Prepress

Integrated Prinect Packaging Workflow Optimizes Sheet Layout and Color Consistency

Tuesday 23. September 2014 - For small commercial print shops through large industrial packaging environments, Heidelberg offers complete integration through its Prinect Packaging Workflow, the first and only fully integrated workflow for packaging printers.

Beginning with the introduction of the Prinect Packaging concept at drupa 2008, Heidelberg has steadily added special functions that extend the functionality of its flagship Prinect software suite. By adding a single module to their existing Prinect commercial workflow, both commercial and packaging printers can enjoy comprehensive integration of all print shop processes to accommodate the development and production of folding cartons and labels.
“Favorable To Our Customers”
Inland Label (LaCrosse, Wis.) is a satisfied, longtime user of Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow solution. The custom label printing company currently operates three generations of Heidelberg’s flagship Speedmaster XL 105 presses, in addition to a recently installed Speedmaster XL 106 9-color press.
“Heidelberg’s Prinect Workflow provides Inland with tools to establish and maintain a custom color management system,” said Amy Jungerberg, Inland’s Prinect Prepress Manager. “This system has given us the knowledge and opportunity to reduce the number of spot colors printed on press by replacing these colors with 7-color process. This is becoming more and more favorable to our customers as it helps them reduce costs.”
Family owned and operated for three generations, Inland Label has been exclusively dedicated to package decoration since the 1970s. Product offerings include cut-and-stack, pressure-sensitive, in-mold, roll-fed and shrink labels. The company produces more than 25 billion premium offset and gravure-printed package labels annually.
“Prinect is used by several departments at Inland, from planning layouts for single and combo runs in Prinect Signa Station, to imposition and plating through Prinect Cockpit and our Suprasetter CtP systems,” Jungerberg continued. “The pressroom also benefits from the use of Prinect since all ink information is available for every job, helping to reduce makeready.”
Like Inland Label, other Prinect users can easily change custom Pantone colors into 7-color process with the MultiColor Tool inside of Heidelberg’s Prinect PDF Toolbox, and print every job with ink that is already in the press. The addition of orange, violet, and/or green lets packaging and label printers create hundreds of custom colors with less makeready time and lower waste.
Collect, Re-Use and Repeat
The concept behind Prinect Packaging Workflow stems from the fact that the majority of work performed by folding carton and label printers consists of repeat orders. Because packaging from different production batches often winds up side-by-side on store shelves, every effort must be made to ensure that precisely the same quality standards apply to each batch. As bulk goods, packaging materials also must be manufactured as economically and quickly as possible, sans error, and without wasting expensive materials.
Heidelberg’s Prinect Packaging Workflow deploys a variety of tools across prepress, press and postpress to re-use data automatically in order to improve quality and productivity. Entering data only once reduces error, saves money, and optimizes makeready time. Because Prinect enables custom configurations for all types of packaging jobs, users also benefit from flexible job management, reliable costing and maximum production reliability despite growing cost pressure.
Heidelberg’s Prinect offering integrates the prepress department with the pressroom by providing the press with up to 28 separate preset parameters, in addition to ink key presets. An important benefit of this capability is time saved. Ten minutes saved on makeready for a 57″ or 62″ Speedmaster XL VLF press running six or more colors represents a considerable savings—one that also comes with significant error reduction, better consistency and repeatability. Prinect also includes powerful calibration, profiling, and quality control tools for consistent, reproducible color quality and matching with approved print sheets.
Consult A “Pro”
The heart of Prinect Packaging Workflow is Packaging Pro, an add-on option to the Prinect Signa Station imposition and sheet assembly tool. With multiple functions to support the manufacture of labels and folding cartons, Prinect Signa Station Packaging Pro enables the import, processing and export of CAD data; preparation of complete signatures including all color marks and control elements; definition of clippings on the sheet with automatic or interactive conflict resolution in case of overlapping; and the optimum calculation of gang forms for various print run volumes. Once a sheet layout has been created, users can generate an interactive, three-dimensional soft proof of the carton that can be shared with the customer via email, eliminating the need to produce a costly physical sample first.
Any Way You Want It
Prinect Packaging workflow is flexible enough to accommodate commercial printers that produce some packaging work and are already familiar with the Prinect platform; packaging converters like Inland Label that operate from one to three production sites; or very large packaging concerns that may or may not have a global presence. The most economical configuration offering the greatest benefit would derive from the interplay of Prinect Sign Station Pro (imposition), Prinect Prepress Manager and Prinect Pressroom Manager (data preparation and output) and a Heidelberg Speedmaster press.
Modular, scalable and open, Prinect adapts to individual requirements and can grow with the customer, even where components from other manufacturers are already in use. Many businesses initially use Packaging Pro as an independent solution, and then proceed to expand their packaging workflow with Prinect, step by step, until all areas are fully integrated.