The concept of Finishing 4.0 has been around for a little more than two years. Today I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you a bit more about our development strategy. What exactly does this term mean?
In the print finishing business it has mainly been thought of in terms of production methods, i.e. perfect binding, saddle stitching, thread sewing, etc. However, because the various machines – and thus the processes as well – are increasingly networked, we have to look beyond the individual segment. The changes underway in the printing industry have resulted in challenging processes for print finishing. The following developments play a role in this regard:
- Digital printing with better performance and quality
- You need solutions for both long and short runs of as little as runs of one
- Products must be personalized and customized
- Delivery times are constantly falling
Have you experienced any of these issues at your company? If you’re a printer or bookbinder and you want to be successful under the above-mentioned conditions, then you need intelligent systems, machines and software in order to meet all of these requirements and, most importantly, to make full use of the current opportunities.
Seamless communication is required
First and foremost having the right printing technology is, of course, crucial. But what happens next with the printed paper? The requirements related to print finishing have changed significantly. It must be highly flexible, reliable, expandable, simple (in terms of operation) and efficient. There is also a high level of automation, the workflow and reporting. The level of complexity is even greater if each product being produced is an individual product – with the keyword here being “variability”. And, finally, starting production should be possible with as little manual intervention as possible. In the ideal scenario, this would be done with a touchless workflow.