Adopting International Printing Standards and Certification

1. AdoptingInternational Printing Standards and Certification Bob Chung, Professor RIT, Rochester, NY, USA September 19-20, 2012

2. Topics • Connecting the dots • Printing industry trends • Printing standardization and certification • New rules of the game • Managing change

3. Connecting the Dots • Given 9 dots in a 3 by 3 formation, what are the minimum number of connected straight lines needed to connect all 9 dots without lifting the pencil?      

4. Connecting the Dots • Most of us would agree, it’s ‘5.’ 1       2 4 5 3

5. Connecting the Dots • A better answer is ‘4’ if we think outside the box, i.e., there is no boundary. 1       2 3 4

6. Connecting the Dots • The take-away • Paradigms provide ‘boundaries’ or ‘rules’ for us to follow. While they help us to be successful, they may block our minds to see other possibilities. • Past rules may not apply to new problems, i.e., ‘business as usual’ may not be the best thing for a company. • Acquiring new paradigms takes courage and requires change.

7. Printing Industry Trends • Technology outlook • Digitization and the Internet are breaking down technology and distance barriers. • The speed and ease of moving job contents and business information has transformed our industry from a local/regional business to a national/international business. • DRUPA 2012 technology showcase • More color • More personalized to high volume workflow solutions • More automation • More digital production inkjet presses

8. Printing Industry Trends • Competition outlook • The competition used to be the printer across town. it’s now everywhere, i.e., • The printer across the country and the printer across the ocean. • The e-media provider who is providing print as an e-media alternative. • Our own clients who start their in-house, in-plant printing operations due to ease of operation, cycle-time reduction, information sensitivity, etc.

9. Printing Industry Trends • Market and customer outlook • Print buyers are becoming more global. They want to work with few preferred suppliers to keep their supply chains manageable. • GASMA PRINT’s vision, “Simplify the Future” • They demand predictable and repeatable color across different printing technologies and from different media. • They view printing certification as a sound basis for building trust between printers and themselves.

10. New Rules of the Game • What do these changes mean to a printing company? • Where are my customers going? • Do I know my customer’s perceived and unmet needs? • What do I need to know about printing certification to earn my current and future customer’s trust? • How do I ‘connect the dots’ in the new PRINTING paradigms?

11. 11 New Rules of the Game • RIT perspectives • 2009 – The U.S. printing industry requested RIT to create a certification scheme • 2010 – Conducted standards and certification survey, personal visits to Europe (Switzerland, the Netherlands, U.K., Germany), joined ISO/TC130 • 2011 – Certification scheme development, conformity assessment, ANSI/CGATS TR 016 • 2012 – PSA certification scheme, testing, partnership with IDEAlliance and APTEC.

12. New Rules of the Game • A Bangkok Summit objective is to bring current information of international printing standards to users in Thailand. • The summit agenda covers many certification schemes and process control approaches to printing standardization. • ISO standards specify aims and tolerances. ISO does not dictate how to implement it. ISO does not dictate which certification schemes to follow. • Which approach best addresses my customer’s perceived and unmet needs? • How do PSO, G7, and PSA differ?

13. G7 and PSA • G7 is a press calibration method and a qualification scheme per G7 Pass/Fail Criteria. • No audit, no production variation assessment • PSA focuses conformance to dataset, as defined by ISO/DIS 15339 and ANSI/CGATS TR 016. • RIT is the 3rd party auditor. • PSA offers two levels of certification: PSA Certified and PSA with Honors. • RIT and IDEAlliance, working together, define “G7 GRACoL Certified Printer” based on the PSA certification and G7 Master Printer status.

14. PSO and PSA

15. New Rules of the Game • Printers want repeatable color. Customers want predictable color. • ISO 12647-2 defines process control conformance aims. • ISO/DIS 15339& CGATS TR016 define product color conformance aims. ISO/DIS 15339-1 product control ISO 12647-2 process control

16. New Rules of the Game • Customers prefer paper with bluish cast. • The bluish white of the paper (containing OBA) causes two problems: • It affects printed colors, including greys and solids, thus, printing conformance. • There is a mismatch between non-OBA proofs and OBA prints.

17. 17 New Rules of the Game • ISO 12647-2 (2004) • The first significant printing standard that demonstrated ‘printing by numbers’ since the film-based workflow days. • It focuses on process control and considers color management outside of its scope. • Characterization dataset, e.g., Fogra 39, was the result of process control and was not ISO balloted. • No provision for substrate correction which leads to proof-to-print mismatch.

18. 18 New Rules of the Game • ISO/DIS 15339-1 (2011) • A new printing standard that uses digital data as common input to multiple printing technologies. • It defines a set of reference printing conditions (characterization datasets) with substrate correction to enable printing to substrate-corrected dataset. • The use of press calibration, process control, and color management are at printer’s discretion.

19. New Rules of the Game • RIT has done extensive tests on the effect of proofing and printing to substrate-corrected dataset on proof-to-print match under the influence of OBA. The results are positive. ISO 12647-7 Proof ISO 15339-1 Print ISO 15339-1 Proof

20. New Rules of the Game • PSA is a new certification scheme based on national and international standards. • ISO/DIS 15339-1 (2011) • ANSI/CGATS TR 016 (2012) • PSA addresses printer’s certification needs based on dataset conformance using typical papers. • PSA also addresses print buyer’s unmet needs, i.e., print-to-proof color match under the influence OBA.

21. Managing Change • Every printer faces the challenges of managing its daily operations to meet customer’s perceived and unmet needs. • Printing certification is strategic in building customer's trust. • Printing conformance to dataset is strategic in meeting customer’s color match needs across multiple substrates and printing platforms.

22. Managing Change • Check • Conduct self studies • Measure progress • Close process gap • Act • Contact certification body • Prepare for on-site audit • Participate in the audit • Celebrate the success • Plan • What are my customer’s requirements? • Why certification is important to my company? • Who else is interested in certification? • Do • Implement standards compliant workflow • Decide conformance schemes • Select a team • Institute training

23. Thank you. Q/A Bob Chung, Professor RIT, Rochester, NY, USA rycppr@rit.edu RIT printing alumni in Bangkok, Thailand in September 19, 2012 are (from left) Jaruwat, Channassa, Bob, Theera, and Sunchut.