HIFLEX and MAN Roland install world’s first web printing JDF interface Press / News Warrenville, IL, 07.20.2005 - The first JDF- based interface to a web press was recently installed at Lane Press in Burlington, VT. Management Information System (MIS) software vendor Hiflex and press vendor MAN Roland jointly established the connection. HIFLEX and MAN Roland have jointly installed many JDF connections to sheetfed presses, and now the same technology and benefits are brought to MAN Roland’s web printing world. Lane Press, located in South Burlington, Vermont JDF is the key technology for complete networking of the printing plant. MAN Roland was one of the four founders of the JDF standard and a driving force behind its use in practice. MAN Roland contributed many years of integration experience to the Lane Press project and with this JDF-based installation MAN Roland is resolutely pursuing its strategy to enhance production process not only through innovative press technology but more importantly linking all production aspects through automated JDF workflow. Today, Lane Press is connecting and automating the functional silos of creative, prepress, customer service, and the pressroom with the help of JDF. Creo, Hiflex, and MAN Roland are all working together to deliver this workflow in a way that provides measurable value to Lane Press and its customers. Philip Drumheller, President of Lane Press said, "The JDF link between Hiflex and the ROTOMAN eliminates re-keying of data, which not only saves time, but helps to avoid errors and reduces make-ready times. Furthermore, as the job information comes directly from HIFLEX MIS, our pressmen are always working with the most current version of a job ticket. With the use of JDF job tickets from HIFLEX MIS, it is now possible to automatically connect the ink-key settings from the Creo Prinergy pre-press system, which saves even more time. The real time feedback from the ROTOMAN press to the electronic schedule allows everyone in the plant to see which job is on press, its current status, progress, good sheets and waste. Having all of this data available lets us focus our efforts on servicing our customers." Technical Estimate in HIFLEX MIS Product Tree shows all product parts, break down into signatures, and assignment to specific presses and webs. The estimate in HIFLEX contains the entire technical product description including which signatures will run on which press. When a new order is created, the job description from the HIFLEX cost estimate is transferred directly to the electronic planning board. When the scheduling of print jobs has been finalized, the scheduler sends the job data – job number, job name, customer name, format, colors, paper weight, paper characteristics, print run, schedule information, etc. to printnet system with the press of a button. Once the job has been selected in printnet, all production data is loaded into the press for presetting. As soon as the press is running, the production progress – printing speed, number of good copies and waste – and the machine status are fed back to Hiflex MIS. This feedback occurs in real-time using the Job Messaging Format (JMF) - part of the CIP4 JDF specification. This status information is shown in the HIFLEX scheduling application, which enables the production planner and the CSR to track jobs in real-time. The printing industry is continually under pressure to produce more jobs with less people under tighter deadlines. With this technology, Lane Press publishers have more time available in the creative production of their publications. The networked production environment allows Lane Press to minimize the non-value-added time spent on publications. Hiflex schedule Real-time status feedback from printnet to HIFLEX schedule (JDF controller) "Publishers will definitely benefit from the faster turnaround the integration provides," Drumheller notes. "Publication schedules have been tightening up in recent years and any magazine would profit from an extra day to fill pages with ads. A fully networked production environment enables us to buy that kind of time for our customers." The first Networked Graphic Production (NGP) integration at Lane Press took place last year when Creo’s Prinergy prepress workflow system was integrated with the HIFLEX Management Information System (MIS). This integration allows automatic creation of jobs in Prinergy, and real-time status and material consumption feedback from prepress to MIS. Today Lane Press is living proof that JDF technology will benefit printers and publishers with efficiencies and quality measures not available using disparate systems. About HIFLEX HIFLEX, whose headquarters are in Aachen, Germany, is the developer of the Management Information System, HIFLEX Print, which manages all the processes in a printing plant. The HIFLEX system precisely models the printer’s business and production workflow and covers all major functions in a printing plant: preliminary estimation, quotation, order confirmation, job ticketing, shipping labels, invoicing, final calculation (verification), statistical analysis, material-based costs, production planning system (PPS), shop floor data collection, machine interfaces, dispatch handling and monitoring of order progress. An eBusiness module and a document management system are also incorporated in the software. HIFLEX reinvests around 30% of its revenue in research and development. HIFLEX software is in use all over the world and is available in 15 languages. The US headquarters is based in Warrenville, IL. About Lane Press Lane Press, located in South Burlington, Vermont, serves publishers of short- and medium-run magazines. Founded in 1904, Lane Press is celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2004 and is distinguished by its rich history of printing and publishing innovation. Publishers nationwide rely on Lane Press for its ability to produce the highest quality publications and its commitment to providing technology leadership for automating the magazine production and distribution processes. More than 250 publications- association, business-to-business, consumer, regional, and scholastic-trust Lane Press to keep its promise of delivering the best possible publication every issue, every time. www.lanepress.com About MAN Roland MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG is the world's second largest printing press manufacturer and the world's market leader in web press and newspaper printing technology. (Every third newspaper produced in the world is printed on a MAN Roland press.) With main facilities in Offenbach and Augsburg, Germany, MAN Roland generates annual sales of EUR 1.8 billion. Exports account for 79% of the figure. MAN Roland produces web and sheetfed offset presses as well as digital printing systems for commercial printers, newspaper printers, publishers, packaging producers, quick printers and in-plant shops. The company is a subsidiary of MAN Aktiengesellschaft, Munich. The MAN group is one of Europe's leading suppliers of capital goods, with 77,000 employees whose expertise ranges from commercial vehicle manufacturing to engineering. Its annual sales total EUR 16 billion. www.man-roland.de Partner: Printsupport, Pegasus PNS, Print Network Solutions, Hiflex Streamlining,