The goal of this article: not a ready-made conclusion, but to spark your curiosity to investigate whether your machines can do more than what they are used for now. Time is our most precious asset — a shame if you can't enjoy the sun an hour earlier.
Talking to machines: 'hee-haw' or AI?
Imagine: you walk into your print shop and say to the HP Indigo: 'Print a thousand brochures, full colour, cut and done. Thanks!' Nothing. No 'Yes boss!', no rumbling, not even an error. Is the machine as dumb as a donkey, or do WE not understand the communication? These days you can talk to your fridge, but a digital press does not talk back — only if you use exactly the right signal, command or file type might something happen. Maybe, because the documentation often leaves much to be desired.
Standards do not lead to universal communication
There are JDF/JMF and APIs, and much more. But anyone who thinks those standards guarantee universal communication has never tried to run an order flawlessly across multiple systems. It feels like speaking English to someone who only understands Spanish and a bit of JavaScript. Machines spit out data, but listen or respond? No chance — it remains a digital monologue.
Apps that build bridges
Yet we want communication: systems talking to each other, or at least saying something back. Efficiency starts with mutual understanding, and automation only becomes powerful when a system dares to report back. Fortunately there are building blocks. Think of Enfocus Switch, where more and more apps appear that connect system A to machine B.
Standard connections
These 'chatty middlemen' pass on order information, retrieve statuses or restart a workflow when something stalls. They often speak only one language: that of their own brand or device. But as long as they do talk, we're already well on our way. Working with existing connections is usually cheaper — no need to reinvent the wheel. In the Enfocus AppStore you'll find the 'standard' apps that talk to machines.
Right under your nose
Standard or with a plug-in, Caldera, ONYX and PrintFactory send their output (as ZCC or PDF) to a Zünd digital cutting system. And even if you use Quite Imposing and set a Thru-cut on the TrimBox with PitStop or pdfToolbox, you can tell your Zünd exactly that.
Non-standard print connections
Consider external tools to print jobs, such as 'FolderMill' or 'QZ Tray' (free and paid). Think of it as a construction kit — tinkering fun guaranteed.
Statuses
There are often hotfolder options (monitored folders). You can state: if a job is in the hotfolder, it's in the printer; if it's in the output folder and not in the error folder, it was processed successfully. That's two or three statuses right there.
MIS miss?
And your Management Information System (MIS)? It doesn't surprise me that no MIS can communicate with everything, but with a middleware layer like Switch or your own APIs you often feed your MIS information you otherwise wouldn't have — such as updating a job ticket in MultiPress. Then it's no longer a 'miss', but a 'hit'.
Finishing and embellishment
Cutting and enveloping machines often work with barcodes, QR codes or data matrices that specify exactly what should happen. Duplo and Uchida respond to simple barcodes; Horizon guillotines are happy with JDF data from, say, Phoenix. The smart approach: let the system read rather than wait for instructions.
Getting a grip on 'dumb' machines and scales
Some machines perform fine but know nothing about what they process. Working with a technical machine builder can yield barcode readers that write or read data via an API — you see exactly which orders were processed when, including consumption and waste. With PrintNode you can even connect scales via IP, USB or COM ports. There's gain to be had there too. Questions or comments?
