WAN-IFRA: Has there been any change to the basic idea since the concept was first presented?

HORST-WALTER HAUER: There have been no changes to the basic IPAC idea, i.e. to use a combination of high-rack store - as a proven, highly automated form of managing logistical operations - and universal transport system for the entire process of "print production".

We analysed special designs that permit us to benefit from the advantages of the concept today and allow automation steps to be flexibly retrotfit in the future.

WAN-IFRA: Retrofitting as a component of the concept … is it a case of there being no turnkey standard solution but rather a type of basic framework that can be extended individually?

H.-W. HAUER:  The concept is so flexible  that it leaves all options open as regards configuration and automation. To start with, we want to show what can be done today without major technical development. By retrofitting it is meant that individual technical components can be added or replaced at all times, either because there have been new developments or because requirements have changed. If, for example, a manufacturer develops a new service robot it should be possible to use it. This makes the concept future-oriented.

 WAN-IFRA: What are the advantages of IPAC in relation to processes, flexibility and rationalisation? Could you briefly once again summarise the most important benefits and what these are based on?

H.-W. HAUER: The configuration of all production aggregates around a central, multi-functional and totally motorised logistics system that reaches into every part of the printing plant permits a more extensive automation of all individual processes in an efficient building. Eliminated are the different designs of individual tranmsport systems, each with their own manual back-up system, as are the more or les networked insular solutions in different partsof the building that, all in all, lead to increasingly complex systems. All processes – initially for stock management and production, in future also for maintenance and service – are controlled via a higher-level control system – with the advantage that everything can be extended flexibly and automated as required.

WAN-IFRA: What new impulses or insights in relation to the possible realisation of the IPAC concept have you gained from discussions with specialists from the supplier and user side?

H.-W. HAUER: The interests of manufacturers and operators differ today more than ever.

The operators today need comprehensive business models for all levels of automated print production in order to be able to profitably confront current and future changes. That is exactly what the IPAC concept offers as well as, something proposed by the users, the possibility to integrate commercial and digital printing or additional logistical services. It also offers more favourable investment conditions due to the possibility to put the high-rack store and transport to other uses as required.

Investing securely is especially important in the present difficult economic situation. Conventional newspaper printing plants are deisnged for a very specific application. A printing plant that is based on a high-rack store and that uses operating equipment capable of transporting heavy loads offers the possibility to use the facilities also for warhouse logistics purposes if so required. The invested capital would not be lost.

WAN-IFRA: How did you proceed further with the project development and where do you stand now?

IBH wanted to establish and document the technical feasibility and efficiency of the IPAC concept compared to conventional plant design. This called for a detailed comparison.

Due to the market development and resulting investment situation, we selected a small 48-page press with a mailroom line in order to show that the concept is beneficial also in such a case.

Working from a basic IBH configuration, a complete IPAC printing plant was designed, checked and validated in cooperation with graphics industry experten.

WAN-IFRA: Was a hypothetical or real printing plant project taken for comparison purposes? How did you obtain the key data?

H.-W. HAUER: In cooperation with IE Graphic Engineering as specialists for building management investment projects in the printing and media industries, a feasibility studywas carried out based on a project of a comparable size that was in the process of realisation.

For this purpose, the machine and equipment components for printing and finisheing as well as the building management facilities were applied 1:1, i.e. without any optimised adaptation, to the IPAC high-rack version.

WAN-IFRA: What were the results of the feasibility study?

 H.-W. HAUER: The compact design and simplicity of the rack system leads to   much reduced floor space requirements and therefore also a smaller building site compared to the comparative model. Likewise the building cubature could be reduced as many transport passages are eliminated in the IPAC concept. The construction period is shorter and, despite higher capital costs for the transport system, economies can be achieved in the costs for realisation.

The comparative calculation revealed 30% lower capital costs for building management and more than 10% for (conventional) production equipment. Once the high-rack printing plant is up and running, in two-shift operation it is possible to eliminate between and three jobs in the area of in-plant transport alone.

WAN-IFRA: Who else has now also signed up for your concept?

H.-W. HAUER: We have succeeded in gaining ABB and its partner, Swisslog, as important supporters. Based on the feasibility study and the utilisation analyses for print and mailroom production planning compiled by IBH, the technical feasibility of a higher-level production planning and control for material workflows was carried out. The result: the ABB MPS Solutions are suited for the IPAC concept without the need for cost-intensive new developments.

WAN-IFRA: Are there still any unresolved questions or problems? What is missing before it can be translated into an actual project?

H.-W. HAUER: We have reached a point now where we can say: the IPAC concept is feasible and convinces from the point of view of building and production management as a manhufacturer-independent, future-oriented and flexible printing plant. The next step would be to embark on realising such a project together with a courageous pilot customer. It is only on the basis of an actual project and in cooperation with the later operator and wit hthe suppliers that it is possible to calculate the potential for further savings, e.g. in the area of building management and operating costs.