Workflow Solutions

A few years ago when we spoke about workflow it usually meant a pre-press workflow. Now we have to be careful to define what we mean, because the end-to-end production workflow of print as a manufacturing process is becoming far more important, and automation along that workflow is a key step to running a profitable enterprise.

Most printers of any size will already have a workflow, possibly a proprietary system provided by their pre-press supplier. Even in the absence of a formal workflow they will usually have a standardised way of working, with a fixed sequence of events taking place between file reception and final output to plate. Automating those processes provides a cost effective way of handling a quantity of files in a standardised way with minimal operator intervention. The emphasis here is as much on standardisation as on automation. By standardising the way files are handled you should get reproducible results. Files that conform can all be handled through similar processes, checking each file manually becomes a thing of the past - important in an age with fewer skilled operatives and high overheads. A prime requirement in any workflow is therefore to ensure your files conform to the standard - whatever it is.

With many prepress systems now centred on handling PDF files, standardisation should be easy, but PDFs can vary considerably, so a pre-flight operation to check incoming files (better still a system to check them before they leave the originator) is essential, and most proprietary systems will have this in place. The choice between a check and advise or a check and correct system is a matter of individual choice. Usually any corrections are best done by the originator, on the master file. It’s less trouble, less disruptive and less problematic than trying to correct anything other than very simple faults on the finished PDF.

Even in cases where native page layout files are supplied or generated internally, there is a requirement to ensure consistent processing to PDF. A number of plug-ins to common applications like Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress allow production of reliable files that meet specific requirements, like the Ghent Workgroup standards and PDF/X. Preflight software can also check against these standards, and pass conforming files to the next stage of the workflow, leaving only the (hopefully) small proportion that fail to be checked by hand.

Many proprietary workflow systems place heavy reliance on third party applications. Not all the technology in a given workflow belongs to the press or pre-press manufacturer concerned. Gradual Software has taken this one stage further by producing a very open environment, allowing workflows to be constructed using a wide range of best of breed applications from many leading manufacturers with a choice, for instance, over which preflight package you use. It provides better facilities to keep up to date with fast moving technologies and construct a workflow that extends the reach of automation outside what isnormally possible in a proprietary system. SWITCH can drive most hot folder or command line enabled applications and an increasing number of manufacturers cooperate with Gradual to produce configurators that allow their product to be controlled from the SWITCH interface. SWITCH provides the file handling, filtering, movement and messaging essential to the workflow and the third party applications do the tasks for which they are best suited, under optimum conditions.

The beauty of this approach is that the workflow can be introduced gradually (hence the company name) without major upheaval and built up over time as requirements and finances dictate. Using readily available products, some of which may already be to hand, improves familiarity with operators and increases confidence in the results obtained. Consequently, SWITCH workflows can usually be put in place quickly and can be readily adapted to changing situations.

Using this technology it is possible to produce a workflow that, for instance, extends from collecting files from an FTP server, filtering and routing them according to file type to produce quality preflighted and conforming PDFs, colour correct and soft or hard proof those PDFs, impose the output and pass the imposed result to the RIP of the CTP or digital print system. Along the way there can be various checkpoints for manual intervention or approval (eg at the proofing stage) and email or SMS notfication of key stages achieved or processes failed by individual files. Such a flow can be easily integrated with existing practices and, although potentially it can replace a proprietary workflow, it can equally well supplement or fill gaps in existing solutions.

PowerSWITCH, the workgroup enabled product at the top of the SWITCH family, handles metadata and is scriptable, allowing highly intelligent flows to be created and bringing the dream of lights-out processing of files a good deal closer.

Metadata is the new enabler in workflow automation. JDF, PJTF and others have, from time to time appeared, entered into the vocabulary and delivered some of what they promised, but they have usually been an add-on to the file itself. Metadata is embedded within the file and can, with an increasing number of applications, be added to in order to record a history of the file, and therefore can be used to route the file to certain parts of the workflow, or to define how it should be handled by an application.

With many ‘printing’ jobs now featuring well-distributed content creators, service suppliers, as well as varying forms of media for delivery, keeping track of what happens, who did it and when is essential. Management Information Systems (MIS) provide a central hub for such information, and workflow processes need to communicate both ways with the MIS if the updating is to be included in the automation process. Most MIS providers can output,for instance, JDF or XML details of a job, including quantity required, page size, extent, number of colours, customer details etc. Intelligent workflow processes can react to this information, add to it, for instance by appending the number of sheets used to print the job (defined by the imposition programme) and feed that back to update the MIS. This is less common in practice but is a requirement where full automation is the target.

While full automation of the end to end workflow is probably a good way off, many component parts can be automated and the more progressive companies in the industry are seriously considering the options, if not already well down the road to implementing them. Current economicpressures are probably the biggest driving force and may well push workflow automation farther and faster than access fo suitable technology has over the last ten years.