JDF Lynx Tharstern with Komori and Screen - 26/07/2005 - Tharstern Limited

26/07/2005 JDF Lynx Tharstern with Komori and Screen

Commercial printers, Lynx DPM, have always strived to streamline their working practices. Being the first to integrate their Tharstern MIS to Trueflow 3, Screen’s established PDF/Postscript workflow, and K-station, Komori’s press control system, it would appear that they have made a step in the right direction to dramatically enhance their workflow.

A specialist in print for scientific and educational publishers the Oxfordshire based printer has always been an early adopter of new technology and so were keen to work with Tharstern to implement a JDF based workflow.

Nigel Clark, Technical Director, of Lynx DPM advised. “I have devoted a lot of my time in pre-press finding ways to link disparate systems to reduce manual intervention and improve information flow – The Tharstern JDF WorkFlow Connector (JDF-WFC) was a natural choice to assist with this.”

The first stage of the integration was between the MIS and PDF workflow. Information contained within the original estimate is already passed through to the job ticket when the order is received. The job ticket contains valuable production data such as client details, no. pages and size, layout and colour information. This can then be automatically transferred directly into Trueflow using Tharstern’s JDF Connector; in fact even artwork can be transferred if available to the MIS.

"The beauty of Screen Trueflow 3, which uses JDF-based job tickets, is that it can integrate seamlessly with JDF-enabled MIS solutions to provide impressive production and management benefits," says Sjaak Veeken, Screen product manager. "The introduction of Ritecontrol in the next few months will add the integration and management for additional JDF press and post press devices, boosting process control and productivity even further."

Having had plenty of experience trying to put big ideas shared by different vendors into practice in a live production environment, Nigel had an edge of scepticism of how successful the JDF implementation would be. However, since the initial integration of Tharstern and Screen’s Trueflow Lynx DPM have experienced several benefits.

Nigel explained. “I would have just been happy to see jobs from Tharstern arriving at the Trueflow system, meaning a reduction in the keying in of information. The reality was that we also benefited from the accuracy of communication and additional information within Trueflow making it easier to organise and find items. Plus we gained a transparent audit trail making it much easier to track progress and the history of jobs.”

However, this information flow isn’t just one-way; using the JDF standard, signals can be sent from Trueflow back to the MIS to indicate production status. Whilst Lynx originally experienced some minor teething issues in this area, these were soon resolved and Lynx are now benefiting from this enhanced flow of information.

The next phase of the implementation was integrating MIS to Press. Lynx have a comprehensive plant which includes two Komori three-cylinder perfector systems for both 10 colour and 5/5 perfector as well as 5 colour or 3/2 perfector.

The addition of a second vendor added to the workflow involves transmitting JDF to both controllers simultaneously. The received job remains in a pending queue within Komori’s K-Station system until it automatically maps the incoming PPF data, received from Trueflow, to the pending job in the queue. This mapping is achieved using the unique JDF ID’s upon which the job is then released to production.

Again the flow of information runs both ways. Real time production activity also becomes visible within Tharstern showing Lynx who’s running the press, make ready time, good and waste quantities along with percentage completion and estimated finish time. All this information happens automatically without the operator having to carry out any other data collection tasks.

Says Philip Dunn, Head of marketing, at Komori. “Ever since we introduced our printroom 2000 concept in 1995 openness has always been the Komori strategy, hence our longstanding slogan, ‘freedom of impression’. Our press management systems have been founded on this philosophy and the Tharstern JDF network at Lynx DPM is a prime example of our ability and interest in total pressroom integration.”

Nigel commented. “Besides the obvious benefits of automation, time saving and job visibility we have also been able to take advantage of the openness of the JDF structure to receive automatic feedback of proof and plate setter output. Whilst this is not directly using JDF it is something we could not have achieved without this implementation.”

“Working with Tharstern to implement a complete JDF Workflow will, I hope, gradually replace the proprietary systems I have developed, providing a greater degree of future proofing and production set-up with less reliance on me to maintain them. It will also inevitably make it possible to integrate and automate much further than I could by cobbling systems together.”

Managing Director of Tharstern, Keith McMurtrie added. “The Lynx JDF implementation epitomises the JDF ethos in that it brings disparate vendors together communicating on a common architecture for the benefit of the Printer. Through JDF forums like CIP4 and NGP we have been able to openly work with suppliers such as Screen and Komori in addition to Heidelberg, AGFA, Creo, Horizon, Mitsubishi and many more. We also have other JDF implementations and continue to participate in JDF developments to ensure that Printers who use TharsternSQL can enjoy the benefits of a JDF enabled powerful MIS.”