Inkjet & Digital Printing
Aviation Information Leader Jeppesen Selects Océ ColorStream 10050 Systems to Print Critical Flight Data Products
Wednesday 27. May 2009 - Versatile color, lightweight paper, crisp images, and workflow productivity bring speed and precision to customized flight manual publishing
Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, announced that Jeppesen has selected two Océ ColorStream 10050 full-color continuous feed systems to produce critical aviation information documents with near-offset quality and rapid speed. Jeppesen, a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Aviation services, is the leading producer of transportation navigation information in the United States. Pilots and airlines around the world depend on Jeppesen charting and navigation services for the latest information about airports, runways and airspace.
While these mission-critical flight manuals are indispensable tools for helping pilots reach their destinations safely, producing them presents several challenges – tight production windows, increasingly short runs, exacting quality standards and variable content. Each flight manual is compiled based on specific airline or pilot requests and contains current data on hundreds of airports. The manuals, which feature comprehensive full-color approach images, visual details about runways and taxiways, and alerts highlighting recent changes or unusual conditions, are updated frequently. When changes occur at airports, FAA requirements mandate that updates be published and delivered to all pilots flying to those airports within a specified time frame.
Speed and Versatility for a Diversity of Applications
To better handle a diverse array of jobs with speed, versatility and quality, Jeppesen will replace two aging black and white printing systems with two Océ ColorStream 10050 systems. Jeppesen produces up to 14,000 different jobs a month, with an average monthly volume of 25 million Jeppesen sheets expected for the Océ ColorStream systems. Jeppesen can handle the hard deadlines and high print volumes in a single pass. Automating production tasks and removing manual intervention as much as possible increase productivity. With the speed of the new systems, Jeppesen can produce the complex manuals within the tightest production windows.
“With its speed, capacity, paper-handling flexibility and quality, the Océ ColorStream system will help us produce high-quality manuals within very short delivery windows to satisfy FAA requirements. As Jeppesen stays focused on customer satisfaction and adapting our business model to include flexible digital print, Océ helps us improve the service levels we can provide to our customers,” said Jeppesen Manager of Imaging and Printing Services, Ken Navarra.
With the new systems, Jeppesen can produce black & white, full-color and Océ CustomTone spot color applications on a single system. The Océ ColorStream 10050 models include an optional fifth color station that will be used to create brown contour lines on charts and maps to make navigational information easier for pilots to understand.
Facilitating Offset-to-Digital Migration
Previously, color pages were produced on offset presses and hand-inserted into flight manuals, a time-consuming and inefficient process. With the Océ ColorStream digital systems, the color pages can be printed inline with the job. What’s more, Jeppesen can handle more color work in-house and cost-effectively migrate volumes from offset to digital. In addition to automating manual processes, Jeppesen can increase productivity with faster changeovers, customization, and easier setup and operation.
Excellent Quality for Fine Lines and Halftones
Jeppesen manuals include images such as contour maps, runway layouts and photos of airport approaches, so legibility is critical. The Océ ColorStream 10050 systems deliver the quality Jeppesen requires for screens, halftones and precise printing of numbers, lines and other data. Océ ColorStream multilevel screening ensures that even the smallest details are clearly visible. “This is truly a mission-critical application. Lives depend on the readability of charts and flight manuals, and we are proud to help Jeppesen provide high-quality aviation information,” said James Hughes, Director, Finishing and Continuous Forms Product Marketing, Océ North America, Production Printing Systems Division.
Paper Handling Flexibility
To ensure that the lengthy flight manuals don’t add too much weight or take up too much space in the cockpit, they must be printed on extremely lightweight paper. The Océ ColorStream system easily handles the special 40-gsm paper required to ensure that the manuals are not too bulky and are easy to handle. This is another way Jeppesen is able to better accommodate customer preferences with the Océ ColorStream systems.
Redundancy and Backup
By installing two Océ ColorStream systems, Jeppesen will establish redundancy and reduce the risk of downtime. The Océ systems will integrate smoothly with existing workflow using Océ PRISMAproduction Server and Océ TrueProof software for quality control. The new systems will be installed in July with final testing and live production expected to take place by late August.