APTEC (Advanced Printing Technology Centre) is the technology arm of The Hong Kong Printers Association, aiming at technology transfer and skills upgrading for the graphic arts industry, has strived to promote printing standardisation to China’s printing industry. The introduction of the “Print-by-number” concept and G7 certification to China by APTEC in 2006 resulted in the country having the highest number of G7 Masters in the world. Since 2018, APTEC brought in Fogra PSO and PSD, to further educate the market and upgrade the industry level in printing standardisation, especially the process control in offset printing and digital printing. Additionally, APTEC has been a participant in ISO/TC130 since 2006 and has been involved in diverse testing projects.

Technical seminars, international conferences, public training, on-site training, and consultancy services have been instrumental in promoting printing standardisation to various stakeholders in the graphic arts industry, as demonstrated by APTEC's active promotion.

Apart from this, we also established a quality control system for an international print buyer, which is based on ISO 12647-7, ISO 12647-2, ISO 13655, etc, in order to ensure color match from proof-to-press from their print vendors.

With a view of lacking printing condition of paper packaging printing in ISO 12647-2, APTEC initiated to add two popular paper types in ISO/CD 12647-2 (CD is a Committee Draft version of a standard), including the paper data and colorimetric data of CCNB (Coated Clay News Black) as well as Coated White Board by creating the PC10 and PC11 (PC is short for Printing Condition). Related ICC profile and characterisation data have been created for industry use.

 APTEC organised the International Printing Standardization Conferences and ISO/TC130 meeting in 2019.

 APTEC organised Fogra PSO Professional Training. Fogra is the German institute for research within the graphic arts industry.

APTEC organised the International Printing Standardization Conferences and ISO/TC130 meeting in 2019.

APTEC organised Fogra PSO Professional Training. Fogra is the German institute for research within the graphic arts industry.

ISO standards are not only for theoretical use, but they can successfully be implemented in print production workflows. The use cases below illustrate how the print house applies printing standardisation to their daily workflow.

Example 1: C&C Joint Printing (HK) Ltd.

C&C is one of the leading international printers in Mainland China, established in 1980, currently with 17 wholly-owned subsidiaries, operating production sites and sales offices in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

C&C is always committed to quality. Their three factory plants in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing have obtained PSO certification, while the Shenzhen factory further obtained the first PSD certification in China, with Grade A, trained by APTEC.

Certification not only validated their quality-oriented strategy, but also the daily application of printing standardisation. Printing standardisation has been implemented by C&C for over ten years! Their use of CTP in 2000 led to a gradual development of the standardisation workflow. In their current production workflow, they are adopting ISO 12647-7 for the digital proof by using ICC-profiles based on Fogra 51 and Fogra 52 characterisation data, ISO 12647-2 standard for process control, ISO 3664 for viewing condition, ISO 13655 for measurement condition and ISO 15311 for digital printing.

According to their Assistant Prepress Manager, the driving forces for adopting standardisation are its benefits, e.g. easier to trace the problems, easier to control and to avoid subjective assessment by using data evaluation. Furthermore, this strategy is a top-down one that is endorsed by senior management and operational level. This also helps ensure consistent communication language across different levels.

The CEO of C&C Printing, Mr. Jackson Leung, stated, “Innovation remains our company strategy and industry 4.0 is our future direction. Standardisation is necessary for realising the vision of intelligent and interconnected manufacturing systems in Industry 4.0. I am confident and fully committed to supporting our staff in implementing printing standardisation.”

 C&C obtained the FIRST PSD certification in China, presented by APTEC.

 

C&C is well equipped with an automatic colour scanning system for each press machine to monitor the press quality, together with other colour measurement tools.

Example 2: Golden Cup Printing Co., Ltd.

Established in 1971, Golden Cup Printing is another leading international printer in mainland China. Standardisation and new technologies were committed to more than 20 years ago by its founder, Mr. KK Yeung. For instance, Golden Cup pioneered the use of waterless printing and CTP. In 2012, Golden Cup had already invested in auto-spectrophotometers to assess the quality of press forms. Since 2013, Golden Cup has been continuously obtaining Fogra PSO certification. As per Mr. KK Yeung, “Golden Cup is committed to requesting process standardisation. It is my strong belief that if each process is standardised, the print quality must attain a certain level. It is also the main spirit of PSO which realises printing standardisation.”

 

 

Mr. Albert Yeung, who is KK Yeung's son, stated that PSO was merely a reflection of our daily work and a proof of our printing standardised process. Although printing standardisation is not requested by customers, it serves as a motivational tool to increase productivity and ensure high quality. In the current production workflow, in addition to using ISO 12647-2 for offset printing and ISO 12647-7 for digital proof, they are also utilising ISO 3664 viewing conditions and ink that is compliant with ISO 2846. Albert further states, “Printing standardisation was seen as too challenging, expensive, and theoretical by industry practitioners. I would like to emphasise that printing standardisation is the most crucial method for maintaining high and consistent quality. In turn, it aids in strengthening our company image and enhancing customer satisfaction. The absence of standardisation will lead to an increase in paper waste and a decrease in productivity.”

Some companies intend to use new press machines for certification as it shall have the best and stable performance. However, Golden Cup has not used new machines for obtaining PSO. The press machine's maintenance has been given special attention by the Golden Cup to ensure its best condition and stability. They regularly inspect the condition of press machine including pressure, temperature, blanket, cylinders, ink-water balance, plate, TVI value, etc. They believe that proper maintenance of the press machine is the critical factor of printing quality.

Therefore, ISO standards are not only theory, but can definitely be used practically and can bring solid benefits.