KODAK UPFRONT Production Planning Software Streamlines Production at Warners

KODAK UPFRONT Production Planning Software Streamlines Production at Warners

Specialist magazine, brochure and catalogue printer Warners (Midlands) plc has significantly streamlined its production workflow through the use of KODAK UPFRONT production planning software. Family-owned Warners has invested heavily in the latest technology in order to provide its customers with fast turnaround times and the most cost-effective methods of production. Sister company Warners Group Publications plc offers a range of third-party publishing services.

Warners runs five web offset presses and two sheetfed machines at its 9,300m 2 facility in Bourne, Lincolnshire, and the wide range of work it produces involves handling a multitude of folding formats. By implementing UPFRONT software, the company has rationalized its processes, cut out the duplication of tasks, and become more efficient. Impositions were previously handled by two departments but this function has now been consolidated within the origination area. All new jobs are entered into Warners’ MIS and the JDF import facility in UPFRONT software directly captures information such as customer details, pagination, and the job description. This saves time and avoids potential errors involved in re-entering data manually.

Positive Focus, Kodak’s distribution partner for UPFRONT, PREPS Imposition Software and PANDORA Step-and-Repeat Software in the UK and Ireland, worked closely with Warners to map out the training and implementation of the new system and facilitate a smooth transition. Glenn Dawson, Systems Administrator at Warners, confirms the benefits of a planned approach, “The training was excellent and the whole installation was remarkably trouble-free,” he said. “Initially we had a steep learning curve as we were changing our working methods, but the training we invested in has paid dividends. At first we found some of our original impositions were not being matched by UPFRONT, but we soon established that UPFRONT was right and our manually produced section plans were wrong. Today, everyone has confidence in the impositions we produce.”

Read the complete Press Release