I've been in the industry long enough to have witnessed a small parade of attempts to develop universal print-and-finishing interfaces. In the 90’s, there was an effort to develop a common interface among inkjet printers being used on offset finishing lines. In 1999, a much more ambitious effort by the CIP4 consortium led to JDF (Job Definition Format) ... So, where are we now?
With the growth of digital print, lots of consideration goes into designing the optimum finishing process. The short-run nature of digital presses means the finishing process must be carefully analyzed. So let's look at the in-line and off-line options, and the arguments for each.
Although there have been many new finishing systems introduced in the past two or three years, one type of system has caught my attention. The spread of high-quality, cut-sheet digital presses has created a real opportunity for short-run finishing for all sorts of packaging, labels, stickers, boxes, pocket folders, greeting cards, and retail display material.
You can produce short-run, hardcover orders in-house, and with great quality.
Hunkeler Innovationdays are approaching. Over the years, this biannual event has steadily grown until it has become a "must" for companies seeking out the latest in digital finishing technology. And for book printers, this is a chance to see the "best of the best" finishing technology for their workflow.
All too often, I see salespeople waiting for someone else to check, analyze, review or inspect their work. What’s this all about? Do you really need someone else to watch over you to inform you that your pipeline is more like a pipe dream?
The term "finishing" can apply a rather large spectrum of products that are printed. Among these are signage of all types. Signs (unlike much printed material) are designed to quickly convey directions or information to the viewer. And the market for signage is vast, incorporating everything from highway, to retail, to institutional, and much more.
We are now in the era of file-based finishing (or as some call it, Finishing 4.0). While there were many prior efforts to transform offset production into a file-based workflow (remember JDF?) digital print has completed the changeover.
2016 was quite a year for innovation and new developments on both the digital print and finishing side. But we’re about to jumpstart 2017 with Hunkeler's bi-annual Innovationdays in February. Unique among the various print trade shows and vendor-sponsored gatherings, Innovationdays is largely a finishing-centric showcase. And not just finishing, but digital finishing.
Any trade bindery owner looking to keep his business going must look at other opportunities outside of traditional print finishing.
