Still Networked or Already Integrated?

Prinect is capable of both. This modular solution grows in step with the demands of print shops, according to the scale of integration, and handles all data and processes arising from administration, prepress, pressroom, and postpress in a shared, continuous workflow. The result? More transparency, more automation, and common procedures across the entire print shop.

Two men stand opposite each other trying to juggle over a two-meter-high (6.5-foot) partition. But most of the time the balls fall to the ground. Only after the partition has been shoved aside can they pull off their ensemble act: the jugglers can now toss the balls back and forth in perfect coor- dination. "Similar situations often arise in print shops during the handling of jobs. There is no seamless interplay among administration, prepress, press, and postpress, because a comprehensive view of all the informa- tion is missing. Only integration of all areas in a continuous workflow achieves enterprisewide transparency, enabling the subsequent smooth handling of a job," explains Jörg Bauer, Head of Product Management Prinect at Heidelberg.

Central data hub
And Prinect creates this transparency. A central data container forms the core of the solution: the Prinect Integration System. It contains all of the administrative and technical data necessary for handling a given job. Once entered, all the information remains available in Job Definition Format (JDF) to all areas - from job management to postpress - throughout the entire enterprise.

All departments can call up any information they need from this data container at any time to perform their assignments. Information concerning the status of all current jobs flows back to the Prinect Integration System in the reverse direction. All participants have access to this central information pool, which replaces shuffling information back and forth across interfaces. This feature is precisely the critical difference with a network, where data is "flung over a partition." In the past, this approach led to the creation of data islands, because, as on a one-way street, information was passed along only in one direction (between two neighboring departments, for example) - if at all. In this respect, the new Prinect solution represents a paradigm shift: process orientation in place of compartmentalized thinking. Or, as Bauer stresses, "the Prinect Integration System tears down the walls between individual departments and allows for a holistic view of all the job-related processes in a printing enterprise."

Not only are the walls dividing departments collapsing: maintenance costs are also sinking. Multiple systems with countless interfaces no longer need to be maintained. Moreover, software updates like those that follow an upgrade of the JDF standard, for example, are performed more easily.

Job ticket as data courier
The database stands ready, but how is the workflow kept running? That is where the Prinect Pressroom Manager comes into play. The pressroom management system controls and manages all the data required in print production and work stages. It is an integral part of the Prinect JDF workflow as well as the Prinect Printready System and the Prinect Integration System. The latter allows for integration of a third-party management information system (MIS) into the Prinect workflow.

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