JDF: Where Are We Now?

A Conversation with Muller Martini’s Peter Doyle

By Cary Sherburne

May 1st, 2008 - It has been some time since I have written anything specific about JDF.  Perhaps that is because, as CIP4 CEO Margaret Motammed predicted several years ago, it has become such a common part of the printing industry infrastructure that it is like plumbing or USB ports.  In the run-up to drupa, I took the opportunity to speak with Peter Doyle, Muller Martini’s Corporate Integration and Workflow Manager and also a member of CIP4’s Finishing Committee, to get his perspective on our progress.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Doyle and Brick Rossie from Cox Target Mediawill made a presentation on the JDF implementation referenced in this interview at the Offset and Beyond conference on April 28th--“Added profit through new technologies in Post Press and in-line finishing.”

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WTT:  Peter thanks for speaking with us.  We are interested in your perspective on our progress as an industry with JDF and automation of the print production process, especially as it relates to your role on the CIP4 finishing committee. 

PD:  I break it down to the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The best thing that has happened in terms of JDF automation is ink key presets for the press. These JDF files can be created by all of the major RIP vendors and can then be read at the press console of virtually every press manufacturer.  That is a wonderful example of cross platform integration, sending a JDF file from one machine to another, and it usually happens automatically. It is so commonplace now that the pressman often doesn’t want to start a makeready unless he has his JDF ink key presets.  We often hear about people resisting technology, but you know they have accepted the change well if they won’t start the next job unless they have the file. They know from past practice how much time and paper it will save them. That is the good.  The bad is that many companies don’t have an automated workflow for imposing a job.  It’s a shame to see the amount of time and effort that people put into creating a redundant imposition layout at some companies.   No one really wants to go through the re-keying of data, and a JDF workflow allows the company to not only eliminating a wasted step, but it also reduces errors.  The ugly is that there are not enough printers who program and set up their flatbed cutters and saddle stitchers with JDF files. The same data that is used to create the imposition layout can often times be used to program the machines.  It is so easy; I am shocked that more companies haven’t taken advantage of this workflow. Since as long ago as 2003, we have been able to send full JDF instructions to both the cutter and saddle stitcher, and this workflow has a very good ROI.

Most printers spend too much effort trying to reduce the price of supplies, materials and equipment. If they change their focus to improving their workflows, communication and methods to more efficiently produce their products, they will have a better chance of improving the company’s profitability

WTT:  What do you think about the ROI impact of an automated workflow?

PD:  I have spent time analyzing the difference between the profit leaders in our industry and the average performing printer. The difference between the two groups is typically found in the labor expense. Most printers spend too much effort trying to reduce the price of supplies, materials and equipment. If they change their focus to improving their workflows, communication and methods to more efficiently produce their products, they will have a better chance of improving the company’s profitability. I don’t want to imply that the industry profit leaders all have JDF workflows. What they do have is an approach to management that leads to constantly evaluating and improving their workflow and this leads to greater productivity and less waste – and higher profits. Printers who want to reduce labor expense should develop a plan for eliminating redundancy and wasted effort from their workflow and a JDF-based workflow goes a long way towards accomplishing this goal.

For profitable printers, controlling labor is the priority.  And it is not just factory payroll.  It also applies to their sales and administrative payroll.  A JDF workflow can begin at the customer with the RFQ. Generating estimates, work orders and imposition layouts more efficiently is very important at leading companies. Typically, when I look at the savings due to a workflow project, probably 70% will be labor savings.  I know that a lot of printers don’t like to lay people off and this is a touchy subject.  But another way to look at it is that they can grow without needing to add people if they don’t want to consider reducing the size of their workforce, or not replace people that are leaving naturally.  A $10 million printer could save as much as $600,000 annually with an integrated and automated JDF workflow.  In one analysis I did, it took someone in prepress an average of 22 minutes to find or create a Preps template to impose a job. The company produced more then 350 jobs per month.  The job planner at the company had already generated a layout. With automation, the layout is created once and re-used. With this method not only is time saved, but mistakes are reduced. In many cases, the data from this job planning process can also be used to generate JDF files for press and post press equipment. When minutes are saved per job in these departments, the savings add up even faster.

That is just one example.  When you read the submissions for the CIPPI awards, the most common goal for these companies is to automate everything from RFQ through finishing.  The company’s goals are to process work faster and with fewer mistakes. All of this is possible with JDF automation. 

The first step in creating a JDF workflow is deciding how your company is going to generate the JDF files

WTT:  When we first saw JDF-enabled products come to market, they were often in a single-vendor deployment, and often included custom tags or coding that made it difficult to actually deploy in a multi-vendor environment.  Has that changed?  And what should buyers consider when they are buying equipment or software?

PD:  The intention of the CIP4 association is to create standards for multi vendor workflow solutions. If products are created according to the standards, integration should always be possible. Obviously, printers want to verify this connectivity before purchasing new equipment. The first step in creating a JDF workflow is deciding how your company is going to generate the JDF files. For most companies, these files will be created by either the pre-press system or the MIS system. Once you have made a decision as to the source of the JDF files in your workflow, have some sample JDF’s made for imposition, presses, folders, cutters, saddle stitchers – all of the machines and processes that you would like to some day automate.  You can then use these files to test the connectivity of different manufacturer’s equipment. If your company doesn’t have the capability of generating the required JDF files at this time, ask some of your suppliers to provide them to you. Make sure to ask what application was used to write the JDF file. In the future when investigating new equipment, in addition to having samples of your own work run on the machine, you should also include a JDF file and ask them to use the file to makeready the machine.

WTT:  What do you think about the compliance testing process (ICS) in general?

PD:  Documentation and specifications are always good, but when they are created and approved by a committee, they can take too long to develop. I hate anything that slows down progress. Everyone who works in our industry should have the goal of making printed products more cost efficient. To that end, printers should be able expect their suppliers and vendors to work together on integrated JDF workflow projects. At times I have seen the ICS development slowing down the process of creating a streamlined JDF solution for printers. If I were a printer, I would not look for a “JDF Certified” label as the primary buying criterion. They didn’t need it for ink key presets.  Why does the industry need it for other processes? Put another way, will printers trust a statement by a third party stating that a product is “JDF Certified,” or would they rather see their JDF file used to automate the makeready of the equipment that they are considering purchasing?

Interestingly, they don’t use a single JDF certified product. This is a great example of multiple suppliers working together to create an automated JDF workflow

WTT:  I understand you have quite a success story with Cox Target Media that is JDF related.  Tell us about it.

PD:  That is the biggest JDF success story in the industry that I am aware of. The Cox Target Media staff did a great job of defining their workflow and communicating expectations. They created their own format and testing criteria for the JDF files used in their workflow. Interestingly, they don’t use a single JDF certified product. This is a great example of multiple suppliers working together to create an automated JDF workflow. The plant is automated from job preparation through shipping. It is amazing to see the facility in operation. JDF files are controlling many of the machine and material flow functions.  This site proves that the JDF specifications can be used to automate the workflow in a printing plant that utilizes multi vendor equipment and software.

WTT:  Who is Cox Target Media and how have they used automation to improve their processes?

PD:  Most people would know them as the Valpak people--the coupons in the blue envelope.  Before they started this project, they were using mostly 1980s vintage technology.  They would print, fold and cut the coupons and insert them into the envelope. They had many manual tasks, and it typically took four days to complete an average project.  During their investigation period, they determined that the best method for producing the coupons would be to gang run the coupons in a web signature.  A major concern to overcome was how to manage the delivery of ganged run forms from a high speed web press with up to six deliveries.

The solution that they created was to print the ganged forms using two Goss Sunday 4000 web offset presses, each with automatic transfer function to shorten makeready time and maintain press speed. Up to 12 different products feed into Muller Martini PrintRoll P-220 twin winding stations. The complete press delivery operation is controlled by the JDF controller called MACOS (Master Control System). Utilizing JDF and JMF files written according to the CIP4 protocol, the system tracks all of the 12 products delivered by the presses - and communicates back to the press JMF messaging, with commands to begin the auto transfer and to begin printing the next set of 12 signatures. JMF messages are also sent to the company's MIS system so that the print rolls can be tracked when they are stored in the automated storage and retrieval system. When the inserting machines need the next job, a JMF messages is sent to the storage system and the print rolls are delivered via automated guided vehicles.

There is tremendous amount of automation in this facility. There is not a single person assigned to the process of offloading the printed materials to the pallet on a full time basis.  No one needs to hand-write a pallet label for what has just been printed because the press delivery system communicates all of that to the MIS system. This is the first time I have seen JMF messages used to have two different manufacturers' machines talk to each other and actually execute an event.

WTT:  What has all of this meant in terms of key metrics?

PD:  They have improved product throughput from four days to six hours. The first human hands that touch the coupons that are produced at the new site are the end consumer. Collation errors along with missing and duplicate coupons have been eliminated from the process. From a productivity perspective, in order to produce the volume of work that this plant does it would require 2,000 people using the previous method of production; now they have 400 people and have the potential of producing even more work. I call the results a slam dunk when throughput, quality and productivity are all positively impacted.

From a productivity perspective, in order to produce the volume of work that this plant does it would require 2,000 people using the previous method of production; now they have 400 people and have the potential of producing even more work

JDF files are used to pre-set the ink key fountains, set the angle bars on the press folder, tell the print roll system to automatically adjust for  different page counts and form widths in the signatures, and no one has to turn a wrench.  JMF files are used to transfer machine status, product counts and product locations. You walk in there, and you soon realize that these machines are talking to each other.  The workflow is harmonized.   Cox has a video on its web site that shows the JDF workflow in action.

The JDF workflow created at Cox Target Media by Muller Martini and others is a major technology advancement for the printing industry. It is an amazing accomplishment that promotes and advances our industry's efforts to create an automated print workflow. This process makes print more economical as it competes for advertising dollars against the Internet, TV and radio.

WTT:  You bring up an interesting point about our ability to increase the competitiveness of print.  Can you elaborate on that?

PD:  In the big picture, that’s what it is all about in this industry.  We are at war with other media; it affects our livelihood. We all want to see more print products, or at least printing sales stabilized. We should give an industry pioneering company like Cox a great deal of credit for demonstrating that there is a solution for lowering the cost of print and shortening the production cycle time.  That is what the print buyers want. The shorter we make cycle time from design to in-home, the bigger our market share is going to be with respect to the media mix.

WTT:  Peter, this has been very informative.  Is there anything else you would like to add before we close?

PD:  Print has resisted every major technology advancement since Gutenberg’s day when monks and scribes resisted the change to moveable type. Some of us can still recall the industry's resistance to the move to desktop publishing. There once was a time when many sheetfed printers insisted that the web press would never be a viable option for quality offset printing.    Now we have JDF, and many people are sitting on the fence and not implementing the workflow.  The analogy that I use to explain how change is adopted in our industry is to compare printers to ice fisherman in Wisconsin.  No one wants to be the first to go out on the frozen lake.  The neighbors all watch, and if the first guy doesn’t fall through, then they will all go out.  There are scientific ways to predict ice thickness, but they avoid the technical solution and instead wait on the first brave soul to venture onto the ice. The printing industry reacts in this same manner.  Cox has ventured onto the ice and proven that JDF-enabled automation works. Now we can all go out on the “JDF Workflow “ice without worry.

Cary can be reached via email at cary@sherburneassociates.com, online at www.sherburneassociates.com and by telephone at 603-430-5463.

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