Unbroken JDF workflow with KBA Logotronic professional and Rogler MIS

Alfa Print is a modernly equipped and dynamically expanding sheetfed offset company, which just a few months ago moved from Uppsala to new premises in the Swedish capital Stockholm. With now 3,800 sq.m. of space in a building previously occupied by Siemens, Alfa Print at last has free hand to pursue its further expansion without constraints. The presses currently operated by the company are a four-colour KBA Rapida 105 for 2/2 perfecting, a four-colour Rapida 142, a five-colour Rapida 105 with coating tower and an eight-colour Rapida 105 as a perfector press in a 4-back-4 configuration.

The work handled is for the most part commercial: Advertising flyers, brochures, product catalogues, business reports and books. Close cooperation with a local bookbinder ensures that the print can be finished and delivered immediately after production. One of the specialities of the large-format Rapida is the printing of maps and marine charts on plastic substrates (Tyvek from DuPont). The customers are based not only in Sweden, but also in Iceland, Norway and Finland. Short runs dominate the production profile, with the result that some 80,000 offset plates are used each year. The paper consumption amounts to approx. 30 tonnes every day.

Turnover at Alfa Print is increasingly continuously. The figure recorded for 2004 was 77 mill. SEK (€8.2 mill.), but with production running three shifts, the company already expects to bring in a good 145 mill. SEK (€15.4 mill.) this year. One important foundation for this success has been the performance capabilities of the KBA presses, in conjunction with a company-wide JDF workflow, which enables the staff to complete all tasks with the maximum possible efficiency.

Branch software technoLOGIC
All operations at Alfa Print are controlled with the print-dedicated MIS system technoLOGIC from Rogler Software. Rogler has its headquarters near Vienna in Austria, and is specialised on branch-specific software solutions for the print industry. A fruitful partnership has existed between KBA and Rogler for some years now, and has in the meantime produced a whole series of interesting workflow solutions on the basis of JDF.

technoLOGIC is a comprehensive management information system visualising all the typical business and production processes of a print company. The core is an efficient, open calculation tool capable of depicting the most varied types of project. Automatic calculation functions deliver fast results for standard orders, though all output can be still be edited as required by individual circumstances. The following modules are integrated:
- Customer data and CRM
- Calculation with graphics-based sheet divisions
- Electronic job dockets
- Order management and process tracking
- Statistical cost accounting
- Invoicing
- Materials and stock management
- Purchasing
- Controlling/reporting
Following calculation and confirmation of the order, the data at Alfa Print are passed via JDF/JMF to Logotronic, where they are entered into the electronic planning chart as a print job. In the future, the job data are also to be sent via JDF to the FUJI Celebrant Suite for plate-making. Throughout the production process, all data from the networked presses and from the operational data records can be retrieved for realtime statistical cost accounting.

Production planning with technoPLAN
The planning chart visualises the print jobs as block diagrams. Necessary changes are performed on a drag-and-drop basis. The planner simply clicks on the block representing the job concerned and can then move it to a new time slot with the mouse. The system subsequently calculates the overall changes resulting from the planned rescheduling, and also shifts the jobs accordingly in the Logotronic planning function. Conflicts and status changes are indicated by changes in the display colours, while capacity overviews point to reserves and potential bottlenecks. If a job is moved to a different press, the presetting data are also recalculated to reflect the print characteristics of the new press, and a note regarding the rescheduled job is displayed immediately on the press control console. Further planning changes are possible right up to the time a job is actually started on the press.
The job status (not ready, ready, started, interrupted, completed) is updated continuously on the basis of the status and error messages issued by the press control systems.

Press control via LogoTronic professional
Logotronic professional is the management system controlling KBA web and sheetfed presses. Data are exchanged with the linked MIS via the JDF/JMF interface. Once the job data have been transferred into Logotronic professional, the corresponding CIP3 data can be loaded from pre-press. Press- and colour-specific conversion curves, as well as all relevant substrate parameters, are then taken into account in determining the presetting values for the ink keys.

At the press itself, a list of all forthcoming jobs is presented on the console. The operator here simply selects the required job to call up all the available presetting or repeat-job data for the press. At the end of a job, all relevant operational data, which are essentially generated and recorded automatically by the press, are returned to the branch software and evaluated accordingly for statistical cost accounting.

Transparent workflow increases productivity
“Thanks to the electronic planning charts, we are able to track the precise progress of any particular job. I can then react accordingly at any time to fit in important jobs received at short notice, for example,” says Lars Adolfsson, managing director of Alfa Print. “Having automated so many necessary tasks, the system has paid back its investment in a relatively short time through the capacity to handle additional jobs.” Data only need to be entered once, which not only saves time, but also eliminates sources of error. KBA and Rogler Software together supply the basis for a fully-automated workflow, which can furthermore be expanded step by step in line with growing demands.

Company profile: ROGLER Software
ROGLER Softwarelösungen & Beratung OEG was founded in 1992 and is based in Langenzersdorf near Vienna. It has been developing branch-specific software for graphic arts users for over 10 years. The products currently on the market are technoLOGIC, the branch solution package for the print industry, the electronic planning chart technoPLAN, and the operational data acquisition system technoBDE. technoLOGIC is presently available in localised versions in seven European countries. It is in daily use on over 2,000 workstations at more than 100 companies across the continent. ROGLER OEG is both a member of the CIP4 consortium and an NGP partner.

Interesting Web sites:
www.alfaprint.se
www.rogler.at