Hey there.
Welcome to HEIDELBERG @ drupa 2024,
and our series in the run-up to drupa in which we take a closer look
at the topics that we consider to be of greatest interest
to the industry at the moment.
The shortage of workforce, sustainability in print production,
digitalization and the maintenance of competitiveness.
All of this runs under our trade fair motto: “Unfold your potential”!
helping you to get the most out of your production.
Today, we want to talk about effective workforce management,
a topic that is sure to be on most of our minds.
We take a look at the current situation from various perspectives
and provide ideas and solutions.
Let's get started.
In Germany, a survey by the “Bundesverband Druck and Medien”
confirms the challenging situation.
The number of companies affected by the shortage of skilled workers
has risen by 12 percentage points to 66%
in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Despite their best efforts, around 1/3 of the companies surveyed
were unable to fill any or all of the training positions on offer.
Our sales reps who are in close contact with local customers
know what the situation is like in other parts of the world.
When you look into the North American market
and specifically the US, the challenges are many,
but it’s in both areas of the skilled and unskilled labor.
You know, the industry as a whole continues to age.
So, we have an issue with replacing the natural attrition.
Our customers fear that this problem will continue for many years.
So the actions they take is add automation.
That means adding automation in the postpress,
in the press room, all through manufacturing.
But in addition to that,
they need to train their younger employees for retention.
And it's upon us to keep recruiting these positive attitude persons and develop them.
And we have to put them in positions to be successful for the future.
And that's where a lot of our artificial intelligence comes in,
into the printing presses.
We limit the mistakes they can make and we help them grow knowledge over time.
So, I'm very optimistic and excited about the future generation.
Indonesia is an emerging market
with a population of around 270 million people,
with the average age of around 30.
So, if we talk about quantity here: we are more than enough.
But yes, we have been discussing with our customers lately,
that they're struggling to get skilled operators,
especially printing operators
on the production side.
As we know, moving paper,
moving every paper to the feeder and then dealing with the ink
and cleaning the machine is not the nicest activity, anymore.
Especially customers in the print shop with the old machines,
they will suffer from the shortage of the labor skill.
If we compare them with the customers who invest
in modern automation of the machines.
Printing companies are therefore faced
with a whole range of challenges.
How can I attract new staff with attractive jobs?
How do I manage to retain employees
for a long time and not overtax them?
How can I deploy the existing workforce effectively
in order to remain competitive in the future?
To give you an example,
an assistant at the folding machine has to restack such a package
from the delivery onto the pallet approximately every 12 seconds.
That's up to seven tons per shift
that have to be moved.
Yes, exactly. Per shift.
Luckily, this work can be done by fully automated stacking systems.
They don't get tired.
They continue to work even after the end of the shift
and don't even get back pain.
We've had the StackStar P in our range for some time now,
which already makes a huge difference in print productions with large capacities.
At drupa, we will present another game-changer: The StackStar C.
As the C in the name suggests, it works coexistently.
Meaning alongside the operator,
which also makes it attractive for print shops with smaller volumes.
It requires less space.
It's mobile and can be flexibly docked onto various machines for postpress.
Another example.
As you know, many work steps are required to produce a folding box like this.
Luckily, most of them can already be carried out quickly
and reliably by machines.
For example, with our Diana series.
This performs the numerous work steps in gluing boxes sequentially,
and this at record speeds.
Our Diana Smart, for instance, achieves 600 meters per minute.
That's over 80,000 of these cartons per hour
or around 1,350 cartons per minute.
Now imagine you are at the delivery section,
and have to pack two boxes of folding cartons like that every minute.
I can promise you, this is not only pure stress,
but also anything but healthy for the body and mind.
The Diana Smartpacker has been closing this gap
in the product portfolio for a good year now,
and counts and packs up to 130,000 cartons per hour.
That's amazing.
With the Automated Diana Smart Production Line,
the entire folding carton gluing process runs automatically.
Meanwhile, the operator can concentrate fully on the essentials,
such as quality control.
All work steps from removing the planks from the pallet,
inserting them into the gluing machine, filling the boxes and palletizing them
are carried out without the operator being involved.
Physically hard work, which nobody wants to do anyway,
is reduced to an absolute minimum.
Speaking of physically hard work,
let's assume you print with a Speedmaster XL 106-8 color perfector.
With every job change, the operator has to load multiple printing units
with a new printing plate.
Neither an easy, nor a handy job, right?
And on top, you better watch out.
Make sure you don't get any scratches on the surface
or bump the plates.
Handle with care.
In a shift with ten job changes,
in which the operator has to deliver and remove eight plates,
he moves 160 of these plates.
That corresponds to the floor area
of a medium sized single family home.
But we are not floor layers, right.
Furthermore, the comparison is flawed anyway,
because for them, the order in which they lay their tiles
is rarely important.
For us, every printing plate has to be ready at the right printing unit
at exactly the right time.
Delays and errors are expensive.
The automated Plate-to-Unit solution helps in three ways.
Intelligent assistant systems monitor and warn in the event of an error.
Transferring step by step more responsibility to the machines.
The operator no longer needs to intervene and be on his toes
to prepare the plates and the units for every job change.
Companies that have been working with this so far
save up to two assistants per shift.
It also avoids human error when handling the printing plates,
and the operator is always in control of the situation
via the wall screen.
He gains time to ensure that there are no unplanned interruptions.
In other words, a smooth process with a positive impact on productivity.
In addition to robotics and automation,
intelligent assistant systems
and a clear intuitive user interface,
help to conserve employees resources.
The best way to find out what difference a good user experience can make
is to ask our expert Sascha Epp.
Hi Sascha.
Why is a UX or user experience so important?
In times of a shortage of skilled workers,
it is even more important
that operators quickly find a way around a machine.
Similar to a smartphone,
operations should be as intuitive as possible.
This speeds up processes, avoids errors and reduces the operator's workload.
This is why each Speedmaster is equipped with the same multi-functional touch screen,
making it easy for the operators to find their way around every Speedmaster.
You say it avoids errors and relieves the operator.
Can you give us an example of this?
Yes, of course.
The patented Intelistart 3 system compares the pending jobs with each other
and automatically creates job change programs.
It also recognizes when changes such as color changes
or substrate changes need to be made
and guides the operator through this process step by step.
How do the systems know what the process is like?
The machine is constantly analysed using artificial intelligence.
This makes life even easier for the operator,
as he no longer has to constantly define or configure these processes.
The machine does this independently.
For example, the Wash Assistant knows all the information about a substrate,
surface coverage and color tone and uses this information
to calculate the best wash up program
for the blanket, impression cylinder and inking unit.
The Powder Assistant and Color Assistant Pro
also make life much easier for the operator.
How is the whole thing integrated into the print shop and the processes?
We have fully integrated the press into the Prinect workflow
to further reduce the workload of the operator at the press.
The job sequence is specified from the workflow with the planning tool.
This is also directly coordinated with postpress and the delivery date.
Meaning, the operator no longer has to consider or check
separate lists to see which job comes next.
Not too bad, Sascha.
Thank you for these examples
of what UX can do.
At drupa, we will of course present further solutions
that will help you to manage your workforce effectively
and offer an attractive workplace at the same time.
In our daily shows, at our booth in hall 1
and in our experience center, we’ll also focus on the challenges of the market.
You can be excited.
But we still have some time until then.
Fortunately, we will see each other again in just a few days
on a topic that is also rapidly gaining in importance.
Sustainability in print production.
Take care and see you then.