Extensive prepress workflow integration

Job organization and data management

A job in Automation Engine represents a production order that organizes the data storage for the job but also the job’s metadata, its link to order ID, due date, customer info, Customer Service Representative contacts…

Besides these administration attributes, a job can also contain the graphical specifications like barcode, inks, RIP options… This job information can be used in any workflow to take advantage of all the data that is already there, avoiding double entries.

Linking with external systems (MIS, ERP)

Automation Engine is able to obtain information from external systems through SQL queries, XML or XMP data… This data populates job information and workflow parameters, using values that already exist. Examples include step & repeat data, barcodes, colors to be used, etc.

All job information, is kept in an internal database, which can be archived for future use. The history of prepress actions in these archives can be used for relaunching jobs or for statistics purposes. Order administration systems can be linked through an MIS integration project.

Information and data are centralized, which reduces operator intervention. Savings are achieved by measuring and billing consumables, proofs and plates.

MIS integration also allows for automated step-and-repeat or imposition. Milestones can be communicated to the business system to report on the status of prepress jobs: “data arrived”, “approved”, “plates ready”…

Reduce the administrative overhead, especially in environments where job runs are becoming shorter, but job overhead stays the same, like in digital print.

Imposition and Step-and-Repeat

The advanced job management available for “page production” environments offers a comprehensive overview of the entire prepress department in relation to pages, proofs, sheets and plates status. This gives better control and easier job flow management.

For step-and-repeat several tasks are available to automate the process, depending on the type of repetition that is required. Data can be acquired from an external database or MIS system to further streamline and automate the overall job processing.