The Job Definition Format (JDF) is designed to provide interconnectivity between different print media production and related systems. The format was invented by a consortium of industry manufacturers and a handful of large printing companies. The manufacturers worked together on the JDF specification, writing it in XML to be sure that it had the flexibility and scope to reflect all of their diverse interests. The large printers, most of them serving the commercial market, got involved because they wanted to be sure that JDF would meet their particular workflow goals.

For sign and display makers JDF is absolutely relevant. It is a kind of digital job bag, so it helps keep track of where a job is in the workflow. It can also be used to instruct processes, for instance, run preflight checks, or notify the customer of when the job will be printed. JDF can also save on rekeying of data, so that customer and job information are only entered once, say in the MIS. All of this streamlining means that stuff happens when it is supposed to and in an automated workflow.

But, and there is always a but, JDF assumes a fully digital workflow. It is no good trying to implement JDF unless you are completely au fait with how your digital systems work and cooperate. You need to be comfortable with where and how processes should be automated, and you need the support of your equipment suppliers and staff to get the automating done. The equipment and systems suppliers will be the ones making sure that interfaces between different bits of kit, say a printer and cutter, work properly. The staff will be the ones using it and best placed to recommend possible process automations.

Setting up a digital workflow that incorporates all areas of your business is definitely not simple. And throwing JDF into the mix certainly complicates things, but it could be worth the effort. There are plenty of impressive case studies on the CIP4 website, but relatively few related to sign and display work. It may be that JDF is more suitable for high-volume workflows processing numerous complex jobs on a variety of machines. But sign and display makers looking to extract cost from an already digitised workflow should definitely take a closer look at JDF.