Page 50 - Print21 Jan-Feb 2020

Digital Finishing
ThinkSmart Factory
The Internet of Things (IoT) is about to hit the world of finishing, with the inaugural ThinkSmart Factory in Japan hosted by Horizon Wat the end of last year highlighting the possibilities of connectivity.
ith a nod to driven by the general manager of the Hunkeler Horizon International, who is also Innovationdays the managing director of Horizon where the Swiss- Germany. He understands what is based finishing going on and what the possibilities
company shows complete digital are. He believes finishing is still
system; now that has been superseded by ICE, which is part of the IoT.
Robinson says, “The benefits are tremendous. Workflow, scheduling, productivity, efficiency, all will improve. Being able to pull up a page on your smartphone to see exactly how everything is tracking will be a real bonus.”
The Internet of Things (IoT) is spreading throughout our lives, with many things being networked together. The printing industry
is looking to vendors not only to automate solutions for labour savings but also to connect solutions through networks.
At ThinkSmart Factory every system in the hall was connected
via a digital workflow, an automatic transport system, and in-feeding and off-loading robots, incorporated to demonstrate a fully automated Smart Factory operation. Within
the 4,000sqm space, the end-to-
end automated workflow was demonstrated with a focus on finished products. Horizon solutions were used for the finishing process and were connected from order entry to delivery. In addition,
digital technology was the focus, demonstrating, said the organisers, “a high level of automation and quality through digital technology”.
One concept of ThinkSmart Factory was the elimination of individual vendor booths, to use the entire floor as a working factory to show real Smart Factory concepts in a live demonstration.
Robinson said, “Visitors to drupa will see Horizon’s commitment to IoT on its booth at the show. I would expect the first systems to arrive in ANZ by the end of the year.” 21
production lines from reel to product, with its finishing systems integrated with print lines from
a number of manufacturers, the ThinkSmart Factory held in Kyoto took this to the next level with IoT - internet of things.
The Horizon finishing equipment of stackers, slitters, folders, stitchers, perfect binders, and die cutters was working with print systems from the likes of Canon Production Printing (formerly Océ), Konica Minolta, Fuji Xerox, Fujifilm, Ricoh, and Screen.
Bernie Robinson, managing director of Currie Group, the long- time Horizon distributor in Australia and New Zealand, was at the event, which took place over three days in front of 3000 industry professionals.
He said, “ThinkSmart Factory is part of the Horizon Finishing First strategy. It was aimed to show how using the internet for connectivity can generate real production efficiencies, and reduce costs and wastage, through eliminating human touchpoints
and providing connectivity between production units. “ThinkSmart factory is a great concept. It was
expensive because of the labour, but says we should not need tradespeople to operate, with the internet, automatisation and robots perfectly capable of providing a great service.
“At ThinkSmart Factory we had a Horizon SmartStacker taking the pallets of print, and then robots and connectivity doing the rest.” – Bernie Robinson, MD, Currie Group
“The aim is to take a pallet of paper out of the press and have it folded, trimmed, sewn or bound, and delivered with no human interaction.
“This is what we saw at ThinkSmart Factory, with a Horizon SmartStacker taking the pallets of print, and then robots and connectivity doing the rest. The internet-enabled production units had barcode readers to tell them what needed doing to the sheets, and the robots manipulated them into the correct location. The bindery manager can see everything that is happening through a phone or iPad.”
Horizon has been working on connectivity for some time – it was previously using the PX Net JDF-based
Above main
High interest: the first ThinkSmart Factory attracted big crowds
Great concept: Currie Group MD Bernie Robinson talks to Australian printers at the event
Above right
50 Print21 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020