The packaging workflow – postpress gets smart!

For far too long, postpress has been a blind spot in the packaging workflow. Very little in the way of job data has reached the machines and very little production data has been fed back into the workflow system. However, the data silos between prepress, press, and postpress are now slowly disintegrating.

Networked process chain paving the way for higher output

A lot of companies have been waiting for the gaps in the digital process chain to be filled, and there was a great deal of interest in this topic following Heidelberg’s Innovation Week. After all, there are undeniable opportunities for automation in postpress. Tapping into this unmistakable potential is all the more important if postpress is to catch up with press in terms of output.

There has already been some progress in the automation in die-cutting. Our Mastermatrix die-cutter, for example, is fully integrated into the workflow, so that all the operator needs to do is to confirm the job, instead of having to enter presetting data by hand or start completely from scratch . All the relevant data is transferred to the die-cutter, and the feeder and suction head automatically adjusts to the relevant sheet format. In return, the machine itself reports back to the workflow system, transmitting production data such as makeready time, production time, average die-cutting speed, and the number of sheets processed. This performance data can now be used to make well-founded assessments for postpress operations, thereby providing an insight into where improvements can be made to ramp up productivity even further. Businesses are already doing just that in their press operations with the support of a business intelligence solution such as Smart BI.

Cutting down makeready times with intelligent production planning

All the steps outlined above help bring the ratio of press to postpress closer to 1:2. However, the most time-consuming part of the whole process – changing the die-cutting tools, patching up and setting the machine – can’t be automated, at least not yet. Although the process has been integrated into the workflow, a tool change will still take up to half an hour or more on average, even for a repeat job. By contrast, a job change on a press can be carried out in the space of a few minutes.

This raises an important question: Why do so many companies continue to plan their production sequence around their press? It makes more sense – particularly when working with short runs – to plan the sequence around the die cutter and thus reduce time-consuming tool changes to a minimum.

Incorporating postpress into the workflow helps here, too, because then production planning systems such as Prinect Scheduler have the required data available to them. This is particularly worthwhile for small jobs. Another alternative that is suitable primarily for the shortest of runs is digital die-cutting, where the contours of the carton are cut out by laser. The job data from prepress contains everything that is needed for this method. Laser technology is thus set to become increasingly important, particularly for short runs and fast deliveries.

Automation is playing a bigger role

Digital workflows and data-managed sequences are also on the rise in folding carton gluing, and progress is already being made in terms of automation. Heidelberg is pursuing the kind of automation that takes the strain off operators, such as robots that take care of tasks such as loading the gluer and palletizing the shipping cases. The first steps are also being taken towards smart machines that communicate with each other. For instance, the Diana Packer 4.0 obtains the carton profiles directly from the gluer to help automate the packing in shipping cases. That means the operator no longer needs to enter the data for a second time on the packer.

The digital integration of postpress is helping tap into whole new opportunities for improvement along the entire process chain. Progress continues to forge ahead. Stay tuned.