End of the Paper War

Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte receives the 2007 CIPPI Award for the most innovative use of a JDF application

 On 26 October, the 2007 CIPPI Award in the category “Most Innovative Use of Process Automation Technology in an Implementation” was for the first time conferred on an association comprising a print buyer, a printing company, and a print enhancement specialist.

The winners - Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte, its client Gutenberg-Werbering in Linz, Austria, and print enhancement specialist Walter Grieger in Nettetal, Germany - have been using the Hiflex Print Support procurement tool since autumn 2006. This tool automates the supply chain between client, supplier, and sub-supplier. The CIPPI Awards are given by the CIP4 Organisation for the most innovative use of process automation technology.

Innovative JDF workflow

 Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte received an award this year but has been successful in this respect since 2003. Together with MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG and a Management Information System (MIS) from the Hiflex company, it was the world’s first printing house to introduce company-wide JDF networking, and this innovation lead has been maintained by all concerned up until the present day. The Kodak Prinergy workflow and a printing facility 30 kilometres away are fully integrated in the internal production process. The paper store has been closed down and replaced by a “just-in-time” delivery system.

Optimised procurement processes for the printing industry

 The client posts an enquiry with Hiflex Print Support, and a printing company generates a quotation fully automatically and sends this to the client per JDF. This avoids errors and multiple inputs, which can save more than 80 percent of the time and effort needed for processing enquiries. If the quotation is accepted, an order is generated and transferred to the printing press per JDF with the press being preset fully automatically. In case the supplier cannot personally carry out some parts of the job, a enquiry is sent per JDF to a services provider who can. All of these processes are part of the JDF technology and fully automated. An innovative solution that illustrates the great possibilities of the JDF format in sheetfed offset printing.