Industry 4.0 to represent the fourth revolution that has occurred in manufacturing industry, it refers to the transition to an autonomous process using modern technology, machine-to-machine communication and the Internet of Things (IoT), all enhanced by data analysis and machine learning; this revolution is here to stay and it is no longer optional, businesses that transition to it tend to become more profitable and successful in their own segment when compared to a non-automated industry.
Automating your print production process offers several benefits, including the opportunity to improve the company’s financial health, optimizing production task execution times, thus helping increase efficiency, and improving production output. A key benefit of automation is that it breaks bottlenecks, meaning it helps reduce or eliminate the inefficiencies and limitations of manufacturing that affect productivity and a mayor cause of reduced profits.
Key Strategies and Tactics for Leveraging Automation
According to HP’s "Strategies for Leveraging Automation to Enhance Performance", here are some of the key findings:
Workflow
It’s important to remember that the printing industry version of Industry 4.0, doesn’t mean to remove humans from the equation, it means that machines do the work that machines do better than humans do, and humans do the work that machines can’t do.
Many of today’s workflow solutions handle the creation and distribution of documents through a variety of new channels, including mobile and internet based; we are seeing some of these solutions offering the ability to manage, proof and produce 3D products. Solutions are also being refined to address the specific needs of market verticals, such as manufacturing, retail and many other.
The best practice is to adopt workflow method and solution that helps automate processes, while focusing on efficiency, decreasing the operational costs while still increasing throughput and depending less on human intervention, in order to have employees invest time in more productive tasks.
Investments in Automation
Holding back investment in automation means holding back growth potential, a mistake that no printing business can afford to make in an environment where growth and profit increasingly belong to the most efficient producers.
The main takeaway from the Industry 4.0 is that it works, and for the most part, the printer industry know it works. The awareness of the added value is irrefutable. What’s needed is wider adoption so printing businesses can take full advantage of all the benefits workflow automation offers them.
EFI MarketDirect Fulfillment is an inventory management solution designed to simplify and automate the pick and pack order workflows. This new inventory management product is part of the MarketDirect suite of web-to-print, eCommerce and cross media solutions.
Equipped with intuitive and flexible administration tools, the new fulfillment offers creates a seamless order-to-fulfillment workflow that businesses can use to expand service offerings, creating efficiency in warehouse operations and drive even greater customer loyalty.
Regardless of whether you’re offering fully managed print inventory fulfillment services or just managing a few items for one or two customers, MarketDirect Fulfillment makes it easy to simultaneously provide an intuitive order portal for your customers and a lightweight admin dashboard for your staff.
This new software offers delivers out-of-the-box functionality for existing MarketDirect StoreFront web-to-print/eCommerce users, with a structure designed to reduce the time and complexities needed to start and manage print fulfillment operations. MarketDirect Fulfillment also leverages the latest in web eCommerce technology to provide a brilliantly simple and powerful administrative dashboard to manage both clients and orders.
EFI MarketDirect Fulfillment is ideal for commercial print and packaging businesses, in-plant print centers and corporate marketing communications teams looking to create immersive order and fulfillment portals for customers with an easy-to-use and intuitive administrative dashboard for staff. As a part of the EFI MarketDirect StoreFront web-to-print workflow solution, both customers and internal users are presented with a familiar interface that gets them up and running quickly and efficiently.
MarketDirect Fulfillment is designed for print service providers offering pick and pack, inventory management and warehousing services.
This includes:
MarketDirect is integrated with the following EFI Productivity Suite solutions:
In addition to EFI solutions, MarketDirect is designed to integrate with a wide range of services and applications to ensure your data, jobs, user data and orders are accessible across a variety of industry standard platforms including:
Active Directory – SSO (Single Sign On)
SSO (Single Sign On) Authentication enables you to integrate StoreFront with a service to ensure users can seamlessly login via 3rd party services.
CorpSystem Sales Tax Online by CCH
With CorpSystem Sales Tax by CCH, you can ensure you’re collecting taxes correctly for any jurisdiction in the United States.
PunchOut integration via XML
Using PunchOut integration you can embed your products directly into 3rd party procurement systems – simplifying purchasing for your buyers.
Every print shop faces some common challenges when it comes to managing their workflow, process automation is usually found in large print shops, with large print volumes and where jobs are printed over and over again.
Workflow Automation Software works in combination with other programs running in your print shop, it is important to note that some of your actual software infrastructure may already have some automation processes involved. To further automate the workflow is important to be able to communicate one software with another, in most cases, specific Workflow Automation software may not be required.
Software
Generally, print shops have one or more of the following software running:
A web to print software has many advantages and functionalities, first it gives your shop a front store, helping users find their way into what they will need and letting customize their final product, it helps the owner determine a print order management.
Variable data printing enables the mass customization of documents with text and image changes for groups of addresses based upon which segment of the market is being addressed. Customization and personalization allows a company to connect to its customers using a variety of software solutions.
MIS (Management Information Systems) help print shops collect and manage their own information for decision making, this software integrates with existing systems to help handle real time information and tasks, harvesting information and letting other connected applications take actions is essential for workflow automation.
Color Management it is the measurement and control of each and every step in your production process, maintaining as a goal to know exactly what your output is going to look like, before you actually print.
Sometimes, specific software may comply with many of the above-mentioned functions, for example:
Agfa has developed a complete, automated Sign & Display production hub called Asanti, the software includes a color management solution, integration with the latest version of Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE), highly specific functionalities (e.g. nesting, see-through concept, proofing support) and fast, automatic pre-flighting.
Another good example is Durst Workflow software, claimed to be an All-In-One solution, which includes all steps of the pre-press and production process in one single application, modules are available for different processes such as: Label Workflow, Large Format Workflow and Corrugated Workflow.
Workflow
You need to determine the existing kind of production workflow currently being used in your print shop, if the work is built around a software-based flow of work, or from the point of quoting to the point of delivery, or do you have semi-automated processes linked by spreadsheets and/or different software, sticky notes, whiteboards, phone calls, regardless of any, if your workflow is not efficient, neither is your production process.
Possible and existent current workflow inefficiencies could be:
There are several bottlenecks but the most common ones are listed below:
Deciding to move to any new software for production workflow (MIS or similar) usually comes after evaluations of current productivity and researching for the right tool or correct operation processes. Reconsidering strategy often leads to new initiatives that include reexamining workflow initiatives.
For smaller shops, costs control is a must, so automation and use of modern print and workflow management tools becomes an investment that can convert into a risk, due to the potential expenses involved in implementing it, but at the end, it is all the cost of success.
Workflow initiatives and enhances
The best practice is to adopt workflow method and solution that helps automate processes, while focusing on efficiency, decreasing the operational costs while still increasing throughput and depending less on human intervention, in order to have employees invest time in more productive tasks.