JP2007050651A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system which facilitates analysis of a cause of broke. <P>SOLUTION: According to the printing system, a process management server 10 issues a printing instruction 40 to a printing server 20 when a printing job is carried out. After control of a printer 30, based on the printing instruction 40, the printing server 20 notifies the process management server 10 of operational information 50 which includes the number of sheets of broke, the type of sheets used in the printer 30, and the temperature and humidity of an installation area of the printer 30. The process management server 10 stores the notified operational information 50 therein. A supervisor refers to the operational information stored in the process management server, and takes countermeasures to prevent occurrence of the broke. The operational information may include a cause of a printing redo. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that executes a printing process using a printing machine.

  In recent years, in order to comprehensively manage all processes related to production and production of printed materials, a method for exchanging documents in a format called JDF (Job Definition Format) between various devices related to printing has been proposed. It has been put into practical use.

  For example, in the printing system shown in FIG. 16, the process management server 1 issues a print instruction 4 compliant with JDF to the print server 2. The print instruction 4 includes information such as the printer to be used, the type of paper and ink, the printing method, the number of printed sheets (hereinafter referred to as the number of sheets to be printed), and the like. Upon receiving the print instruction 4, the print server 2 controls the printing press 3 based on this. When the printing in the printing machine 3 is completed, the print server 2 notifies the process management server 1 of operation information 5 compliant with JDF. The operation information 5 includes information such as the type of paper used and the number of damaged paper (paper that failed to print). The operation information 5 is accumulated in the process management server 1.

  For example, the process management server 1 is arranged in the management department of the printing company, and the printing server 2 and the printing machine 3 are arranged in the production department of the printing company. The print server 2 controls the printing machine 3 based on a print instruction 4 that conforms to a certain format. This improves the productivity of the production department. The administrator of the process management server 1 refers to the operation information 5 stored in the process management server 1 and controls the printing process to a suitable state. This improves the productivity of the management department. Among such process management systems, those having a high function capable of providing useful information for management are also called MIS (Management Information System).

  By the way, when printing is performed using a printing machine, a certain amount of damaged paper is generated. The cause of the waste paper is divided into that due to malfunction of the printing press and the other. A typical example of a malfunction of a printing press is a paper jam. For example, in a sheetless plateless digital printing machine, paper is picked up and conveyed through the printing machine, the paper is charged in the exposure process, and the paper is heated in the fixing process. In order to perform such a series of processing, a certain amount of paper jam occurs. The frequency of occurrence of lost paper varies depending on the type of paper, and even for the same type of paper, it varies depending on temperature, humidity, moisture content of the paper, and the like.

  In order to improve the paper passing property and maintain the printing quality, it is desirable to control the installation location of the printing machine at a constant temperature and a constant humidity. However, expensive constant temperature equipment is required to control the temperature and humidity to be constant, and even if the constant temperature equipment is provided, generation of waste paper cannot be completely prevented. Therefore, in practice, instead of providing a constant temperature facility, the temperature and humidity at the place where the printing machine is installed are often controlled according to the type of paper.

  Among the causes of lost paper, those other than malfunctions of the printing press include operation errors of the operator of the printing press, errors in the print data itself, processing errors (for example, garbled fonts), and the like. . In addition, when the customer who requested printing is not satisfied with the printing result, the paper is soiled, or the printing density is inappropriate, there is a loss of paper due to re-printing. Waste paper due to these causes is also a cost that cannot be ignored by printing companies.

  The following prior art is known for the present invention. Patent Document 1 discloses that a barcode indicating the type of paper is printed in advance on the paper. Patent Document 2 discloses storing a printing environment characteristic table or the like corresponding to the type of roll paper in a storage element embedded in the roll paper. Patent Document 3 discloses that a paper type is estimated by irradiating a paper with electromagnetic waves. Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose that the printing quality is improved by controlling the printing machine according to the type of paper obtained.

Patent Document 4 stores information on a job that could not be printed properly due to a printer driver setting error or the like, and compares the information on the job to be executed with the information on the stored job. Is disclosed in advance.
JP-A-6-161321 JP 2003-1876 A JP 2000-171416 A JP 2002-351646 A

  Since the generation of waste paper causes an increase in printing cost, it is an important issue for the printing company to suppress the occurrence of paper loss. In order to suppress the occurrence of broken paper, it is necessary to first identify the cause of the broken paper. However, the conventional printing system has a problem that the cause of the loss paper cannot be easily analyzed.

  For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, special paper is used, and in Patent Document 3, an apparatus for irradiating and detecting electromagnetic waves is used, so that the printing cost increases accordingly. The method described in Patent Document 4 can only prevent erroneous printing when a job similar to a previously failed job is re-executed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can easily analyze the cause of occurrence of waste paper.

1st invention is a printing system which performs a printing process,
A printing press,
A print server for controlling the printing press;
A process management server that issues a print instruction to the print server,
After the printing server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, the printing server includes operation information including information indicating a state of occurrence of broken paper in the printing machine and information relating to a cause of occurrence of broken paper in the printing machine. The management server is notified.

According to a second invention, in the first invention,
The operation information includes the type of paper used in the printing press and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press as information relating to the cause of the loss of paper.

According to a third invention, in the second invention,
The process management server obtains a temperature condition and a humidity condition of an installation place of the printing machine according to the type of paper used in the printing machine based on the operation information.

According to a fourth invention, in the third invention,
The process management server notifies the print server of the obtained temperature condition and humidity condition,
The print server displays a warning screen when the temperature and humidity conditions notified of the temperature and humidity at the installation location of the printing press are not satisfied.

According to a fifth invention, in the first invention,
The operation information includes a cause of re-printing in the printing press as information on the cause of the occurrence of waste paper.

According to a sixth invention, in the fifth invention,
The print server is configured to estimate a cause of reprinting based on a past print execution status and a current print execution status when reprinting is performed on the printing press.

According to a seventh invention, in the fifth invention,
The print server may determine that reprinting has been performed by the printing press when printing exceeding the scheduled number of prints has been performed by the printing press.

In an eighth aspect based on the first aspect,
The process management server stores the operation information and presents it to a user.

A ninth invention is a printing control method in a printing system including a printing machine, a printing server, and a process management server,
The process management server issuing a print instruction;
The print server receiving the print instruction;
The printing server controlling the printing press based on the printing instruction;
The print server sending operational information of the printing press;
The process management server receiving the operation information,
The operation information includes information indicating a state of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to a cause of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press.

A tenth invention is a process management server connected to a print server that controls a printing press,
Means for issuing a print instruction to the print server;
When the print server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, and then sends operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of damaged paper in the printing machine and information relating to the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine. And means for receiving the operation information.

An eleventh aspect of the invention is a print server that is connected to the process management server and controls the printing press.
Means for receiving a print instruction issued from the process management server;
Means for controlling the printing press based on the printing instruction;
And means for sending operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of the waste paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of the loss paper occurrence in the printing press to the process management server.

A twelfth invention is a program executed by a process management server connected to a print server that controls a printing press,
Issuing a print instruction to the print server;
When the print server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, and then sends operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of damaged paper in the printing machine and information relating to the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine. And receiving the operation information.

A thirteenth invention is a program that is connected to a process management server and executed by a print server that controls a printing press,
Receiving a print instruction issued from the process management server;
Controlling the printing press based on the printing instructions;
A step of sending operation information including information indicating the occurrence state of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press to the process management server.

  According to the first or ninth aspect of the invention, the operation information includes information indicating the state of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of occurrence of loss paper in the printing press. Accordingly, the user of the process management server can analyze the operation information notified to the process management server to recognize the cause of the loss paper, and take appropriate measures to suppress the occurrence of the loss paper.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, the operation information includes the type of paper used in the printing press and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press. Therefore, the user of the process management server can recognize what kind of paper, the combination of temperature and humidity is likely to cause paper loss. Therefore, it is possible to suitably adjust the temperature and humidity at the place where the printing press is installed, thereby suppressing the occurrence of waste paper.

  According to the third aspect, it is possible to adjust the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press so as to meet the temperature condition and humidity condition obtained by the process management server, thereby suppressing the occurrence of waste paper.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the temperature and humidity at the installation location of the printing press do not satisfy the temperature condition and humidity condition obtained by the process management server, a warning screen is displayed on the print server. Therefore, the user of the print server can easily recognize that it is necessary to adjust the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the operation information includes the cause of reprinting in the printing press. Therefore, the user of the process management server can recognize what kind of redo paper is generated due to the redo, and can take appropriate measures to suppress the occurrence of the red paper.

  According to the sixth aspect, by estimating the cause of reprinting in the print server, the user of the print server does not need to input the cause of reprinting every time printing is performed again. Thereby, a user's burden can be reduced.

  According to the seventh aspect, since it is not determined that the printing is to be performed again until the scheduled number of printed sheets is exceeded, the user of the print server does not need to input the cause of the repeated printing until the scheduled number of printed sheets is exceeded. Thereby, a user's burden can be reduced.

  According to the eighth aspect, since the process management server presents the result of accumulating the operation information to the user, the user of the process management server easily analyzes the operation information and recognizes the cause of the loss paper. In addition, appropriate measures can be taken to suppress the occurrence of waste paper.

  According to the tenth or twelfth aspect described above, when operation information including information indicating the occurrence of damaged paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing press is sent from the print server, A process management server that receives this can be obtained.

  According to the eleventh or thirteenth invention, it is possible to obtain a print server that sends out operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of damaged paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of occurrence of lost paper in the printing press. .

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The printing system shown in FIG. 1 includes a process management server 10, a print server 20, and a printing machine 30. The process management server 10 is a computer that manages the printing process, and the print server 20 is a computer that controls the printing press 30. The process management server 10 includes a CPU 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, and a storage unit 14, and the print server 20 includes a CPU 21, an input unit 22, a display unit 23, and a storage unit 24. The CPU 11 of the process management server 10 executes the process management program PM1 stored in the storage unit 14, and the CPU 21 of the print server 20 executes the printing press control program PC1 stored in the storage unit 24.

  The process management server 10 and the print server 20 are both connected to the network 60, and the print server 20 and the printing press 30 are connected using a communication interface different from the network 60. For example, the process management server 10 is installed in the management department of the printing company, and the printing server 20 and the printing press 30 are installed in the production department of the printing company. Hereinafter, the person who operates the process management server is referred to as “manager”, and the person who operates the print server is referred to as “operator”.

  The process management server 10 and the print server 20 may be physically configured by one computer as long as they are functionally separated. Further, the printing machine 30 is also connected to the network 60, and the print server 20 and the printing machine 30 may perform communication using the network 60. In addition to the process management server 10 and the print server 20, a client terminal (not shown) may be connected to the network 60. In this case, the administrator can operate the process management server 10 using a client terminal.

  The process management server 10 issues a print instruction 40 to the print server 20 when executing one print job. The print server 20 controls the printing press 30 based on the print instruction 40 and then notifies the operation information 50 to the process management server 10. The operation information 50 includes the number of damaged paper sheets, the type of paper used in the printing machine 30, and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing machine 30.

  The operation of the printing system shown in FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the process management server 10 issues a print instruction 40 to the print server 20 in order to execute the print job selected by the administrator (step S101). The print server 20 receives the print instruction 40 issued from the process management server 10 (step S201). The print instruction 40 includes data to be printed on paper (for example, print data compliant with PDF (Portable Document Format)). In addition, the print instruction 40 includes information such as a printing machine that executes printing, the type of paper, the number of sheets to be printed, and the printing style (single-sided or double-sided, black-and-white or color, etc.). Further, if necessary, the print instruction 40 may include delivery date information.

  Upon receiving the print instruction 40, the print server 20 controls the printing press 30 based on the received print instruction 40 (step S202). More specifically, the print server 20 converts the print data included in the print instruction 40 received from the process management server 10 into print data that can be processed by the printing machine 30. Further, the print server 20 selects the paper and the number of sheets specified by the print instruction 40 and instructs the printing machine 30 to start printing. As a result, the printing press 30 performs printing based on the print instruction 40.

  When the printing in the printing press 30 is completed, the print server 20 sends the operation information 50 to the process management server 10 (step S203). The process management server 10 receives the operation information 50 sent from the print server 20 (step S102). The operation information 50 includes information such as a print start time, a print end time, and a print completion number. In addition, the operation information 50 includes the number of lost sheets (or the ratio of lost sheets (or the ratio of occurrence of lost sheets)) as information indicating the occurrence state of lost sheets in the printing press 30. Further, the operation information 50 includes the type of paper used in the printing press 30 and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press 30 as information on the cause of the loss of paper in the printing press 30.

  When receiving the operation information 50, the process management server 10 accumulates the received operation information 50 (step S103). This completes the execution of one print job.

  When the process shown in FIG. 2 is executed a plurality of times, the process management server 10 accumulates operation results including operation information for a plurality of print jobs. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation results accumulated in the process management server 10. The operation results shown in FIG. 3 include, for each print job, the job number, the number of sheets, the type of paper, the number of completed sheets, the number of damaged sheets, the temperature and the humidity (temperature and humidity at the installation location of the printing machine 30). Yes.

  The administrator can freely use the operation results accumulated in the process management server 10. For example, the administrator can display the operation results on the display unit 13 by inputting an instruction using the input unit 12. Alternatively, the administrator can input an operation result into the statistical analysis program by inputting an instruction using the input unit 12, and can display the obtained analysis result on the display unit 13. As a result, the manager can recognize what kind of paper, combination of temperature and humidity is likely to cause damaged paper.

  The print instruction 40 and the operation information 50 may have a format compliant with, for example, JDF. In addition, as a method for including the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press 30 in the operation information 50, the operator measures the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press 30 at the start of printing, and uses the input unit 22 for the measured values. And the printing press 30 includes a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor, and the print server 20 reads the temperature and humidity from the temperature sensor and the humidity sensor at the start of printing.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the printing machine 30 includes a paper feeding unit 34 that feeds paper, a printing unit 35 that executes printing, and a paper discharging unit 36 that discharges paper. In addition to this, the printing machine 30 includes a paper feed number counter 31, a paper discharge number counter 32, and a loss paper number register 33 in order to count the number of lost paper. The paper feed number counter 31 is a counter that increments a count value (hereinafter referred to as a count value P1) by 1 when one sheet is fed by the paper feed unit. The sheet discharge number counter 32 is a counter that increments a count value (hereinafter referred to as a count value P2) by 1 when one sheet is discharged by the sheet discharge unit. The paper loss register 33 stores the difference (P1−P2) between the count values P1 and P2 when a paper jam occurs. Hereinafter, the value of the waste paper sheet number register 33 is set to P3.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the processing for counting the number of waste paper sheets. In the process shown in FIG. 5, first, the count value P1 of the paper feed sheet counter 31, the count value P2 of the paper discharge sheet counter 32, and the value P3 of the lost paper sheet register 33 are all initialized to 0 (step S301). Next, it is determined whether or not to end printing (step S302). More specifically, in step S302, it is determined whether or not the count value P2 matches the number of sheets specified by the print instruction 40. If both match, printing ends. If both do not match, printing is performed. Judged to continue.

  If it is determined that printing is to be continued (No in step S302), it is determined whether a paper jam has occurred (step S303). When a paper jam occurs (Yes in step S303), the difference (P1−P2) between the count values P1 and P2 is written in the lost paper sheet number register 33 (step S304). Thereafter, the count value P1 of the paper feed sheet counter 31 and the count value P2 of the paper discharge sheet counter 32 are updated as necessary (step S305). More specifically, in step S305, the count value P1 is incremented by 1 when the paper is fed by the paper feed unit 34, and the count value P2 is 1 when the paper is ejected by the paper discharge unit 36. To increase. Since the paper feed and paper discharge are executed asynchronously, the count values P1 and P2 are asynchronously updated correspondingly.

  If it is determined in step S302 that printing has ended (Yes in step S302), the print server 20 reads the value P3 from the lost paper number register 33 (step S306).

  In the printing machine 30, paper feeding is performed before paper discharge, and when a paper jam occurs, the printing machine 30 stops operating. Therefore, P1 ≧ P2 always holds. The value P3 of the lost paper number register 33 represents the number of lost paper at the time when the paper jam occurs. Therefore, the print server 20 can obtain the number of damaged sheets to be included in the operation information 50 by executing step S306.

  In FIG. 4, the printing machine 30 includes one damaged paper sheet number register, but instead, the printing machine 30 includes a plurality of damaged paper sheet number registers. The difference (P1−P2) between the count values P1 and P2 at the time of occurrence may be sequentially written. Thereby, the history of the number of lost paper is stored in the plurality of lost paper number registers. Therefore, the print server 20 can obtain a history of the number of lost paper sheets by executing step S306.

  In the process shown in FIG. 5, the value P3 is updated when a paper jam occurs. Instead, the value P3 may be updated only when it is determined that printing is finished. Further, the paper feed number counter 31, the paper discharge number counter 32, and the damaged paper number register 33 may be provided outside the printing machine 30.

  Hereinafter, a method for suppressing the generation of waste paper will be described based on the obtained operation results. Here, as an example, a description will be given of a method of displaying a warning screen when a threshold value of the loss rate is set for each paper type and the loss rate is expected to exceed the threshold value. In this case, the printing system shown in FIG. 1 executes the processing shown in FIG. 6 when executing one print job. The process shown in FIG. 6 is obtained by adding steps S111, S112, S211 and S212 to the process shown in FIG.

  In the process shown in FIG. 6, the process management server 10 first obtains the temperature condition and the humidity condition (step S111). More specifically, the following processing is performed in step S111. For example, the process management server 10 displays a condition selection screen shown in FIG. The administrator uses the condition selection screen shown in FIG. 7 to select the paper type and the threshold value of the paper loss rate for the selected paper type (in FIG. 7, “Writing paper loss rate for warning”). Enter. The process management server 10 extracts the operation information related to the paper type selected by the administrator from the operation results, and obtains the loss rate of each print job based on the number of completed sheets and the number of lost sheets included in the extracted operation information. Further, the process management server 10 compares the obtained paper loss rate with a threshold value of the paper loss rate set by the administrator, and obtains a temperature condition and a humidity condition such that the obtained paper loss rate does not exceed the set threshold value. .

  For example, when the operation record shown in FIG. 3 is accumulated in the process management server 10, it is assumed that the administrator designates 3.0% as the threshold value of the A paper loss rate. In this case, the process management server 10 extracts the operation information for the jobs J001 and J003 to J005 from the operation results shown in FIG. 3, and obtains the paper loss rate for each print job. In this example, the job loss rate of job J001 is 0%, and the job loss rates of jobs J003 to J005 are 0.7%, 3.9%, and 3.8%, respectively. The paper loss rates of jobs J001 and J003 do not exceed the set threshold (3.0%), but the paper loss rates of jobs J004 and J005 exceed the set threshold. Therefore, in this example, the temperature condition is 20 to 23 ° C., and the humidity condition is 50 to 58%.

  Next, the process management server 10 sends appropriate environment information including the temperature condition and the humidity condition obtained in step S111 to the print server 20 (step S112). The print server 20 receives the appropriate environment information sent from the process management server 10 (step S211). The received appropriate environment information is stored in the print server 20.

  When one print job is executed after the proper environment information is transmitted or received, the process management server 10 and the print server 20 perform the same processing as that shown in FIG. 2 (steps S101 to S103, S201 to S203). However, the print server 20 performs an environment determination process between step S201 and step S202 (step S212).

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the environment determination process. In the environment determination process, the print server 20 extracts the paper type from the print instruction 40 received in step S201 (step S221). Next, the print server 20 extracts the temperature condition and the humidity condition for the paper type extracted in step S221 from the appropriate environment information received in step S211 (step S222). Next, the print server 20 acquires the current temperature and humidity (step S223).

  Next, the print server 20 determines whether or not the current temperature and humidity are appropriate (step S224). More specifically, in step S224, it is determined whether the temperature and humidity acquired in step S223 are included in the temperature condition and humidity condition extracted in step S222. If the current temperature and humidity are not appropriate (No in step S224), the print server 20 displays a warning screen indicating that (step S225). Thereby, for example, a warning screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit 23.

  When the warning screen is displayed, the operator recognizes that the waste paper is generated more than expected when printing is performed as it is. Therefore, the operator adjusts the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press 30 to a level suitable for printing (specifically, so as to satisfy the temperature condition and humidity condition extracted in step S222). Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of a waste paper can be suppressed. Alternatively, the operator may temporarily hold the print job and execute printing as it is after obtaining the approval of the administrator. In this way, it is possible to predict the occurrence of waste paper in advance and take appropriate measures.

  As described above, in the printing system according to the present embodiment, the operation information notified from the print server to the process management server includes the number of pieces of lost paper as information indicating the state of occurrence of lost paper in the printing press, Information regarding the cause of the occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine includes the type of paper used in the printing machine, and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing machine. Therefore, the administrator recognizes what kind of paper, temperature and humidity combinations are likely to cause paper loss, and adjusts the temperature and humidity at the location where the printing machine is installed to adjust the paper loss. Occurrence can be suppressed. Further, the administrator can predict how much the waste paper is reduced when the temperature and humidity are adjusted, and can predict the cost reduction effect by adjusting the temperature and humidity.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The printing system shown in FIG. 10 includes a process management server 15, a print server 25, and a printing machine 30. The configuration and connection form of these elements are the same as those in the first embodiment. However, programs different from those of the first embodiment are stored in the storage units 14 and 24, and the CPU 11 of the process management server 15 executes the process management program PM2 stored in the storage unit 14 and the CPU 21 of the print server 25. Executes the printing press control program PC2 stored in the storage unit 24. Hereinafter, differences between the present embodiment and the first embodiment will be mainly described, and among the components of the present embodiment, the same elements as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and described. Omitted.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the process management server 15 issues a print instruction 40 to the print server 25 when executing one print job. The print server 25 controls the printing press 30 based on the print instruction 40 and then notifies the process management server 15 of operation information 55. In this embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the operation information 55 includes the number of lost paper sheets and the cause of reprinting.

  When receiving the print instruction 40, the print server 25 often controls the printing press 30 only once (that is, completes printing). Therefore, when the print server 25 controls the printing press 30 twice or more, printing is performed again, and there is often a loss of paper. Therefore, the printing system according to the present embodiment acquires a cause of re-printing by the print server 25 and notifies the process management server 15 of the cause.

  However, even if the print server 25 controls the printing press 30 twice or more, there is a case where no broken paper is generated (for example, when the operator instructs the print server 25 to perform printing in multiple times). Therefore, the print server 25 determines that reprinting has been performed when printing exceeding the planned number of prints has been performed by the printing press 30.

  The operation of the printing system shown in FIG. 10 will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the process management server 15 issues a print instruction 40 to the print server 25 (step S151), and the print server 25 receives the print instruction 40 issued from the process management server 15 (step S251). . Details of the print instruction 40 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Upon receiving the print instruction 40, the print server 25 controls the printing press 30 based on the received print instruction 40 (step S252). However, in step S252, the print server 25 may control the printing machine 30 to print a part of the number of sheets specified by the print instruction 40 in accordance with an instruction from the operator. Thereby, for example, it is possible to test print only one copy of the printed matter, or to perform printing in a plurality of times when the number of sheets to be printed is large.

  Next, the print server 25 determines whether or not to end printing (step S253). More specifically, the print server 25 determines that the printing is completed when the number of printed sheets reaches the planned number of printed sheets and the operator confirms the end of printing, and determines that the printing is continued otherwise.

  When it is determined that the printing is to be continued (No in step S253), the print server 25 determines whether or not the printing is to be performed again (step S254). More specifically, the print server 25 determines that printing is to be performed again when the number of printed sheets exceeds the scheduled number of printed sheets, and otherwise determines that printing has not been performed again.

  If it is determined that printing is to be redone (Yes in step S254), the print server 25 receives a cause of redoing printing from the operator (step S255), and proceeds to step S252. If it is determined that printing has not been performed again (No in step S254), the print server 25 proceeds to step S252 without executing step S255.

  If it is determined in step S253 that printing has ended (Yes in step S253), the print server 25 sends operation information 55 to the process management server 15 (step S256). The process management server 15 receives the operation information 55 sent from the print server 25 (step S152). The operation information 55 includes information such as a print start time, a print end time, and a print completion number. Further, the operation information 55 includes the number of lost sheets (or a lost sheet rate) as information indicating the occurrence state of lost sheets in the printing press 30. Further, the operation information 55 includes the cause of the redo of the printing received in step S255 as information regarding the cause of the occurrence of damaged paper in the printing press 30.

  Upon receiving the operation information 55, the process management server 15 accumulates the received operation information 55 (step S153). This completes the execution of one print job.

  If the process shown in FIG. 11 is executed a plurality of times, the process management server 15 accumulates operation results including operation information for a plurality of print jobs. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation results accumulated in the process management server 15. The operation results shown in FIG. 12 include the job number, the number of consecutive sheets, and the number of completed sheets for each print job. Furthermore, the operation results include the number of lost paper sheets and the cause of reprinting for each print job by the number of times of reprinting.

  As in the first embodiment, the administrator can freely use the operation results accumulated in the process management server 15. For example, the administrator can display an operation result or an analysis result of the operation result on the display unit 13 by inputting an instruction using the input unit 12. As a result, the administrator can recognize what kind of redo is caused by the waste paper. Note that, as in the first embodiment, the print instruction 40 and the operation information 55 may have a format compliant with JDF.

  FIG. 13 shows details of steps S252 to S256 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the scheduled number of printed sheets in one print job is referred to as T, and the number of printed sheets is referred to as Q.

  After executing step S251, the print server 25 initializes the scheduled print number T and the printed number Q (step S261). More specifically, the print server 25 sets the sum of the number of continuous sheets designated by the print instruction 40 and the number of preliminary prints to the scheduled print number T, and initializes the printed number Q to 0. Here, the number of pre-printed sheets refers to the number of sheets to be printed in excess of the designated through-sheet number. The number of preliminary prints is determined by an administrator, for example. Alternatively, a certain ratio (for example, 10%) of the number of sheets to be printed may be used as the number of preliminary printed sheets.

  Next, the print server 25 controls the printing machine 30 to print all or part of the number of sheets specified by the print instruction 40 in accordance with an instruction from the operator (step S262). Next, the print server 25 adds the number of printed sheets in step S262 to the number of printed sheets Q (step S263).

  Next, the print server 25 compares the printed number Q with the scheduled number T (step S264). If Q is equal to or greater than T, the process proceeds to step S265. If Q is less than T, the process proceeds to step S262. In the latter case (No in step S264), in step S262, the remaining printing is performed in the same procedure as usual.

  If Q is equal to or greater than T in step S264 (Yes in step S264), the print server 25 displays an end confirmation screen (step S265). Thereby, for example, an end confirmation screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the display unit 23. The operator uses the end confirmation screen to input whether to confirm the end of the print job. The print server 25 determines whether or not the operator has input an end confirmation (step S266).

  When the end confirmation is not input (No in step S266), the print server 25 displays a redo cause input screen (step S267). As a result, the redo cause input screen shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the display unit 23, for example. The operator selects one of a plurality of predetermined redo causes using the redo cause input screen, or inputs another cause of redo.

  The print server 25 receives the cause of re-printing selected or input by the operator (step S268). Next, the print server 25 stores the cause of the re-printing received in step S268 and the next print number (the number of prints when the next step S262 is executed) (step S269), and proceeds to step S262. The next number of printed sheets stored in step S269 is the number of lost sheets.

  Even after Q becomes T or more in step S264, the print server 25 repeatedly executes steps S262 to S269 until an end confirmation is input in step S266. As a result, the print server 25 stores the cause of the printing re-execution and the next number of printed sheets (equal to the number of lost paper sheets) for the number of times of printing.

  When the end confirmation is input in step S266 (Yes in step S266), the print server 25 proceeds to step S256 and sends the operation information 55 to the process management server 15. The operation information 55 includes the number of lost paper sheets and the cause of printing re-execution for the number of times of re-printing.

  In the above description, the print server 25 receives the cause of the redo of printing selected or input by the operator, but the print server 25 may estimate the cause of the redo of printing. For example, the print server 25 may obtain a difference between the previous print parameter and the current print parameter, and estimate the cause of reprinting based on the difference using a predetermined algorithm. Specifically, when the paper size is different between the previous printing and the current printing, it is estimated that the cause of the re-printing is a paper selection error. Alternatively, if the RIP (Raster Image Processor) conditions are different between the previous printing and the current printing, it is estimated that the cause of the re-printing is due to an abnormality in the print data.

  If the print server 25 estimates the cause of reprinting, the operator does not need to input the cause of reprinting every time printing is retried. Thereby, an operator's burden can be reduced. However, since there is a possibility that the estimated re-execution cause of printing is incorrect, it is preferable that the print server 25 displays the estimated re-execution cause of printing on the screen and performs processing such as receiving operator confirmation.

  In the processes shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, the print server 25 does not receive the cause of redo after determining that the printing is finished. However, the print server 25 performs printing when the same print job is printed a plurality of times. May receive the cause of redo even after it is determined that printing has ended.

  If there is a margin for the number of preliminary prints or if the print job is canceled halfway, the print server 25 performs the process shown in FIG. The process may end and proceed to step S256. In this case, if no damaged paper has occurred, the print server 25 notifies the process management server 15 of operation information 55 in which the number of printed sheets Q is set as the number of completed sheets and the number of damaged sheets is set to zero.

  Hereinafter, a method for suppressing the generation of waste paper will be described based on the obtained operation results. Here, as an example, a description will be given of a method for alerting the operator about the cause of the occurrence of frequent damaged paper. When this method is adopted, the process management server 15 obtains the cause of frequent occurrence of damaged paper based on the obtained operation results, and notifies the print server 25 of a print instruction including the cause. The print server 25 extracts the cause of the loss paper from the notified print instruction and displays it on the screen. As a result, a message such as “Please check if there is a mistake in the paper” is displayed on the display unit 23.

  Note that the print server 25 may display only one cause of occurrence of damaged paper having the highest frequency, or may display a plurality of causes of occurrence of damaged paper in order of frequency so that the screen is not complicated. Good. Further, the process management server 15 receives a threshold value of the loss paper rate from the administrator, and includes a print instruction including the cause of occurrence of the loss paper (which may be one or plural cases) that occurs at a frequency equal to or higher than the received threshold value. May be notified to the print server 25. Thereby, the print server 25 can display on the screen the cause of the occurrence of the waste paper in which the paper loss rate is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

  The method for suppressing the occurrence of waste paper is not limited to the above method. For example, when the operator name is stored in the operation information 55 and it is confirmed that there is a correlation between the number of lost paper sheets and the operator name, the cause of the lost paper is caused by an operator error. It can be judged. In such a case, retraining of the operator may be performed in order to suppress the occurrence of waste paper. Alternatively, if the printing machine name is stored in the operation information 55 and it is confirmed that there is a correlation between the number of broken paper and the printing machine name, the cause of the broken paper is the mechanical cause of the printing machine. It can also be determined that it is caused by electrical trouble. In such a case, the printer may be maintained in order to suppress the occurrence of waste paper. Thus, since the cause of the loss paper can be determined based on the information stored in the operation information 55, the occurrence of the loss paper can be suppressed by taking appropriate measures.

  As described above, in the printing system according to the present embodiment, the operation information notified from the print server to the process management server includes the number of pieces of lost paper as information indicating the state of occurrence of lost paper in the printing press, Information on the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine includes the cause of re-printing. Therefore, the administrator can recognize what kind of redo is caused by the redo, and can take appropriate measures to suppress the occurrence of the loss. In addition, the administrator can predict how much the waste paper is reduced when the countermeasure is taken, and can predict the cost reduction effect by taking the countermeasure.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation performance obtained with the printing system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the printing machine of the printing system shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of a process for counting the number of damaged sheets in the printing system shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the condition selection screen of the printing system shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of environment determination processing in the printing system shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of the warning screen of the printing system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of the printing stem shown in FIG. 10. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation performance obtained with the printing system shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the completion confirmation screen of the printing stem shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the re-cause cause input screen of the printing stem shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional printing system.

Explanation of symbols

10, 15 ... Process management server 20, 25 ... Print server 30 ... Printer 40 ... Print instruction 50,55 ... Operation information 60 ... Network

Claims (13)

A printing system for executing a printing process,
A printing press,
A print server for controlling the printing press;
A process management server that issues a print instruction to the print server,
After the printing server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, the printing server includes operation information including information indicating a state of occurrence of broken paper in the printing machine and information relating to a cause of occurrence of broken paper in the printing machine. A printing system characterized by notifying a management server.   The operation information includes, as information relating to the cause of the loss of paper, the type of paper used in the printing press and the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing press. Item 4. The printing system according to Item 1.   3. The process management server according to claim 2, wherein the process management server obtains a temperature condition and a humidity condition of an installation location of the printing machine according to a type of paper used in the printing machine based on the operation information. The printing system described. The process management server notifies the print server of the obtained temperature condition and humidity condition,
4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the print server displays a warning screen when the temperature condition and the humidity condition for which the temperature and humidity of the installation location of the printing machine are notified are not satisfied.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the operation information includes a cause of re-printing in the printing press as information on a cause of occurrence of waste paper.   6. The print server according to claim 5, wherein when the printing machine performs printing again, the print server estimates a cause of printing redo based on a past printing execution status and a current printing execution status. The printing system described.   The printing system according to claim 5, wherein the printing server determines that reprinting has been performed by the printing press when printing exceeding the scheduled number of printings has been performed by the printing press.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the process management server accumulates the operation information and presents the operation information to a user. A printing control method in a printing system comprising a printing machine, a printing server, and a process management server,
The process management server issuing a print instruction;
The print server receiving the print instruction;
The printing server controlling the printing press based on the printing instruction;
The print server sending operational information of the printing press;
The process management server receiving the operation information,
The printing control method according to claim 1, wherein the operation information includes information indicating a state of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to a cause of occurrence of waste paper in the printing press. A process management server connected to a print server that controls the printing press,
Means for issuing a print instruction to the print server;
When the print server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, and then sends operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of damaged paper in the printing machine and information relating to the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine. And a process management server comprising means for receiving the operation information. A print server connected to the process management server and controlling the printing press,
Means for receiving a print instruction issued from the process management server;
Means for controlling the printing press based on the printing instruction;
A printing server comprising: means for sending operation information including information indicating the occurrence state of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of occurrence of loss paper in the printing press to the process management server. A program executed by a process management server connected to a print server that controls the printing press,
Issuing a print instruction to the print server;
When the print server controls the printing machine based on the printing instruction, and then sends operation information including information indicating the occurrence status of damaged paper in the printing machine and information relating to the cause of occurrence of damaged paper in the printing machine. And receiving the operation information. A program connected to the process management server and executed by a print server that controls the printing press,
Receiving a print instruction issued from the process management server;
Controlling the printing press based on the printing instructions;
A program comprising the step of sending operation information including information indicating the occurrence of waste paper in the printing press and information relating to the cause of loss paper generation in the printing press to the process management server.

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