manroland has launched the synchronisation software it created to link high-end inkjet webs to its digital finishing lines.

The MasterQ product provides digital job planning and sorting with features such as the ability to move rush jobs to the front.

High speed digital presses such as HP's T350 and Kodak's Prosper 6000 can handle a large number of small and ultra-small print runs, making good production planning essential to economic success.

The module acts as a link between MIS systems, prepress and web-to-print applications, and the printing and finishing systems, suggesting optimal sequences for production modules.

It was developed to synchronise finishing modules with the web press, especially where multiple presses and finishing lines - such as manroland's FoldLine and FormerLine - are involved. It sorts, groups and verifies incoming print orders - even if they stem from various sources - based on a special scalable algorithm. Jobs prepared this way are then relayed to the digital printing systems and a print finishing control such as WorkflowBridge, with status and process information relayed back.

Features and equipment are taken into account, so that grouping jobs with the same colour profile, substrates or format avoids the number of press stops, for example, as well as delivery date requirements. There are also plans to integrate web-offset presses into the process.

MasterQ uses JDF data to group jobs and define production sequences, providing facilities to edit and validate order data, and generate presets. Process parameters such as production times, downtime, changeover times and copy volumes can be reported to existing MIS systems.