C&C Joint Printing produces catalogs and magazines for a global market, with clients in Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia. Lin Yongjian, the head of color management, recently faced a significant hurdle; skilled press operators are leaving the industry faster than the company can hire new ones. C&C turned to automation to solve this labor shortage, integrating Enfocus PitStop Pro and Switch into their production environment.
Seamless Integration and Custom Workflows
They smoothly integrated PitStop and Switch with the company's ERP system. Then they started using PitStop in both their prepress and their digital printing departments to handle high file volumes, while Switch manages the entire digital printing workflow. The process starts when an order enters the system, after which Switch automatically checks the files, processes them, and handles imposition. It then creates a PDF that fits the specific digital press format, providing hands-free automation from start to finish.
Overcoming the Skills Gap
The modular nature of Switch is its main advantage for C&C. Experienced operators configure the initial modules and templates, allowing other employees to simply follow these established paths. This strategy offers several benefits for their business:
- It shortens training time for new staff.
- It improves overall production efficiency.
- It reduces the risk of human error during file handling.
For C&C, manual file processing used to lead to mistakes, causing quality problems in the final print. Now, they use predefined templates to ensure every file meets their high standards.
Results Driven by Data
Enfocus automation allows C&C to maintain high output with fewer specialized staff members, with the company now processing between 3,000 and 4,000 pages per day through Switch. Lin Yongjian highly recommends Enfocus products to others in the printing industry, as he puts it:
If colleagues in the industry ask me which automation solution they should use, I usually recommend PitStop or other Enfocus products, because they are easy to use and highly regarded in the industry.
Lin Yongjian, Head of Color Management, C&C Joint Printing
