents a quantum leap for the industry in terms of integrated and automated production from prepress through finishing and distribution. The successful implementation of the plant and its networked workflow are a direct result of several vendors working together and taking advantage of one of the most important aspects of JDF: the flexibility of total integration among machines and systems from different manufacturers.  This is achievable because JDF functions in an open architecture environment.  Furthermore, JDF is XML based, enabling maximized interoperability between cross-platforms.

In addition to Cox Target Media, Muller Martini has worked closely with numerous other companies to successfully implement various degrees of digital workflow.  Those companies include Kodak, LithoTechnics Metrics, and Hiflex.  Muller Martini equipment communicates via a JDF/JMF network meeting CIP4 standards and Muller Martini offers the industry's only truly open architecture JDF-compatible equipment solutions.