How Smart Job Ganging Cuts Costs and Reduces Waste

Ganging jobs — the practice of putting multiple jobs onto a press sheet — isn’t a new strategy for commercial print service providers (PSPs). But are PSPs getting the most out of every square inch of substrate printed and what are the implications if they’re not?

The reality is, ganging jobs reduces waste considerably, in turn saving an operation a great deal in media costs. Not to mention cost savings in labor, as more jobs running simultaneously means fewer hours needed in total to get them all out the door.

The problem, however, is that some PSPs might not be making the most out of this opportunity — especially considering many already have the tools to do so as part of existing software packages, but they might not be used to their fullest advantage.

“Among the customers that I have visited, I see some good examples, but mostly I see untapped potential,” Piet De Pauw, head of marketing at Enfocus, an Esko company, notes. “Ganging jobs is something that happens more by gut feeling, while there are tools out there that can take everything into account to calculate the most cost-effective way to run a day’s worth of production, with automatic job ganging on-board.”

Phoenix, which is powered by AI, acts as a digital twin of your production environment. | Credit: Enfocus/Esko

There are some powerful benefits to taking advantage of ganging jobs, though. Santosh Mulay, vice president – Business Development, InSoft Automation, says, “Ganging boosts profitability by maximizing resource efficiency, allowing you to produce more with less,” he says. “In the past, concerns about job mixing and sorting issues discouraged PSPs from ganging jobs together, but with the use of barcodes and QR codes for generating overlay sheets tracking, and sorting jobs from gang sheets has become seamless and efficient. Competitive pricing is now driving printers to recognize the value of ganging multiple orders, helping to reduce press runs, minimize material waste, and streamline finishing setups.”

Job mixing is one reason some PSPs have shied away from maximizing every print run in this fashion. Mulay notes that in some segments, such as pharmaceuticals or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) — for example, candy, soda, or beer — ganging jobs is actually still prohibited due to the critical regulatory compliance issues surrounding those products.

“In this sector, InSoft has introduced an innovative ‘No-Mix Ganging’ feature, enabling printers to enjoy the advantages of ganging without the risk of job mixing or regulatory concerns,” he says. “A good MIS implementation, which can manage the ganging workflow, goes a long way in simplifying the production workflow when ganging is involved.”

Software is Taking the Work Out of Ganging

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way software handles ganging jobs, making it faster, more efficient, and helping to maximize space while keeping in mind any limitations based on the types of jobs or customers.

De Pauw notes that the biggest change he has seen in recent years was when Tilia Labs introduced Phoenix.

“Phoenix is an AI-tool that does it all for you,” he explains. “The most fun part about that is that Tilia Labs was acquired by our mother company, Esko, and that we can now also offer it as part of the Switch automation platform.”

It works, he notes, by acting “as a digital twin of your production environment. You can feed Phoenix with everything: substrate cost, press specs, operator cost. Then you run all the orders of the day through Phoenix, and it will present you with myriad options, sorted by cost from lowest to highest. To calculate this, Phoenix does ganging and impositioning on the fly, because it needs that to calculate the most cost-effective way of producing.”

Imp offers fully automated, cost-based ganging for all types of print jobs. Click to enlarge. | Credit: InSoft Automation

Insoft has also seen an increase in interest in ganging, with Mulay noting that almost all of the installations it has done in recent years have included its Imp ganging module as interest in the practice has soared due to PSPs looking to be more productive and lower costs.

Mulay notes that Imp “is the first software to offer fully automated, cost-based ganging for all types of print jobs across offset, digital, wide-format, and flexo devices — unmatched in versatility. Our proprietary, hand-coded planning algorithms optimize job ganging based on due-date priorities, job sizes, inks, coatings, and order quantities. They intelligently select the most cost-effective sheet or reel size, the ideal press, and streamline finishing setups. Imp can gang thousands of jobs in a single run with no hard limits. Customers have successfully ganged 2,000–3,000-plus jobs in one pool. We see this often with our large-format users. The optional Hot Folder module, with its dynamic hot folder concept, enables fully automated ganging — seamlessly generating print and finishing files in an unmanned workflow.”

In both cases, it’s all about using the software tools the shop is already deploying to handle production to work smarter — not harder. And, as De Pauw notes, “Ganging jobs can make the difference between getting margin on an order or not.” Considering how slim margins have gotten across every segment of printing in every vertical, every advantage can mean the difference between profitability and losing money.

The Sustainability Story

While increasing production, reducing waste, and increasing margins are all great reasons to explore optimization of ganging jobs, there is another reason as well: it is more environmentally friendly.

With the help of software, PSPs can determine the most efficient ganging and imposition. Click to enlarge. | Credit: Enfocus/Esko

Many brands have identified sustainability and environmental goals, including everything in a product lifecycle. Sometimes the companies that ultimately win a brand's business are those that are best equipped to help further their goals. Most PSPs can hit the quality, service, and turnaround times, so the differentiators have to come in other ways. Being able to give a demonstrable reduction in things like energy and chemical usage in addition to reduced waste can add up quickly.

“Ganging jobs means optimal substrate use (less waste), and optimal production costs, which of course also reflects in energy usage,” De Pauw says.

Getting More For Less

So, how can a commercial PSP get more from their software?

“Ganging is all about saving material, time, and in the end, money,” Mulay notes. “Users must test run the various ganging optimization software available in the market; evaluate the cost and material efficiency of the calculated results; and then make an informed decision. Also, the features to control the behavior of the layout calculator, taking the limitations and efficiency considerations of the entire production line is important. Remember, it is not just about optimizing the sheet!”

Because every operation is different, with different tools, presses, job types, substrates, and production workflows, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to get the most out of every print run on every level. For PSPs that already have a software solution in place that works well, it’s beneficial to explore the ganging features it has built in or additional modules the issuing company might offer for more advanced ganging options. Alternatively, for those in the market for a software upgrade, make sure to test how it handles ganging jobs in the intended environment before making the final decision. It should be just as high of a priority as everything else tested before installation.

Finally, make sure every production person in the operation fully understands how to get the most out of the ganging features of the software chosen. Don’t rely on a “gut feeling” or “experience” to set up the sheets — make sure the entire staff is making the most out of the tools available to ensure every job is optimized across the board.