System Integration has become a fashionable term today and represents a trend in the development of printing technology. In fact, today people are familiar with Computer To Film, Plate, Press and Other technologies, can be seen as the stage of system integration results. System integration is not a new concept, but the application of digital technology, digital media, and network technology has given a new meaning to system integration, and it has entered a new era. From the results, system integration has started from the narrow sense of the production system to the business, management, and operation of the enterprise, forming a huge information resource and management system. At the same time, this system is trans-regional, even global, and It is gradually becoming a technological foundation for the globalization of printing production. This development has raised new issues and challenges for the planning, design, and production of equipment and equipment. It has also given birth to unlimited opportunities for development. The international mergers of prepress, printing and postpress companies that emerged in the 1990s are actually a result of meeting this challenge and business opportunities; traditional printing equipment manufacturers have extended their reach to the prepress area, resulting in a large technology Collaboration is also a powerful measure to deal with such challenges and business opportunities; "system suppliers" have gradually replaced traditional "manufacturers" and become an expression of corporate strength and goals. Of course, if we do not have a clear understanding of the nature of this development, the result may only be awkward and overwhelming. We do not know where the difficulties and challenges come from, nor will we see opportunities for development.
First, the evolution of system integration
Media and means of communication are the two pillars of all media industries and also determine the nature and social function of the industry. For printing, the traditional media is paper (a kind of physical media) and the traditional mode of communication is transportation. The production process of printed products can simply be seen as the conversion process of different physical media: from manuscript to film, from film to plate, then from plate to print. From the perspective of the system as a whole, traditional printing production is a typical analog production method and is based on "simulation processing/processes + physical media/storage + transportation". With the wide application of digital technology and network technology in printing, the industrial technology base represented by “simulation processing/process+physical media/storage+transportation†relied on by traditional printing production is undergoing tremendous changes and is gradually developing. The transition to the modern industrial technology base represented by "digital processing/process + digital media/high-density storage + network transmission". It is now in an era where the two technological foundations are blended and co-exist. The scope and degree of system integration depends on the industrial technology foundation and has different forms at different stages. Simply speaking, system integration based on traditional industrial technology is often partial, incomplete, and local. Integration based on modern industrial technology is comprehensive, complete, and geographical.
Due to the limitations of technology, early system integration mainly reflected in the prepress area, and its scope and impact were very limited. For example, the change from indirect screening process to direct-attached process can be seen as the result of two-step separation of color separation and screening, and the result of one-step operation; for example, from the traditional electronic separation mechanism process to the entire page. The transformation of the imposition production process can be seen as the result of the integration of prepress image processing, word processing, imposition, and copy operations; again, the direct plate making technology can be seen as prepress image processing, word processing, imposition, copying, and copying operations. The result of the integration. Of course, every time there is a new level of integration, new requirements will be put forward for equipment and equipment. Some of the requirements may even become the key to achieving system integration and bottlenecks. In addition to requiring the prepress system to have sufficient graphics and text processing capabilities, direct platemaking requires special requirements for the output device and the performance of the plate. For a long time, the imaging speed of plates has been a difficult point in the industrialization of this technology. Even today, this is still a technical problem that has not been completely resolved. In this sense, people are familiar with the CTP technology, such as CTPlate (offline direct plate-making technology), CTPress (on-machine plate-making technology), CTProof (direct digital color proofing technology) and CTPrint (direct printing / digital printing ) and so on, are the results of the phased integration of the printing production system.
Today's system integration is no longer simply a certain step or a certain stage of printing production, but it runs through the entire process of printing and copying, and gradually integrates prepress, printing, and postpress into a complete system. The familiar CIP3 (Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press and Postpress) is a typical example of such system integration. Print control information (such as layout ink distribution, registration, etc.) and post-press control information (such as cutting position, folding position, binding, etc.) generated by the prepress processing can be transmitted to the printing and printing through the CIP3-PPF file. The rear equipment completes the automatic setting and control of the equipment operation, greatly shortens the preparation time before the printing machine is turned on, and reduces the number of overprinting papers, thereby increasing the production efficiency and reducing the production cost. This system integration is completely based on digital flow/processing, digital media/high-density storage and network transmission. It is complete, comprehensive, and even cross-regional. Production process and management become the key to the operation of the integrated system. Cross-regional means that the equipment (such as printing presses, etc.) involved in the system may not be in the same factory or even in the same geographical area. In fact, as long as the area covered by the system network, it can achieve full-scale production control and management, and get exactly the same qualified products as expected. (To be continued)
First, the evolution of system integration
Media and means of communication are the two pillars of all media industries and also determine the nature and social function of the industry. For printing, the traditional media is paper (a kind of physical media) and the traditional mode of communication is transportation. The production process of printed products can simply be seen as the conversion process of different physical media: from manuscript to film, from film to plate, then from plate to print. From the perspective of the system as a whole, traditional printing production is a typical analog production method and is based on "simulation processing/processes + physical media/storage + transportation". With the wide application of digital technology and network technology in printing, the industrial technology base represented by “simulation processing/process+physical media/storage+transportation†relied on by traditional printing production is undergoing tremendous changes and is gradually developing. The transition to the modern industrial technology base represented by "digital processing/process + digital media/high-density storage + network transmission". It is now in an era where the two technological foundations are blended and co-exist. The scope and degree of system integration depends on the industrial technology foundation and has different forms at different stages. Simply speaking, system integration based on traditional industrial technology is often partial, incomplete, and local. Integration based on modern industrial technology is comprehensive, complete, and geographical.
Due to the limitations of technology, early system integration mainly reflected in the prepress area, and its scope and impact were very limited. For example, the change from indirect screening process to direct-attached process can be seen as the result of two-step separation of color separation and screening, and the result of one-step operation; for example, from the traditional electronic separation mechanism process to the entire page. The transformation of the imposition production process can be seen as the result of the integration of prepress image processing, word processing, imposition, and copy operations; again, the direct plate making technology can be seen as prepress image processing, word processing, imposition, copying, and copying operations. The result of the integration. Of course, every time there is a new level of integration, new requirements will be put forward for equipment and equipment. Some of the requirements may even become the key to achieving system integration and bottlenecks. In addition to requiring the prepress system to have sufficient graphics and text processing capabilities, direct platemaking requires special requirements for the output device and the performance of the plate. For a long time, the imaging speed of plates has been a difficult point in the industrialization of this technology. Even today, this is still a technical problem that has not been completely resolved. In this sense, people are familiar with the CTP technology, such as CTPlate (offline direct plate-making technology), CTPress (on-machine plate-making technology), CTProof (direct digital color proofing technology) and CTPrint (direct printing / digital printing ) and so on, are the results of the phased integration of the printing production system.
Today's system integration is no longer simply a certain step or a certain stage of printing production, but it runs through the entire process of printing and copying, and gradually integrates prepress, printing, and postpress into a complete system. The familiar CIP3 (Cooperation for Integration of Prepress, Press and Postpress) is a typical example of such system integration. Print control information (such as layout ink distribution, registration, etc.) and post-press control information (such as cutting position, folding position, binding, etc.) generated by the prepress processing can be transmitted to the printing and printing through the CIP3-PPF file. The rear equipment completes the automatic setting and control of the equipment operation, greatly shortens the preparation time before the printing machine is turned on, and reduces the number of overprinting papers, thereby increasing the production efficiency and reducing the production cost. This system integration is completely based on digital flow/processing, digital media/high-density storage and network transmission. It is complete, comprehensive, and even cross-regional. Production process and management become the key to the operation of the integrated system. Cross-regional means that the equipment (such as printing presses, etc.) involved in the system may not be in the same factory or even in the same geographical area. In fact, as long as the area covered by the system network, it can achieve full-scale production control and management, and get exactly the same qualified products as expected. (To be continued)
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