9 Production Strategies For Print Media

9 Production Strategies
for Print Media
© H a n d b o o k o f P r i n t M e d i a, H . K i p p h a n ( I S B N 3 - 5 4 0 - 6 7 3 2 6 - 1 )
938
Contents Chapter 9
Production Strategies
for Print Media
9.1 Production Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939 9.1.2.3 Integrated Production, Interlinking
9.1.1 Strategic Orientation of of Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944
Printing Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939 9.1.3 Print on Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945
9.1.2 Centralized and Distributed 9.1.4 Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 948
Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
9.1.2.1 Centralized Production at One Site . . . . . . . 941 9.2 Production Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952
9.1.2.2 Distributed Production at Several Sites . . . . 943
939
9.1 Production Concepts
Sections 1.8 and 1.9 dealt with the great variety of print- ten rid of their non-commercial printshops. The pub-
ed products, applied business models, and the different lishers can make use of the competitive situation of the
aspects of management and costs. In this section the commercial printshops to reduce their production costs
main technological possibilities and manufacturing con- and deal with technical changes of their products much
cepts for the production of print media are described. more flexibly by simply changing the printshop.
Commercial printshops, on the other hand, try to
9.1.1 Strategic Orientation of Printing expand their chain of added value (see also fig. 1.9-4)
with publisher-like activities or additional services
Companies (such as prepress) to ensure full capacity utilization.
The multitude of printed products and the delivery However, these activities can quickly develop into a
times demanded in the market today means the spec- competition for the regular clientele of a printshop, so
trum of production strategies and therefore also the or- that it is mainly only niche applications that are intro-
ganization of manufacturing enterprises can be ex- duced in the context of plant expansions.
tremely diverse. While in non-commercial operations the strategic ori-
The basic differentiation to make is between non- entation is defined by the holding publisher, commercial
commercial and commercial printshops. Non-commer- operations need to constantly analyze production
cial operations are directly affiliated with a company that strategies and adapt to the developments of the market.
requires printed products for marketing or support, or Investment behavior, in particular, is a key factor for the
a publisher of printed products, on an economical and success of a business. Investments in printing presses
organizational basis. They have the task of producing represent a high capital tie-up for printshops and insuf-
the company’s or publisher’s product range and adapt- ficient or uneconomical utilization of the press can
ing to the requirements of the company or publisher, in quickly lead to serious burdens on the operational result
particular with regard to capacity and availability. Ex- of the printing company. Thus large capital investment
ternal jobs are only produced when there are gaps in ca- requires a lengthy service life of the capital good; typi-
pacity utilization to be filled. Non-commercial printing cally eight but often ten or more years according to the
companies are mainly used if the production of certain type of printshop and specific regional conditions. This
product groups requires specific conditions. This is the means that the production parameters such as the for-
case, for example, with newspapers where the shortest mats and substrates that can be processed, the number
production times are of vital importance, or with wall- of printable colors, possible folding variations, and so
paper or foil printing where the material-specific de- on, are inflexible. Therefore, future changes in the mar-
mands outweigh the design of the content. ket need to be considered when making the investment.
Commercial operations, on the other hand, offer their Strategic decisions regarding the orientation of a
services freely on the market. They can usually manu- printshop can be based on different approaches (fig.
facture at a lower cost than comparable non-commer- 9.1-1). One option is to define a product group as a
cial operations since they are not restricted in their ac- strategic production target and to invest in the technol-
tivities by a controlling publishing house but can rather ogy required for this production. The scope of demand
adapt to fit market demands optimally. In product areas cannot, however, normally be covered with an individ-
with no stringent reasons for using non-commercial op- ual technology. Varying run lengths and formats often
erations (e.g., book printing) most publishers have got- require different types of printing presses and/or print-
940 9 Production Strategies for Print Media
Seasonal variation in orders placed is another typical
Book printing in color
Printing periodicals
Advertising matter
Printing mail-order
problem of the printing industry that is easier to over-
Printing calendars
Black and white
According to come for a business with a mixed product group port-
book printing
product groups folio. Many product groups have a marked demand pro-
catalogs
or file that follows a typical pattern over the course of a year
printing and can, for example, be influenced by external factors
processes
such as Christmas for consumer-driven products, the
Multicolor digital New Year for the calendar business, large trade fairs, such
printing (NIP) + as book fairs, or customary practices for a line of busi-
Sheet-fed offset ness, such as the telephone book business. A printing
(Format £ 8 pages A4) + + + + company that focuses mainly on one product group is
obviously significantly more susceptible to these influ-
Sheet-fed offset ences and must find practical solutions to compensate
(Format > 8 pages A4) + + +
for the fluctuations in the utilization of its capacity.
Coldset web offset + Taking the example of the calendar business with its
extremely marked seasonal fluctuations, in the first half
Heatset web offset + + + +
of the year certain calendar sections are preprinted and
Gravure printing + + + in the second half the final product is produced in ac-
cordance with customer specifications. This ensures a
Fig. 9.1-1 constant degree of utilization throughout the whole
Typical applications of printing technologies for selected product year. On the other hand this makes the costs for circu-
groups lating capital for the semi-finished product economi-
cally significant since the semi-finished products pro-
duced in spring must be stored until the fall. Printing
companies usually try to make up for these seasonal
ing processes, which are optimally adapted to certain fluctuations by having flexible working times so as at
areas of production. Even though press manufacturers least to avoid extra personnel costs.
are increasingly developing more variable or at least Alongside the types of orientation described accord-
modularly expandable printing systems, a strategic ori- ing to product groups or printing processes there are
entation according to product groups places high de- also further criteria that can be called upon for a strate-
mands on production since different printing process- gic orientation. Classification according to type of cus-
es that may become necessary create system incompat- tomer (customers in industry, end users, etc.) or chan-
ibilities, such as in paper logistics (webs and sheets), nels of distribution (dispatch by mail, retail trading,
prepress (platemaking), and operation and mainte- etc.) can be useful. There are also further parameters to
nance of the press, as well as the internal organization be considered for strategic orientation. These are in
of a printing company. Production is, therefore, more particular
complex and consequently often burdened with high-
er costs than in a printing company that is organized • available manpower (qualification, cost level),
based on printing processes. • physical location (proximity to customers and mar-
Depending on the concept in place, strategic orienta- ket, logistics costs),
tion depending on the printing process may not merely • competitive position,
be limited to one process but may rather standardize • company background (existing equipment, image).
further production-relevant parameters internally,
such as the types of material that can be used or the The general criteria of marketing and strategic prod-
range of formats that can be printed. These specialized uct planning also apply to printed products (e.g.,
printshops then have greater potential for gaining a [9.1-1]) where, at least in the industrialized nations, the
more competitive edge in their particular segment. On conditions of a mature, established, and nearly satu-
the other hand, the distribution costs of such rated market apply for virtually all product groups.
printshops are greater due to a much more heteroge- Quite the opposite applies to the development of in-
neous clientele. ternet media. The print market is basically growing (see
9.1 Production Concepts 941
sec. 1.1.5) although the dynamics in each of the prod-

uct groups are quite different (see fig. 1.9-3). What kind of
According to [9.1-1] a clear strategic orientation is a technology? Which markets,
decisive factor for success under these market condi- (printing processes, which products?
prepress, bindery)
tions. Either cost leadership or product differentiation
can be targeted here. Companies neither focusing on
cost-optimized production nor having set up a product
or service offer with clear unique selling propositions What level
have minimal chances of success in this kind of market. Which sites?
of automation?
Product differentiation is ever more difficult to achieve
in the printing sector, meaning that competition is
based more or less solely on price. Since new technolo-
gies enable significant higher productivity for printing Financing etc.
concept
presses and production systems, meaning that cost ad-
vantages can be achieved with an offensive investment Optimal Selection
strategy, the print markets in the industrialized nations timing of supplies
are being increasingly marked by excess capacity. Training of Investment
While large operations have a number of systematic employees decision
cost advantages and small operations can increasingly
concentrate on locally dominated services, it is above Fig. 9.1-2
all medium-sized operations, often having limited in- Criteria for making strategic decisions for establishing a printing
vestment power, that face key decisions. business
The fundamental strategic decision regarding the
product portfolio and the markets necessitate a number
of additional decisions (fig. 9.1-2). Questions regarding cation (site) and semi-finished products are only trans-
location and degree of technical automation, which are ported within the production plant.
discussed in the following section on centralized and For the definition of production concepts within one
distributed production, are particularly important. location the term “centralized production” as opposed
Based on these parameters many operative questions to “distributed production” is also often used. This
can be answered, from the concept of financing right means the extent to which a production process is car-
up to the selection of suppliers. ried out in a central “large” unit or distributed to sever-
al analogous units (fig. 9.1-3). Particularly with printing
9.1.2 Centralized and Distributed presses and finishing equipment there is almost always
the alternative of either acquiring a central production
Production unit that is able to cover the required capacity or dis-
The decision for a centralized or distributed produc- tribute the same load to several production units with
tion is of vital importance as it determines the entire lower output ratios. The high productivity that can be
technical concept. Centralized or distributed produc- achieved normally speaks in favor of large units.
tion can be based on a single production location or Figure 9.1-4 shows the ratios for heatset web offset
several sites. In both cases the technological conse- presses. Various configurations are currently available
quences are similar, although the decisive reasons in the on the market ranging from small units that print eight
first case normally lie in the market, while optimization pages per section right up to large machines with forty-
of internal production is often sought in the second. eight pages per section. Smaller presses have a signifi-
cantly lower printing capacity compared to large press-
9.1.2.1 Centralized Production at One Site es (approximately 20%), so that about five eight-page
To characterize the basic manufacturing structure of a presses would be required to match the capacity of one
company, distinctions are made between central and forty-eight-page press (line 1). However, since the in-
distributed production concepts. With central manu- vestment required for an eight-page press is approxi-
facturing of printed products all the technical func- mately 35% of the level required for a forty-eight-page
tions required for production are centralized at one lo- press, the option with five eight-page machines re-
a) Centralized production quires 175% the investment (line 2). The printing ca-
Printed pacity/investment ratio is therefore around 50% worse.
Prepress Print Bindery product Larger units also offer comparable advantages in terms
of running costs, such as manpower requirements.
In practice, however, there is often a whole range of
b) Production distributed across several production units reasons that reduce or completely eliminate the eco-
Print nomic advantage of central production with a large
Bindery unit:
Prepress Print
Bindery
Print • Flexibility. If the range of products is not uniform,
the large unit must be set up for the maximum de-
c) Integrated (linked) production mand. In heatset offset printing, for example, the
cylinder circumference of the press must be set up
Prepress Print and bindery
for a maximum format. With smaller format prod-
Printing system ucts additional costs arise because the unprinted
paper must be trimmed. With distributed produc-
Fig. 9.1-3 tion the individual units can be adapted to meet
Equipment concepts for central production of printed products at various demands and together with an appropriate
one production site job control, a more economic production can be
attained.
• System reliability. Failure of a central unit is a big
risk when producing with tight deadlines since fail-
100% ure to deliver can lead to high claims for damages.
With distributed production where several presses
print in parallel, the failure of one press has a sig-
nificantly less critical effect.
• Continuous investment strategy. Continuous invest-
50% 3 ment becomes possible with distributed produc-
2
tion. Replacement investments can be controlled so
that an old press is replaced by a new one at regular
1 intervals. For the financial planning of a printing
company this offers an advantage over central pro-
0% duction, where replacement investments affect the
8 16 32 48
entire technology. This kind of one-off investment
Press format (A4 pages per web section/signature)
into central production also carries a significantly
greater risk in the event of misinvestment.
Fig. 9.1-4
Ratio between printing performance and investment costs based on There is no definite answer to the question of whether
the example of a heatset web offset printing in various press con-
figurations (presses from various manufacturers, comparable equip- to go into production with one large central produc-
ment levels, four printing units); press with 48 pages per section cor- tion system (production unit) or to opt for distributed
responds to 100 % production on several analogous systems. The pros and
Plotted line 1: printing performance, printed paper area per unit of cons should be weighed in each individual case. Gen-
time erally, specialized production systems with a clearly de-
Plotted line 2: average investment costs fined product and market spectrum are more suited to
Plotted line 3: printing performance/investment a single, central production system optimally set up for
(derived from lines 1 and 2)
this purpose, while production with market and prod-
uct conditions that are subject to frequent change can
often be more successful with a distributed organiza-
tion where production is assigned to several units with
a lower productivity.
9.1.2.2 Distributed Production at Several Sites Unlike present printing companies from which
As in other sectors, the basic pattern for the production printed products are delivered to the local distribution
of printed products is a central manufacturing plant in organizations it is now possible to distribute immate-
which all the production processes take place. Deviat- rial data and produce the printed product decentrally
ing from this principle and distributing production to near to the customer. This is shown in figure 9.1-6.
several sites can take on two different forms: As shown Many factors can be decisive in setting up different
in figure 9.1-5 production distributed to several sites forms of distributed production:
can have a parallel (a) or at least partially parallel struc-
ture (b). This means that all the necessary functions can • Market proximity. The individual sites are adapted
be carried out at each site and, as such, each site is ca- to meet regional demands of the market. This
pable of independently producing the end product. means that important customers can be served
However, with serially distributed production (c) there quickly or logistics expenses can be reduced. This
are individual processes at different sites that must be can relate either to international markets or nation-
interlinked for the print production. ally to various regions or industries whose supplier
Setting up distributed production across several sites is the respective printshop. Both the relocation of
is made easier by modern digital technologies. If the complete service providers (parallel) or individual
print job is produced fully digitally by prepress, then manufacturing stages (serial) to different sites can
this data can easily be transferred to production facili- be sensible: a product, like a magazine or catalog,
ties at various sites without it being necessary to trans- can require intensive and direct exchange with the
port production materials, such as films or printing customer so that prepress sections are set up near
plates. The local printshops must, however, be equipped to the editorial offices of the customers. Large op-
with the appropriate technology to print the job with erations for book manufacture sometimes have a
the data received, for example, computer to film/com- part of their prepress production located at the
puter to plate systems or non-impact printing systems. sites of their publisher customers while their
printshop and bindery work centrally. For newspa-
pers and magazines, where topicality is a priority,
the system can work the opposite way around, with
a) Parallel distributed production prepress production taking place centrally while
Site A platemaking and the actual printing is distributed
and takes place regionally to keep delivery times
Prepress Print Bindery (and also transport costs) down for the end user.
Publishers often set up entire networks for decen-
Site B tralized production of printed products and pro-
Prepress Print Bindery duction plants have to adapt to these demands.
• Site costs. As is the case in other industries the cost
b) Partially parallel distributed production structures of production sites can be very different
Site A with regard to salaries, space, and buildings, neces-
sary additional services, government regulated tax-
Prepress Print Bindery es/duties and subsidies, and so forth. The decision
for a second site may therefore be very sensible for
Site B labor intensive productions. However, site advan-
Print Bindery
tages might not be present forever and should be
analyzed in detail prior to making long-term site
investments. Relocating sites just for the purpose of
c) Serially distributed production
side-stepping environmental regulations is not ac-
Site A Site B ceptable.
Prepress Print Bindery • Employees. Alongside the salary level at a specific
site, other criteria regarding the employees avail-
able may also be important, such as qualification of
Fig. 9.1-5 Concepts for distributed production across several sites the employees, loyal employees, and the flexibility
a
Centralized printing production Different sites
(close to the
“Print and distribute” customer)
Printing company D1
Printed
Customer/end user
Print job product
D2
Finishing Distribution Transpor-
Prepress Print Warehouse
(D) tation
D3
(Contents, by road
Digital job Database
layout, etc.) by rail
by air D4
Centralized job processing and production
Di: Distribution
partner
b
Distributed production (decentralized) Local printing companies
“Distribute and print” Digital Conv. Site # 1
Digital job Data prepress printing Finishing
C to film Warehouse D1
Digital Transpor- C to plate
Customer/end user
Database Distribution
Prepress tation Direct imaging
Finishing Site # 2
Network (C to press)
Central job preparation Satellite Warehouse D2
Data carrier
& mail NIP (C to print) Finishing Site # 3
D3
Book stores Warehouse
“Book on demand”/NIP
Fig. 9.1-6 Print production methods and distribution channels ([9.1-2])
of the local employment market to cope with 9.1.2.3 Integrated Production, Interlinking
short-term surges in demand. of Systems
• Specialization. Particularly with large central pro- Another important factor involved in the organization
duction and a complex product structure it may be of production is to what extent individual processes
sensible to manufacture individual product groups can be integrated into a linked production process. In-
at separate sites and specialize the technical equip- tegrated production normally offers great advantages
ment at these sites. with regard to personnel required and logistics costs
since intermediate storage is no longer necessary and
Distribution of production stages to different sites, the total manufacture time for a product can therefore
however, only becomes economically viable from a cer- be reduced.
tain size of operation since it leads to a great loss of ra- Linking manufacturing processes does, however,
tionalization for small printshops on account of the low lead to increased complexity of the system and this ul-
volume of orders. Distribution to several sites does timately results in a reduced utilization ratio N° (pro-
make sense, however, for extremely large operations portion of time within the working hours in which a
since this reduces the complexity of operations, ensur- system can be used for the intended purpose – also
ing a smoother workflow at each individual site. There called “availability”). In the printing industry a utiliza-
are no known printshops worldwide that have signifi- tion ratio of N° ª 90% is accepted (i.e., for 10% of the
cantly more than 2500 employees and a daily paper working hours the equipment cannot be used for the
throughput higher than 700 tons. intended purpose), since an increase of this value re-
sults in disproportionate technical expense which tem is required here to maintain the sequence of the
would not be economical. addressed products and eliminate loss of individual
Without falling back on indepth scientific models, products. A relatively low total utilization ratio must
the multiplication of the utilization ratios can be applied sometimes be accepted for this.
as a basic method of approximation for interlinking in- Linked systems are not found very often in sheet-fed
dividual units. Figure 9.1-7 shows the gradation of to- printing since direct finishing, for example in a folder,
tal utilization ratios for two or three linked units (e.g., is not possible with normal inks that dry by oxidation.
when N°1 = 90% then N°2 = 81% and N°3 = 73%). For a For the linking up of units the adaptation of the pro-
normal printing operation these values are no longer duction performance as well as the utilization ratio of
acceptable. The improvements in productivity by link- the individual units is a key issue. Since it is always the
ing units only make up for the reduction in the total slowest unit in linked (serial) production that deter-
utilization ratio to a certain extent. To achieve a total mines the overall speed, units with a higher speed
utilization ratio of N° = 90% with linked systems the would be operated uneconomically. An ideal balance
individual utilization ratios must be as high as 94–96%. in the capacities of linked components becomes diffi-
Depending on the technical possibilities and the po- cult if the components depend on different parame-
tential to reduce costs, the progress toward integrated ters. The speed of a gatherer, for example, is scarcely
manufacturing processes developed differently in the influenced by the book thickness (see e. g., fig. 7.2-50
individual production areas of the graphic arts indus- in sec. 7.2.4.2). The number of stations operated
try. In practice, it is the larger printing companies in scarcely influences the overall speed. The book
particular that have invested in integrated manufac- throughput of a sewing/thread-stitching machine,
turing processes. In virtually all areas of production ex- which processes every individual sheet of the book
amples of this kind of production method can be found folded into book pages is, however, dependent on the
(table 9.1-1). The printing of direct mail represents a number of the sheets to be processed. Linking both
special case (see sec. 9.1.4). Because of the personaliza- systems leads to a situation in which the production is
tion of mailing, a fully interlinked manufacturing sys- limited by the speed of the sewing machine in the case
of thick books and by the gatherer in the case of thin
books. In this way the entire system can be operated
optimally if the page count of the books to be pro-
100% duced does not vary too much. However, if the page
count varies considerably, a linked production flow is
almost always operated sub-optimally.
Two linked units Through the parallel operation of individual units the
productivity of the linked system can be increased. If the
Utilization ratio of linked units
linked units are arranged in such a way that the flow of

semi-finished products can, if necessary, also be fed to
just one of the connectable units, the whole unit is flex-
50% ible and can be optimally adjusted for each different job
and in addition provide for redundancy with regard to
a faster individual unit. Such an interlinked production
is shown in figure 9.1-8 in the form of a diagram.
Three linked
units
9.1.3 Print on Demand
0%
0% 50% 100% The term “print on demand”(PoD) may initially sound
Utilization ratio of individual units somewhat confusing since printed products are more
or less only produced when a customer has placed the
Fig. 9.1-7 respective order. Unlike other branches of industry
Utilization ratio of linked technical units (where the individual units products are not made for stock. With PoD, however,
have the same utilization ratios; approximate calculation) the “demand” refers to the sale of the product by the
Table 9.1-1 Typical utilization

Examples of typical utilization ratios (reli- ratio N°
ability, availability) for linked production in
individual sectors of the printing industry Newspaper production system
(Unwinding, printing, folding, mailing room logistics) 90%…95%
Heatset web offset system
(Printing, folding, gluing and punching/die-cutting units) 90%
In-line production of mailings (Unwinding, personalization,
gluing, die-cutting, decorative operations, folding, cross-cutting) 70%…85%
Book production lines (Cutting, rounding,
headbands, casing in, jacketing books etc.) 85%…90%
Calendar production lines
(Gathering, die-cutting, binding) 90%
Perfect binding systems
(Collating, perfect binding/cover feeding, cutting, inserter) 90%
Utilization ratio: proportion of the working hours during which the unit can be used for production.
Fig. 9.1-8
Unit B
Linking of individual units and increasing Diverging points
the production speed by operating individ- of the product Gathering the
ual units in parallel (with flexible diverging stream Unit product streams
points and gathering unit) B1
Unit Unit
Unit A B2 C
Semi-finished Unit toward
product B3 finishing
customer placing the order. The publisher normally enable the print image to be changed for each printing
commissions a large quantity of identical printed process without a makeready procedure (without a
products (run length). The option whereby the cus- physical printing plate with a fixed image, cf. chap. 5 and
tomer requests the total run length to be printed in sev- fig.9.2-3),it is possible to economically print a run length
eral part run lengths (sometimes called “Quotas”), the as small as “one”. PoD systems are normally not under-
delivery of which then becomes dependent on the re- stood to be small printers for the office, but rather high-
sale, has been in place for a long time. While these jobs performance printers for industrial use. With regard to
are sometimes printed in total by the printshop and put the print quality,PoD-capable printing systems based on
into temporary storage, they can also be produced in non-impact technology have not yet been able to achieve
corresponding part runs. If the number of printed part the high level of quality typically associated with the con-
run lengths gets close to the actual total run length (fig. ventional printing processes. For certain product areas,
9.1-9) so that the customer can request delivery of the such as black-and-white printing without continuous-
printed products in small batch sizes (in extreme cases tone images, hardly any qualitative limitations can be
the batch size may just be “one”), the term “print on de- recognized nowadays. Even in color printing the short-
mand” is used. PoD is, therefore, one form of the just- comings in quality are becoming fewer and fewer and for
in-time production method. many applications a slightly lower quality is accepted.
Extremely flexible equipment and short makeready The demand for PoD production comes primarily
times are needed to technically realize PoD printing. from the market. Although the overall quantity of infor-
With digital printing processes, in particular those that mation is constantly and rapidly rising, the number of
Fig. 9.1-9
Dividing the total run up into partial print Print on Demand (PoD)
runs with decreasing partial print run length
50 000 1
Length of the partial runs (copies)

Number of partial print runs
5000 10
500 100
50 1000
5 10 000
1 5 50 500 5000 50 000

Length of the total run (copies)
“One” copy Short run Long run
Very short run Normal run
individual print runs is quickly decreasing in virtually all very small proportion of total printing production.
areas of print media, as well as in other media, such as the This is also due to the fact that the economic potential
music business. This individualization of information of the applications for normal and long print run
demands new business concepts both from the informa- length is overestimated. Although in the book busi-
tion suppliers, such as publishers and from manufactur- ness, for example, between 25% and 40% of the print-
ers of operating manuals. PoD is a technical process that ed edition cannot normally be sold and is eventually
can be structured into the following areas of application: written off by the publishers, the costs associated with
this are not as high as expected. This is because for a
• Very short print run length. comparison of technologies only the manufacturing
Only very few copies of the information to be costs of conventional printing methods and those for
printed are needed. PoD methods need to be considered (see fig. 1.9-7) and
• Normal and long print runs. argumentation is not based on the book’s end price.
– Continuous reprint: to eliminate physical stock Since the costs for digital printing processes that are
the information can be stored in a database and capable of PoD with variable image from print to print
printed individually when needed. are still relatively high compared to conventional
– Sample prints in advance: a short test run should printing (see fig. 1.9-6), there is very little room to ma-
be printed prior to the planned main print. If neuver for the economic application of PoD. The on-
successful in the market a longer print run is ly area where PoD has been able to achieve a signifi-
then produced conventionally. cant market share is with printed products that require
– Reprint: as soon as the main run is used up a regular updates, such as computer handbooks.
small additional print should be published. There are also further problems regarding the appli-
– Topicality prints: if the content of a printed prod- cation of PoD production concepts that are often not
uct is subject to regular alteration, the latest ver- given the attention they deserve when considering po-
sion of the print can be printed “on demand.” tential applications:
Although PoD concepts have been discussed since the • Finishing of PoD products. Only in a small number
end of the 1980s, PoD printing still only represents a of cases is it possible to complete a printed product
merely through printing. In most cases more or less developments such as digital libraries in connection
extensive finishing operations are necessary to with automatic content generating techniques will lead
complete the printed product. Technical solutions to new PoD-capable products.
for economically attractive finishing of individual An accurate prediction of who will provide what
products are still in their infancy. For the produc- service in the PoD sector cannot be made at this stage. It
tion of books there are already systems for simple is not only traditional printing companies that invest in
book design variations and medium quality de- PoD technology; prepress and finishing companies,
mands available on the market. However, these copy services, and newly established printshops with
bring a multitude of limitations to the design of the those alien to the industry are trying to get a foot in the
product that have to be tolerated. door of the PoD market. The actual “content providers”,
• Costs of developing contents. Alongside its technical such as publishers, for example, base some of their pro-
realization a printed product obviously duction on PoD methods. There are wholesalers and
requires a content that must first be generated and book distributors that have started to offer services
processed. For this, the work of authors, copy edi- where books are stored electronically and where the
tors, layout artists, and so on, is normally necessary. book is printed and delivered on demand – that is,“book
For short print runs the costs associated are in on demand”(fig. 9.1-6). Bookstore chains are attempting
most cases much higher than the technical costs to bring the PoD business directly into the book shop by
and drives up the total costs significantly; these can using compact printing and finishing systems.
only be distributed over a very small number of
copies. The market for those products where this
cost is either borne by the authors themselves 9.1.4 Personalization
(e.g., scientific publications) or where the cus-
tomers are prepared to pay high prices for the Viewed from a technical standpoint, print on demand
product is limited. and personalization are closely related since a subdivi-
• Overhead and handling costs. Processing a print job sion of a total print run length is carried out for both
in a printshop requires a multitude of accompany- of them. While with PoD the subdivision into partial
ing business processes ranging from the acceptance runs (segments), which can be processed one after the
of the order, technical coordination right through other, is done according to time, with “customizing”(al-
to drawing up the bill. The costs involved in these so known as “targeting” since the product aims at cer-
processes must be included when calculating the tain target groups) the total print run length is divided
total costs of a PoD job. While the mean propor- into“versions” with certain portions of variable content.
tion of these costs in conventional production Classical applications are, for example, language ver-
come to a maximum of around 20%, they can easi- sions where the main run remains constant with regard
ly be significantly higher with PoD production. to images and layout but the text is printed in different
languages. Other applications, such as regional price
To implement a successful concept for PoD produc- versions, where various price information is printed in
tion, solutions must be found for the problems listed the catalogs, or dealer versions containing advertising
above. These normally take the form of a specific se- that is actually the same, but where individual infor-
lection of the product range that takes account of the mation such as a dealer address is added.
limitations of the technical equipment and the cost re- In conventional printing these kinds of products are
lationships for the total added value chain. either produced by changing individual printing plates
In the future, however, clear improvements can be (usually the black plate) during the entire print run
expected in all areas. On the technical side, the print- while the other colors do not have to be changed. So-
ing costs of computer to press digital printing systems called “flying imprinting units” have been developed
will continue to go down and flexible and economic so- for this kind of application where it is possible to switch
lutions for finishing will become increasingly available. between impression cylinders. While the one cylinder
Using the Internet and an electronic workflow control prints, the other can be fitted with the plate containing
system, the processing of PoD jobs will become in- the new version. Another conventional technical solu-
creasingly automated and the associated costs will be tion is to use imprinting units that are installed in the
reduced. Even for the preparation of contents, future press in addition to the normal printing units in order
to print extra information on a usually relatively small ent sheets of the version. There are gatherers in use in
printing area in a flexographic process. These imprint- the USA that have up to one hundred stations. How-
ing units can also be equipped with a “flying” replace- ever, with large numbers of different versions there are
able cylinder; they are used in web offset printing and also economic limitations, since the volume of indi-
gravure printing (see fig. 2.2-32; see also chap. 6/hybrid vidual sheets per version then becomes low, which
printing systems). This process ceases to be economi- makes their production more expensive. If possible, to-
cal with very short partial runs since the makeready tal print runs consisting of different versions are pro-
times of the replaceable printing cylinders impair produced in one operation without interruption.
ductivity too greatly here. Completely new areas of application with diverse
Another way of producing special versions is “selec- demands on the variable, individual information sec-
tive binding”. Here, the individual print sheets are al- tions of the printed product can be explored using dig-
tered during gathering, which means that the bound ital printing technologies. The main part of the infor-
product consists of different content sections. A typi- mation to be printed normally remains unchanged
cal area of application is the production of demo- while a few parts can vary from product to product.
graphic versions where, depending on the delivery ad- Personalization in its simplest form is used to print
dress, the end product has different contents. The tech- different addresses and information on individual
nical limits of selective binding are set by the number pages of otherwise identical content (fig. 9.1-10; see
of gathering stations that are necessary for the differ- also sec. 6.3).
Identical content Division of the total run length Page contents partially Complete page/
for the entire run length into segments (versions) with personalized sheets with
(fixed image) the same content (personalizing, varying contents
(customizing/targeting) individualizing) (variable image)
1
Segment 1
(Version 1)
text 1
2
text 1
3
Print job
Segment 2
(Version 2)
text 2
4
text 2
5
Segment 3
(Version 3)
text 3
text 3
Length of e.g., 5000 Total: 10 000, e.g., 10 seg- “1” “1”

print run ments of 1000 prints (e.g., “Book on Demand“)
Fig. 9.1-10 Examples of print jobs with identical and variable content
Where to draw the line between classifying a printed es and individual greetings in an otherwise identical
product as a part of a long print run with individually letter (see sec. 5.5, fig. 5.5-10 and chap. 6, fig. 6.3-7). Dig-
variable contents and referring to it as an independent ital processing is necessary here to alter the content for
product (individual run, single copy) is not absolutely each print. In the office this application is termed “per-
clear. In practice it very much depends on the produc- sonalized standard letter” and is printed in a relatively
tion system in place. small number of copies. If larger portions of content
Different terms are used for customer-specific ver- are changed, such as if different advertisements are
sions and personalization according to type and extent changed in accordance with the recipient, this is also
of the variable contents. In the simplest case it is mere- known as “individualization”. With individualization
ly a matter of the imprinted numbers that are altered on the content is not just text, but can also contain graph-
the documents. This is known as numbering and can al- ics or pictures. Figure 9.1-10 shows an example of how
so be achieved using mechanical numbering boxes for the page contents can differ within a print job.
consecutive numbering. To print complex numbering Two different manufacturing methods for the print-
systems, that is, coding (e.g., for dispatch) only digital ing of business form letters in large numbers (e.g., bills
printing systems (at present mainly ink jet systems) can with personal content and address or mailings) are
be used. Numbering or coding systems usually have a shown in figure 9.1-11 as an example of production with
small inscription width of just one or several lines. personalization. In variant a, the business form print-
When setting up the press for the job they are positioned ing method is applied to produce the unchanged con-
at the correct location on the web. Typical applications tents, normally in large numbers in an offset printing
are lottery tickets, entrance tickets, and securities. process. In a separate, second production process that
When addressing (also personalizing), portions of takes place in “lettershops”, the preprinted semi-fin-
text are written into the printed product, like address- ished product is provided with the individual infor-
a Off-line Production
“Lettershop”
Business form printing (Business forms are printed using NIP
(offset , roll-to-roll) technology and finished to become letters)
Transportation
Paper reel Offset press prints Printed web is Unrolling of Printing Cutting Envelope- Letters
documents of the rolled up again the preprinted system with stuffing ready for
same type documents NIP technology mailing
imprints individual
text, e.g., bill
b In-line Production Hybrid printing system
(web offset and ink jet) with in-line finishing
(the complete letter is produced from one paper web)
Paper reel Offset press prints Ink jet imprinting Cutting, folding, gluing, die-cutting: Letters
documents of the system: individual producing an envelope around the ready for
same type text, e.g., bill document mailing
Fig. 9.1-11 Production concepts for the production of business form letters in large numbers.
a Off-line production;
b In-line production
mation, such as the text of a bill, and finished to make [9.1-2] Kipphan, H.: Status and Trends in Digital
letters. The print is carried out in jobs of one Multicolor Printing, Technologies, Materials, Processes,
Architecture, Equipment and Market. NIP 13:
letter/sheet with NIP printing systems. With “in-line- International Conference on Digital Printing
finishing production” (variant b in fig. 9.1-11) the same Technologies (Proceedings). The Society for Imaging
product is produced in an integrated production sys- Science and Technology (IS&T), Springfield (VA) 1997,
tem (hybrid printing system), whereby the unchanged pp. 11–19.
contents are first printed using offset printing and the
variable part is then directly added with an ink jet im-
printing system. Finally, the web is processed in-line Further Reading for 9.1
and made into a letter, consisting of an envelope and Askin, R. G.; Standridge, C. R.: Modeling and analysis of
inserted form (see chap. 6, e.g., fig. 6.3-8). manufacturing systems. Wiley, New York 1993.
Labeling is a special form of personalization/indi- Decker, M.: Variantenfließfertigung. Physica, Heidelberg
1993.
vidualization where the individual content is printed Domschke, W.; Scholl A.; Voß, S.: Produktionsplanung.
on labels (for example blank labels or self-adhesive la- Springer, Berlin 1993.
bels) in a separate procedure. These labels are then Günther, H.-O.; Tempelmeier, H.: Produktion und
added to the product during the printing or finishing Logistik. Springer, Berlin 1994.
process. Hahn, D.; Taylor, B.: Strategische Unternehmensplanung/
Strategische Unternehmensführung. Physica, Heidelberg
References in 9.1 1992.
[9.1-1] Porter, M. E.: Wettbewerbsstrategie. Campus, Hill, T.: Manufacturing strategy. MacMillan, Basingstoke
Frankfurt/Main 1992. (UK) 1993.
952
9.2 Production Systems
Various basic concepts for the production of print me-

dia were described in section 9.1. It is particularly those Production concept Which markets,
parameters defined by the market and the clientele, but (strategic which products?
also those characterized by the location and internal decisions)
conditions, that should be formulated into a frame-
work for the orientation of a manufacturing operation,
also taking account of strategic aspects.
In a second step these concepts must be implement-
Production System
ed in production systems (where “production systems”
are understood to include all the technical equipment
needed to produce a certain product). A constant pro-
duction process from developing to manufacturing
right up to delivering the product must be defined here.
Alongside the strategic considerations of which pro-
duction concept to implement, the availability and Means of production
economic viability of the potential means of produc- (machinery)
tion, that is above all the printing and finishing equip-
ment and prepress devices, are decisive parameters in-
Fig. 9.2-1
volved when making a decision regarding production Production systems between strategic parameters and available
systems (fig. 9.2-1). Since it is the exception that there means of production
is only one decision-maker, such as a single company,
responsible for all means involved in the production of
a printed product, and far more common for various
companies to be involved in various sections of the • The exchange of job-specific production data such
added value chain, the definition of interfaces at sys- as length of print run, colors and so on is necessary
tem boundaries must be taken into consideration when to enable capacity control and an optimal job man-
making decisions regarding the production system. ufacturing sequence.
In addition to organizing the actual production
stream as a production system, two control and coor- While matching these parameters normally takes place
dination levels have to be integrated between the indi- manually in traditional printing companies, modern
vidual means of production: production systems have integrated software compo-
nents to take over these tasks. These software compo-
• The coordination of technical parameters between nents are often referred to as workflow systems (see sec.
individual means of production is not dependent 8.2). Figure 9.2-2 shows the main components within
on the products currently manufactured. Technical the production flow for producing print media.
characteristics such as dot gain, folding characteris- In printing companies the system analysis of produc-
tics, print formats and so forth must be harmo- tion processes is usually still approached very pragmat-
nized within a production system and if necessary ically. Technical/strategic concepts are frequently re-
also adapted dynamically to one another in the duced to single purchase decisions of machines or units
running production process. that can also have the effect of unconsciously prejudg-
9.2 Production Systems 953
Fig. 9.2-2
Schematic representation of components Company X Job order
used to produce print media (Computer to Customer interface
Press system with integrated RIP and digi-
tal imaging system) Means of production A
e.g., layout system Interface to suppliers of
External semi-finished products
interface (e.g., picture material)
Production parameters
Administrative control (e.g., print characteristic curve,
(job data, e.g., delivery date) ink presetting)
Production system
(e.g., C to plate or
computer to Means of production B
press/direct e.g., imaging (RIP, imagesetter)
imaging system)
Internal
interface Means of production C
e.g., print (sheet-fed offset) Interface to suppliers of
production materials
Company Y
Printed product (e.g., poster)
ing and limiting later development potential. Together • Computer to plate (C to plate): The imaging of the
with the multitude of printing products demanded by image carrier takes place off-line from the printing
the market and the hugely diverse production concepts press in a separate unit (see sec. 4.3). The plate is
evolved from this, almost every printing operation has fitted mechanically into the printing press and can-
its own individual production system that has come not be erased, that is the plate can only be used
about from the company’s own history of development. once.
Printing is a central stage in the added value chain of • Computer to press/direct imaging (C to press):
printing production. The rapid technological develop- Imaging and printing are integrated in one ma-
ment in the field of new digital printing technologies chine while still remaining two separate process
resulted in a broad spectrum of potential production steps. Various methods are used for imaging (see
technologies that can be employed to create extremely sec. 4.4) and printing is generally carried out using
diverse production systems. These variants for digital an offset process. The image carriers, which are ei-
printing are described below. ther metal or polyester plates, contain a permanent
image and are changed after the print job. The dot-
Digital Printing Systems. The basic technical concepts ted “computer to press” section in figure 9.2-3 sug-
for printing presses used in digital printing are shown gests that computer to press/direct imaging is also
in figure 9.2-3. There are different variants in each case possible without needing to change the plate using
where the units for image processing (raster image a re-imageable master. Here, the image on the plate
processor RIP, see sec. 3.2.6), handling of the image car- cylinder or other image carrier is erased after the
rier, and the actual printing units represent a produc- print job and re-imaged for the next job (see sec.
tion system with which the printed sheet can be pro- 4.4.2).
duced from a data file (the system boundaries can be • Computer to print (C to print): Imaging and printing
extended by adding finishing and/or prepress process- are integrated in a close process in one machine. Ac-
es). Differentiation should be made between the fol- cording to the type of press used, the printing
lowing principles/variants: process is based on different NIP technologies (see
Conventional Printing Technologies

(“mechanical” printing process)
with master/permanent,
fixed image
e.g., Offset
Conv.
RIP C to film Printing press
platemaking
e.g., Offset, Gravure

C to plate
RIP Printing press
(C to cylinder)
Print sheet
Digital full page (print sheet) e.g., Offset (full page)
(image, graphics, text; multicolor)
RIP C to press
(direct imaging)
Digital Printing
PostScript Printed
Prepress (technologies, Finishing
file product
systems)
C to press/
RIP direct imaging
with
re-imageable master
Electronic Printing Processes

(NIP technologies)
without permanent master,

i.e. no fixed, stored image
e.g., Electrophotography
Imaging Inking Printing
C to print
RIP (direct digital Imaging & Inking Printing
printing)
e.g., “X"-Graphy
Inking directly
onto paper
e.g., Ink jet
Fig. 9.2-3 Digital printing: processes, components, variants, and systems
sec. 4.5 and chap. 5). A latent image, for example, is using computer to film that must then in turn be
generated on the image carrier (e.g., electrophotog- copied onto the printing plate. The production
raphy) which is automatically erased after each print process with computer to film (see sec. 4.2) will in-
and needs to be re-imaged for the next impression creasingly be replaced by computer to plate in the
(even when printing the same content again). future.
• To enable a comparison, figure 9.2-3 also shows the
conventional production system where the informa- Table 9.2-1 is a comparison of the most important char-
tion to be printed is first imaged onto film material acteristics for the various production systems.
Table 9.2-1 C to Plate C to Press C to Print

Conceptual features of printing systems Computer to plate Computer to press Computer to print
(direct imaging) (direct digital printing)
Printing process Offset Offset NIP

(e.g., Electrophotography)
Image on the Latent,
master Permanent Permanent self-erasing
Where imaging
takes place external in the press in the press
Mechanical
plate change Yes Yes No
RIP: Computing
speed influences
job change No Yes No
RIP: Computing
speed affects
printing speed No No Yes
(RIP: Raster Image Processor)
Due to the latent imaging, there is no makeready time With computer to press systems (direct imaging), the
with a computer to print system. The image is newly cre- imaging takes place in the printing press. The aim of
ated for each print and then erased. This means that this concept is to be faster and also more cost-effective
multi-page jobs with the run length “1” can be printed than changing the plate mechanically. As is the case
without interruption for any number of different image with conventional printing systems, the printing speed
contents per page.A computer to print system can, how- is dependent only on the printing process. With a com-
ever, only be as fast as the constantly changing image in- puter to press system, however, the imaging unit and
formation provided by the EDP (electronic data pro- the printing unit are directly linked to each other, so
cessing) system. The printing speed of computer to print that the imaging unit cannot be used during the print-
systems is therefore limited by the performance of the ing procedure. Imaging units are very cost-intensive
raster image processor (RIP), the data transfer systems, with higher quality requirements (particularly if a high
and the control electronics. Modern commercial high- imaging performance is targeted in order to reduce
performance printing systems can print at a data rate of makeready times). Therefore, long print runs on a
up to around 100 MB/s. computer to press system can become uneconomical
With computer to plate, the printing system is not de- compared to a computer to plate system (off-line
pendent on the computing/processing speed of the im- platemaking) since the latter system’s separate imaging
aging system since the imaging takes place off-line. The unit can process other jobs during the printing proce-
makeready time is determined by the time required for dure. For short print run length, on the other hand,
the mechanical replacement of the plate. Even if this time makeready times play a decisive role, which can make
can be minimized by using automated systems, it is still computer to press systems more profitable.
a decisive factor for the productivity of the system in the
case of short print runs. The printing speed itself is lim- Clustered Printing Systems. As explained in section
ited only by the actual printing process. Conventional 9.1.2.2, a distributed production concept can bring ad-
printing presses are significantly faster in the actual print- vantages. In color printing, production systems have
ing process than computer to print systems. The process- been introduced where a group of small printers is con-
es of imaging and printing, which are separated with trolled in parallel by a RIP and a common control sys-
computer to plate, need, however, to be adapted in their tem (“clustered printing systems”, fig. 9.2-4). Alongside
capacity potential, so that economic production is actu- the positive effects of a distributed production system
ally possible. mentioned in section 9.1.2.2, direct cost advantages can
600 dpi
Decompression Canon 3 ppm (A4)
(hardware/ desktop color
coprocessor) printer P 320
PCI- (electro-
board photography)
Parser
software P 320
12 ppm (A4)
PostScript Harlequin (multicolor)
Compression PCI-
RIP (software) board P 320
4 GB-disk connecting P 320

two printers
MicroPress (T/R Systems) Digital Printer

(NIP technology)
Fig. 9.2-4 Clustered printing system (MicroPress/P320, T/R Systems/Canon)
also come about here since the small printers, which are Examples of Print Production Systems. The following
typically used in office environments, are relatively is a description of different production systems – sys-
cheap because they are mass-produced and with limit- tems containing the printing and finishing processes as
ed performance. This cost advantage must not only ap- well as systems that have prepress, printing, and fin-
ply to the investments costs of the installation, but al- ishing integrated in one production unit.
so to the variable cost of consumables, particularly the Figure 9.2-5 shows a web offset installation; the print-
costs of toner, photoconductor drums, and service. ing process (heatset web offset printing with hot-air
Fig. 9.2-5
Web-fed offset printing system
(M-600, Heidelberg)
drying) and finishing (cutting, folding, stitching) are

combined in one production system – on which com-
pletely finished multi-page brochures can be produced.
Non-impact printing technologies have the advan-
tage that the ink (toner) on the paper is already dry af-
ter printing and finishing can therefore be carried out
immediately. Figure 9.2-6 shows the integration of pre-
press, print, and finishing in diagrammatic form. Fig-
ure 9.2-7 shows a multicolor printing system based on
the non-impact printing technology of electrophoto-
graphy. High-speed non-impact printing systems
based on electrophotography for single-color printing
are shown in figures 9.2-8, 9.2-9, 9.2-10, and 9.2-11.
Printing systems with such a high level of integration
could be defined as follows: “digital job data enters the Fig. 9.2-7
system and the finished product comes out of the sys- Digital multicolor printing system (electrophotography) for the pro-
tem”/“data in, product out” (fig. 9.2-12). duction of multi-page brochures (CLC 1000/FN4 Remote, Canon/
Nagel)
Hybrid Printshops. As illustrated in section 9.1, print-
ing companies are increasingly making use of inde-
pendent, different printing systems where convention-
al printing methods (such as offset) are combined with
printing systems based on non-impact technology. Fig-
ure 9.2-13 shows one such printshop in which a sheet-
fed offset press and a computer to print unit operate
alongside each other (the combination of convention-
al printing methods and NIP-based technologies with-
in hybrid printing systems is described in chap. 6).
Digital system for the production of print media
Digital description Color

of the print job monitor
Control Multicolor
Raster Image Digital product
PostScript console
Processor multicolor Finishing
file (RIP) Bitmap Imaging printing press
controller
Scanner
“Data in” “Product out“
Fig. 9.2-6 Block diagram of a production system with integrated prepress and finishing unit
Stitching and
folding unit Cutter Printing system
Unwinder
Print server
(print data)
Fig. 9.2-9
Printing system (electrophotography) for single-color printing on
sheet material with integrated finishing components and scanner
(DocuTech 135, Xerox)
Fig. 9.2-8
Production system (electrophotography) for single-color printing on
web material with finishing components for “book on demand” pro-
duction (DemandStream 6000 DI, Océ)
Fig. 9.2-10
Printing system (electrophotography) for
single-color printing on sheet material with
in-line finishing system (Digimaster 9110,
Heidelberg; see also fig. 4.5-11)
Fig. 9.2-11
Digital production multicolor sheet-fed printing system (electrophotography, 600 dpi, multiple gray values per pixel, LED imaging system,
unit construction/singlepass design, intermediate blanket cylinder, format A3+/portrait, 70 A4 pages/min, 2100 A3 pages/h) with perfector
for in-line printing on both sides of the sheet (NexPress 2100, Heidelberg/ Kodak)
Database Production System

Production flow for Print Media
Printed
Consumer, end customers

product
Information sources
Plate Printed
Originals etc. pages
Customer, Printing Finishing
Agency, Prepress Distributor
(Press) (Postpress)
Publisher
Data Data Data Data
Film, plate, etc. Paper, ink, etc. Material etc.
Storage/Warehouse
Consumables
“Data in” “Product out”
Supplier
Fig. 9.2-12 Workflow for producing printed products as the basis of a digital, integrated production system for “data in“, “product out”
Fig. 9.2-13
Printing company with conventional (offset) and digital (electropho-
tographic) printing systems (Speedmaster and DCP/32D,
Heidelberg/Xeikon)

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9 Production Strategies

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9.1 Production Concepts

Seasonal variation in orders placed is another typical

Book printing in color

sec. 1.1.5) although the dynamics in each of the prod-

Fig. 9.1-6 Print production methods and distribution channels ([9.1-2])

linked units are arranged in such a way that the flow of

Table 9.1-1 Typical utilization

Length of the partial runs (copies)

1 5 50 500 5000 50 000

“One” copy Short run Long run

Very short run Normal run

Length of e.g., 5000 Total: 10 000, e.g., 10 seg- “1” “1”

9.2 Production Systems

Various basic concepts for the production of print me-

Conventional Printing Technologies

e.g., Offset, Gravure

Electronic Printing Processes

without permanent master,

Imaging Inking Printing

e.g., Ink jet

Fig. 9.2-3 Digital printing: processes, components, variants, and systems

Table 9.2-1 C to Plate C to Press C to Print

Printing process Offset Offset NIP

4 GB-disk connecting P 320

MicroPress (T/R Systems) Digital Printer

Fig. 9.2-4 Clustered printing system (MicroPress/P320, T/R Systems/Canon)

drying) and finishing (cutting, folding, stitching) are

Digital system for the production of print media

Digital description Color

“Data in” “Product out“

Database Production System

Consumer, end customers

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