DIGITAL digest

Tim Daisy, CIM product manager at Printcafe, contends that a number of benefits can be realized through systems integration with suppliers, including increased accuracy of physical inventory, the opportunity for just-in-time purchasing and reduced inventory costs.

Getting back to the foundation of the digital smart factory, a comprehensive briefing on the current and anticipated future status of the Job Definition Format (JDF) standard was presented by Dr. Rainer Prosi, CIP4 technical chairman and senior software architect at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. According to Dr. Prosi, the next version of JDF (JDF 1.2) is now in preparation, with an anticipated publication date of late 2003. In this update, he says the standards group is addressing the interface between the customer and the printer, and between MIS and production, as well as prepress, press and postpress enhancements. (www.smartfactory.org)