Printing 4.0 is not just a production concept for the printing industry

The printing industry likes to give cross-industry new production concepts its own name - so instead of taking advantage of global technology trends, it develops its own niche (niche) market. To give two examples: We used JDF concepts to replace XML concepts popular in all other industries. In the end we had difficulty finding JDF professionals. There's also the buzzword "Web-to-Print". Now I have to explain to generations of college students that an e-commerce configuration program for print products is different from a web-based layout application (Web-to-Print).

We would feel that the printing industry is less innovative than Germany's leading automotive and machine manufacturing industries. If you have the opportunity to visit a medium-sized machine factory. There, the international market leader, can see that there are more casually dressed people than we think. When visiting a Mercedes-Benz E-Class workshop you will see that each car is configured differently from the previous one. This is not new to us as single manufacturers.

Maybe it has something to do with different industries. Maybe there are some innovations that we did earlier than other industries, so we formed our own concept.

My take on the buzzword Industry 4.0 is: Many in our industry are a step further than we think. Because for us, "Internet Printing House" is not a new thing. But now the main problem in machine and automotive manufacturing is that there is no longer batch or special production with partially underutilized workstations, but rather a software-based network that allows special production to run cleverly through the production floor with high utilization.

Some say we can already do this! And it is also possible to network with our suppliers and production partners!

So can we go beyond the concept of Industry 4.0? I said no, because Industry 4.0 has more connotation and depth to the printing industry, so I made an exception and reformulated my own concept: "Print 4.0" (printing 4.0), which for the printing industry means There are more production ideas than just networking.

■ Printing 4.0 itself is a networked printing product. When the printed hangtag on the door of the hotel contains printed electronic content, if the guest does not want to be disturbed, it is digitally communicated to the waiter, and then an efficient service process is generated from it.

■ Print 4.0 is web print and online communication. If all media reach their potential and each media's contribution to advertising effectiveness can be measured through a good reporting system, then cross-media marketing will make an even greater contribution to the online environment of our industry.

Printing 4.0 is not just a production concept for the printing industry. It also concerns our products and services. Printing 4.0 is a concept with real value added!

(From the 13th issue of "The German Printer" in 2015)