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The Belgium printing company Tanghe Printing NV has converted to networked production. In January the company
started with the MIS system HIFLEX and only two months later, in March, the JDF connectivity to their Komori
presses went online. The effects are time and cost savings through single data entry points, more transparency on
production status and an increased productivity on the press. |
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Patrick Tanghe looks into real-time production using the HIFLEX Scheduling system on his desk |
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Says general manager Patrick Tanghe: "The JDF networking between HIFLEX and Komori has allowed us to
implement rationalization and to gain an important edge on our competitors. It also provides us with the
prerequisites to respond better to our customers’ delivery requirements. This is certainly also the case
because we do a lot of small production runs which requires a lot of job changes." |
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Tanghe Printing is a modern sheetfed offset operation with a workforce of approximately 50 people.
Offset printing activities include business reports, magazines, books, promos, and calendars.
A PDF workflow is used. The pressroom features a Komori Lithrone 440 (4c B1 41”) and a Komori
Lithrone 40S (5c with varnish B1 41”). No hardware upgrade was necessary for JDF connectivity to
the presses—a small software update to their Komori K-Station was all that was required.
The HIFLEX software greatly facilitated the transition to a fully-fledged, Networked Graphic
Production™ (NGP) environment. "The introduction of the HIFLEX MIS was completed in a matter of
weeks. Before we were using many different systems with similar functionalities, but they all used
isolated data. HIFLEX is an integrated solution that eliminates this. The benefits are so obvious that
it was accepted without reservations by all our staff," says Tanghe.
"When going for JDF connectivity, our prime objective was to use the
most advanced technology in the market in order to improve our efficiency,
avoid redundancies, and strengthen our competitive profile." |
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Tanghe Printing is focused on high quality products like business reports, magazines, books, promos and calendars. |
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"The entire process of networking Tanghe’s operations is coordinated
and managed by the HIFLEX production planning and control system
functioning as a JDF controller," explains Stefan Reichhart, managing
director of HIFLEX. "An exact description of the production sequence is
generated during preliminary calculations and initial job costing.
Once data has been captured in the HIFLEX system, it can be made
available to the Komori K-Station via the JDF interface." |
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The HIFLEX schedule optimizes production workflow and compliance
with deadlines. It also doubles as a master JDF controller within the
production sequence. Accordingly, the shift table has been integrated
in order to enable day and shift planning, with an option for shorttime
modifications in case of downtime or extra shifts. Current time
values transferred from HIFLEX estimation regarding sheets and signatures
are available in the scheduling program. This is how the program
ensures that jobs can be distributed to various printing
machines. Technical and individually set up attributes such as the
degree of difficulty lead to better planning and increased clarity. Work
processes can be combined with one another logically and presented
graphically in chronological order. |
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The delivery of the Komori Lithrone 40S. |
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"The HIFLEX workflow allows us to embed internal communication
needs at the click of a button. Today, the production planner can call
up the status of platemaking, see if the paper has arrived on stock,
and check on numerous customer and job-related details," says
Tanghe. "The HIFLEX scheduling system increases visibility into our
production processes and improves our efficiency. When something
unexpected occurs, it is now much easier to change production planning
with short notice." |
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Once the job data has been transferred to the K-Station, the CIP3 data
is downloaded from prepress via a hot folder system. Preset values
for the ink keys are calculated using press-specific conversion curves,
factoring in the type of stock. The job queue is displayed at the press.
As soon as the operator has selected the job, the JDF preset data or
repeat job data are downloaded automatically onto the press. |
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Tanghe Printing is located in Komen, Belgium, only few kilometres from the French border |
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Data exchange between Komori and HIFLEX is two-directional. During
the production run press status is reported in real time to the HIFLEX
MIS via the JDF/JMF interface. The status, speed, and saleable sheet
count are displayed in the HIFLEX monitor so the scheduler and administration
staff can track production instantly.
"While press data such as speed and sheet count are reported directly
to the scheduler via the JDF/JMF interface, feedback relating to production
economics and job statistics is routed via the HIFLEX software,"
Reichhart explains. "The JDF workflow at Tanghe is a showcase
installation. More joint installations with Komori are already in the
pipeline." |
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Data screen for a print job on a Komori, using HIFLEX scheduling software which also
functions as a JDF controller. The press data displayed in the lower left corner are
downloaded from the press via a JDF/JMF interface
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