Koenig & Bauer has formed a partnership with German software developer Tessitura which will link all machines in a production network.
The press manufacturer says the partnership will create a “more open and interconnected production environment for the printing and packaging industry”. This includes older presses and non Koenig & Bauer equipment.
At its most sophisticated the Tessitura Odeon network will also interact with Koenig & Bauer’s MyKyana digital portal. However, Tessitura can also operate as a means of extracting digital information about the status of equipment from a machine regardless of its vintage. This can be as simple as ‘running’, making ready or stopped.
Tessitura has developed this approach into the Odeon platform as a dashboard able to interrogate all connected machinery. If a digital signal is not available directly from the equipment, Tessitura can use something such as a light beam to count copies and show that something is in operation.
This is a long way from the AI possibilities of Koenig & Bauer’s Kyana Assist chatbot for troubleshooting and Kyana Data dashboard to enable interrogation of data from the Koenig & Bauer technology in use.
Tessitura’s task, by means of its Odeon Connect box (based on a Raspberry Pi computer) to turn the signals from any piece of equipment into a standardised language, via an API if necessary, that can feed into the Koenig & Bauer Cloud for the MyKyana portal. This results in a comprehensive view over all the equipment in the production network, whether on a single or multiple sites, providing up to the minute operational status and enabling close to real time decisions to be made to optimise production efficiency.
Koenig & Bauer marketing manager Anja Döhler says: “The partnership extends far beyond national borders and is essentially aimed at overcoming technological barriers between different systems and providing customers worldwide with access to greater connectivity and data transparency.
“Koenig & Bauer’s Digital Unit relies on such partnerships to promote the concept of open innovation in the printing industry and to create manufacturer-independent solutions that offer customers worldwide real added value. Our joint efforts are aimed at both breaking down the barriers of different brands and connecting older, non smart devices.”
The partnership with Koenig & Bauer is the first with a press manufacturer for Tessitura. There are existing links to companies in the finishing space namely Komori subsidiaries MBO and H+H, Bograma, Hunkeler, Horizon, but also Keyline MIS and other software providers.
