Finishing Equipment

Vincent Wille will join the Agfa-Gevaert Group as President of the Digital Print & Chemicals division and member of the Executive Committee on May 1, 2021.

“Vincent brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our company, both in the field of chemicals and in the field of innovation. That combination perfectly fits our Digital Print & Chemicals division, which develops and produces both film products and innovative solutions for the printing industry and for promising industrial markets. I am confident that under Vincent’s leadership, the digital print and specialty chemicals growth engines will be able to reach their full potential. I wish Vincent all success in his career at Agfa,” Pascal Juéry, CEO of the Agfa-Gevaert Group.

Published in Inside the Business

We all talk about automation and making processes automatic to speed tasks up and to decrease production times. But what does automation really mean?

Here is the literal definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
automation
noun
au·to·ma·tion | \ ˌȯ-tə-ˈmā-shən \

Definition:
  1. the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically
  2. the state of being operated automatically
  3. automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor

It is a very straight forward and easy to understand definition, but in the real world the definition of automation is a bit more complex:

Automation is the creation and application of technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimal human intervention, this implies monitoring and controlling the production and delivery of products and services. All these are achieved by using a combination of various means: mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, and electronic devices.

Many industries apply automation in different ways, some in hardware others in software but all with the goal of improving production. One thing is for sure automation is evolving quickly and it is a new way to speed up processes, nonetheless there´s still a need for some form of manual intervention, even if the equipment can perform most of the tasks, an operator needs to at least supervise the operation to avoid mistakes.

Automation in Digital Printing

There are many ways that you can use automation in digital printing, the idea is to accelerate any process and to optimize times so operators can use their time more wisely and be less and less involved in the printing process.

Here are some ways automation can be implemented in digital printing:

• Automation software such as MIS, RIP, color management, Web to Print Software, Variable Data Composition, etc.
• Mechanical Arms to move media and substrates before or after printing
• Automated media handling, pallet-to-pallet: this allows you to place stacked media on a pallet into a feeder.
The feeder loads it onto a table, then moves it over a transition table into the printer.
The printed graphics move across the output side transition table and into a fully automated media stacker.
• In-line printing: if your pre-treatment, printer and finishing equipment are in-line, it is another way of optimizing time by automating the printing process and involving the operator to the minimum.

Benefits of Automation in Digital Printing:

There are many benefits of using automation in digital printing but her are a few:

    o Employees have more time to take on other roles
    o Improved quality or increased predictability of quality
    o Improved consistency of prints
    o Improved quality, accuracy, and precision
    o Increased throughput or productivity
    o Reduction of production time
    o Labor savings
    o Performs tasks that are beyond human capabilities of size, weight, speed, etc.
    o Provides higher-level jobs in the development, categorization, maintenance and running of the automated processes
    o Reduced direct human labor costs and expenses
    o Reduces some occupational injuries
    o Replaces human operators in tasks that involve hard physical or monotonous work

Many people believe that by using automation employees will be left out of a job and machines will take over, but I don´t think this is the objective of using automation, it is rather the optimization of time and the good use of it by current employees, who will now supervise tasks and use their time in other tasks.

Automation is gaining popularity and increasing in every business as technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated, it will certainly transform both the economy and workplace.


What-is-Automation-and-what-does-it-imply

Here you can see an example of pallet-to-pallet automated media handling on an EFI printer.


Published in Software

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