Multi-Level Simulation of Digital PSPs

Abstract

As Print Service Providers (PSPs) become more digital and move toward digital presses and digital workflows, a technique from Electronic Design Automation called multi-level simulation can simultaneous analyze and recreate interplay of operations, document design, and lean manufacturing with the next generation of PSPs. Multi-level simulation recognizes that hierarchical design has different levels of abstraction and each layer of abstraction has its own design language to search its respective design space. However, multi-level simulation integrates these multiple heterogeneous and overlapping layers of design abstraction for an optimal system goal. This goal for silicon chip is power, clock speed, or die size; the goal for a digital PSP is, ultimately, operational efficiency in the face of variability of job fulfillment. Multi-level simulation of a PSP bind together the competing goals of manufacturing efficiency, operational overhead, and content fulfillment capabilities; we submit there are three abstraction layers for these PSP goals: job for routing both inter-PSP and intra-PSP, PDL transformations for workflow, and image for visual inspection. Using Ptolemy EDA tools as a backbone, we will demonstrate this approach on such complex, high-value digital workflows such as security documents and automated print quality analysis, in terms of higher operational efficiency and profit per pages.