●The objective of standardization is to respond to digital networking.

Print-producing technologies have entered a phase where various plate-making and printing machines should be digitized or computer-controlled and connected with each other through a communication network to produce prints in a far more rapid and efficient way. Specifically, the printing industry must ensure that any production system will be able to manufacture products under optimal conditions without having to resort to the arbitrary judgment of the operator. This is necessary if digital data is to flow without interruption between and into machines through a communication network. If the industry cannot meet this requirement, the results of digital networking will not justify the level of investment. Thus, standardization is required for digital networking.

In the printing process, the conventional method of 'matching a color tone with an OK'd proof' is equivalent to 'adjusting a color tone according to the arbitrary judgment of an operator' as described above. Even if the color tone adjustment can be controlled remotely, it is impossible to eliminate uncertainties about quality or to prevent the efficiency from decreasing due to the interrupted flow of digital data. Such a problem could be solved if a mechanism that can 'match a color tone with the standard target colors' is realized for any printer, DDCP, proof sheet, or printing by a press. To realize such a mechanism, it is necessary to set the 'standard target colors.' This is the standardization of colors. Another standardization is related to tasks, or to the establishment of the optimal conditions for every component of the production system to ensure that the 'standard target colors' will be stably reproduced.

●Significance of 2 targets

Concerning the standardization of colors, Mr. Tadaharu Ohnuki, Toppan Printing Co., Ltd, spoke about the significance of 2 targets and offered the following explanation:
'One of the targets of standardization is the color standard samples 'JAPAN COLOR - Color Reproduction & Printing 2001' produced jointly by the National ISO 130 Committee and the Japan Society for Printing Science and Technology. These samples are color standards established for offset printing in Japan. They are regarded as the standard printing tool containing 175 lines of print and various data and are used for different kinds of paper including art paper, matt coated paper, coated paper and high-quality paper. There are also 'Standard colors for magazine advertisements' established by the Japan Magazine Advertising Association and the Japan Magazine Publishers' Association. To be printed by an offset press on coated paper, these standard colors were developed on the basis of the DDCP Lab values or the solid concentration values of the CMYK that can be expressed by a press.'

At present, there are different views on the significance of the 2 targets in the printing industry. However, Mr. Ohnuki said, 'the first of the targets shows the printing color standards in Japan, including the standard values for ink, paper, solid color, halftone color, and their color samples, color values, etc. The second shows, by the controlled DDCP, a target as the color samples for magazine advertisements to control a DDCP or printer. Thus, the 2 targets are different in application and approach. However, both targets are open color standards, which are effective if a company is working in partnership with another company with the customer's consent.'

●Eventually, the most productive system will become predominant.

However, he pointed out the real difficulty of standardization, saying: 'It may be possible to establish uniform color standards for one customer or product item. However, it is very difficult to establish color standards common to all customers or items with different quality requirements and preferences. Therefore, it is necessary for a printing company to set provisional color standards, improve on them and then establish the final color standards in cooperation with other companies.'

The problem of printing quality has been, and remains, a subject of interest. In principle, the trade-off between quality, price and delivery time should be judged on a case by case basis. Considering the emergence and subsequent evolution of new technologies in the past, it is obvious that the technologies and production processes having the highest productivity will eventually become predominant because they are being actively improved (unless they have quality deficiencies, of course).

●Points for making the best use of an ink key preset function

Mr. Masahito Kaneko of Hiroshima - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.) explained the requirements to make the best use of the widely utilized ink key preset function. One of the requirements is that the ink key aperture must be adjusted depending on the type of paper or ink even within the same area of a pattern. He introduced both the concept and a concrete method for simply providing the data (called 'API conversion function' in the company) required to set the ink key aperture depending on such conditions as the thermographic or thin ink that a particular customer prefers.
The ink key preset system supplied by Mitsubishi had a function to preset the 'API conversion function.' Even if the 'API conversion function' was accurately set, however, the system did not produce a good effect, because it had a high error rate due to accuracy problems associated with the pattern-to-press plate area ratio meter and the unstable color reproducibility of the press. Nevertheless, the spread of CTP and CIP3 or the improved color tone stability performance of presses meant that operators did not have to make color adjustments if the 'API conversion function' was set accurately. One company operated a system that could constantly monitor the use of electric power and stop the power supply to the components in an ascending order of priority when the use of power exceeded a certain limit. This meant, however, that when all the machines in its factory were operating at the same time, the power supply to all the machines including the air conditioning system could come to a halt. At the same time, the water supply underwent such a great change that the presses were unable to do their printing work. It seems that such an event had never occurred at the time when mortons were used. This case clearly indicates that printing machines can now be controlled with a much higher degree of precision than in the past.
In this regard, Mr. Kaneko pointed out that to secure the color reproducibility of prints, it was important to appropriately control the temperature and relative humidity in the factory, set up ink rollers such as ink fountain rollers and form rollers in the best place, correctly arrange the cylinders, and carry out daily maintenance and ensure that the settings for the components of machines including dampening mechanisms are correct.

●A watchful eye should be kept on future initiatives to address environmental problems.

In regard to environmental problems, Mr. Genji Tao, Komori Corporation, explained the LCA (life cycle assessment) for the production, use and disposal of printing machines, and proposed that the environmental load during the operation of a printing machine should be evaluated, for example, by using an indicator such as the power consumption per continuous operation (= total power consumption / hour ÷ (production rate x the number of colors x yield)) or the material consumption per continuous operation (= total material consumption / hour ÷(production rate x the number of colors x yield)).
It should be noted that it is possible to apply the indicator in a more general way, and strive to ameliorate environmental problems by extending its use beyond the operation of printing machines as described above, to include conventional considerations of productivity.

As for printing ink and paper, he identified the major problems that people in the printing industry should keep a watchful eye on, including the recycling of paper printed with hybrid ink as well as the possibility of the regulations being strengthened not only for petroleum-based solvents, but also for the other chemical agents used for ink and paper. Also, he presented the example of Maruyama Printing Co., Ltd. that has been actively implementing environmental management for many years. This was very significant as it showed what any company could do if it earnestly addressed the question of appropriate and effective environmental management.

2004/11/29 00:00:00