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Wide-formt print providers who look at printers or various media when seeking "value-adds" for wide-format services should also look at the end of workflow.
Cutters, routers, and engravers open up a new world of multi-textured and even 3D finishing options. Software allows integration into existing workflow and Adobe and other documents to provide precise cuts. Allowances for distortion of the media are built into accompanying software.
And the bank pouch can become a little heavier.
"The idea is that these machines are going to make customers money," said Dana Curtis, allocations engineer for cutting products for Roland ASD, Lake Forest, CA, adding that with a cutter in the shop, "it's not just a supplement, but something that can actually take your business in a new direction."
Farming out cutting work can lose revenue. Cutting with hand tools is imprecise and wasteful. New machines have "drag and drop" software systems that integrate into most types of digital printing workflow and require little extra learning for production staff. And for the owner of the reprographic shop, it enlarges his or her control over jobs.
Don Skenderian, Esko-Graphics vice president of direct sales for North America, Kennesaw, GA, said there is more transparency between graphic person and artist as the digital era booms.
"This isn't only in what I would call display or signage," Skenderian reported, "but we're seeing the likes of consumer-products taking more control of the packaging of the product. In the past, they were taking it up to a design house or an advertising agency. So the bonding of the graphics and the structure is coming more and more closely together."
Workflow Add-on or a Boat Anchor?
Everyone has heard stories of reprographic companies buying an expensive piece of equipment that turns out to be a boat anchor. Steve Aranoff, business development director for MGE—USA, has heard a few. Printers want integration of cutting devices and associated software into existing workflow, period, he said.
i-cut software uses an optical scanner for making cutting files in conjunction with the RIP (raster imaging processor). And it works, regardless of the printer and cutter—and even if you want to change brands later on. "Whatever you've done with i-cut and i-script and the expanded i-script continues to work for everything for the rest of its life," Aranoff adds.
MGE has partnered with companies such as Kongsberg and its associated sales channels, such as Esko-Graphics, to combine i-cut with the Kongsberg DCM—one of 36 machines that uses the software.
"In other words, if you're working with a material that either stretches or shrinks," said Skenderian, "The i-script will take a look at a series of registration marks—fiduciary points—and it will pick up where the material may have stretched or shrunk. It will take that information and put in a gradient that allows the cut lines to conform to that variation."
The user can combine a number of files and jobs on one sheet of material to minimize waste. "With the workflow, one of the big issues is really aligning the graphics with respect to the finishing lines," said Skenderian. "Of course, that becomes very critical with the vinyl-type materials, because the machine will have a milling head on it. If you have a thick acrylic, it can actually cut that out, too—not just thinner material. When you do that, the i-cut is more critical, because here again, that type of material doesn't stretch as much as the vinyl."
"Marketing the finished job is important and part of the add-on value is installation," said Neil Sdunkawicz, Roland marketing manager, Lake Forest, CA.
Training Can Be Long
If production has experienced a Windows word-processing program or Microsoft business spreadsheet before that involves a printer, putting in a cutter involves little staff training, according to Dana Curtis, allocations engineer for cutting products for Roland cutters, which use a Window-based driver. "The software, Roland CutStudio, ties closely to Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator, and takes about an hour and a half from the time the machine is out of the box until the person is cutting," said Curtis. "Engravers, involve a little more—maybe about four hours, he adds.
"There's a little more on the mechanical side of it," Curtis says, "but that would be with any router or engraver on the market—understanding the tooling and some of the options available."
Some Kongsberg training may take up to a week. Most companies provide online options. Some have site visits periodically by support staff to determine how the machine is working. Reported Curtis: "We're not just a hardware seller. We want to offer applications."
And for the production staff, it involves less time staring at hourglasses on computers and letting the machine do the work, according to Aranoff.
"We're allowing the designer to take control of the production of a graphic," said Aranoff. "The operator of the machine only needs to know where to find the job on the network, where to turn on the power to the machine and make sure the right bit of blade and thickness of the material is compensated for. He doesn't need to know anything about design. All he has to know is how to run the machine—and all the intelligence necessary to accomplish what the designer wanted."
Standardization Ongoing
Machines and software appear to be on more of a path of integration. There are proprietary systems available that do not integrate products such as routing and cutting software. According to Aranoff, someday there will be an international standard in such software. Others indicate similar trends. Rick Rivera, application specialist for engraving solutions for Roland, added, "If someone asks us for [integration], we would be more than willing to help them out and provide them with the code-rending guidance."
Neal McChristy is a freelance writer who has written about the office-equipment and wide-format industry for more than 12 years. He welcomes feedback about the articles he writes and would like to have readers write about future topics. Contact him at nmcchristy@cox.net and his website is www.ezsnailmail.com
author: BY NEAL MCCHRISTY