The article “Reworking Your Production Workflow” in the January/February edition of the SGIA Journal discussed how automating prepress-to-finishing workflows could help reduce time, errors and waste. Automation can also help maximize the number of jobs you can set up, produce, finish, ship and invoice every week.

This article is a follow-up to that article. If you successfully automate everything from your business management to your prepress, production and finishing workflows, you will someday be able to use all the data available to you to make better informed decisions about the potential return on investment (ROI) of future equipment purchases.

Software and HP WallArt interface simplify custom applications

People have been adopting inkjet technologies for home and industry use primarily because of their advantages over analog and other digital methods. One industry observer described the momentum of inkjet adoption as unstoppable. Considerable evidence substantiates his projections over the next five to 10 years, but existing inkjet technologies also have limitations and challenges that are worth considering for future planning and purchases. Additionally, some analog print methods can perform some tasks as well or better than current digital technologies and are more cost effective.

Shorter runs. Customization. Personalization. Targeting. It seems that no matter which segment of the printing industry you look at — from general commercial print, to publishing in all its myriad forms, even to industrial printing — these same basic forces are at work. So it should come as no surprise that these same drivers are making inroads into printed packagingse trends, in combination with other packaging-specic factors like micro-segmentation, the dramatic increase in SKUs (stock keeping units) and faster time-to-market demands are all helping drive digitally printed packaging.

The rapid evolution of digitally printed fabrics over the past few years has caused explosive growth as more output providers continue to jump on the bandwagon. In fact, digital textile printing was one of the fastest growing market sectors, reaching 10 percent growth in 2013 compared with 2012, according to Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). Supporting this trend are applications including soft signage for trade shows and retail, short runs for events, fabric samples for apparel, and custom fabrics for commercial interior design.

The Novus Synergia H/UV is a combination flatbed and roll-to-roll printer with productions speeds of up to 3000 square feet per hour

GF 5351, also known as ET 5351 Waterfall, now contains 60 percent REPREVE polyester and 40 percent polyester.