CHICAGO, September 28, 2003 — Heidelberg USA will showcase its highly regarded Prinect workflow system, the company’s answer to a computer integrated manufacturing environment, through a series of “Workflow Tours” in its booth at Graph Expo/Converting Expo 2003. The tours, conducted throughout each day of the show by Heidelberg workflow experts, will clearly and easily demonstrate how Prinect works and how printers can become more competitive with a workflow system that seamlessly integrates production and business management processes from start to finish. Prinect creates a standardized production workflow. It is the first system in the print media industry that can integrate and streamline the entire production process. It is also the first complete solution in the industry to go beyond prepress workflow. Prinect controls quality, production, planning, presetting and management information. This enables printers to work more efficiently than ever. “As printers prepare for an economic turnaround, we are helping them learn how to capture greater profits and business efficiencies through a seamlessly integrated system,” said James Mauro, product manager, Prinect Press Products, Heidelberg USA. “Prinect, our adaptation of computer integrated manufacturing, demonstrates the future of efficient production and business success for printers.” The first fully JDF-enabled Prinect application available is the Prinect Printready System, which allows for all pre-press processes to be transparently automated, from preflighting, state-of-the-art color management, trapping, imposition, proofing, to final plate output and archiving. It even optimizes subsequent press and post-press functions like ink zone settings and the transfer of cutting, folding, and stitching information. As the first fully JDF-enabled product of its kind, the Prinect Printready system is modular and scaleable, able to fit with any production need, big or small. Other JDF-compatible solutions in the Prinect portfolio include Prinance (MIS), Signastation (digital imposition) and MetaDimension (workflow/RIP). The portfolio of Prinect products includes the following solutions: - Prinect Management Tools – Software solution that estimates, plans and calculates print jobs and distributes electronic job tickets to all necessary production steps. This eliminates the need to constantly reenter job data. At the same time, the software controls the production process and provides objective machine data for post-job calculations. This results in increased productivity and a virtually transparent workflow. - Prinance - Prinect Production Tools – Software components that integrate all production steps of a print media product. Information created in the prepress process, for example, can be reused later to preset ink-zones, quality control systems and cutting, folding and stitching devices. This accelerates and secures production with maximum flexibility. - Signastation - Prinect PrintReady System - MetaDimension - PrepressInterface - AutoRegister - ImageControl - AxisControl - CP2000 Center - CompuCut - FCS100/CompuFold - FCS100/CompuStitch - Prinect Connectable – Hardware equipment such as CtP, printing presses and cutting and folding devices that can connect to the Prinect workflow. This results in a fully integrated production process, allowing shorter makeready times and less paper waste. - Remote Assistance – Heidelberg’s newly enhanced Remote Service Program delivers electronic diagnosis of the new Prinect Printready system and Speedmaster presses equipped with the CP2000 Center as well as the ImageControl System without a visit from a technician. If printers have a problem on their press, Remote Service gives press operators and technicians the tools they need to get back into production - quickly and efficiently. With Remote Service, there is no need for special point-to-point connection. Heidelberg’s expert technicians, simply using standard Internet services, can remotely access a customer’s system, view everything on the printer’s console and resolve any problems as if they were sitting locally on the client’s network during a service call. Often, the problem is identified and resolved via remote service and printer’s benefit from increased machine availability, fewer on-site service calls and lower costs. The service is so successful that 70 percent of service calls are resolved through remote diagnostics and without a service technician ever visiting the site. - On-Line Kit CPTronic – The On-Line Kit CPTronic enables the on-line connection of CPC 1.04 Speedmaster presses since 1995 to a digitally networked Prinect production workflow and provides nearly the same functionality to a CPC 1.04 press as a CP2000 press. This new online kit, which enables a networked press, further demonstrates Heidelberg’s commitment to extending the productive and competitive life of older models, and prolonging the value of capital expenditures. Key benefits: - Enables the use of Premium Remote Service to reduce machine down-time - Jobs can be shared between presses - Thumbnail representation of jobs for easy identification - User Interface very similar to CP2000 - Direct integration with CP2000 and other CPC 1.04 presses - Ink-key presetting data derived from prepress is transferred directly from PrepressInterface to the press over the network, instead of being delivered via memory card, further improving efficiency in the pressroom Key features of Prinect include: - Process security - One time data capture – saving time and avoiding mistakes possible through multiple data input - Process plan templates – standardized processes for certain categories of print jobs - Alerts in case of process abnormalities - Flexibility - Ongoing documentation on the current job status - Order modifications can be included at any process step - Fast re-quoting and re-planning - Transparent workflow - Cost control through feedback from Prinect Management Tools - Identification of optimization opportunities and identification of bottlenecks - Increased efficiency - Configurable, reusable process plans - Repeat jobs - ImageControl and AxisControl can be used to ensure color consistency and quality throughout the production run. - Significantly increased potential of devices using presettings, providing faster makereadies and less waste - Safety of investments - Start small and migrate big: Prinect is an open architecture based on standard interfaces, including JDF, CIP4-PPF, and JDF - Upgrades that modernize older presses and other equipment to keep them competitive with newer models