Engaged in packaging printing, Daiko Printing Co., Ltd. specializes in printing for the medical industry and has gained a high level of trust. In recent years, the company has expanded into the cosmetics industry, taking advantage of the quality it has cultivated in pharmaceutical-related printing and more than 30 years of clear material printing know-how.
Especially in package printing, since the cost of raw materials is high, the amount of waste generated is an issue for managers in terms of profit management. With conventional analogue management, it was extremely difficult to grasp how much loss was occurring in each process not only for managers but also front-line workers.
As a result of introducing KP-Connect Pro and digitalizing all printing and post-press processes, Daiko now accurately understands how much paper waste occurs in which processes and the number of materials invested and can clearly see where improvements are needed. In particular, paper accounts for a large percentage of costs, making the elimination of paper waste directly related to profitability. Due to focusing on reducing paper waste, the company succeeded in reducing the cost of stock by 8 percent of sales in a short period of time. The reason for the success was that the digitalization enabled not only management but also operators on the shop floor, to accurately grasp the production situation in real-time, which raised everyone’s awareness of waste and helped them take proactive measures.
KP-Connect Pro automatically collects, records, and makes visible a range of operating data from not only printing presses but also post-press equipment and can export the data in CSV format. The costs of materials, labour, and electric power are skyrocketing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure profits. It is therefore essential to grasp accurate information in real-time through digitalization, share it with management and the front line, and build a system that can immediately respond to bottlenecks.
In this way, DX in printing companies has already been introduced by many advanced users around the world and has already achieved results that exceed expectations. In all aspects, including productivity, quality, and costs, major changes are occurring that represent a significant revolution.
KP-Connect Pro, with its advantageous subscription model, was installed by these two companies at a reasonable cost while having a great impact. Furthermore, with its open platform concept, it can be connected to a variety of prepress and post-press devices, including MIS, improving the efficiency of not only the printing process but the entire production process. As KP-Connect becomes more widespread, collaboration with major manufacturers and vendors in Japan and overseas is accelerating.
It is important to invest in systems that are truly transformational. Simply making up electronic files for handwritten ones and sharing them on a server does not truly digitally transform the workflow. Additionally, making new software perform in the exact same fashion as the original analogue method is not the real meaning behind digital transformation and misses the opportunity to make a new, more productive workflow based on industry best practices. For this reason, Komori has evolved KP-Connect over time, incorporating a variety of opinions from top-level customers, producing a high-level digital platform, and we will continue its evolution to capture the best practices of the print industry and Komori print technology.
Printing is an industry that plays an important role in society, with great room for improvement. Komori believes in print and continues to advance its systems to improve the productivity of the process. Komori conceived of KP-Connect seven years ago, fully believing that digital transformation of conventional analogue methods for complex printing processes will have a great effect. In 2021, KP-Connect was enhanced, and we are now at the stage where many printing companies will be able to experience the benefits of digitalization. Proactively implementing DX will greatly improve productivity and profitability as well as open up a bright future for printing.
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