Looking at the development of equipment and equipment from system integration (2)

The printing market can usually be classified according to the coordinate system composed of quality and quantity. The II quadrant is a traditional printing market that aims at popular demand and wins by quantity and quality. The main forces in this market are traditional gravure printing, offset printing, letterpress printing, and screen printing. However, with the continuous maturation and widespread use of CTP technology, the efficiency and speed of plate making have been greatly improved, and the cost has been greatly reduced. These printing methods have begun to migrate to the first quadrant, namely short version, high quality, diversification and high Added value market. This is the ultimate market for digital printing and on-demand printing.
The future printing production system is actually a networked huge information resource database and various input, processing and output devices (network contacts) connected thereto. With the passage of time, the network continues to expand and nodes continue to grow. The visual information such as images, graphics, and text contained in the database continues to grow. The ideal state is that the information resources in the database are completely stored in a “neutral” format that is independent of the media and nodes (devices). Each node is managed and controlled exactly according to the characteristics of the attributes to ensure the correct conversion and use of information and data. . This is just like the popular color management technology. The input color data of various input devices are converted into device-independent color data according to their respective feature attributes, namely CIE's XYZ or Lab, various output or display devices at the output or When the color data is displayed, it is also converted into device-related data according to the respective feature attributes, ensuring the consistency of the results. That is to say, as long as the characteristic attribute of the node (device) is known, any set of data in the database can be output on any node (device) to obtain different forms of products (such as films, plates, proofs, etc.). Prints, display images, CD-ROMs, and other web applications, etc.), and the effect is the same, no need for reprocessing.
Third, integrate the equipment and equipment in the system If the integrated system is regarded as a huge information network system, the equipment is actually a network node that carries out certain specific processing or/and processing on information and is an integral part of the information network system. / Components. For example, the scanner is responsible for the color separation and digitization of the image. The imposition workstation is responsible for splicing images and text into graphic and digital pages according to the layout requirements. The platesetter is responsible for directly converting the digital pages into printing plates. The printing machine is controlled according to the system. The instructions are responsible for converting the plates into print and so on. Therefore, in addition to the equipment must have its specific processing and processing functions, the equipment must be able to accept the information and data in the network, and convert these information and data into equipment settings and operation control instructions to complete the processing and processing operations.
Likewise, the information and data thus generated or updated must also be accepted and invoked by other nodes/devices in the network. That is to say, the communication of the equipment in the network is two-way, must design according to the standard format and the idea of ​​the open system, otherwise, the equipment can't be integrated into the system completely, can only be an island. In order to avoid this isolated island, DRUPA'2000 shows us two types of business development/survival modes. One is a system supplier like Heidelberg, which provides full system support for the hardware and software needed for the printing production system; the other is like the "PrintCity" shows, in terms of modularity, standardization and openness. Conceptually designed hardware and software equipment can be integrated into a complete, seamless production system. It's just like building bricks. Only if it meets the standard, the modular blocks can be spliced ​​into a complete pattern (system) without any gaps inside the pattern, so called “seamless” (indicating that the information is in the system). There are no obstacles to flow and sharing.) This can be illustrated visually with the example of a spliced ​​building block. If splicing a complete square plane geometry, the building block can only be a square, rectangle or a triangle resulting from the diagonal division of these geometrical figures which is an integral multiple of the length or width. Otherwise, the complete geometry will not be obtained.
In an integrated system, equipment and equipment weigh the same weight, which is of equal importance. Equipment and equipment and the environment in which they are formed constitute the subject and object of system management and control information, and also determine the characteristics of each node of the system. From the perspective of system management and control, as long as the characteristics of each node are known, complete settings, control, and management can be implemented. It is not important whether each node is specifically composed of any equipment or equipment. Practice has proved that the abstraction of equipment and supporting equipment as feature attributes to set, manage and control is an effective method to ensure the integration of production operations. Therefore, in addition to the equipment must be matched/matched with the corresponding equipment to meet the corresponding technical requirements, the strictness of the technical specifications and the stability in performance are particularly important. Any change in the technical specifications of the equipment and its instability in performance will lead to a change in the properties of the corresponding node, which will invalidate the management and control information of the system, thus making system integration meaningless. The stability and control of environmental conditions also have important implications, as changes in environmental conditions can directly lead to equipment. The properties of the equipment, especially the properties of the equipment, change.
The manufacturer of equipment and equipment must have the meaning of a system supplier. While following the development of technology, it must first be clear that the equipment or equipment produced is a module for building a complete system. It must be able to integrate seamlessly into the system. , and will not undermine the integrity of the system. Therefore, the planning of the product must closely follow the development of technology, pay attention to the advanced nature of the technology and the compatibility of the system; in the design concept, we must fully reflect the modularization. Openness and standardization of the modern system design ideas; must meet the system's control and management requirements in function, and the system function perfectly match; must be strict in the performance of the technical specifications and stability. Otherwise, the products produced may only be “islands” and cannot be integrated into the system. From a development point of view, there will not be a large market demand for equipment and equipment to become "islands". Apart from the "slot survival" as a way out, the remaining fate is "being stricken" and nobody cares.
IV. Concluding remarks As a result of the changes in the industrial technology foundation, system integration has extended from the production level to all levels including the management and operation of the enterprise, and a huge information management system will be formed. This will not only completely change the production, management, and operation modes of traditional printing, but will also greatly expand the application fields of printing, leading to the diversified development of the printing market and opening up new business opportunities and application areas. At the same time, this also presents new challenges and issues for equipment and equipment manufacturers. System compatibility, system support, modularization, openness, standardization, advanced technology, reliable performance and stability have become the first considerations in the planning, design, and manufacturing of equipment and equipment. At the same time, they must be thoroughly implemented and adhered to. The concept is also a key evaluation indicator for the quality of equipment. We are at a major technological turning point and are gradually entering a brand new technological infrastructure platform. The arrival of this era is doomed to happen, and will not be shifted by people's will.