HORIZON TO SHOW LIGHTS OUT FACTORY

Finishing solutions developer Horizon is set to run a Smart Factory event in October that will show completely autonomous production.

Horizon invites printers to “come experience the future at the Horizon Innovation Park, Japan, where we’ll take factory automation to the next level and make lights-out finishing a reality.”

The lights-out concept is the holy grail of print production. Represented by Currie Group in ANZ, Horizon describes the skill and labour shortages around the world as ‘dire’, and says the Horizon Smart Factory 2024 will “push the boundaries of automation achieving completely autonomous printing, finishing, packaging, and other logistics with cutting edge technology”, including AGVs and AMRs (automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots), robotics, and AI.

“The Smart Factory event will showcase automated production of stitched and perfect bound books and booklets as well as other products, from offset and digitally printed sheets, from start to finish.” said Alan Tam, category manager - Equipment at Currie Group.

“The ‘lights-out’ area will feature a range of Smart Factory technologies, including workflow software, robotics, AGVs and AMRs, and inline digital presses, so that production can even be carried out in the dark”

Horizon’s vision with the seamless integration of printers, finishing equipment, and workflow systems, is to shift from repetitive, labour-intensive tasks to “more fulfilling work, while achieving a good work-life balance.”

Similar in concept to the successful Hunkeler InnovationDays in Switzerland, the Horizon Smart Factory will have a host of print and associated developers running production lines with Horizon finishing, including Canon, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Riso, Ryobi MHI and Screen.

Click HERE to contact Currie Group to register your interest for the event, which runs 2-4 October at the Horizon Innovation Park in Kyoto.