Faster production and improved customer service in large format digital printing with automation software

Showdown Displays Europe, leading B2B supplier for visual communication solutions of hardware and print, has started to automate its production processes with OneVision software. Initial results show – the software pays off, with time savings of up to 90% in processing and optimizing files.

Regensburg/Přestanov. With over 25 years of experience, Showdown Displays Europe supports customers in over 45 countries in Europe with products such as banners, flags, tents, signage, etc. for point of sale, events and exhibitions, hospitality, office, and more. To meet the unique requirements of large format digital printing applications, Showdown Displays Europe offers dye sublimation, UV flatbed and latex printing with press and postpress solutions from HP Indigo and Zünd cutting machines, among others.

Until recently, however, many parts of the production workflow involved manual work. In order to reduce the huge amount of time spent on manual tasks and to link the various production steps, a major automation project was launched at the Czech production and printing center in Přestanov. 

Seamless integration into existing system landscape for automated processing of incoming orders
While almost 60% of the orders are coming in via the webshop, the full prepress process after receiving the print data was fully manual. It was therefore essential to start at this point in the process and ensure a smooth, automated and reliable transfer of incoming print jobs. “OneVision’s software solutions are based on xml data exchange, which makes it possible to integrate MIS, webshop (REST-based web APIs), ERP to RIP/DFE and of course finishing machines,” explains Johann Stoeger, Senior Director of R&D at OneVision Software AG.

Enormous time savings due to less manual file processing and optimization
Large format digital printing jobs are often submitted with large and complex files, a challenge that Showdown Displays Europe faced on a daily basis. Physically opening and editing these files in Adobe Illustrator could take up to 30 minutes per job. With over 30 years of experience and its own PDF technology, OneVision's Automation Suite provided a solution. The files are now automatically transferred from the web shop into the OneVision workflow and undergo an initial automated preflight check and standardization process in prepress. This significantly reduces the number of errors caused by bad quality files and also eliminates errors further down the production line. Customers now automatically receive an email including the output of their uploaded artwork with feedback in all scenarios, i.e. artwork good, bad, needs approval, which significantly improves customer care and communication. In addition, due to the quick file check the approval process is quicker which results in less delays. “By implementing OneVision’s software, we have achieved scalability in our print production and are well prepared for the future,” says Jeroen Tubée, IT -partner at Showdown Displays Europe.

Automated nesting minimizes material waste
Another requirement of the project was to speed up nesting and ensure greater substrate efficiency. Automated nesting based on priority/delivery date or other defined criteria now allows an automated nesting of all incoming orders within minutes instead of hours. Rather than having print operators drag and dropping items manually to create the nesting, this is now a fully automated process. Considering the high throughput, we are talking about a saving of multiple hours per day. 

Digital mapping, monitoring and automation of the entire production process
Two of the three project steps have been successfully implemented, and the first results are already showing: faster lead times and better service for customers. The workflow is automated, and direct connections to the HP presses and cutting machines from Zünd allow a smooth running of print and cut files. Prepress bottlenecks are eliminated, and high-speed presses and finishing machines are reliably and quickly supplied with print-ready files, allowing them to reach their full throughput potential.

And there is more to come in terms of automation. The next step is to integrate completely manual production steps, such as sewing, into the workflow automation. This will allow the entire production process to be mapped, monitored and automated.