Postpress Automation — Backing into IT

In addition to being active in CIP4, Muller Martini is an NGP Partners company. Naegeli characterizes that effort as enabling plug-and-play integration of equipment, as long as it is NGP certified. "The goal is to have the certification done for the current members by Drupa 2004," he reports.

According to recent surveys, most printers see investing in automated finishing systems as the next step in realizing a more efficient production workflow, points out Jim Mauro, product manager for Prinect press products at Heidelberg. "JDF-enabled systems will more closely integrate postpress with prepress for higher efficiency, but will also enable owners to acquire actual machine production information via JMF," Mauro says.