Offizin Scheufele Druck&Medien GmbH & Co. KG (www.scheufele.de), a traditional print shop based in Stuttgart, has gradually been creating a fully integrated end-to-end workflow since 2000. This ensures the company remains competitive by minimizing its cost base and making it as transparent as possible. Thanks to ongoing investments in Prinect products from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), Offizin Scheufele now boasts a fully integrated print shop. The company covers the entire commercial portfolio and has a broad customer base in the industrial and publishing sectors. In addition, Scheufele employees design websites for customers and provide advice on all aspects of bookmaking. 

"In order to integrate the entire production operation step by step, we gradually modified our operating procedures and adapted the workflow," explains print shop operations manager Ingo Bauer. "This gradual changeover went hand in hand with a continuous learning process that ensured optimum workflow operation and integration. Introducing a workflow means changes for everyone and the aim of our step-by-step approach was to give all our staff the opportunity to gradually adapt to the structural changes in their day-to-day work," he adds.

Full integration with Prinect
Prinect Prepress Manager now ensures that the company's key prepress functions are automated - from accepting, checking, and processing data to impositioning, plate imaging, proofing, and approval cycles. Prepress data is automatically transferred to the presses for ink presetting. Following prepress connection, the next step was complete pressroom integration with Prinect Pressroom Manager. A Speedmaster XL 105-5 L from Heidelberg is equipped with the integrated spectrophotometric inline measuring system Prinect Inpress Control, which measures process colors, spot colors, and register simultaneously on the fly. This halves makeready times, cuts paper waste by a third, and thus results in substantial overall cost savings. The inline system forwards corrections directly to the Prinect Press Center control station. "The measuring system was a key factor in our decision to purchase the Speedmaster XL 105," stresses print shop manager Bernd Eisinger. "Inpress Control ensures narrower color tolerances and makes all corrections on the fly, which maximizes our productivity and quality," he adds. The Speedmaster is also equipped with the AutoPlate XL automatic simultaneous plate changer, which cuts makeready times by as much as 60 percent.  

Offizin Scheufele has been using Prinect Image Control for optimum process control since 2008. The spectrophotometric quality measuring and control system measures and controls compliance with color standards offline during the printing process. Small color measuring elements known as Mini Spots can be positioned as required on the print sheet using Prinect Signa Station impositioning software and evaluated spectrophotometrically using Prinect Image Control. 

Prinect Pressroom Manager, which was installed midway through 2011, has enabled Offizin Scheufele to achieve a further significant increase in productivity and storage capacity. Connection to the Polar cutting system in postpress represents the finishing touch to the workflow. 

"Remaining at the forefront of process integration pays off for our company and has enabled us to build on our market position despite fierce competition," reveals Offizin Scheufele's managing director Jürgen Keidel.