Throughout this series, and the Drupa 2012 series, I have highlighted the primary technology drivers and constraints of production inkjet. We have looked at the factors that have constrained variable print to move from lower quality applications to higher quality direct mail and marketing applications. In the last three years, advances in a few areas have made that move possible. The advances are primarily in new and better control of print heads, better inks, and a much wider selection of readily available and more affordable inkjet treated papers.
One of the real advances in the newer production inkjet presses is the ability to handle a wider range of applications. When K&H was looking at production inkjet presses, they wanted one that they could get certified for election ballot production, but that also could be used for commercial print. They selected the Canon Océ ColorStream 3900, and had it installed last July. Loken mentioned that when they first installed their press, they found that inkjet treated paper availability in the Pacific Northwest was not what it is today. Part of the problem was that they were one of the first printers in the Northwest with a production inkjet machine. Sometimes it is challenging being the first to jump in to new technology, but the long term benefits of an established platform and reputation can make up for it.
Wilen Direct is not new to production inkjet. The company has had Kodak printheads on its offset presses for about 10 years. The imprinting gave them and their customers a taste of what could be done with variable print, and the introduction of the Prosper 5000 a little over two years ago started a drive to transform Wilen and its customers to over 95% variable data production. Wilen recently purchased a Kodak Prosper 6000 to increase capacity and speed while further enhancing quality to expand their offerings
Hansaprint in Finland was the first company to order the new Ricoh VC60000 after its beta in the Netherlands, and it will be running production work next week. Jukka Saariluoma, Hansaprint's Business Unit Director, shared that this new press will bring new capabilities to the company which already is a "white paper" variable data printer. Hansaprint started with a Kodak Versamark press in 2002 and has subsequently added other presses, including an Infoprint 5000. Its existing work is a mix of book, newspaper and magazine publishing and expanding further into direct mail and perhaps even POS. Hansaprint sees the VC60000 as a platform that will offer them the flexibility to support their diverse mix
Meeting today's disparate production needs
However, I don't want you to think that these are the only really important features in PRINERGY. In fact, in PRINERGY 7, Kodak has continued the tradition of developing, integrating and adapting functionality to meet the changing requirements of a technologically evolving marketplace. Of course, PRINERGY still retains its legacy CTP workflow functionality. But in PRINERGY 7, Kodak has also recognized the changing realities of today's print service provider, building a system that can become the prepress hub for both analog and digital print production.
One of the most important feature upgrades in PRINERGY Version 7 is the addition of centralized control over 3rd party digital and conventional presses. This functionality is supported through the use of JDF job-ticketing parameters for multiple devices, manually and/or through Rules Based Automation (RBA). PRINERGY Workflow will also monitor and report back the status of each device: digital, presses, CTP devices and proofers through JMF for supported devices. Kodak has the experience, acquired through CREO to support even tighter integration with many digital press devices, so it will be interesting to see what the future brings.
Another big change in PRINERGY 7 is the introduction of Preflight+, a new Preflight engine. This new engine is based on the Callas pdfToolbox preflight engine, the same preflight technology found natively in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Preflight+ conforms to the latest PDF/X and GWG (Ghent Workgroup) standards and specifications to help ensure successful production. You can configure the new Preflight+ profiles directly in PRINERGY to analyze and fix files, and it will also support the use of profiles created directly in pdfToolbox. Preflight+ supports all common file types, including PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/X-4 and-4p, PDF/VT-1 and VT-2. It can even validate PDF/X-5 files. It can create layered PDF/X-4 OCCDs for multilingual/multi-version publication and packaging files. It also supports ICC and DeviceLink profiles and color-conversion blends. More importantly, the Callas engine brings a whole new level of PDF processing control to PRINERGY, and I am looking forward to seeing where Kodak will take this capability in future releases.
PRINERGY has supported PDF versioning in the past, but in this new version it is further enhanced through the introduction of Layered PDF Versioning to support the automation of highly complex publication and packaging jobs.
Automation and connectivity has been enhanced through the further development of Business Link, the two-way communication bridge between PRINERGY and MIS systems. This new upgrade supports many new MIS systems, and it facilitates automated job creation and set-up via the exchange of product- and process-related JDF data between the MIS and PRINERGY.
Color Management functionality was one of its core features when PRINERGY was initially introduced, and it has also been upgraded in PRINERGY 7. ColorFlow Software can access your facility's resource equipment and materials database to automatically validate your color capabilities. From there, operators can just select the appropriate print condition and run the job. Further upgrades include improved grey balance; easy to use bump curves; support of tonal curves for spot colors; and enhanced support for flexo, digital and inkjet presses.
PRINERGY 7 is not a new clean sheet product development, but it is a significant upgrade to what is already a very strong prepress production workflow solution. As print service providers are looking at standardized and centralized control of their changing and disparate production system, this new release is one that deserves a hard look.
In particular, as I review the list of upgraded functionality in PRINERGY 7, it has become obvious that Kodak has been fine tuning the tools that support label and packaging production. They made a strong commitment to labels and packaging beginning with the introduction of Pandora in 2005. Since then, they have been adding and refining solutions that enhance support for this vertical, and now that they are in a position to allocate resources to further development, they seem very focused on it.
In support of new developments in the workflow area, Kodak recently announced the appointment of Allan Brown as the new, yet very experienced, GM of the Kodak Unified Workflow Solutions Group. Cary Sherburne did a great interview with Allan, and after reading it, you can begin to see that Kodak considers PRINERGY Workflow solutions as a core of its investment and development strategies.
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