BVD Druck + Verlag AG, Schaan, Liechtenstein: More Efficient Printing – Integrated Workflow Creates a Competitive Edge

An integrated workflow concept based around Prinect and incorporating everything from prepress to postpress has enabled Liechtenstein company BVD Druck + Verlag AG in Schaan to boost its sales significantly without additional equipment or staff. In 2006 alone, the offset sector increased sales considerably with an additional 580 jobs. This achievement gave the company top spot ranking at the CIPPI Awards 2007 in the category "Biggest improvement in efficiency and customer focus through process automation".

Founded in 1927, the print shop specializes in high-quality commercial printing in short to medium runs. Integration has been given higher priority since 2002. "We are looking to maximize throughput and optimize quality," states BVD's CEO Peter Göppel. "That means combining the administrative and production aspects of our jobs in a single system," he adds. The company opted for a solution from Heidelberg. Following a six-month test phase, the phased introduction of a complete Prinect solution started in 2004. "We have a single Heidelberg contact for our entire workflow - a crucial factor in making the complexity of the complete integration process manageable," sums up Göppel.

Using consistent data throughout the print shop
The complete Prinect workflow now networks all BVD's job preparation, prepress, and pressroom operations, thereby combining all job-related administrative and technical data. Whereas JDF data from the various job stages had to be laboriously reconciled in the stand-alone solutions previously used, the central JDF management made possible by Prinect dispenses with the need for the time-consuming synchronization process. Job data is completely consistent throughout the workflow and can be used for each process step. All staff in prepress, press, and postpress can depend on reliable monitoring of production at all times and gain easy access to this data.

Greater productivity right along the line
"Integration and networking have a positive impact on all the print shop's business areas," says Göppel. The benefits of workflow automation can be seen in various areas of prepress. Jobs can now be set up faster, and PDFs are imported automatically and processed quickly. Automatic impositioning and ripping also make processes much simpler.

Göppel estimates the time saving at the prepress stage is five minutes per job. Reliable data improves reliability in the pressroom and prevents press stoppages. Transferring data from prepress and Prinect Prinance significantly cuts makeready times, while the use of color presetting data has cut paper waste by up to five percent. Prinect Prinance enables prepress staff to cost a job on various machines in advance before deciding on the actual production process and setting it up on the system. Automatic actual costing based on production data calculates the efficiency of a job. "We have used all the released capacity for additional jobs - an excellent example of the fact that greater productivity does not automatically mean job losses," concludes Göppel.