Going live this week (w/c 29 January), the software has been beta-tested extensively to refine its offering for users. It is capable of showing what job is running on a press or bank of presses, for how long, the number of sheets run, any stoppage time, reasons for errors, and waste levels.
Information is relayed to an interface which users can access from any web browser on a computer connected to their firm’s server. It is priced from £4,500 for the installation of the software and required mini-server hardware.
“Now we have released this for general sale, we are very open to feedback and want to continually develop PressReporter,” said Prepress UK sales director Nic Chapman. “One key tweak we have made so far is to add costing calculations to the data presented.
“PressReporter can report back labour and electrical costs, as well as paper usage and waste to give more accurate estimates. This then has a run-on for firms in both production and sales as job quotes become more accurate over time.
“We want people to become early adopters of this technology, as some presses have limited reporting capabilities but not to this extent. If they have ideas about their experience, we want to hear from them so we can implement the good ones.”
Currently limited to Heidelberg presses, Prepress UK has already been asked to adapt the software for digital presses – which Chapman said is “on the cards”. He also asked that companies who want to incorporate PressReporter into their MIS should let Prepress know what file formats they use, in order to make them compatible.
Building on what Chapman described as "the limited reporting capabilities" offered by some presses, the PressReporter server comes with a terabyte of “unrestricted” storage which can store a near-unlimited archive of jobs.
It can run on any Heidelberg machine equipped with the Press Center console, as well as Heidelberg CP2000s configured machines that have a Management Gate option.
Prepress UK worked closely with Colt Press in Witham, Essex, to road test and fine tune the product.
Colt Press managing director Paul Haddow said he was “delighted” with PressReporter, which runs on its three-year-old five-colour Heidelberg XL75.
“A business of our size needs to get the basic information on press and job performance quickly and accurately. Our sales team especially have found it useful to be able to see job details on press – whether that is comparing actual performance data to the quote, or keeping a client informed on job progress.”
Based in Brighton and Cheltenham, Prepress UK supplies a variety of software including prepress workflows, PDF and PostScript RIPs, and technical support for existing systems.
