Canada, Montreal, May 12th, 2008 - Ultimate Technographics, www.imposition.com,
together with WST Systemtechnik of Germany http://www.wst.eu bridge prepress and fishing with barcode connectivity for their customers. Ultimate, celebrating 20 years of imposition and automation innovation at DRUPA, 9/A61, is launching its new Barcode Editor module entirely configurable for most types of barcodes.  Ultimate new Barcode Editor Module is the tool used to configure and certify the Ultimate barcode for WST signature recognition systems. Now, WST's, 12/A46, customers will be able to simplify their work by dynamically generating proper barcodes for each job using a simple interface.
 
Bar coding for Manufacturing flow quality controls
''Many things can go wrong in a manufacturing flow, explains Joanne David, Executive Vice-president at Ultimate, miss-feeding can occur during offset or digital printing and also during the gathering of folded sheets at the stitcher increasing wasted printed material and can lead to publisher refusal of payment. This is very costly at this late stage of the manufacturing process. We are glad to be able to offer this type of connectivity to offset and digital printing companies relying on WST bar code system today to verify the integrity of the publication, a process that is especially more demanding when using multiple languages.''
 
WST statement
''WST Systemtechnik GmbH, headquartered in Rahden / Germany, was founded in 1975 by the today's owner Mr. Rolf Wellpott," explains Claus Bokämper, Technical Director, Applications Engineering and OEM."WST is focused on engineering work for the development and design of microprocessor hard- and software as well as PLCs (Programable Logic Controller) and IPCs (Industrial PC). This control equipment is used for machines and process-control in the post press area of printing companies."
 
Based on that WST has a lot of experience regarding the needs of binderies and finishers. In 1987 a special division for opto-electronical controls was founded. After some years of research and development the first product was introduced to the market. Today, it is well known as OPTICONTROL. This system, while being improved all the time, was and is a very good aid for the post press / finishing companies to make sure of a constant quality output for their products.
 
Because of products that need special care (telephone directories, agendas, pharmaceutical products etc.), WST started the development of barcode based control equipment in 1995. The general idea was to read a small barcode, printed as a mark in the trim area or the milling area of signatures. The process of reading these barcodes is patented and these systems are well known today as OPTICODE or OBC systems. Today it is the state-of-the-art control equipment for all products processed in post press companies.
 
Since the barcode technology was introduced to the market, WST also started to support the pre press departments of the different printing companies. In the nineties, film was used, today the keyword is CTP. More and more, the automatic generation of the barcodes is done by software programs that are embedded into workflows. One of them is the ULTIMATE barcode editor that actually does that job.
 
"ULTIMATE as one of the most important manufacturers of workflow systems worldwide supplies the automatic generation of the standard 2/5-Interleaved barcodes that are used for the WST barcode control systems for signature detection in gatherer-stitcher binding lines or folding and sewing machines. We are proud to be a partner of ULTIMATE and we are sure to be successful together in future while supporting the post press industry with state-of-the-art technology for plate processing and signature control.'' Concludes Claus Bokämper.
 
The process
WST reads barcodes positioned on the spine, head, foot or the fore-edge to verify the presence of each sheet during the gathering process of the brochures.
Thanks to Ultimate Barcode editor, proper barcode using Interleaved font or other fonts, with accurate size and position allows printers and publishers to detect wrong sheeting, blank sheets and wrong feeding, thus increasing quality control and insuring delivery of perfect products to customers.
 
It is for this purpose that Ultimate developed a barcode generator that allows the print and prepress companies to use a simple configurable interface to generate barcodes based on any preferences of the barcode reader system attached to a specific equipment allowing a dynamic generation of barcodes base on fonts, based on various numbering schemes, based on precise position on the sheet or signature, and with precise dimensions.
 
Programmable barcode for tracking
Ultimate Barcode Editor generates custom bar coding for odd sequencing of booklets when needed. The flexibility that Ultimate's bar code editor offers is unsurpassed allowing generation of barcoding to carry critical information for post finishing steps helping organizing and quality controlling packaging and shipping tasks.
 
Barcode as part of the planning
Ultimate new Barcode Editor can also be connected to its Impostrip XML Director, a module designed to connect imposition flows directly with MIS and web2print software eliminating the need for job manipulation and possible configuration mistakes. Jobs can include configurable barcode on each job, each section or each sheet of a job or each page. The bar coding structure from Impostrip can allow a quality control process even when workflow debuts upstream with a web2print or an MIS ordering process; it becomes an integral part of the manufacturing process as one stream from MIS to delivery.
 
Automatically Crossing the Finishing Line in Digital Print
David Watson, the President and CEO of Ultimate will be speaking at the opening Compass Sessions at DRUPA on "Automatically Crossing the Finishing Line in Digital Print," and part of that presentation will be on the use of barcodes and the example of the WST systems.