Millennium Press Reaps Benefits from Integrated Workflow
At this point, Sullivan reported, “I knew the job was doable. After bringing the customer-supplied PDF into Prepress Manager, we RIPped the file and supplied the customer with an automated proof via Prinect Remote Access. It was quickly approved, after which the job was off to Meta Dimension to create an imposition proof.” When the proof was output, however, Sullivan noticed that the customer’s geometry was off on the second page. No problem, he explained. “We simply opened the PDF in Prepress Manager, made a quick adjustment, and sent the file for plating.”
Millennium’s fully automated Suprasetter 75 with multi-cassette loader ran the plates (Heidelberg Saphira Chem-free), while the pressman finished the current job and set up the new one according to the electronic JDF job ticket he had already received from Prepress Manager. Subsequently, “The job - a 5,000 sheet run per side – was a piece of cake on our Peak Performance Speedmaster XL 75,” Sullivan continued. “We ran the first side, loaded it into our POLAR pile turner and back onto press for the second side. We ran the job as a work-and-turn to save on makereadies and plates.” Last stop for the job was Millennium’s Polar 115XT Autotrim. After boxing the flyers, “We called the customer for pickup at our dock just 3 hours and 49 minutes after the order was received,” Sullivan said. “They thought we were joking!”
Sullivan had these further observations:
• No CSR was involved. Because the DirectAccess shopping cart was used, “The job specifications were already loaded and the estimate linked to those specifications, so the customer knew the price up front.”
• The job was in prepress for less than 10 minutes. “Had the customer’s geometry been correct, even less time would have been needed.”
• The Suprasetter 105 MCL ran unsupervised, thanks to the platesetter’s automatic loading and stacking features.
• Just one operator was required to man the Speedmaster SM 75 Peak Performance Press with Inpress control, “one of the most amazing products to hit the press since the introduction of closed-loop, color-reading systems,” Sullivan said. “It takes the pressman’s focus off the task of watching color so he can concentrate on overall sheet quality.”
• Cutting data was sent automatically from Prinect Prepress Manager to Millennium’s Compucut software to the POLAR 115XT Autotrim knife, saving time, lowering costs, and enabling uninterrupted production.
