Offset Printing

Visualizing and Automating Production Management through the Introduction of KP-Connect

Thursday 29. August 2024 - Founded in 1950 with the corporate philosophy Continuing to be Chosen for Quality, Central Prophics Co., Ltd. focuses on platemaking, proofing, printing, and binding processing as its core businesses and is known for its strong commitment to quality.

The company introduced KP-Connect Pro in 2020 in order to visualize and streamline production management. Recently, they have advanced the integration of KP-Connect Pro with the binding process, achieving the visualization and automation of post-processing, which was previously managed manually.
We spoke about the post-processing collaboration initiatives with Hiroshi Morisawa, Senior Managing Director; Akira Yoshida, Deputy Factory Manager and Head of the Operations Progress Section at Chiba Factory 2, and Ryota Misono and Kaoru Hino of the Chiba Factory’s Processing Section.
“I appreciate that employees in the processing department are increasing their awareness of digital management for the effective utilization of KP-Connect Pro”, states Hiroshi Morisawa, Senior Managing Director
Four years since full implementation of KP-Connect Pro: Results in visualization and automation
Central Prophics has three operational sites: the Head Office, the Toyosu Factory, and the Chiba Factory. The Toyosu Factory handles proofing and printing, while the Chiba Factory offers one-stop services from proofing and printing to binding and logistics. The Chiba Factory was integrated in 2017, creating a three-base system, but managing the differing cultures among these locations, including attitudes toward work and physical forms, posed a critical challenge. Therefore, in 2020 they decided to implement KP-Connect Pro.
Mr. Morisawa commented, “With the introduction of KP-Connect Pro, it’s extremely beneficial that we can always see the operating status of the printing machines at each plant. Since our MIS is linked with KP-Connect Pro, all order slips are managed under the same slip number from issuance and sent to all production management systems in each department. This has greatly improved convenience, information sharing, and overall efficiency in the plant.”
The advancements in process visualization and automation have also honed the company’s strength. “We receive many jobs with strict quality requirements such as product catalogs, movie programs, and posters, and our strength lies in on-press proofing and same-press printing. On-press proofing and same-press printing allow immediate printing with nearly the same color as the proof sheet, require little time for color matching, and greatly reduce paper waste. Each printing plant operates 24 hours a day, receives large volumes of orders, performs proof printing at night, and delivers finished work to clients the next morning. Previously, our sales staff frequently called the plants for progress updates after coming to the office, but after the introduction of KP-Connect Pro, they can check the progress on their own screens, greatly reducing inquiries.”
Since getting a sense of accomplishment in the printing process, expanding linkage into post-processing
Currently, KP-Connect Pro’s scope of use has expanded to post-processing. Mr. Morisawa noted, “The processing department had many manual tasks, making remote visualization difficult, but thanks to strengthened cooperation between Komori and processing equipment manufacturers, we have been able to take on this challenge.
Mr. Yoshida reflected, “At the processing site, schedules and the day’s work details were shared with operators on paper and results were entered by hand and totaled using a manual method.” Significant effects have been seen in progress management and performance management with the progress in the utilization of KP-Connect Pro. “We can now extract all data on machine operation status and operator performance, enabling performance management based on this data.” Regarding progress management, he mentioned, “A single book progresses through multiple printing steps and signatures, making process management complex.
Printing Department
However, with KP-Connect Pro, you can create jobs that bring together the disassembled processes into a binding job, making progress management much easier. Since everything is done on one screen, it’s very convenient. Seeing the latest progress allows us to immediately think, ‘We can fit in another job here,’ or ‘If there’s a delay here, let’s handle it there.’ Additionally, it’s a major benefit that when sales staff register a job in MIS, it is automatically reflected in KP-Connect Pro. Even if work suddenly increases at night, the job progresses automatically without having meetings between sales and the field,” he says.
“With KP-Connect Pro, comments can be left for each job and shared simultaneously with everyone, including management. Storing the daily report information as data is convenient for analysis. We will use it actively.”
Deputy Plant Manager Yoshida
Real-time feedback on progress and production numbers
Mr. Yoshida talked about how all processing equipment* and KP-Connect Pro work together: “The introduction of KP-Connect Pro to the binding process started with the goal of linking all production in the Chiba Factory. Currently, with collating saddle stitchers, job information flows from KP-Connect Pro to iCE LiNK, and as the operator performs the work, progress status and production results are automatically fed back to KP-Connect Pro. For perfect binding machines, just as with printing presses, signals are directly picked up from the machines, allowing real-time progress checking and performance management on KP-Connect Pro.” Despite changes in process management methods, there was almost no confusion at the site. “For offline work with KP-Connect Pro, we input all records, such as the beginning and end of work, previously written on daily reports, into iPads, and the transition was smooth. Although the workload for operators slightly decreased, introducing KP-Connect Pro into the processing stage involved continuous trial and error. Komori is responding to our aspirations in this process. The integration into the folding process using analog machines was achieved thanks to Komori’s proposals on how to realize it. We are hopeful for future possibilities,” he said.
Advancing the use of KP-Connect Pro and aiming for complete automation of scheduling
Currently, in order to make the schedules for each job, in printing the time required other than the makeready time and the production printing time is estimated, and in processing the parts for the folding process are divided up by feel and manually.
Mr. Yoshida shared his goal: “We hear that scheduling based on various information and performance data through AI with KP-Connect Pro will be possible in the future. Based on this information, we will further advance our analysis and achieve ‘complete’ automation of scheduling based only on information sent from MIS.”
Finally, Mr. Morisawa expressed his vision: “We want to further refine the integration of our next-generation MIS, currently under development, with KP-Connect Pro. We envision managing everything from submission to proofing and delivery using KP-Connect Pro.”