When it comes to digital transformation of your business, are you at the cutting edge or merely sitting on the ledge? Have you even begun to ask yourself what your business needs to do to remain competitive in a more automated world? Jan De Roeck, director solutions managment, Esko, challenges you to think, digitise, automate, connect.
Automation seems to have been the underlying theme for
many decades in various industries. In modern history, each
industrial revolution (according to the German government
we’re now in the fourth industrial revolution) has brought
forward major steps in process and workflow automation.
Now we are aware of rapid advances in artificial intelligence
and robotics which are capable of changing the landscape
of the future – but when analysing what automation really
means for the wide-format industry, we can easily conclude
that this may be somewhat different from other industries.
A modern car assembly line has very few similarities with
a shopfloor producing free stand-up displays, yet both will rely
heavily on workflow automation. We believe there is a different
automation game to be played in the wide-format sector, and
it’s all related to digitisation of production steps, automation
of repetitive tasks and connectivity between systems, people
and processes. How far are you on this journey?
Observing the wide-format printing business from a
distance and asking ourselves what are the main characteristics
of this business, we immediately notice a high variation
in applications. These in turn drive a high variation in the
choice of substrates and components and consequently
printing technologies and production methods. In wide-format
print production, you will find anything from high volume flexo
printed corrugated shipping boxes to offset litho laminated
high quality displays and roll-to-roll inkjet printed vehicle wraps.
These business are experiencing continued growth, with
increasingly higher job-volumes that require more material
handling operations than ever before. We see instances of
multi-part display production where several parts – readily
printed and die-cut – wait for days in inventory because the
other parts(s) are not ready, or in some case, still waiting for
substrates to be delivered. Given these characteristics, it’s
obvious that we operate in a unique business environment
with its own unique challenges.
Digitise
One of these challenges is that while brands continue to search
for new ways to approach the consumer, displays will continue to
be more and more creative and in many cases more complicated
to produce. Consumers are now looking to be entertained. Its
not so much about the products, it is more about the experience.
Embedded electronics, intricate displays and sensory appeal are all
designed to seduce the consumer. Whilst designers strive to meet
the demands of the brand owners, wide-format printers are faced
with a complexity of products and multi-part POPs which all require
finishing, parts picking, assembly, packing and shipping.
At the design stage it is important to design with the end
product in mind in order to eliminate waste creation along the
path. Esko’s optimised packaging and display templates ensure
maximum performance of the CAD design in each step of the
process. Using ArtiosCad’s library of pre-designed production ready
displays, a designer can maximise his creativity. There are endless
and resizable variations including 2D and 3D plus reports and
videos. Our online, cloud-based library of ‘downloadable’ designs
have all been tested, ready for the customer to add their own
graphics, thus making it easy to test new concepts in the market.
The workflow for 3D displays can be a little more complicated
because it requires structural design but this is where Esko’s long
experience and sophisticated visualisation software can help too.
The choice of substrate is also a consideration with so many
to choose from – folding carton, corrugated, solid boards, foam,
acrylics, wood, fiberglass and metals. Esko’s pre-configured
workflow tools can handle multiple substrate choices for the
wide-format sector.
A key factor in manufacturing efficiency is the speed with which
artwork is prepared for print and how fast production can begin
after the customer has approved the quote. Esko has developed
a single design canvas on screen so that the user can control
and manage every component part of the job with clear visibility.
Changes can be made on the fly from 3D to 2D and then back to 3D. The design, the material, the dimensions – can all be
adjusted immediately on one screen with one click. The
ability to display complex designs and headers and rebuild
and create holistic designs at high speed in 3D is unique to
Esko. Printers need never turn away a job again through lack
of expertise.
Automate
One of the big advantages of automation is transparency.
Every step of the workflow through to finishing and shipping
matters and the key to workflow efficiency is to identify all
the areas of waste and standardise processes. Identifying
problems in individual processes is not so difficult – its
understanding how each step of the workflow performs
together that can often be complex.
Production equipment – both digital printing and digital
finishing presses – will gradually get faster and more
efficient, but this will happen in an environment where
manual labour will remain important to the post-press
process. We need to look at different areas where
digitisation of the workflow adds value. High variance in
applications will continue to require a high level of human
labour in the post press department.
In the future, workers will be assisted more by robotics
and intelligent solutions based on the principles of Industry
4.0 but for the foreseeable future, robots will complement
manual labour, not make it redundant. To illustrate this,
what is the point if your digital roll-to-roll colour printer can
spit out a vehicle wrap for a small van in under 30 minutes
instead of two hours as previously – if applying the vehicle
wrap to the van takes two full eight-hour shifts? But a more
optimal processing and scheduling of such jobs from order
entry to shipping, will positively impact overall efficiency and
productivity.
In the finishing room, Esko has thought of every timesaving
measure and device to reduce ‘changeover time’
and simplify waste logistics. With a range of cutting tables,
feeders, stackers and tooling systems to suit all needs,
Esko provides an automation opportunity to multi-task with
multi-zone operations using powerful robotics for faster and
more versatile material handling. The operator can clear
and prepare one zone while alternative tables are set up to
continue to work on other parts of the production.
Connect
The Internet of Things – IoT and Industry 4.0 are the
enablers for a more ‘connected’ workflow that is data driven
so that the above examples will no longer cause delays
and overhead costs in the future. Data driven workflow, IoT
connected pallets and machines, electronic job cards, even
RFID identification of single objects, will create a full Industry
4.0 enabled workflow environment.
But we shouldn’t look too far into the future for better
connectivity across disparate systems. A production
management platform will connect people, processes
and systems merely by linking all operations on the
same platform, organised and managed. Why would
an administrative person need to continuously send
reminder emails to various stakeholders to make a project
move forward? A well-integrated collaboration platform
like Esko WebCenter will ensure projects are driven forward in
an automated fashion, using reminders right on the operators’
desktops. Connectivity with devices like the Kongsberg digital
cutting machine will provide instant job status updates and reports
machine availability in real time. Our software shares the data and
synchronises the information throughout multiple platforms and
multiple devices.
Looking further out into the future, IoT connected tables and
printers from different vendors will all be centrally managed
for optimal planning and scheduling of work. This is where the
advantages of in-house finishing come into play. The planning and
control are all yours.
And what about connecting with the back-end of the process?
Esko’s Cape Pack Software has been developed for efficient
stacking, loading and space utilisation managing more products
and pallets within a single truck. Cape Truckfill optimises product
loads into trucks and containers to save on shipping costs. And
this technology connects the design department with the shipping
logistics providing wide-format printers with an extremely powerful
tool to save transportation costs and be a hero for their customers.
Discovering opportunities for your own shop floor
Understanding the benefits of each of the individual steps in
digitising, automating and connecting may be possible, but finding
out which step will lead to the biggest improvement impact for your
business is something different. Starting from a company’s overall
business strategy, Esko provides advice for the entire door-todoor
workflow, from receiving an order all the way to packing and
shipping the order to the customer.
Together with the operators, an Esko solution architect will
analyse each production step, provide a visual representation
of the workflow, expose bottlenecks in production and analyse
areas of improvement. Supported by the principles of ‘Value
Stream Mapping’, such discovery workshops result in an easy
to understand and quantified report that lists and prioritises the
main opportunities for improvement. Esko’s purpose is not to offer
products to address each individual element, it is about reviewing
the complete workflow from ‘order in’ to ‘shipping a product out’
and achieving an overall solution.
Esko starts the process by working together with a company’s
team and asking the questions: What keeps you awake at
night – production speeds, waste reduction, materials handling,
short delivery times, time pressure, new trends and consumer
demands, addressing a wider variety of orders? Do you worry that
your staff have all the skills and expertise necessary to meet the
complexities of your business model? Where are your bottlenecks?
Importantly, what is it you want to achieve?
Once each part of the process has been addressed and
improved, full automation can then be achieved by looking at
which steps in the workflow can be digitised, where you can apply
automation and where will you be able to connect the pieces
together to bring about a complete process of functional activity.
With current sociological demand for instant gratification, the
aggressive drive for competitive edge and world pressure to
reduce waste all business need to look at the options to address
the trends and speed up production, eliminate bottlenecks and
automate processes. No one is suggesting full automation is an
overnight project but with the right partner and taking a step at a
time it is possible to add value to your business. The Esko advice
is ‘digitise, automate, connect’.
