Barcoding & Plate Sortation
Key Features in Larger CTP Installations

As CTP implementation in newspapers continues to grow, more newspapers are requiring total plate room automation solutions. Plate room automation can be as simple as an in-line CTP device, processor, and automated punch bender. Systems that are more elaborate include plate flow management, automatic plate quality inspection, plate sorting, plate tracking, and data reporting.

Successful plate room automation is dependant on the capability to assign a unique identity to each plate. Since plates are produced with digital files, the digital file name is a good method of plate identification. A well-planned file naming convention combined with a barcode system provides an excellent solution for total plate room management.

Establish a File Naming Convention
To develop the file naming convention, consider creating a table with a field for each value; determine the value range, and the maximum number of characters per field. It is important to keep the file name consistent with the same number of characters to allow accurate field mapping. Naming Convention Example 1 shows an eleven-character barcode that provides excellent information for plate tracking and sorting.

Combining press imposition data with the file name allows punching and bending the plate for a specific press position, plate tracking, and plate sorting to the press level. Punching the plate for a specific press location eliminates unnecessary press notches in the plate when running multiple web widths on press. Naming Convention Example 2 shows a seventeen-character barcode that includes the press imposition data.

A barcode font creates the barcode from the file name. The font is typically provided or available from your workflow supplier. There are numerous types of barcode fonts available. Most common fonts include Code 39, Code 128, and Interleaved 2 of 5. Human readable fonts show the data in the barcode beneath the barcode. The barcode should be limited to a maximum of twenty-five characters to ensure reliable barcode scanning. High density, 2D barcode scanners are available if more than twenty-five characters are required.

Managing Plate Flow
Nela's Periphery Services (NPS) software provides an excellent solution for post processor plate management. NPS is a stand-alone package to manage plate flow or can work in conjunction with Nela's VCP.NET, Vision Punch Bender software. Figure 1 shows three CTP devices connected with a Nela conveyor system into two Nela VCP Punch/Benders combined with a Nela twelve station sortation systems.

After imaging and processing, Nela's roller conveyor system delivers plates to the benders. Three barcode scanners are located before the benders to determine the correct bender for punch/bending the plate. NPS ensures color plates for the same page are directed to the same bender. The bender barcode scanners provide time stamping of the punch bending process. It is important to place barcode scanners near the decision point to eliminate the possibility of processing errors if a plate is manually removed from the conveyor.

After bending, plates are delivered to a common conveyor and scanned to determine which sorting bins to stack the plates in. NPS allows the plates to be sorted by any field or combination of field. Sorting plates by color, CMYK, would be a simple sort scheme. Sorting by press unit and color is another example of common sorting. The sorting barcode scanner provides time stamping and bin number information.

Data Collection and Reporting
Processing data collection provides excellent quality control, workflow analysis, and reporting tools. Accurate and comprehensive data can be invaluable for analyzing a print quality problem through the entire production process.

It is important to ensure processing data is easy to access from all vendors. When collecting data from multiple sources, field names and file format should be the same, if possible, to allow easy data merging. Delimited text files and XML files are common formats that are easy to import. XML is a common favorite and easy to import into Microsoft Excel to quickly develop pivot tables and charts. Figure 2 shows a simple chart produced with XML data. The chart displays the number of plates produce per hour over a twenty-four period on five lines of equipment. This type of report could be useful in determining peak production periods and down time opportunities for maintenance.

Both Nela's NPS and VCP.NET software offer numerous data output formats that allow integration flexibility with other vendors to provide total plate room automation solutions.

Contact Nela to learn more about our plate room automation solutions to meet your unique requirements.