Heidelberg will unveil two new Prinect products for integrating print shop processes at Ipex in Birmingham from April 4-11, 2006. The Prinect Integration System enables centralized data management in a print shop using JDF (Job Definition Format), courtesy of which all production processes in job management, prepress, press and postpress can be fully integrated in a workflow management system. The Prinect Pressroom Manager is the world’s first JDF-based pressroom system capable of controlling and managing all of the data required in print production. This automates and enhances key areas of the workflow. "Combination of the Prinect Integration System with the Prinect Pressroom Manager enables maximum transparency in print shop processes and full automation of the production and management processes. The two-way exchange of data throughout the entire workflow via JDF leads to full cost control. This takes process integration in print shops to a new level. The scalability of the solutions allows customers to adapt their systems to their particular rate of growth. It’s a modular concept that provides long-term investment security," said Dr. Jürgen Rautert, Management Board Member for Engineering and Manufacturing at Heidelberg, at the launch of the new workflow products. Prinect Integration System: a central platform for the entire workflow The Prinect Integration System compiles digital data about business and technical processes in a workflow management system. Together with the prepress workflow system Prinect Printready System and the new Prinect Pressroom Manager, which are based on the same technology platform, the Prinect Integration System covers all areas of the print shop and thus delivers fully consistent data throughout the production processes. The Prinect Integration System is assigned a central job ticket for each job. This contains details about job identification, the materials and the method of production. Each individual process of a particular job is mapped in a process network and transferred automatically from the Prinect Integration System to the production areas via intelligent JDF routing. All areas of production use centrally managed master data to enable unique assignment of customer and material data. Production notifies the system of the process status, which is also written to the central JDF job ticket. The Prinect Integration System organizes these data streams to guarantee a continuous flow of information. It receives all the job information centrally via the open JDF/JMF interface for Management Information Systems (MIS) and makes all production data available to the MIS, e.g. for actual costing. The current production process is displayed in the Prinect Cockpit, which makes production transparent and means you can track the progress of jobs at any time. All employees who have the relevant authorizations can call up identical information about the status of a job or press in real time. This ensures that prepress and pressroom staff, too, have an overview of all processes. Additional information such as "Plates ready" can be called up from the familiar Prinect Cockpit environment, or prepress staff can view particular job lists and press allocations in the pressroom. This increases the effectiveness and reliability of production plans. "The general market situation demands greater flexibility, more transparent job management and more efficient integration between largely "autonomous" areas such as prepress and press. And now we've come up with a solution. This system breaks down the barriers between prepress, press and postpress and enables all employees to call up an integrated overview of all the job-related processes in the print shop at any time. This level of transparency is unprecedented in pressrooms," says Jörg Bauer, Head of Product Management Prinect at Heidelberg, outlining the principles of the new Prinect workflow management system. Prinect Pressroom Manager: fully integrating the pressroom The Prinect Pressroom Manager can also be used as a stand-alone solution in the pressroom. However, if a full production solution is required, both the Prinect Pressroom Manager and the Prinect Printready System will be integrated into the Prinect Integration System. In other words, the Prinect Pressroom Manager is to the pressroom what the Prinect Integration System is to the entire print shop. All job data entered in the JDF ticket by the management information system can be called up anywhere in the pressroom, e.g. the job and production data at the pressroom manager's workstation, the operator's console or the press itself. That accelerates the production flow and leads to high process reliability. Intelligent JDF routing seeks out the information required for the particular print job and transfers it directly to the relevant press - without the need for manual intervention. Fast job preparation: direct linkup to the press The Prinect CP2000 Center or the Prinect Online Kit automatically accesses the process network to show the printer the specific job list for his press. This contains key information such as printing stock, format, inks and quantities. As soon as print production is underway, the latest status information for the current job is displayed. This includes real-time display of the make-ready, start and end times, any downtimes and the counter status of the various presses. All automatically or manually entered operating data is also transferred to the MIS via the open JMF interface. Additionally, the Prinect Data Terminal used for entering operating data is fully integrated in the workflow and can be used as a link to non-automated or third-party machines. Prinect Cockpit: the control hub for the entire pressroom The Prinect Cockpit displays the status of all the presses in the pressroom and their job allocation. It can be used to call up a list of the most important administrative data and partial completion statuses for all ongoing jobs. Individual process steps are clearly displayed. The printer does not have to be in the pressroom to track the latest progress and processing status of a particular job - he can do so at any time from any workstation connected to the workflow management system. Preset Point: presetting directly on the press The Preset Point module is a function that automatically calculates the ink coverage values for each ink zone on the basis of digital prepress data and transfers this information to the Prinect Cockpit and the press’ Prinect CP2000 Center. It also transfers preset parameters such as paper grades and ink types for selection of printing characteristics. Preset Point also creates thumbnails for both sides of the sheet, which the printer can use to ensure reliable identification of each print job. Transfer of the LAB values for special colors to the Prinect CP2000 Center enables "real" display of the colors. This simplifies color assignment and rules out any possibility of mixups. Analyze Point: detailed evaluations of the print jobs Analyze Point is an option in the Prinect Pressroom Manager that displays the latest status of all the jobs and presses on screen. The press status, print speed and various job and counter information such as the position, type and size are displayed graphically, as is the job currently loaded. The module also compiles job reports which can be used to analyze and graphically display the previous 15,000 jobs produced. This enables the operator to display the process status and progress, i.e. the profiles for the print speed and the number of OK sheets and paper waste. Intelligent and modular workflow system All Prinect components are finely tuned to each other and designed to interact fully. Third-party systems such as management information systems can be connected via open and standardized JDF/JMF interfaces. By offering ideal upgrades for existing workflow solutions and maintenance contracts for new products, the Prinect workflow from Heidelberg offers customers long-term investment security.