What is Finishing 4.0?

In short, it is about having an efficient supply chain so that production costs can be kept low despite increasing customization of products. The global boom in photo books, which are mainly produced in runs of one copy, is a prime example of that. The structural change in our industry, which is taking place much faster than anyone imagined, shorter run sizes, and the capabilities of modern digital and offset printing presses make a seamless and touchless workflow essential in many cases today.



 


How does it work?

Production systems are needed that are capable of setting themselves up fully automatically for each new product based on digital job data and launching production with the absolute minimum of manual interventions. Changes to the process need to be detected and neutralized. That calls for a seamless workflow, a high degree of automation and precise machine construction. We optimally coordinate those three components and ideally enable a touchless workflow. That allows our customers to keep their production costs low despite shorter runs and increased product variety.

Our Customers live Finishing 4.0

At Books on Demand GmbH in northern Germany, the Vareo/InfiniTrim inline duo ensures that printing and print finishing meet the very highest standards, including for print runs right down to one copy.

Andi Druk, which is based in the Dutch town of Maastricht and specializes in the production of magazines, books, manuals and brochures, is investing in an integrated inline digital solution.

At DS Graphics in the USA personalized travel brochures are produced fully automatically in runs of one copy.