Postpress Automation — Backing into IT

Freestanding JDF controllers are likely to become a commonly used solution for dealing with legacy equipment and manual processes in the bindery, Harvey believes. Such a controller could provide an interface to several different devices or even a whole department, he says.

"The server would act as a bridge between MIS systems and automated bindery equipment," the association exec observes. "This approach would provide a migration path that would be a little more friendly to a shop's capital budget. A lot of installed devices already have some capability to be included into an automated workflow, so it would just be a matter of slaving them (using their proprietary language) to a JDF-enabled controller."