Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production: Contents Chapter 8

904
Contents Chapter 8
Material and Data Flow

in Print Media Production
8.1 Material Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 8.2 Networking and Data Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
8.1.1 Logistics around the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 8.2.1 Network Concepts and Interfaces . . . . . . . . . 924
8.1.1.1 Supply of Printing Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 8.2.2 Digital Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
8.1.1.2 Paper Reel Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908 8.2.2.1 Digital Workflow in Prepress . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
8.1.1.3 Ink, Dampening Solution, and 8.2.2.2 Digital Workflow and Digital
Air Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910 Printing (Computer to Press) . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
8.1.1.4 Waste Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 8.2.2.3 Digital Workflow: Advantages, Challenges,
8.1.1.5 Paper Pile Logistics for Sheet-fed and Possibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929
Offset Presses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 8.2.3 CIP3 for the Computer-Integrated
8.1.2 Logistics in Printing Companies . . . . . . . . . . 914 Manufacturing (CIM) of Printed
8.1.2.1 Procurement Logistics in Printing Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930
Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915 8.2.4 Production Management/Monitoring
8.1.2.2 Inventory Management in Printing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934
Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 8.2.4.1 Purpose, Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934
8.1.2.3 Production Logistics in Printing 8.2.4.2 Production Monitoring Systems . . . . . . . . . . 935
Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918
8.1.3 Logistics in Publishing Houses . . . . . . . . . . 920
© H a n d b o o k o f P r i n t M e d i a, H . K i p p h a n ( I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 6 7 3 2 6 - 1 )
905
8.1 Material Logistics
Figure 8.1-1 shows, in a simplified form, how the differ- and other process materials on hand, as well as blast
ent areas of the production workflow of print media are and compressed air. Such materials may also need to be
linked together by the flow of materials and data. discarded at some point, while half-finished or finished
The logistics for supplying and conveying materials products should move on to the subsequent stages of
are a fundamental component of efficient production. production. To illustrate the material-flow, an example
The sequences that take place in the press area, in the of a newspaper printing plant with web offset presses
printing plant, and in the publishing house are dealt follows. To a large extent, however, this information
with below. may also be relevant when considering other machin-
ery used for the production of printed products and
sheet-fed printing, in particular. Section 8.1.1.5 deals
8.1.1 Logistics around the Press with the special characteristics of sheet-fed offset
printing.
When working with printing presses it is essential to
have paper, ink, printing plates, dampening solution,
Database
Printed
product Consumer, end customer
Information sources
Plate, Printed
Originals etc. pages
Customer, Printing
Agency, Prepress Postpress Distributor
Process (Finishing)
Publisher
Data Data Data Data
Film, plate, etc. Paper, ink, etc. Material, etc.
Production flow
Storage/Warehouse
Consumables
Supplier
Fig. 8.1-1 Production flow and stream of material and data for print media production
906 8 Material and Data Flow in Print Media Production
8.1.1.1 Supply of Printing Plates eras that scan the register marks of the print image on
Before printing can start, the press must be fitted with the plate (fig. 8.1-3b), have recently been introduced to
printing plates and supplied, naturally, with paper and ensure the accurate alignment of the printing plates
ink. Newspaper printing will be used as an example be- prior to punching and edge-bending. The inductive
cause it requires a relatively large number of offset monitoring of three-point plate alignments – both
printing plates per print job. For this reason, one can during exposure and prior to plate punching and bend-
find the most advanced level of automation in the ing – provides yet another means of positioning the
newspaper printing sector. In newspaper printing it is plate in accurate register.
normal for prepress and printing to be done in sepa- At the end of the platemaking line, the finished print-
rate areas; the actual activity of printing begins with the ing plates are deposited in a shaft from which they can
production of the printing plates or the receipt of the be removed manually. Western printing plants often
full-page film data file using remote data transmission. continue to remove the printing plates for visual in-
The platemaking process has already reached such a spection; then the plate may be allocated to the indi-
level of automation in the newspaper sector that the act vidual sets of cylinders and/or full-color sets. Japanese
of placing the full-page films onto the copying frame newspaper printing plants, on the other hand, some-
remains the only manually performed task (computer times employ a fully-automatic conveying system that
to film (CtF), fig. 8.1-2). Even this step is unnecessary may be accompanied by robotic plating-up. In this
in the computer to plate technology (CtP) that is be- case, classification according to color sets and cylinder
coming more and more prevalent (see sec. 4.3.2.3). Of alignment corresponding to the imposition layout fol-
course, piles of blank plates and developing fluids have low automatically.
to be fed to the platemaking line from time to time. Marking the printing plates poses a particular prob-
This, however, should be seen in terms of equipment lem if they are to be reused at different positions in the
maintenance. press for varying editions of the newspaper. Often,
To increase printing plate throughput and ensure therefore, they do not carry a page number on the print
that it is not impaired by the manual feeding of the full- image. This problem may be countered by affixing a
page films, there are usually two copying frames avail- bar-code in the plate’s bevel, in which case an electronic
able at the start of the platemaking line, which can be sorting system will attend to the varying assignments.
alternately operated. In most situations, the operator at the end of the
The complete process is to a large degree fully auto- platemaking line sorts the printing plates into trays.
matic. Process steps include the separation of the un- When a cylinder set becomes available, the operator
processed plates from the plate pile, the removal of the puts it in a conveyor box or hangs it in a conveying-rack
intermediate layer of paper (inserted to protect the that then transports this parcel to the printing unit by
light-sensitive coating from scratches), the exposure of means of a rail-mounted conveying system (monorail,
the plate, and the developing of the light-sensitive coat- telelift). In this fashion, a cylinder set can be supplied
ing in the subsequent developer. Before punching the to certain positions in the rotary press, where it is re-
plates (in order to mount them in accurate register) moved by the printer and its individual plates succes-
and bending their edges (to fasten the plate tightly and sively fixed onto the corresponding plate cylinder.
securely in the clamping jaws of the plate cylinder), the In the case of robotic plate-mounting, there are two
coverage of the printing plate is measured using a plate possibilities in particular: First, plates may be initially
image reader (e.g., line camera; see also sec. 2.1.5.4). placed in shafts that are located above the plate cylin-
This takes place in order to assess the printing plate’s ders and then released at the time of plate change: In
zonal ink requirement and to calculate the presetting this situation the plates “place themselves”on the cylin-
values for the inking units’ ink zones. (If the printing der as a result of gravity and the pulling force of the
units are equipped with keyless inking systems, none of front-clamping bar. Second, a programmed, multi-ar-
this is necessary.) ticulated robot imitates all the manual movement se-
There are two different types of register holes, those quences.
of the film and those of the printing plate (fig. 8.1-3). After printing has finished, the printing plates are re-
Whereas the former are usually round, slit-shaped cut- moved in reverse order as during the feeding. The old
outs are preferred for the latter. Coordinate tables or re- plates are then bundled and returned to a recycling
volving tables controlled by means of two video cam- firm.
Editorial
Agency system Editorial system processing Data storage
Digital camera
Image processing Proof printer

and
color editing
Scanner
Data storage Data storage
Classified ad system Film punching can

take place at these stages
Layout system
Layout system
for ads
Advertising Space seller Server Full-page RIP Control system Film Film processing Plate exposure
customer make-up and page buffer imagesetter device
Electronic ads (CtF)
Plate punching can

take place at these stages
Advertising Proof printer Proof printer
agency CopyDot scanner
Scanner Plate ready Plate bending Plate processing

for print device system
Fig. 8.1-2 Workflow: From data preparation up to supply of the printing plate for newspaper production using computer to film (CtF) technology (IFRA)
8.1 Material Logistics
907
Prepunching Plate Plate Plate Plate Plate punching

Imagesetter bending Imagesetter and bending
with with the with 3 with 3 align-
register same alignment ments pins
system register Plate punching for: pins and/or register
system Plate Imagesetter marks with
a Plate cylinder b video monitoring
Fig. 8.1-3 Exposure with computer to plate technology and plate bending.
a Pre-punched plate;
b Without pre-punching; alignment pins are used for aligning and punching the plate. For plate-bending register marks are measured in the
print image or a camera system is used for the alignment (IFRA)
It is important to remember that, in addition to the minum costs and increase the service life of these
active printing plates, passive “dummy plates” must be plates. Suppliers have, however, refrained from pursu-
supplied to the press. These plates are used where no ing this option in order to continue the uniform pro-
printing occurs across the web of paper. Dummy plates duction of printing plates and dummy plates.
are printing plates without a light-sensitive coating
(fig. 8.1-4). Because of the high four-color capacity of 8.1.1.2 Paper Reel Logistics
modern presses, the number of dummy plates has con- The paper to be processed on web-fed presses is sup-
siderably increased in relation to active printing plates. plied in web form. Due to the large size and weight of
It is perfectly understandable that considerable re- these reels well-organized logistics are required. The
search went into finding more cost-effective solutions. paper reel is usually unloaded from railroad freight cars
By reducing the thickness of the dummy plates, for ex- or from the flatbeds on trucks by a fork lift vehicle with
ample, it would be possible to cut down on the alu- a hoist, which picks up the reel around its circumfer-
Fig. 8.1-4
Use of dummy plates (passive plates) in Double/Straight-run production Collect-run production
newspaper printing (IFRA) (two identical plates in the circumference) (two different plates in the circumference)
Plate cylinder
Printing plate
Dummy plate
No plate
Full webs Half webs Full webs Partial webs

1/2 3/4
8.1 Material Logistics 909
ence and transports it to the storeroom, such as a bay Only the most recently delivered reels can be removed
with upright storage or high-rack storage. Trucks with from each stack first. In contrast, removal according to
endless floors are specifically designed for this task and the FIFO principle (first in, first out) is possible with
automate the entire unloading process. Gantry cranes high-rack storage, which also permits all types of stor-
with special suction hoist gears present another option age, that is, “chaotic” storage, for a variety of materials.
and can pick up a maximum of eight reels of paper at A computer-controlled manipulator enables access to
a time. (The Chicago Tribune makes use of such ma- every shelf and compartment. In the range of 1500 to
chinery, for example.) 3000 paper reels can be stored in this space-saving way,
Even during the unloading process it must be possible regardless of whether standing or lying. If the reels are
to identify the individual reels of paper so that any dam- standing upright, they are usually stored on pallets, if
age sustained in transit can be noted and claimed for. For horizontal, on prisms (so-called “prism storage”, i.e.,
this purpose, each reel label receives a bar-code that can the stored product holder has a prism-shaped base to
be recorded, processed, and identified by a laser scanner prevent rolling). Pallet storage makes it easy to accom-
or camera (fig. 8.1-5; see also fig. 2.1-79).Along with com- modate other materials in the high-rack storage,
ments on the reels’ condition, the scanned-in and whereas prism storage saves on vertical space.
recorded paper reel identification numbers are passed Today, in large printing plants, the reels often travel
on to the purchasing department. Here, these ID num- on automated guided vehicle systems (AGVS, see sec.
bers are compared with the dispatch data sent directly 2.1.3.1; fig. 2.1-78) from the storeroom into daily stor-
from the distributor or the paper mill. The use of a stan- age. Here, during the day, reels of paper are prepared
dardized electronic format is increasing: EDIFACT for nightly printing. The reels of paper have to be un-
(Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, packed beforehand and prepared for automatic reel
Commerce and Transport) is being promoted and de- change, for which both semi- or fully automatic equip-
veloped in the paper sector by the EDIPAP work group ment is now available. If no interruption in the se-
of CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries), quence of unloading, storage in the storeroom, and
the umbrella organization of European paper manu- day-to-day storage occurs, identification of the indi-
facturers. Although EDIFACT is, in fact, an interna- vidual reels of paper by the remote, computer-con-
tional standard, both the USA and Canada still make trolled AGV remains certain. If this is not the case, be-
use of other standards. At present, however, there are at- fore a reel label is removed with the packaging, its bar-
tempts to bring these differences into accord. code must be passed on. To accomplish this, the label
Stacking the reels on top of each other (see fig. has special self-adhesive strips (peel-off labels) with
2.1-78), that is, “chimney storage”, has a disadvantage: the bar-code printed on that can be firmly affixed to the
Fig. 8.1-5
Unloading to the warehouse to the web press Logs on each
Paper reel logistics and identification in a
NEWSPRINT reel arm
newspaper printing plant. Bottom left: pa- Transport
per reel label with bar-codes on self-adhe-
sive peel-offs (Denex/IFRA) Paper transport
Warehouse Reel stand
Delivery of
paper reels Reading the bar-code
and checking that
Logs to the production
the web is not damaged
management
Logs
Connection to the Printer

hand-held terminal
for the data trans-
mission to the PC
Paper reel label Reader to produce About 30
reel arm logs different logs
end of the reel until it reaches the reel stand in the trol constantly supplies an adequate quantity of ink
printing press. (see also sec. 2.1.5.5).
The individual reels are again removed from day-to-
day storage and taken to the respective reel stand by Dampening Solution Supply
means of AGVS or computer-controlled overhead In offset printing, the dampening solution comprises
cranes. There the reel of paper is identified either by its about 95% water, which in most cases, however, has to
bar-code in the automatic chain sequence or the reel- be prepared beforehand in order to convert untreated
handler, that is, the operator at the reel stand who re- (tap) water into process water. In many regions where it
moves the peel-off label with the bar-code from the end rises or is pumped from the ground, untreated water is
of the reel and places it onto a form that indicates on- actually too hard, that is, it contains too many mineral
to which of the reel arms the reel has been clamped. By salts. Therefore, this water must be softened before
inspecting this form, the printshop’s administration mixing it with the dampening solution additives. De-
can determine which reel of paper caused a particular vices that work on the principles of reverse osmosis, for
web break or increase in paper waste. Nowadays, of example, are capable of this and may be used to con-
course, far more data is recorded for production statis- vert tap water to a hardness of approximately 8 °dH
tics, such as the web length that each reel has produced (German Hardness; 8° dH = 142.88 mg CaCO3 per liter)
and how the area-related mass – the grammage of the – the optimal condition for attaining the highest print
paper – varies. quality. Furthermore, it is especially important that the
process water be adjusted to a special pH value and en-
8.1.1.3 Ink, Dampening Solution, and Air Supply riched with additives in order to achieve the desired
surface tension (see also sec. 2.1.1.2).
Ink Supply The dampening solution obtained in this way is stored
A distinction must be made in newspaper rotary print- in large tanks from which it is pumped to the damp-
ing between black ink and the considerably more ex- ening solution containers on the printing press. Filling
pensive chromatic inks and special inks (“spot col- level regulators control the refilling process automati-
ors”). The first (black) is delivered by tankers and cally. The press’s internal dampening solution circuit
pumped into large storage tanks. In contrast, 1000 kg between the dampening solution container and the
piggy-back containers are generally used for chromat- dampening unit has already been described in section
ic and special inks, which can again be emptied into 2.1.3.1.
stationary tanks (fig. 8.1-6). Pumps convey the inks In the case of dampening solutions, it is often neces-
from the tanks to the printing press’s ink fountains sary to add controlled amounts of pesticides to prevent
(see sec. 2.1.3.1). The purchasing formalities take place algae growth. Because of their slimy consistency, algae
in the usual way, that is, by means of tender, purchase can block pipes in the supply tank, and so forth.
order, and order confirmation, not by bar-code mark-
ing and EDIFACT. Compressed Air and Blast Air Supply
Because of the increased use of spot color (special Printing presses usually require two types of com-
inks) some printers tend to mix these hues according pressed air. Highly pressurized air is used when oper-
to colorimetric data, commonly using up to twelve inks ating the pneumatic control, and blast air under rela-
that are connected to a special color mixing station via tively low pressure circulates the air around the turner
a weighing device. The fact that one can change the bars and the superstructure’s formers. In sheet-fed off-
ink’s mixture after analysis of its composition is im- set printing, low pressure air may also be used for the
portant when considering resource conservation. It is, sheet guiding elements. Compressors with the usual fit-
therefore, possible to recycle the residual ink that, along tings and a pressure tank are used for compressed air
with its colorimetric specification, was included in the under high pressure. These compressors should be fit-
mixing calculation. The spot colors, made up of twelve ted in a separate room in the printing plant. Radial and
basic colors, have a considerably greater color gamut centrifugal blowers can be used for low pressures need-
than is achievable with the four process colors. ed at the turner bars and former. They are installed as
Both web and sheet-fed printing employ automatic closely as possible to the points of consumption in or-
ink feed systems; filling-level sensors monitor the print- der to reduce losses. Since the prints heat up around the
ing units’ ink fountains, to which the filling level con- turner bars and formers (because air heats up during
Ink container Printing units of the newspaper press

for test inks
Delivery of ink
in tank trucks
Paper reels
area
(reel changer)
Ink container
Ink tanks for chromatic Ink tanks

and special colors for black
Fig. 8.1-6 The ink supply of a newspaper press (IFRA)
compression), a downstream cooler may be needed to AGVS). At this point there is a baling press that has a
avoid ink offsetting. The design engineer and installer large-scale container connected to it. After com-
need great skill when putting the blast air pipes in the paction, the waste is transported to a waste paper mer-
press so that access to the press’s individual elements is chant or paper mill directly.
not obstructed and the aesthetic design preserved. Discarding residual ink and washing liquids is more
difficult. To some extent, these are considered haz-
8.1.1.4 Waste Disposal ardous wastes. These leftover materials, sealed in
Not all products are printed in a saleable quality; a drums, must be sent to specialist companies which dis-
printshop also produces waste sheets that require dispose of the waste in a proper manner, in line with the
posal. Paper waste is classified into the following cate- national regulations in force.
gories according to its point of origin (see sec. 8.1.2.3):
8.1.1.5 Paper Pile Logistics for Sheet-fed
• damaged reels of paper marked for return, Offset Presses
• reel cores and packaging material, Paper supply logistics for the sheet-fed offset printing
• waste (white waste) produced during preparation industry is a field that must constantly be adapted to
of the reel, facilitate the ever-growing productivity of printing
• waste produced while setting up, starting up, and presses. Logistics become particularly important in
restarting the printing press, sheet-fed printing when the substrate is heavy (card-
• reel remnants, board, e.g., for folding boxes) and sheet thickness re-
• waste from misprints, including waste occurring quires frequent stack changes.
during a reel change, The overview in figure 8.1-7 outlines the most im-
• waste from surplus impressions and returns. portant functions and stations of the paper logistics in
sheet-fed presses. The areas in immediate proximity to
The waste referred to above is usually collected in skele- the press, that is, the sheet feeder (paper pile feed) and
ton containers in the printing works and transferred to the sheet delivery (paper pile removal), are shown once
a disposal ramp (manually or with the help of an again in figure 8.1-8.
Fig. 8.1-7
Diagram of paper pile conveyance in the To the finishing section
press area for supplying several sheet-fed
presses (Heidelberg)
Delivery Feeder
Pile
turner
Press 1
Press 2
From the
Press 3 warehouse
Control console Automated guided vehicle (AGV)
The paper is piled onto system pallets and taken to for finishing and/or storage and dispatch be done ef-
the press by manually operated fork-lift trucks. There ficiently.
may be a buffer zone in the feed area of the press, as il- The delivery of a sheet-fed offset press with semi-au-
lustrated in figures 8.1-8 and 8.1-9. In this buffer zone, tomatic pile change can be seen in figure 8.1-10. When
these piles of paper are made ready on a roller con- the pile is changed in delivery, a rake is inserted into the
veyor. flow of sheets. The sheets collect there until an empty
This type of material buffering is especially impor- pallet is fed to the rake from below. The pallet is designed
tant for presses with a non-stop feeder (fig. 8.1-9; see also that, during this operation, the rake slots into the
so sec. 2.1.2.8). To ensure that the pile is fed to the press grooves on the upper side of the pallet, with the first
in correct alignment, the paper piles are rotated by 90° sheets of the new pile being transferred from the rake to
on a turntable and fed to the press from the side. For the pallet. The rake can be withdrawn (manually). Au-
pile changes, a fully automatic rake is pushed into the tomated solutions are also available in this instance: An
grooves of the system pallet. Main and secondary piles intermediate carrier is activated in the delivery, onto
are merged to preserve straight edges. which the sheets are delivered while the full pallet is
As shown in figure 8.1-8, the conveyor system can moved out of the delivery and the empty pallet is moved
transport empty pallets from the feed area of the press in. The accurately stacked intermediate pile is then
to the delivery area where they can take over the print- transferred onto the empty pallet (see also fig. 2.1-71).
ed paper piles. Dual-stream deliveries, as illustrated in figure
A buffer zone in the delivery area enables short- 8.1-11, for example, are a highly automated variant of a
term intermediate storage of the loaded pallets until non-stop delivery. The paper pile can be conveyed away
they are taken away for finishing. Within and outside from the second delivery while the first delivery is tak-
the printshop, the standardization of pallet size and ing over the sheets. Dual-stream deliveries can also be
shape of the pick-up/transfer equipment is a prelim- used for the express purpose of separating misprints,
inary requirement for the automation of pile con- that is, waste (such deliveries may also be referred to as
veyance. Only when the pallet geometry in the trans- “waste diverters”; see also sec. 2.1.2.8). This can be ac-
fer areas is not dependent on particular manufactur- tivated manually, but it is more expedient for an in-line
ers can the feeding of the pile for printing and delivery quality control system or an operator-activated control
Fork-lift truck (or AGV)

to remove the
printed paper pile
Roller conveyor Automated guided
vehicle system
Turntable (AGVS) to supply
Buffer zone the paper piles
Buffer zone for paper piles
for printed
paper piles Delivery Printing press Feeder
Automatic
(non-stop)
pile change
Fully automated transport of empty

Control Empty pallets pallets from the feeder to the delivery Empty pallets are automatically
console (automatically removed from the feeder
moved in position)
Fig. 8.1-8
Pile conveyance with functional components for pile loading and removal on the sheet-fed press and for the transfer of pallets between
feeder and delivery (Heidelberg)
Rake
Fig. 8.1-10
Fig. 8.1-9 Delivery with equipment (rake, etc.) for semi-automatic pile change
Feeder with equipment for fully-automatic pile change (non-stop in non-stop operation (Heidelberg)
feeder) with buffer area (Heidelberg)
command to do this. This equipment can naturally be AGVS (automatically guided vehicles systems), which
used for the removal of specimen sheets, much like the enable automatic conveyance of palletized paper piles
manually or automatically activated intermediate stor- (fig. 8.1-12), represent an even higher level of paper lo-
age described above. gistics automation in sheet-fed printing. These AGVS
Fig. 8.1-11
Dual-stream delivery for automatic pile change or as “waste di-
verter“ in connection with an in-line print quality inspection system
(Komori)
Fig. 8.1-13
Pile turning device for pallet transfer or reverse side printing (Busch)
collaborate on the print floor of a sheet-fed offset

printshop.
Fig. 8.1-12 Despite the fact that it is technologically possible to
Automated guided vehicle (AGV) for paper pile conveyance implement the concepts illustrated above (especially
(Heidelberg/Eisenmann) those in figs. 8.1-14 and 8.1-7), the use of such logistics
systems is not widespread.
take over the conveying tasks between the ware-

house/storage, the press, intermediate storage, pile 8.1.2 Logistics in Printing Companies
turners, and finishing.
Figure 8.1-13 shows a manual pile turning device. This As in many other branches of industry, in printing
pile turner is used to jog a paper pile before printing, to companies logistics rarely obtain the attention their
align and/or remove dust from the sheets, to remove pos- importance merits. In many cases logistics are seen on-
sible waste (conveying/storage often results in damaged ly as secondary consequences of the actual production
sheets in the first sections), and move piles onto system processes, and, with regard to logistical organization
pallets. The pile turner can rotate a sheet pile printed on and the available investment resources, the decisions
one side (straight printing) by 180° for reverse side made are often small-scale and non-committal. Yet lo-
printing. gistics represent a complex and often very important
The system outlines in figures 8.1-14 and 8.1-7 illus- administrative function in terms of overall productiv-
trate how the previously described logistics functions ity. Because printing companies must produce an
Fig. 8.1-14 Overview of a paper pile logistics system for feeding and removing paper piles for several sheet-fed presses (MAN Roland)
extremely wide range of different products, deal with ing, there exists an independent distribution system of
dynamic timing sequences, and manage “difficult ma- wholesalers and retailers for most other print media.
terials” such as paper, there are a number of great chal- This is the case, for example, for the book or periodi-
lenges for the organization of logistics. cal business (see sec. 8.1.3). Printed material distributed
In spite of these particular features, the logistics func- to final customers by mail occupies a special position.
tions of many printing companies do not fundamen- In all these cases, however, the finished products have
tally differ from those of other industries. For this rea- to be delivered from the printing companies to only
son, only the specifics of logistics in printing companies one or a limited number of locations.
are made available here. Otherwise references to litera- The logistics department usually provides for pro-
ture covering the basic aspects of this topic are given. curement, warehousing, materials flow, and dispatch and
In general, in the administrative organization of a disposal. To do this with cost-effective results, one must
printing company, the purchasing or production de- carefully consider favorable conditions, proper quality,
partment is responsible for coordinating logistics func- and correct time of delivery.
tions (see fig. 8.1-15). There are, however, also printing
companies in which the logistics functions are split in- 8.1.2.1 Procurement Logistics
to procurement logistics and production logistics. There in Printing Companies
is only a small number of printing companies that have In printing companies, the following categories of
their own large-scale and independent distribution lo- materials have to be procured for the production
gistics. Many newspaper printing houses, which main- process:
tain their own delivery service because they distribute
their products to the end consumer on the subscrip- • raw materials, especially paper, ink, and printing
tion business level, are the exception here. After print- and finishing resources,
Fig. 8.1-15
Material flow and logistics tasks in printing Procurement logistics Distribution logistics
companies Production logistics
Inventory (stock) management
Material Intermediate
storage storage
Production
Incoming In-house
Supplier Transport Dispatch Transport Customer
goods transport
Purchasing Sales
Transport control
• semi-finished products, preproducts, prehensive scale. For one reason, the stock type often
• services, equipment goods. constitutes an important property of the printed prod-
uct due to its haptic characteristics (e.g., feeling the pa-
Although the last two categories hardly impose on the per surface, when turning pages), which clients place
logistics of a printing company, the first category – pro- great importance on, using it to distinguish themselves
viding the printing companies with raw materials – is from competitors. On the other hand, depending on
a major logistics task. The range of raw materials the type, paper prices vary tremendously so that with
processed in a printing company can be very large ac- the sheer mass of paper used in the printing process
cording to the products produced. With respect to and the sweeping fluctuations in the cost of paper, the
bookbinding, for instance, customers often have di- final costs of a printed product can skyrocket. Conse-
verse requirements for a product’s design – a fact that quently, for larger print jobs, the client may decide to
calls for a diversity of materials. purchase the paper himself and supply it – along with
However, only in exceptional cases do printing com- the print order – to the printing company.
panies stock a great range of inks. Because process inks Paper production plants are very large and have re-
are standardized, printing companies frequently have markably complex requirements on workload, pro-
only one set of inks that has been optimized with the ductivity, makeready times, and so on. In the case of
ink supplier and produces the best print results under larger quantities, the paper market behaves much like
normal printing conditions. If needed, a few alterna- a daily market. This means that relatively large fluctu-
tive types of ink suitable for different substrates may be ations in price and delivery times are the norm. Con-
kept in stock. Normally it is possible to agree upon a sequently, a well-devised paper purchasing strategy,
medium-term supply plan with an ink supplier and set which often necessitates greater stock storage, can
up a closed container recycling program adapted to the bring about benefits for the company. On the other
print production. Depending on the size of the print- hand there is the risk of supply shortages. Therefore,
ing company, ink can be delivered in small pots, drums, printing companies accept large jobs only if the paper
tankers, or railway wagons. supply has already been guaranteed. There is yet an-
However, procurement logistics become most im- other problem for paper logistics: many printing com-
portant with regard to the substrate, that is, mainly pa- panies have dynamic scheduling of the production se-
per. Paper is usually responsible for the largest propor- quence, and printing deadlines often have to be post-
tion of turnover in a printing company, and because of poned due to client requirements, problems with
its quantity, it involves, by far, the greatest scope of sup- suppliers, or technical problems in the printing work.
ply. Unlike ink, it is not possible for most printing com- The materials procurement department of a print-
panies to maintain a variety of paper types on a coming company repeatedly finds itself in conflict with pro-
duction. Because differences in the quality of materials cause overall production may drag on for a fairly long
have a very noticeable effect on the productivity of the time. This is sometimes due to scheduling optimiza-
production processes (e.g., the number of web breaks, tion in the printing company itself.
soiling of the press by paper dust, etc.), production de- Actual end-product storage facilities are rarely need-
partments mostly require high paper quality. Purchas- ed in printing companies because their production
ing departments, on the other hand, prefer to make de- tends to be geared for one job that will be delivered im-
cisions according to purchasing conditions. Another mediately. For this reason, buffer areas (most often in
problem is the fact that larger amounts of paper are intermediate storage) are needed to cover availability
bought by weight. (In the web printing sector this is al- gaps.
most exclusively the case. In the sheet-fed offset sector, In the printing sector, only webs of paper require spe-
however, purchasing may take place according to the cial storage techniques; all other stored goods can be
number of sheets.) Because in printing it is the surface conveyed and stored on pallets. Accordingly, the gen-
area (number of impressions) that counts, shortages eral materials storage and intermediate storage are sel-
can occur if there are variations in paper density (con- dom physically separate. Common practice calls for
tent of water) or thickness in the paper supply. reels of paper (in the form and packaging received on
As a result, numerous points will be repeatedly dis- delivery) to be stacked on top of each other, lateral sur-
cussed between the paper supplier and the printing face to lateral surface (stacked storage, see sec. 8.1.1.2).
company, and because of the high value paper con- The storage system for general materials and inter-
tributes to the product, these points are of considerable mediate storage is usually based on standardized pal-
financial importance for both parties. Hence, purchas- lets. Depending on the storage space, the rate of
ing departments must constantly deal with complaints turnover, and other relevant parameters, storage facil-
pertaining to paper. In order to clarify problems and ities may make use of standard industrial steel shelving
avoid disputes, each reel of paper is marked individu- systems, forklift trucks, and so on. Two-stage storage
ally (see sec. 8.1.1.2). Therefore, a well organized pro- systems are found in many printing companies. In such
curement logistics department in a printing company a system, one area, with no storage system, is set aside
will have established a continuous documentation sys- for short-term storage. Pallets are kept there for, gen-
tem for paper handling: incoming goods are inspected, erally speaking, less than 24 hours. The second storage
samples are analyzed in the quality assurance labora- area may often contain rack storage facilities for more
tory, and uninterrupted management of the paper reels long-term use. High-rack storage with automatic load-
carried out from storage to the press. ing systems is used by only a few, fairly large book man-
ufactures and publishers (fig. 8.1-16).
8.1.2.2 Inventory Management In a printing company, the stock control is of consid-
in Printing Companies erably greater importance than the actual storage sys-
The demands on stock control/inventory management in tem. The general objectives of stock control to
printing companies are essentially the same as those in
other branches of industry. All printing companies have • avoid high stocks and minimize tied-up capital,
materials storerooms, whereas the need for intermediate • turn over stock quickly,
storage may vary considerably depending on the product • avoid residual stock,
range. Newspaper printing houses have very little need for • avoid ullage, and
intermediate storage; printing is usually done in one pass • provide economically sound inventory mainte-
and delivery follows immediately. Some expenditures on nance
storage first become necessary when a job requires pre-
production processes or calls for inserts printed else- are considerably more difficult to achieve. This is true
where to be put into the print run at a later time. Short- because there are no recurring production jobs; each
term intermediate storage is generally necessary in cata- production run is created from new sections. The com-
log and magazine production: The individual product plexity that results from the great variety of stored
sections are printed in succession, and for finishing, all goods and their constantly changing storage needs is
product sections must be available at the same time. further increased by the fact that the production is not
For calendar and book production, on the other hand, planned very far ahead in printing companies. Hence,
structured intermediate storage is usually required be- it may frequently be the case that production materials
Figure 8.1-17 shows an example of a printing compa-

ny with the various functions of prepress, printing, fin-
ishing (in this case the production of folding boxes with
die-cutting and gluing), and their connections to the
materials flow going to and from storage.
The paper supply to presses is explained in sections
8.1.1 and 2.1 for both web-fed presses and sheet-fed
presses (see figs. 2.1-78 and 2.1-82, in particular), the
technologies for feeding printing sheets to finishing
equipment are described in section 7.3.1. In a printing
company, production logistics are often confronted
with these questions: In what form should the loose,
folded sheets be conveyed and stored, and what system
should be used to solve the problem of internal con-
veyance?
Material flows analysis between the various stages of
production and storage (fig. 8.1-18) constitutes the fun-
damental basis for designing production logistics.
Minimum/maximum levels and systematic variants
(e.g., for certain types of production at specific times
of the year) must be taken into account.
When conveying loose, printed sheets, care must be
taken to ensure that no damage occurs. Additionally,
signature changes of the sheets in relation to each oth-
er must also be avoided. One sheet must not be turned
or tumbled in relation to another sheet’s position. Such
an action, in particular, could cause sheets to be bound
the wrong way around during finishing.
Although these requirements actually favor con-
Fig. 8.1-16 veyance in closed containers, this type of transport has
View of high-rack storage for books (Bertelsmann Arvato) proved to be financially viable only in a few exception-
al cases. The following four procedures are widely used
at present:
have to be removed from storage and made available • The sheets are deposited in packages directly onto
for a machine at short notice or that materials removed pallets. The packages are stacked in criss-cross for-
from storage have to be returned because scheduling mation in optimal sequence in relation to each oth-
arrangements have changed. For these kinds of situa- er in order to attain the greatest possible stability of
tions, storage systems must be equipped for easy ac- the pallet contents as well as compensating for the
cessibility and EDP (electronic data proscessing)-as- fact that the folding spines are bulky. Pallets such as
sisted inventory management. these can be conveyed as usual within the printing
company. If they are to be transported over longer
8.1.2.3 Production Logistics in Printing Companies distances additional hoops must be fastened
Production logistics are concentrated on the following around the pallet or the pallet must be shrink-
key concepts: the provision of materials for produc- wrapped.
tion, the internal conveyance of intermediate products • The printed sheets are pressed together with special
between production stages to and from intermediate stacker-bundlers in a standing row and hooped to-
storage, the removal of the finished products from pro- gether firmly. These bundles are deposited on pal-
duction machinery, as well as the disposal of waste and lets and are very stable for conveying. Bundles such
used printing plates. as these can be formed automatically from an in-
Fig. 8.1-17
Printing company (specialized for the pro- Incoming goods/
duction of folding boxes) with various outgoing goods
production logistics functions (Heidelberg)
Prepress and
Administration
Printing
Ware-
Die-cutting house
and (storage)
creasing
Gluing
feeding stream, and the hooped bundles can also be fastened by a clamping mechanism. Another sys-
automatically deposited on pallets (see fig. 7.3-6). tem, the belt system, conveys the sheet stream on a
• The infeeding stream can be rolled onto a core with rotating belt (see also figs. 7.2-60 and 7.3-18).
the help of a tape guide mechanism. These reels of
rolled-up printed sheets can then be conveyed in Production logistics must also provide for the disposal
either a vertical or a horizontal position and, upon of waste materials, the greatest proportion of which –
reaching their destination, be unwound again (see in terms of quantity – is paper waste. The major sources
fig. 7.3-7). of paper waste in the production flow are shown in fig-
• The printed sheets running out of a unit can be ure 8.1-19. In conventional printing companies, the
transferred directly to the next unit by means of a proportion of paper waste produced in web printing
conveyor system. One kind of conveyor system is a (necessitated by the technical design of production sys-
chain conveyor, onto which each separate sheet is tems) may be up to 25%. In sheet-fed printing this per-
Fig. 8.1-18
Example of material-flow analysis between Paper reel 153 Reels/Day
consign- Supplied Delivered
production stages; the average quantities Preproducts Finished products
ment Reel
conveyed in a large web offset printing
storage
company are shown 13 Reels/D
28 Reels/D 339 Pal/Day
Web offset press 1
22 Reels/D
79 Pal/D
Web offset press 2 146
36 Reels/D
Web offset press 3
Pal/D Inter-
28 Reels/D mediate Dispatch
Web offset press 4 storage
17 Reels/D
Web offset press 5
22 Reels/D
233 Pal/Day
Web offset press 6
106 Pal/D
Paper reels (reels/day)
Semi-finished products (pallets/day)
Finished products (pallets/day)
Gatherer- Gatherer- Perfect Perfect

stitcher 1 stitcher 2 binder 1 binder 2
Print Media waste materials. This means that internal waste dis-
Paper input output posal logistics must determine environmentally
friendly ways of collecting, separating, and discarding
100% approx. 75%–80%
ink and solvent residue, cleaning cloths, and so forth.
(see also sec. 13.2.1).
8.1.3 Logistics in Publishing Houses
Misprints Remainders & Publishing houses are at the head of the print media
4%–9% finishing waste production value-added chain; they process predomi-
White paper waste Trim-off 2%–5% nantly organizational and content-related production
2%–4% 8%–13% tasks in the actual product planning stage (see also figs.
1.9-4 and 8.1-1). Consequently, this sector rarely deals
Fig. 8.1-19 Waste rate in printing companies with logistics beyond office organization and commu-
nication technology.
At the end of the value-added chain, however, the
publishing house is responsible for taking over the
centage is considerably lower. In larger printing com- sales, marketing, and distribution of the documents
panies, waste paper is collected separately as white pa- produced. Newspapers, periodicals, and books are
per waste and print waste and then passed on to recy- three large product groups involving different require-
cling companies. This may produce some revenue, de- ments.
pending on the market situation. In the case of regional newspapers, the publishing
Used printing plates also accumulate in considerable house itself, for reasons of topicality, usually takes
quantities and are sold as scrap metal. care of the distribution of its product. Here, one
Because of the explicit environmental regulations, should distinguish between three different distribu-
printing companies are now obliged to dispose of most tion concepts:
• subscription sales, the street distribution of such printed materials. Addi-

• street sales, tionally, the wholesalers supply the shops at the end of
• delivery of free newspapers. the chain with a broad range of titles and also attend to
invoicing. As is the case for newspapers, the actual dis-
These three forms of marketing occur in quite differ- tribution process has a similar, stream-lined connec-
ent proportions according to national habits; in Ger- tion with the production because topicality constraints
many, for example, subscriptions to newspapers are the require editorial deadlines to be set as late as possible.
most common form, whereas in the USA subscriptions The first finished and bundled copies of the periodicals
constitute only a small proportion of the market. In the generally go straight to subscription distributors. As
case of subscription sales, the publishing house runs its with newspapers, there are virtually no in-house stor-
own organization: It looks after the final customer and, age logistics for periodicals apart from short-term in-
following production, directly distributes to house- termediate storage. After production, in almost every
holds via its own delivery service. In the case of street case (scientific magazines sometimes provide excep-
sales, the newspapers are delivered directly to the sales tions), the complete print run will be distributed di-
outlets (kiosks, shops, etc.), which then receive invoic- rectly to and stored at the final sales outlets. Unsold
es for the copies they sell. Free newspaper deliveries are copies later go back to the wholesaler as returns and be-
usually arranged by independent companies that are come paper waste.
able to make deliveries to every household in a partic- Selling books is different from selling newspapers and
ular district. periodicals in that the sales period is usually very long.
In the case of national newspapers, the mail delivery Because book buyers are accustomed to finding books
service is often used as the distributing organization for available over several years time, there are many titles
subscription sales. In other instances, however, a na- that generally have low, but constant, sales. This de-
tional newspaper may employ local newspaper pub- mand necessitates storage space for books.
lishing houses to distribute its product. Only very large or very small publishing houses do
Since newspaper delivery seldom involves the use of their own book storage. Most publishing houses, on the
storerooms, organizing fast and efficient distribution is other hand, give their titles to special distribution ser-
of utmost importance. To accomplish this, distribution vices that organize individual, book-trade deliveries
systems (generally in cascaded form) make use of inter- and may also attend to invoicing. These book whole-
mediate distribution centers and, simultaneously, strive salers use organization and technology that hardly dif-
to optimize distribution routes. The issue of topicality fer from those employed by other wholesaling compa-
calls for the direct coordination of the production se- nies. The publishing house gives its instructions to the
quence with the distribution schedule, and, as a result, printing works, which, in turn, delivers the printed
the copies that take longest to deliver are printed first. books to the wholesaler’s book warehouse. Here, books
Subscription copies of periodicals are usually deliv- are kept in high-rack storage systems. Purchase orders
ered by mail. Often, it is not the publishing house itself, from the book trade are generally consolidated daily;
but independent service companies that attend to the the individual orders are then picked out from stock and
addresses and “preparation for posting.” After receiv- delivered to the retailers. As is common practice nowa-
ing the quantity of periodicals required for subscribers days, delivery generally takes place within 24 hours.
from the printshop, these companies separate and In addition to the traditional book market, mixed
package the material according to requirements. The outlets (supermarkets, gas stations, etc.) represent an
mailing process itself is important and demands con- ever-increasing source of book sales. In this case, re-
stant optimization: Special programs that sequentially spective marketing organizations receive the planned
organize the address data guarantee better mail distri- quantity of books directly. The sales of books on the In-
bution. Some mail distributing technologies may make ternet, however, is also a rapidly growing trend: The end
use of a distinct lettering or font style and supplement customer electronically submits a purchase order right
the address with a bar-code. When delivering packages to the book wholesaler, thus circumventing the book-
that have been optimized for mailing in this way, mail- seller. A conventional delivery from the wholesaler’s in-
ing companies can give very good discounts. house stock ensues (see sec. 12.4, fig. 12.4-4).
Wholesalers who market a wide range of periodicals Because book publications typically experience slow
have also established themselves as the main sources for sales and a title’s actual sales figures can be difficult to
determine, the publisher must contend with high pre- rent production costs and print quality are only ac-
financing costs as well as storage fees. With these fi- ceptable for a very small range of products.
nancial concerns in mind, publishing houses are always
asking themselves how many copies of certain titles Further Reading for 8.1.2 and 8.1.3
they should print and how long they should actually Domschke, W.; Scholl A.; Voß, S.: Produktionsplanung.
keep a title stocked and available for delivery. Clearly, a Springer, Berlin 1993.
publishing house aims to lower the rate of unsellable Günther, H.-O.; Tempelmeier, H.: Produktion und
Logistik. Springer, Berlin 1994.
returns and avoid the expensive reprinting of out-of- Heizer, J.; Render, B.: Production and operations manage-
print products. ment. Allyn & Bacon, Boston (MA) 1993.
There are now high expectations for print on de- Martin, H.: Transport- und Lagerlogistik. Vieweg,
mand technologies, by means of which book produc- Braunschweig 1995.
tion occurs only according to the purchase order and Pfeifer, H.: Grundlagen der Fördertechnik. Vieweg,
required quantity, that is, a “print run of one” is possi- Braunschweig 1995.
ble (“book on demand”; see also sec. 9.1.3 and fig. Schmidt, K.-J.: Logistik. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1993.
Tempelmeier, H.: Material-Logistik. Springer, Berlin 1992.
9.1-6). Along with this technology, the electronic dis-
Weber, J.: Logistik-Controlling. Schäfer-Poeschel,
tribution of documents becomes possible, making Stuttgart 1993.
physical book storage unnecessary. However, the cur-
923
8.2 Networking and Data Flow
As shown in section 1.2, figure 8.2-1 describes the com- For instance, computer to plate technology requires a
plete production flow once more, from the idea – the networked data flow down to the printing plate output,
concept of a printed product – to the finished product, which can be considered the last stage of prepress.
including its distribution to the user. At first, the dif- When using a computer to plate system, the conven-
ferent stages of production were linked together sim- tional data carrier, film, is replaced by the digital data
ply by the flow of material. Nowadays, this flow is in- flow.
creasingly complemented by means of digital infor- When implementing computer to press technologies,
mation, that is, data. the digital data flow must extend to the press
The spreading of computers and networks increasing- room/printing system, since only there will the digital
ly affects the production of printed products. After net- job data be transferred to another medium in order to
working prepress,networks are now being installed in the produce the print media. Depending on the technolo-
printshop and partly in finishing for a multitude of pur- gy used, the medium can be an intermediate carrier
poses. This is mostly due to the digitization of the job da- (printing plate) or the printing material (paper, card-
ta, which is possible by implementing new technologies. board, foil, etc.) itself (cf. sec. 4.1.4).
Database
Production flow
Printed
Consumer, end customer
product
Information sources
Plate, Printed
Originals etc. pages
Customer, Printing
Agency, Prepress Postpress Distributor
process
Publisher
Data Data Data Data
Film, plate, etc. Paper, ink, etc. Material, etc.
Warehouse
Consumables
Supplier
Fig. 8.2-1 Production flow (prepress, press, postpress) with material and data flow for the production of printed products

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Material and Data Flow

8.1 Material Logistics

Image processing Proof printer

Classified ad system Film punching can

Plate punching can

Scanner Plate ready Plate bending Plate processing

Prepunching Plate Plate Plate Plate Plate punching

Full webs Half webs Full webs Partial webs

Connection to the Printer

Ink container Printing units of the newspaper press

Ink tanks for chromatic Ink tanks

Fig. 8.1-6 The ink supply of a newspaper press (IFRA)

Control console Automated guided vehicle (AGV)

Fork-lift truck (or AGV)

Fully automated transport of empty

collaborate on the print floor of a sheet-fed offset

take over the conveying tasks between the ware-

Inventory (stock) management

Figure 8.1-17 shows an example of a printing compa-

Gatherer- Gatherer- Perfect Perfect

8.1.3 Logistics in Publishing Houses

• subscription sales, the street distribution of such printed materials. Addi-

8.2 Networking and Data Flow

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