Overcoming post-pandemic challenges with lights-out automation
If we would have told print business owners 20, 10 or even 5 years ago that a major paper shortage would affect their daily operations, they would never have believed us. Labor and paper shortages are probably what’s keeping most printers up at night nowadays. Dealing with these post-pandemic challenges, alongside with higher volumes of shorter runs and quick turnaround times, puts a lot of pressure on print production sites.
Efficiency is key to combat these megatrends. It all comes down to one thing: Doing more with less. Being able to produce more, at a faster rate, using less resources. How can print providers optimize their print workflow from job ordering to finishing? Which solution to put in place to make the biggest impact?
Integrated Software Solutions
Building a connected ecosystem for lights out automation will take away these bottlenecks from the equation (or help immensely). Three market leading solutions have come together to offer a seamlessly integrated end-to-end solution for print facilities of different segments and sizes:
PrintIQ is far more than just an MIS, it’s one of the most renowned and complete cloud-based management workflow system (MWS), capturing and managing orders, shipping, quoting, eCommerce and more.
Essentially, printIQ gives real-time business access from anywhere, on any device, 24 hours a day, seven days a week thanks to the out-of-the-box portal. As soon as printers setup printIQ, it provides simplifies automation that let the system do the work for them. It gives quantified information to make intelligent and strategic decisions on the fly. The portal is not only accessible to customers but also to internal staff members to see jobs move through with live status updates and make quick adjustments to improve factory efficiencies. PrintIQ is also a complete ecosystem, by connecting upstream and downstream with the best software in the markets such as Enfocus Switch and Ultimate Impostrip®.
Enfocus Switch is one of the leading workflow automation and orders connecting tools on the market and has a direct link to Enfocus PitStop Server for automating preflighting tasks.
Enfocus Switch has a unique approach to workflow automation. It automates repetitive tasks. The ambition of Switch is to connect everything with everything, using apps, XML and JDF while also supporting scripting. It’s affordable, modular and built for macOS and Windows. Switch works very well in the graphics arts sector such as publisher, printers, copy shops/digital printers, large format printing, sign & display, etc. It can be a standalone workflow automation platform but also as a front-end to many other systems. Switch is a fast solution to become more productive and profitable.
Ultimate Impostrip® is the best-in-class open imposition solution for automated and scalable production and offers direct connectivity to Ultimate Bindery® which can fully automate finishing.
Ultimate Impostrip® generates the print-ready files to drive all the presses, no matter if it’s in a digital, or hybrid print environments, printing on cut-sheet or continuous-feed devices, from any print manufacturers. It is an easy solution to setup, learn and use, even for a rookie in the industry with no experience at all in prepress or printing. The intuitive user interface gives full control over the settings, parameters, and rules to automate production with advanced dynamic features. With Ultimate Impostrip®, printers can scale the imposition engines as they grow their business and get more incoming jobs.
Lights-Out Automation Philosophy
Combining these winning software solutions will unleash the power of lights-out automation to overcome labor and paper shortage, while accelerating print business growth.
By applying a ‘Lights-out automation philosophy’ in all segments of their businesses, printers will successfully:
- Build a complete automated workflow, from job ordering to printing and finishing, to remove manual touchpoints
- Save on paper and ink by eliminating wastage and rerun
- Reach faster turnaround times to respect very tight deadlines for short run printing
- Ensure data accuracy for high security on sensitive documents and orders
- Get flexibility in prepress to optimize production planning
- Reach high levels of personalization and customization for on-demand printing
- Increase customer satisfaction by delivering high quality product on time, all the time
- And much more.
To learn more about lights-out automation and see the printIQ- Enfocus Switch – Ultimate Impostrip® integration in action, request to watch the recording of the webinar “Building A Connected Ecosystem for Lights Out Automation” here, or visit us at booth #N848 at PRINTING United Expo from Oct 19-21, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV, USA.