A Speedmaster CD 74-6+L with Prinect Inpress Control inline
color measuring and control system is enjoying great success at
Medienhaus Reuffurth in Mühlheim am Main.
When it comes to quality, Hans Reuffurth is uncompromising.
This former litho producer moved into the printing industry in 1997
and today has around 75 employees in Mühlheim near Frankfurt
am Main. The media house's pressroom is home to a Speedmaster SM 74
ten-color press with perfecting device, a Speedmaster CD 74
six-color press with coating unit and Prinect Inpress Control, and
a Speedmaster SM 52 five-color press. Several POLAR cutters, a
saddlestitcher, and a Stahlfolder for postpress operations complete
the company's full-service offering.
Achieving consistent quality
"To deliver quality in the time available requires
cutting-edge technologies and cooperation between all departments.
A print product that matches the proof can only be achieved through
standardization and automation," explains Reuffurth. The media
house therefore uses the JDF-based prepress and color workflow of
Prinect. This enables the entire color process to be monitored on
the fly and immediately corrected in the event of changes. The
company thus satisfies key quality assurance requirements up to and
including the presses. It is able to achieve identical print
results that conform to ProzessStandard Offsetdruck (German Offset
Printing Process Standard) on different presses.
Boosting productivity with inline measurement To ensure it stays within the time frames for color
management, Reuffurth uses Prinect Inpress Control. A color
measuring unit installed in the press performs measurement and
control operations online and enables make-ready without pulling
sheets or halting the press. This results in clear benefits in
terms of time saved and productivity.
Prinect Inpress Control is located in the last printing unit
of the Speedmaster CD 74-6+L, upstream of the coating unit.
Measurements are therefore neither corrupted nor influenced by the
coating process. The data is visible at the press control station
and can also be set there. Once OK sheets have been approved, they
are adopted by the system - including for repeat jobs - as a target
value reference and are monitored. Deviations are corrected to
within the tiniest of tolerances.
Saving time and waste "Prinect Inpress Control saves us 20 to 30 percent of
make-ready time per job - that soon adds up to several hours a
week. Furthermore, around 20 percent of waste is also eliminated.
The system is therefore of interest not just for long runs but also
- and in particular - for short runs involving frequent job
changes," says Peter Hofmann, Technical Plant Manager at
Reuffurth. In addition, integrated register correction allows
uninterrupted monitoring of color and register. The press control
system also supports the measuring unit through continuous learning
and adaptation of color presettings, so that sheets are inked up
quickly when a job is started. Furthermore, spectrally stored
L*a*b* values enable accurate printing of spot colors. "We are
committed to ensuring that the proof presented to our customers
also reflects the subsequent print result. Prinect Inpress Control
is a further step forwards in achieving this goal," Reuffurth
explains confidently.