Prinect Pressroom Manager

Real-Time Management and Transparency

Through Completely Networked Processes
 Prinect Pressroom Manager. The control center for the pressroom:
networked processes enable transparent, automated work.

The pressroom manager can take in all job and production data
at a glance.

Printers are confronted with an increasingly embattled Complete Networking of the Pressroom. Prinect®,
marketplace: they routinely have to handle short runs, Heidelberg’s integrated workflow management system,
last-minute changes and rush jobs, or else lose customers enables this kind of transparent production control in
to the competition. It’s essential to directly and flexibly the pressroom as well: the Prinect Pressroom Manager®
respond to changing requirements. But at many companies, centrally controls all operations and administers the
valuable time is lost due to delays in the information flow. required production data. Job and production informa-
The limiting factor isn’t the speed of the presses – the real tion is provided exactly where it’s needed: right at the
obstacle is long, drawn-out coordination and consultation workplaces of the pressroom manager, order processing
processes and internal searches. Often, it’s impossible to staff or press operators.
answer inquiries about a job’s current status without
walking to the pressroom to find out what’s going on. All Production Data Goes Straight to the Press. As a result,
When production is held up, even more time is wasted the operator automatically sees a list of operations and
trying to determine where and why the process has become production data at the press control console, including
stuck. And when a job has to be completed in a hurry, it’s all the information needed to optimally complete the
hard to find out what work has been assigned to individual jobs assigned to that press. This process list can be worked
presses and make changes to the schedules. through directly, without requiring any additional manual
entries.
What’s missing is a central “brain” that monitors all
concurrent processes in the pressroom, clearly displays
them and renders them easily controllable.

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Production Always in View. During production, press
JDF – the Data Format for Your Workflow
data including makeready, good production and down
times as well as sheet counters are sent in real time to the
Prinect Pressroom Manager. The incoming information How do you digitally network different production areas?
is simultaneously available to all connected workstations For successful integration, all areas must be able to
and the Management Information System (MIS). communicate with one another. The common language
they use for this is Job Definition Format (JDF). This
JDF as the Basis for networked Print Production. The industry standard is an open format that brings together
Prinect Pressroom Manager is the world’s first completely all of the data formats that have so far been used in the
JDF-based pressroom management system. It supplements production process. It is the basis for generating digital
and administers the job data in the JDF jobticket, created job tickets containing all job data. JDF Management
by the MIS, with data from prepress and current produc- Information Systems (MIS) to communicate with all
tion data for the pressroom. No information needs to be production stations along the process chain – thus
captured or entered more than once, and it is seamlessly permitting seamless exchange of information.
consistent. This makes production faster and much more
reliable. All operations required to complete a print job
are included in the job ticket before the press production
starts.

The Prinect Pressroom Manager centrally controls all pressroom

communications.

Management Information System (MIS)

JDF-/JMF-interface

PPF
Prepress Prinect Pressroom Manager

JDF JMF JDF JMF

Printing Presses Prinect Data Terminal

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 Pressroom Management in Realtime. Central Cockpits display
current production states, giving you a complete overview at all
times.

The Prinect Pressroom Manager from Heidelberg® con- workflow and which steps have already been completed.
tinuously monitors the status of all machines and jobs in This provides full transparency, letting you respond to
the pressroom. This allows the manager of the pressroom changes flexibly and reassign individual operations, even
and other staff to check and control production processes at the last possible moment. You can also quickly answer
on-screen. Central workstations called Cockpits auto- customer queries without having to be in the pressroom
matically generate job lists from the JDF job tickets. These or call down to find out what a job’s situation is.
lists show all current information, including important
administrative data, in an easy-to-read format: job Flexibly Configurable User Interfaces. All Cockpits can be
numbers, customer names, deadlines, and both planned customized to meet the needs of multiple users. A different
and already completed processes and machine assign- user profile is used for each, defining the information
ments. The Prinect Pressroom Manager also serves as a subset that a given user actually needs. As a result, workers
JMF (Job Messaging Format) messaging server. Job status only see the data that is important for them and their
information received from presses is constantly evalu- work – and can do their jobs in an individually optimized
ated – in real time. A Cockpit can then be used to view the work environment.
results anywhere on the premises at any time. Messages
are also sent to the MIS to provide feedback on production Central Administration of Master Data. Master data
processes. required more than once is centrally stored in the Prinect
Pressroom Manager. This data includes customer infor-
Transparent, Flexible Job Handling. The Cockpits let you mation, specifications on stocks and inks, and press para-
see the details of all jobs in line for production and the meters. It only needs to be entered or captured once, and
current status of each job, including information on its consistency is ensured. This saves time and eliminates
individual printing operations. Convenient search and the mistakes that are inevitably made when reentering
filter functions make it simple to get exactly the infor- data.
mation you need. You can see exactly where a job is in the

The Cockpit of the Prinect Pressroom Manager uses

automatically generates a job list from the JDF job tickets.

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Analyze Point. Fast, convenient evaluation of information from
production.

If you want the ability to respond quickly and flexibly

when customer requests last-minute changes, you need
to know what’s going on your print shop at all times. It
can also be very helpful to analyze new and completed
jobs to identify any special production requirements.
Analyze Point helps you do this. This module evaluates
and graphically displays collected production data.
Analyze Point compiles job reports that can cover up to
the last 15,000 jobs produced. All processes required for
a job can be depicted together in a diagram. You can also
graphically view all relevant process statistics: total job
completion time, numbers of good and waste sheets,
makeready and production times. These detailed analyses
render every job truly transparent, enabling you to
anticipate and prevent difficulties.

Simple, Up-to-Date Status Display. Other valuable features

of Analyze Point are visualization of current information
and convenient user guidance. You can also display
detailed process status information, such as on the
current state of the press or job, including all printing
operations. You can view data such as the press speed, Analyze Point evaluates production data and graphically
displays the results.
various job and counter information such as waste and
good sheets, sheets left to print and the currently loaded
job. This module is easy to navigate using an explorer
tree, and users quickly learn how it works.

Benefits for the pressroom manager or order

processing staff:

• A job’s current status is easy to view on-screen.

• Queries are easy to answer.
• Complete overview of production
• The order in which jobs are produced can be changed
up to the last minute.
• Centrally administered, consistent master data, no
multiple entry required
• Automated routines for reliable production

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 Security for Press Operators. All data on the current print job is
automatically available at the press. This speeds job preparations,
letting the operator concentrate fully on optimizing quality during
the production run.

Prinect Pressroom Manager takes care of automatically displaying jobs

right at the press control console.

The Prinect Pressroom Manager provides tangible benefits get missing information. Heidelberg Speedmaster®
for press operators: they see the entire job right on the presses are integrated in the workflow via the Prinect®
press, there is no need to enter customer or job data, and CP2000 Center® press control console. A Prinect Online
job setup goes much faster. This frees them to focus on Kit is also available for Heidelberg Printmaster® presses
their most important task, which is to optimize print equipped with the Prinect® Classic Center®; it is also
quality during the pressrun. Automatic display of jobs suitable for connecting older Speedmaster presses.
with all relevant data gets rid of the need to make calls to

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No Chance of Confusion. Prinect Pressroom Manager organizes and
controls job data – for every single job and press.

Intelligent JDF routing by the Prinect Pressroom Manager Prinect Data Terminal: Integrating Nonautomated
makes it possible to select the required information for Presses. Nonautomated presses, including third-party
each print job from the list and send it to the right press models, are also easy to integrate in the pressroom
without any additional manual intervention. All routines management process via the Prinect Data Terminal. The
are automated: a single JDF job ticket is centrally created complete job data arriving from the Prinect Pressroom
for each job in the MIS and then administered by the Manager is output to a separate PC in the form of a job
Prinect Pressroom Manager. list for direct use by the operator. Current press data is
entered manually and transferred to the Prinect
A process net is stored in the JDF job ticket. It specifies Pressroom Manager. To save time, data entry involves
the exact sequence of operations that must be worked only a few steps. It can be for predefined events such as
through step-by-step to complete a job. The press operator start and finish, good sheets produced or material
automatically receives a job list created specifically for consumption messages, or else individually defined
his press, containing all important information on the events and staff messages. Here too, paper-based
printing stock, sheet size, colors, quantities, etc. Press messages are eliminated.
data is automatically returned to the system. This entirely
eliminates conventional job tickets, which have to be
created by hand and are very error-prone. The results are
major time savings and fewer mistakes.

Prinect Data Terminal lets you connect nonautomated presses.

The job lists for this are output on a separate PC.

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 Preset Point. Faster job preparation and presetting of the press for
greater reliability and less time spent on makeready.

These days, who can afford to spend a long time getting Reliable Ink Presetting Speeds Makeready. Preset Point
the press ready and up to color? Makeready is accounting uses this digital prepress data to calculate the average
for an increasing share of job throughput times – and coverage values for each ink zone and sends them to the
therefore offers genuine potential for realizing savings. control console of the press. There the ink keys are
The Preset Point module lets the Prinect Pressroom appropriately set for the job. Other parameters are also
Manager use PPF data from prepress to automatically sent, such as paper classes and ink types for automatic
preset the press. selection of adjustment curves. Automatically presetting
the press gives you crucial advantages: you get it up to
color fast and reliably, while reducing waste and saving
both time and, especially, money.

Faster makeready with Preset Point: Jobs are loaded together

with pertinent information from prepress for presetting the press.

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Previews facilitate job selection. Preset Point also computes the expected ink consumption.

Easier Job Selection and Color Assignments. Preset Point Preset Point Supports Color Workflow. In combination
generates previews of each side of the sheet so the press with the Prinect Image Control and Prinect® Axis Control®
operator can easily identify each print job. The previews color measurement systems, Preset Point additionally
both simplify the job preparation process and make it optimizes the color workflow. The measurement devices
much more reliable: the LAB values of spot and special receive information on reference values, positions, types
colors are transferred to the press control console for and sizes from color control bars and Mini Spots™, which
“true” display of the color for each printing unit. This greatly speeds positioning and ensures maximum
prevents mix-ups. precision.

Optimized Management of Consumables with Calcula-

tion of the Estimated Ink Consumption. The calculated
area coverage values also provide an indication of the
amount of ink that will be required per press sheet. This
can be used to work out how much ink will be needed for
x number of sheets. This permits more precise purcha-
sing, which is especially important with expensive and
rarely needed special colors.

Fast Respond to Changes. Preset Point offers even more

benefits: for example, an expert can preset various re-
levant parameters – such as the sheet size, number of
copies or sequence of colors – in the Prinect Cockpit. The
extended presetting capabilities permit central remote
job preparation. Benefits for the press operator:

• Job list available right at press control console

• No separate data entry or time-consuming inquiries
• Fast job preparation and presetting of the press
• Previews show color separations, including special and
spot colors
• No more extra administrative work
• Nonautomated presses can be integrated via Prinect
Data Terminal

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 The Prinect Philosophy. Transparent processes are faster and much
more reliable. They enable better management, faster responses
and greater success in meeting deadlines.

Accelerated Processes Thanks to Transparency. Transparent Automation and clear Monitoring of Processes. The
production processes are achieved by integrating areas of Prinect Integration System controls and coordinates the
the company that used to work separately. To accomplish data flow throughout the enterprise while centrally
this, data transfer and administration have to be precisely administering all information. It works as a central JDF
standardized and controlled, and the consistency of all server for prepress, press, postpress and the job manage-
data must be ensured. To ensure high long-term perfor- ment system. Data exists only once within the overall
mance levels, a workflow system should also have an business process, so it is reliably consistent. This translates
open, scalable architecture. into fast responses and an improved ability to meet dead-
lines. Production becomes faster, more transparent and
From Prinect Pressroom Manager to Total Integration. much more reliable. Potentials for optimizing it further
The Prinect Pressroom Manager can be used as a dedicated can then also be identified more easily.
Prinect solution for the pressroom. But if you’re striving
for complete integration, you need to overcome the The Prinect Integration System is part of Heidelberg’s
barriers between prepress and the pressroom. You can do integrated Prinect workflow management system. In
this with the JDF-based Prinect Integration System®. It order to use it, either the Prinect Printready System or
links Heidelberg’s automated prepress workflow solution, the Prinect Pressroom Manager must be installed first.
Prinect Printready System®, with the Prinect Pressroom The additionally required component is then automati-
Manager via a common interface with the MIS. As a cally installed together with the Prinect Integration
superior process control system, it networks all parts of System.
the print shop.

The integrated print shop with Prinect Integration System.

Management Information System (MIS)

Estimation Time planning Shop floor data collection

JDF-/JMF-interface

Prinect Integration System

Prepress Press Digital Print Postpress

Prinect Prinect Prinect Prinect
Printready System Pressroom Manager Digital Print Manager Data Terminal

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A modular, open system

Since every printshop has its own specific and individual needs, Prinect is not
designed as a standard product but rather as a modular solution. This means
that smaller printshops can also capitalize on the benefits of networking. Starting
with a single Prinect module, Prinect components can be added at any time and
the workflow can be customized to meet the requirements of the printshop. All the
components are based on open data standards such as PDF, PPF and JDF and can
be integrated into your existing system landscape.

Prinect
Auto
Suprasetter Register

Proofer Printmaster

Prinect
Prinect CP2000 Center
Prinect MetaDimension Prinect
Signa Station & MetaShooter Data Terminal

Prinect
Remote Access Prinect Prinect
Printready System Digital Print Manager

Prinect
Integration System

Prinect Prinance

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 Printmaster Stitchmaster
Speedmaster

Stahlfolder

Prinect
Classic Center POLAR

Prinect Prinect P-Net/Compucut Prinect

Image Control Online Kit Stahlfolder Data Terminal

Prinect
Pressroom Manager Prinect FCS 100

We take full responsibility – prior to delivery to ensure everything meshes as late total operating costs. The installation benefits
with everything from a single source it should do. As a result, we are able to ensure that from Heidelberg’s tried-and-tested systemservice.
All Prinect components come from a single source each individual product and the entire workflow If you have any questions or problems, technical
and are perfectly coordinated. Prinect modules too functions as intended over the full life cycle. specialists are available in person round the
are subject to a standardized update cycle and This is unique in the printing industry, securing clock. Ensuring you have a contact for all your
undergo comprehensive testing by our engineers your investment and making it possible to calcu- Prinect components.

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Prinect integrates the traditionally separate areas of
management, prepress, press and postpress to automate the
entire printing process and increase printers’ profitability.

Automated print production with Prinect – the compre- offers greater transparency and thus accelerates the entire job
hensive workflow management system from Heidelberg. flow. Prinect makes a major contribution to helping companies
Prinect integrates and optimizes the workflow in printshops – fully realize their potential for rationalization and optimization,
right away from management to production and from prepress thus enhancing the performance of the printshop and
to finishing. The finely tuned interaction of the various Prinect achieving greater profit margins.
components boost the efficiency of production workflows,

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Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Kurfuersten-Anlage 52–60
69115 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone +49-62 21-92-00
Fax +49-62 21-92-69 99
www.heidelberg.com

Publishing Information
Printed in: 03/06
Photographs: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Platemaking: CtP
Printing: Speedmaster
Finishing: Stahlfolder, Stitchmaster
Fonts: Heidelberg Gothic, Heidelberg Antiqua
Printed in Germany

Trademarks
Heidelberg, the Heidelberg logotype, Prinect, the Prinect
logotype, Axis Control, CP2000 Center, Classic Center, Prinect
Integration System, Prinect Pressroom Manager, Prinect
Printready System, Printmaster and Speedmaster are registered
trademarks of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in the U.S. and
other countries. Mini Spots is a trademark of Heidelberger
Druckmaschinen AG in the U.S. and other countries. All other
trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Subject to technical modifications and other changes.

00.993.3572/01 en