Press automation has been underway since the first remote inking systems were introduced more some 40 years ago. Then came automated plate changing, remote control of blanket washing, set up of feeder and delivery and inline colour control – all making an impact on makeready times.
At one time a skilled operator might be able to set the ink ducts faster by hand than a plate scanner plus cassette tape for the control desk, but no longer. Today the press is in control.
This kind of automation is vital to almost any press, from the major companies down to the smaller formats offered by the likes of RMGT, Sakurai or even the Chinese vendors. However, on its own, it is not enough. Good printers are achieving something like 50% up time on presses, many more are achieving much lower utilisation. With tight margins the way to make money is to optimise usage time and to do so with as few people as possible.
This, however, demands a systematic approach: files from prepress and job data from an MIS, paper and plates arriving at the right time and an equally clear path through to finishing and dispatch. With the well documented increase in the number of jobs a business has to cope with, the slimmer margins and faster turnarounds, automation is inevitable.
The question of how much automation will depend on the circumstances of an individual company and its market position. The online printing companies are leading in this respect taking a pile it high sell it cheap approach. But they are not alone.
Elle Media has a single six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL106 and is aiming to put 100 million impressions on it in the current 12-month period. This is above the figures that ESP Colour achieved when it pioneered the processed controlled approach to print production.
Anthony Thirlby has moved on to an evangelical role in Heidelberg spreading the message about optimising productivity that its presses are capable of. The push to stop generation of machines, laden with even more automated features, was introduced at Drupa. While each of the new features pushes up the price of the press, it does not double it, though a single press is now capable of twice the throughput of machines from a previous generation.
The most significant step for Heidelberg was the introduction of Impress Control, an inline colour measurement tool combined with a highly effective visual display, which has slashed the time needed to get to good colour. Every subsequent development has added to this.
However, to achieve this type of performance more is needed. The MIS and workflow, for example, need to be in position. “For us push to stop works really well,” says Sam Neal at Geoff Neal Group. “It needs the right people driving it. It is a pretty powerful tool and it has increased our production time but you still need the human factor to take advantage of what is offered.”
The sort of data is needed for companies contemplating a lean management approach. APS Group has updated its Koenig & Bauer presses to take advantage of the additional data and automation that newer presses provide.
What is offered is vast amounts of data from a press, showing speeds, up times, stoppages. Anaylsis can compare the real data against the estimated time for a job and can uncover the reason for discrepancies. It will show for example that a cheaper paper results in a slower run time and more stoppages for blanket washes than a paper that is more expensive but which runs at maximum speed through the press.
The data will show differences between operators, highlighting areas where further training is needed, and will show where problems may be forthcoming. Nobody is yet offering predictive maintenance when the supplier can predict with confidence that parts are going to fail within the next week or month.
While RMGT can do this and has as much automated technology as other press manufacturers there is a fundamental difference in approach to service. Put simply the press is designed not to break down. Murray Lock, director of European dealer M Partners, points out that many press break downs are due to faulty sensors.
The Mitsubishi presses have these sensors, but also have manual overrides for each. If a sensor is triggered, there is no need for the press to stop. Sometimes automation can be too much.
On the other hand, the Landa Digital Press is built around a full automation model where the operator’s task is little more than making sure that paper is available at one end and removed from the delivery. In between the placement and quality of every drop of ink is measured, every press will produce exactly the same result regardless of the media and the location. Lights out printing becomes possible.
Gareth Ward
The Speedmaster XL106 is probably Heidelberg’s most flexible press with solutions tailored specifically to requirements. It is used for commercial or packaging printing, for label printing or web to print, with a high degree of productivity, efficiency and ease of operation.
Sam Neal, right, of Geoff Neal Group says that push to stop is a powerful tool and it has increased the company’s production time but that you still need the human factor to take advantage of what is offered.
