Analyze the print automation job definition format CIP4

CIP4 is an international cooperation organization that integrates the prepress, India, and India processes. It is a non-profit standards association whose mission is to promote the automation of processes in the printing industry. Members of the CIP4 organization are representatives from 31 countries. It is a global organization and has diversified members including printing companies, prepress companies, publishers, graphic arts systems and software vendors, integrators, distributors, consultants. And educators.

The standards developed by the CIP4 organization are based on supporting printing automation, providing software development toolkits and tools for members, hosting "interoperability activities" for members to test data exchange, and providing reference materials and educational resources or printing companies around the world. In the CIP4 standard, the well-known "job definition format" or JDF is the most famous CIP4.

The JDF was introduced in 2001 and the first executable version was released in 2002. In 2004, JDF-supported products at drupa introduced the first wave to the market. About 50% of printing companies in North America and Western Europe today have automated and support JDF tools. They started by connecting some tools to expand inter-departmental automation, and then to fully automate and even automate with their customers.

JDF has evolved to include an ever-expanding feature set and broader printing capabilities. The current version of JDF is 1.4, and version 1.5 is expected to be released this fall. Current adaptation features include automatic layout, digital printing capabilities, support for wide-format printing, and secure and stable network connectivity. JDF's capabilities extend to digital printing and post-press processing automation. It includes dynamic finishing and may be in new areas such as electronic publishing. Membership is the form of organization. JDF encourages printing companies and suppliers to join and contribute their own ideas, needs and insights.

JDF function

JDF has four major functions. First, it provides a single common language that supports the life cycle of print jobs. This is where people refer to JDF as a "work order" language, but its meaning is much more than that. Second, JDF's inherently flexible construction workflow provides methods for command, control, and configuration of factory automation and production operations. The third function provides command and control language for workshop equipment. This JDF function is called call job information format or JMF. Most people think of JMF as an independent specification, but it is an integral part of JDF. JMF allows the control of workflows or MIS systems in a process automation environment. It tells the device to start or stop work, rearrange queues, and so on. The fourth function is "device function", which is used to achieve a "handshake" between automation devices.

JDF's automation is based on a very simple concept. There is no standard or default workflow in JDF, and each basic flow of printing is defined with all possible physical and computer or data inputs. A series of production steps for any given job is defined as a "node." The input is referred to as a resource in the JDF because the output of any node or process in the job becomes the input node of the next process. In this way, process nodes can be triggered automatically: one after the other, like dominoes.

Using simple building blocks in process nodes and resources, JDF can be used to organize production chains. They can be hulled and run in parallel or even overlapping. For example, if a job requires tens of thousands of impressions, you can set up a post-press operation from the minimum signed amount, instead of waiting until all the work is done.

Of course, in an automated printing environment, some systems are needed to define the workflow for a given job, generating JDF nodes and the resources available to communicate with the shop floor equipment. These "manager" systems may include systems that support JDF scheduling and work planning, prepress workflow systems, and printing and postpress department systems, but in most practical applications, a print MIS system that supports JDF is organized to organize work. Process. The most basic requirement for these systems is that they must be able to accept JDF input, decompose the JDF, store the data in an internal database, and they must be able to compose the JDF from the database and output it.

Goals, results, and ROI

The most common issue of JDF's printing automation is why the printing plant will implement it. How will the printing plant benefit from it and what is the return on investment? Unfortunately, there is no standard answer, and to a large extent depends on the status of the printing companies, what equipment they already have, what they are trying to achieve. However, in a few years, more than 70 highly detailed case studies have been gathered through the CIP4 CIPPI CIP4, which is sufficient to provide a detailed analysis to provide some answers based on actual life experience.

These case studies come from various types of printing companies including Europe, Asia and the Americas. In general, the best goal is to focus on improving productivity and reliability rather than on cost savings. Automatic data collection, workflow and machine setup, and streamlined production are the top three goals. Quality goals, such as reducing errors and rework, improving customer response, and achieving more predictable results are the second largest grouping of goals. Surprisingly, cost savings or expansion as the same group is only the third largest group.

When inventorying the benefits of a report implementation, it's not surprising to automatically set and increase productivity at the top of the list. But there are also several interesting and unexpected results. First, the proportion of labor savings is far greater than companies that clearly indicate that labor savings are an objective fact. This is partly due to some other results. For example, with an automated environment, printing companies often spend less time investigating work status... information can be printed at any time through an available JDF's printing MIS. This means tracking work with less time, better customer reporting, faster product pricing and better retention of customers, which also means fewer production meetings are needed. Production meetings often require coordination. For management and customer service representatives (CSRs), it is possible to discuss and solve one-day or shift issues. A company report can completely eliminate daily production meetings. Therefore, a lot of labor can be saved in management and customer communication.

Many printers found that scheduling, estimation, work planning, and customer service can be performed separately, rather than separating the team's personnel. These printing companies refer to these people as "super civil service regulations" or "super civil service regulations." It should be noted that saving labor does not necessarily mean knocking out work. Many printing companies use labour-saving labor to expand their business, while automated programs spread migrants to new jobs.

We collected more than 70 cases through the CIPPI Award Program and identified 41 of them for research. These cases have sufficient financial data to analyze and determine what is supporting JDF automation and what the average return on investment is. Analyze the ROI reports from these companies, pointing out company size, and integration levels. The ROI data shows different periods ranging from 2.4 months to 5 years, and normalized to annual interest rates. In addition, if I find that not all inclusions in the ROI calculation are directly attributed to JDF automation alone, then a discount factor is needed. For example, in one case, only 20% of the return on investment was reported. As a maximum benefit, a new prepress workflow system must be purchased, not just the integration of the system with other production factors.

Saving labor is very much in line with my analysis, but “reducing labor force” is not the same as reducing labor, and may also include saving labor time in a specific task. As a company manager, what is needed to save labor is a problem, and it is also their vision for the company. Some companies do reduce labor costs by reducing staff. Other companies shift workers to other duties around, while others still increase the factory's production capacity. According to reports, if the labor savings are calculated in US dollars or euros (instead of hours), conservatively speaking, it is US$100,000 or 80,000 euros each to determine the pay, benefits and expenses of the time. A conservative calculation is that the staff work 2000 hours a year instead of 2,200 and 2,400 hours. The calculation of a few hours is not derived from the labor savings of the US dollar, but the savings in operating hours, changes, etc. I found that the average annual return on investment of all companies that support JDF integration is 298%.

If high (1338%) and low (19%) outliers are rejected, the average annual return on investment is 277%, which is the statistic you should use.

After an average of 4.33 months, the realization of a sense of profit and loss, followed by a JDF-based integration.

In the 36 case studies of ROI analysis, there is enough data to calculate the reduced labor time. On average, each company saves 6979 hours of labor. Using 2000 hours as the study's baseline, the labor savings are equivalent to three and a half employees' year. These numbers are total abstractions. If we take a closer look at how this data changes with different levels of integration and company size, this is of even greater significance.

Few printers have enough money, bandwidth, and opportunities to automate everything. Most printers start with a limited number of devices and then integrate over time. For this reason, I divided the results into four levels of integration:

Level 1 includes a simple integration between a pair of devices. One example is an excerpt from the implementation using JDF to provide job setup data to a cutter or stapler.

Intermediate steps between level 2 initialization and full automation, including integration between multiple devices and departments. Commonly there are integrations of printing companies to MIS, prepress and lead or MIS, prepress and postpress, with the intention of adding missing components.

The level 3 plant is fully automated, including job evaluation, planning, scheduling, MIS, prepress, India, and postpress automation.

Level 4 extends automation directly to customers. This can be agreed to using the JDF template through JDF, web-to-print e-commerce and online job submission tools, or after evaluating the approval of the use of layout and PDF distillation tools provided by the printing company to customers. Fully automated (level 3 or higher) is not a prerequisite for fourth level integration. The results of this type of case study included partially integrated printing companies and all production-integrated printing plants. However, in the results you will find that this distinction makes sense.

I found that the average return on investment for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 were similar to 126%, 198% and 186%, respectively. Level 3 has a higher average return on investment of 390%. Why it came out like this? In the entire plant, there is a synergy effect for level 3 (full automation). Many printing companies' goals, such as reporting and billing, rely on machine input and centralized management schedules and operations, and can only be fully automated once. Fully automated allows MIS to collect data and perform better reporting, billing, and better diagnosis and management of work processes on all operations. Partial automation is not without its value... another 200% is a good annual return on investment... but partly automated means that some processes still need manual communication of product specifications and installation equipment.

Then look at the labor savings, Level 3 automation is only slightly more favorable than Level 1 and Level 2. However, integration in the fourth quarter can save more labor (for example, integration with customers).

Very simple, dealing with customers is very time consuming. While some tools, such as web-to-print tools, are useful, the integration of JDF between the front-end system and production can provide a higher level of optimization. Some case studies mention a super CSR where one person can handle scheduling, planning, evaluation, and communicating with customers. This makes it possible to bring the necessary information in a tool set, and JDF is the key to making these connections in key business processes. I also looked at the ROI of companies of different sizes and divided these sizes into four groups:

1. Small-scale printing factory - The printing factory employs no more than 20 employees or annual sales revenue is less than $7 million

2. Medium-sized printing factory - The printing factory employs 100 or the annual sales income is less than 50 million US dollars

3. Large-scale printing factory - The printing factory has more than 100 employees or an annual sales income of 300 million U.S. dollars

4. Extra Large Printing Factory - The printing factory has more than 300 employees or annual sales revenue of more than 300 million U.S. dollars

Small and large printing companies are more likely to be transformed into full integration, while medium-sized printing plants are at different stages of integration. This also explains the change in the return on investment for different company sizes and eliminates the myth that small print shops do not support JDF automation.

Oversized printers tend to focus on specific (level 1) integrations, may have earlier pre-JDF custom automation locations, or may have been hindered by all levels of bureaucracy and complex approval processes. We know that execution-level buy-in and support are critical to the implementation of automation solutions, and it can be concluded that smaller companies are more likely to get fully automated at level 3, while larger companies have more complex Approval Process. However, saving labor data further confirms this finding. For super-large printing plants, saving labor seems to be a bigger factor, and the possible motivation or purpose of such companies requires the support of senior management.

In short, automation is not without cost. However, within four months after completion of automation, it is possible to achieve a balance between revenue and expenditure. It will quickly recover costs and, more importantly, achieve rapid profitability. For a printing factory that has already achieved automation, but does not achieve complete end-to-end automation, there will be room for profit by increasing the level of automation.