Mark Jones

Clients and Suppliers Seen as Extensions of Print Operations PHILADELPHIA—According to the final count, this year's 5th Annual Digital Smart Factory Forum drew nearly 100 attendees here from across the country. The event is sponsored by the Research and Engineering Council of NAPL. A "digital smart factory" is an environment in which information technology (IT) is strategically applied across the printer enterprise to integrate manufacturing, business and customer-interfacing systems, according to the forum's sponsor. At this year's edition, a number of speakers stressed the importance of extending the concept beyond the print operation to include both ends of the supply chain—customers and suppliers. "While

BY MARK SMITH Two truisms seem to come up in most discussions of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) in the printing industry. One, print is a custom manufacturing process. Two, it may be the only manufacturing environment in which the customer provides—or at least controls—so much of the raw materials. Striving to build a Smart Factory and implementing CIM-based production are worthwhile goals, but the full benefits only come when the definition of workflow is extended beyond the walls of a printing plant. Connecting to customers' upstream processes is required to achieve true integration. That's a tall order. The range of print customers and applications

WHITE STONE, VA—Top technologists and strategic planners from leading printing, premedia and publishing companies around the world met in Orlando, FL, recently at the R&E Council/GCA Digital Smart Factory Conference to discuss integrated manufacturing in the printing industry. The meeting, co-sponsored by the R&E Council and the Graphic Communications Association, was an outgrowth of the 1999 Digital Networked Production Systems conference, staged by the R&E Council to explore the efficiencies possible in automating the print manufacturing process. The conference was co-chaired by Orlando Boleda, vice president of product development at Hart Graphics, and Stephen Franzino, vice president of technology for Courier Companies.