The long road to digitalization

The data captured by the systems is inadequate, error detection is insufficient, and interfaces to other systems are lacking. A recent survey on the state of digitalization in the printing industry paints a rather bleak picture. “The printing industry still has a long way to go,” concludes the consulting agency Apenberg & Partner from Hamburg. Decision-makers from 55 companies with a total annual turnover of 1.9 billion euros were surveyed.

Only one fifth of respondents – primarily larger companies with annual revenues over 20 million euros – trust their collected production and cost analyses and make decisions based on that data. 40% stated that their calculated hourly rates do not, or only partially, reflect their actual cost structure. Opportunities for automation also seem only partially realized: just 20% of the surveyed companies reported using a software solution that covers all operational areas.

According to A&P, there is significant potential for optimization, particularly in prepress. The survey revealed that a lower level of automation in prepress directly correlates with a higher error rate. In general, the systematic analysis of process-related errors is “not widely practiced” in the industry, A&P notes. Missing interfaces to other systems also hinder digitalization, with 38% of respondents identifying deficits in this area. Overall, only about half of the surveyed printing companies are satisfied with their current ERP or MIS system.

uTraxx addresses the issues mentioned. By leveraging artificial intelligence, it significantly reduces the workload in internal sales. Fully automated calculations generate precise imposition layouts, which are transferred to prepress via JDF. This automates both internal sales and prepress. Production becomes standardized, and end-to-end digitalization accelerates information flow while minimizing errors. The integrated cost accounting ensures that hourly rates and costs reflect actual conditions. With a targeted implementation strategy, uTraxx ERP can be up and running in a short time.