Method and computational means for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system

Abstract

A method for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system (10) comprising at least one, preferably at least two, manufacturing units (20) for processing relief plate masters to obtain relief plates and a calculation means (30), the method comprising the steps of receiving, in the calculation means (30), data from at least one manufacturing unit (20) comprising plate identifiers of the relief plates and information regarding processing performed on the relief plate masters by the respective manufacturing unit (20), analyzing the received data and generating a relief plate report (40) based on the analyzed data.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [Reference to Related Application] This application relates to and claims priority from Dutch Patent Application No. 2034160, filed February 16, 2023, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] The field of the invention relates to processing data in a relief plate manufacturing system. Embodiments relate to methods and computational means for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system. Other embodiments relate to methods and computational means for operating a relief plate manufacturing system. [Background technology]

[0003] Using a relief plate for printing involves at least two distinct steps. First, the relief plate is manufactured. Next, ink is applied to the relief plate, which then transfers the ink to the print medium. If the printing results using a relief plate are not optimal, there are at least two possible causes for the problem. The first potential cause is a defect in the printing plate itself, i.e., the printing plate was manufactured incorrectly. Another potential cause could be that the relief plate conforms to its design specifications, but there is a problem with the printing process, such as the quality of the ink applied to the relief plate or the process of transferring the ink to the print medium. However, if the final print result is not ideal, it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of the problem. A technician may mistakenly focus on the relief plate, only to discover that the relief plate was manufactured according to the requirements, when the actual problem lies with the ink or the print medium. Alternatively, the problem could be due to a manufacturing step, such as an imaging, exposure, or development step, that was not performed as required, making it difficult to determine the cause of the problem. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An object of embodiments of the present disclosure is to make it possible to identify the cause of a problem when a printing result using a relief plate does not meet the required quality or when the relief plate exhibits other defects. In particular, an object of some embodiments of the present disclosure is to make it possible to determine whether the cause of the problem is related to a specific manufacturing step, or whether the produced relief plate meets the required standards and the problem originates from the printing process.

[0005] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system comprising at least one, preferably at least two, manufacturing units for processing relief plate masters to obtain relief plates, and a computing means. The method comprises the step of receiving data from the at least one manufacturing unit in said computing means, the data comprising plate identifiers of the relief plates and information about processing performed on the relief plates by the respective manufacturing unit. The method also comprises the step of analyzing the received data in said computing means and generating a relief plate report based on the analyzed data.

[0006] Thanks to these features, the relief plate report contains detailed information about the results of different production steps carried out by at least one, and preferably at least two, production units, making it possible to derive the cause of any problems during the production process. Furthermore, if the relief plate report indicates correct production, it can be deduced that the problem is rather related to the printing process. Therefore, if a problem occurs with the final printed result, the relief plate report can be used to deduce where the problem originates, i.e., whether it is due to the relief printing plate itself, or whether the specifications of the relief printing plate are in accordance with the requirements and the cause of the problem lies in the actual printing. This makes it easier to identify the cause of the problem in the printed result.

[0007] The relief plate report can also serve as a certificate of quality from the printing plate manufacturer. If a printing problem occurs, the printing plate manufacturer can analyze the relief plate report and verify that the relief plate was produced according to the client's specifications. In this way, they can be confident that any problems with the printing results are not due to defects in the relief plate, but instead are due to some other reason, such as the ink or printing medium, or how the ink was transferred to the printing medium on the printing press.

[0008] Furthermore, the analysis of the data may be carried out by a computing means, preferably separate from at least one of the production units. Often, the production units do not have sufficient computing power to analyze the data quickly enough. By transmitting the data to a computing means, the data analysis can be accelerated.

[0009] Preferably, the relief plate report includes aggregated information about the processed relief plate masters based on information received from at least one manufacturing unit. The aggregated information provides an overview of any relevant process information of the various manufacturing steps performed to obtain the relief plate. This is advantageous when a global view of the processing performed on the relief plate master is desired, allowing better identification of the cause of problems during manufacturing.

[0010] The relief plate report may include any one or more of: a plate identifier for the relief plate; dimensions of the relief plate such as length, width and thickness of the relief plate; an identifier for at least one manufacturing unit that processed the relief plate master; settings used by the at least one manufacturing unit; a scrap rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plate not captured by the drawing file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plate; a job identifier that identifies the job performed on the relief plate master by the at least one manufacturing unit; image data related to processing by the at least one manufacturing unit; measurement data measured during or after processing by the at least one manufacturing unit, such as bed thickness or relief depth; and an alert if an abnormality is detected in the analysis data.

[0011] Thus, the relief plate report not only contains information that allows the cause of a problem to be determined, but may also contain information that is useful to the manufacturer and / or clients who print with the produced relief plates. For example, such a plate report may be used to generate statistical data and help improve the production process.

[0012] Preferably, the computing device transmits the generated relief plate report to an external terminal, such as a user device, such as a smartphone or other computing device, so that the relief plate report can be easily referenced by an operator of the plate-making system or a customer who performs printing.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the received data includes measurement data based on measurements performed by at least one production unit, and / or the method further includes receiving measurement data from a separate unit downstream of the at least one production unit. In this way, the effect of processing the relief plate master by the production unit may be measured, and such measurements may be used to evaluate the results of production. For example, the bed thickness may be measured after development of the relief plate master, or the dirt level or relief depth of the processed plate may be measured. It should be noted that the separate unit may, for example, be a unit located in the building where the relief plate is produced, or a unit located in the building of a client who will print using the relief plate.

[0014] According to some embodiments, the method includes receiving, by the computing means, other data after and / or during the production of the relief plate by the relief plate production system. The data may be, for example, uploaded by an operator. The data may be, for example, information about printing results obtained with the produced relief plate, information about environmental conditions during production (e.g., environmental temperature), information about defective components of the production unit, measurement data performed on the plate by a user with a measurement tool, etc.

[0015] Preferably, the measurement data includes data on the physical properties of the processed relief plate master, such as the plate thickness and / or floor thickness of the processed relief plate master, and / or measurement data based on measured printing results, such as the minimum stable tone value and / or dot gain produced by the relief plate. The minimum stable tone value is determined, for example, by visual inspection using a microscope on a printed test image containing fields with different tone values. The dot gain is measured, for example, using a color densitometer on the printed test image. Using these measurement data, the relief plate report can accurately indicate the results of the treatment performed on the relief plate master and can help identify the cause of potential problems on the relief plate.

[0016] Additional measurement data relating to the properties of the relief master or relief are selected from the group consisting of master thickness, finish thickness, floor thickness, relief depth, minimum tone value, tone value curve, dot gain curve, isolated dot size, negative line depth, positive line width, line straightness, negative dot depth, dot shape, shoulder angle, dot circularity (assessed on a scale from rounded top to flat top), mid-depth of the tone value field, hardness, surface energy of the floor and / or printing features (e.g. using contact angle measurements), elasticity, modulus of elasticity, curl tendency, anisotropy, roughness, springiness or combinations thereof.

[0017] Optionally, the measurement data includes production unit-related data and / or data on the environment surrounding the production unit, such as the temperature of the relief plate master before, during, and / or after processing, and / or the temperature within at least one production unit. Such production unit data and / or environmental data may further help in analyzing and optimizing the relief plate production process. For example, if the quality of the print results decreases or improves without changing the production process, such parameters may help understand where the production process should be adjusted or better controlled.

[0018] Optionally, the measurement data includes data based on the results of printing using the processed plate, and optionally further includes printing-related data such as the type of ink, the type of printing medium, etc. For example, a client performing the printing process may provide feedback on the quality of the print results obtained with a particular type of ink and printing medium, which may be further included in the relief plate report. By also including the results of printing using the relief plate, the relief plate report can include not only information about what happened during the production of the plate, but also printing information for the determined printing process, specifying, for example, the ink, the printing medium, and any other relevant printing parameters (e.g., printing speed, printing pressure, run length). As a result, it can be more directly determined whether a potential problem is due to the production of the relief plate itself, or rather to a step in the printing process.

[0019] Preferably, at least one production unit comprises a writing device configured to ablate the mask for a subsequent exposure step using a writing means such as a laser, and the relief plate report comprises one or more of the following: writing duration, writing power, writing speed, position of the writing means, measured parameters of actuators such as motors used to move the writing means relative to the relief plate master, such as motor current, motor speed, etc., time intervals used to generate writing features corresponding to writing pixels, e.g., operating time values ​​for controlling the beam of the writing means, beam diameter values ​​and / or beam shape values ​​for controlling the beam of the writing means, the number of passes performed by the writing means, an indication of which writing head or heads of the writing means were used, the temperature inside the writing device, and the power consumed by the writing device. Optionally, the writing device may comprise means for checking the quality of the obtained mask, for example by optical density measurements or other optical methods as described in DE 202022002301 A1 and US 2022 / 0349796 A1. Additionally, operation times (such as start time, end time, or duration) of various components may be recorded. Such parameters may not only allow for improvements to the manufacturing process, but may also allow for determination of when components of the rendering device are not operating properly.

[0020] Preferably, at least one production unit comprises an exposure unit having a main and / or back exposure means for exposing the relief side and the back side of the relief plate master, and the relief plate report includes one or more of the following: main and / or back exposure time, main and / or back exposure power, main and / or back exposure amount, number of exposure cycles performed by the main and / or back exposure means, speed at which the main and / or back exposure means move relative to the relief plate master, temperature of the relief plate master and / or temperature in the exposure unit, data on cooling of the exposure unit, and power consumed by the exposure unit. By including temperature- and / or cooling-related data, which are important for good exposure results, in the relief plate report, exposure problems can be identified in an improved manner. Furthermore, operating times of the various components may be recorded.

[0021] Preferably, at least one production unit comprises a washing machine and the relief report comprises one or more of the following: the nature of the washing medium (e.g. solvent or water), the washing speed, the washing temperature, the washing duration, the viscosity data of the liquid in the washing machine, the solid content of the liquid, the level of the liquid in different compartments of the washing machine, the consumption of the liquid, the time of adding or removing the liquid, the power consumed by the washing machine.

[0022] Preferably, at least one production unit comprises a dryer and the relief report includes one or more of the drying temperature, drying duration, consumption of drying medium (e.g. air), power consumed by the dryer.

[0023] Preferably, at least one production unit includes a post-exposure unit, and the relief plate report includes one or more of the following: type of light source (e.g., UVA, UVC), exposure time, exposure power, temperature during exposure, and power consumed by the exposure unit. Additionally, the operating times of various components of the post-exposure unit may be recorded.

[0024] The relief master report may include one or more data regarding the processing of the relief master, such as one or more of the following: processing date, total processing time, downtime between different processing steps, sequence of processing steps, interruptions, errors, manual steps.

[0025] The method may include analyzing the relief plate report and determining the cause if the relief plate parameters or print results are not within expected ranges or print quality. These additional steps may also be performed by computational means. Predetermined criteria may be developed to derive from the information in the relief plate report whether there is a problem and what the potential cause of the problem is.

[0026] The method may further comprise the steps of reading or receiving, in the production unit, a plate identifier of the relief plate master to be processed and transmitting the plate identifier together with information about the performed processing to the computing means. Optionally, a job identifier identifying the job performed on the relief plate may also be received by the production unit and transmitted to the computing means.

[0027] The method further includes attaching or including a relief plate report or a relief plate report identifier to the relief plate. This feature ties the relief plate report to a specific processed relief plate. The relief plate report therefore serves as a passport for the processed relief plate that accompanies the processed relief plate, for example, when the processed relief plate is sold to a customer. The relief plate report allows a manufacturer of the relief plate and / or a customer printing with the relief plate to identify whether a problem is caused by the relief plate itself or by the printing process after ink is applied to the relief plate.

[0028] According to another aspect, a method for analyzing data from a relief plate production system is provided, the method comprising at least one, preferably at least two, production units for processing relief plate masters to obtain relief plates, and a computing means. The method comprises a step of receiving data from the at least one production unit in the computing means. The data includes information about the processing performed on the relief plate by the respective production unit and, optionally, information about the plate identifier of the relief plate and / or the status of the respective production unit. More generally, the received data may be any of the data described above for the first aspect. The method also comprises a step of analyzing the received data in the computing means and generating a status report of the relief plate production system. The status report provides an overview of the production status of the relief plate production system and is generated by the computing means based on data received and analyzed over a period of time. The status report is provided periodically, for example, daily, weekly, or monthly. The status report is periodically sent to an operator, for example, via email. In this way, the operator automatically receives an overview of the status of the relief plate production system, as opposed to providing information on a screen of the relief plate production system.

[0029] According to a further aspect, there is provided a method for analyzing data from one or more relief plate production systems, each comprising at least one, preferably at least two production units for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a computing means, the method comprising the steps of receiving, in said computing means, from each production unit of the one or more plate production systems, data relating to the processing performed by the respective production unit, and analyzing the received data and displaying the data on a graphical user interface of the respective plate production system based on the analysis. The graphical user interface may: a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each plate-making system over time; a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each platemaking system as a function of the resolution of the drawing file used by each platemaking system; - for each of the production units, a graphical representation showing at least one parameter of the respective plate-making system; a graphical representation of at least one parameter related to the electricity consumption of at least one production unit; a graphical representation of at least one parameter related to solvent consumption of at least one production unit; Information that allows comparison of each platemaking system with other platemaking systems; A geographical map showing one or more plate making systems along with one or more parameters associated with said one or more plate making systems. The display is configured to display at least one of:

[0030] Thanks to these features, it may be possible to respond to changes in the platemaking system over time. Additionally or alternatively, it may be possible to consider how the platemaking system reacts when rendering files of different resolutions are input to the platemaking system. Additionally or alternatively, it is possible to compare parameters from different production units. Additionally or alternatively, it is possible to observe the geographic distribution of the platemaking systems and correlate trends observed from the graphical display with the location of the production system. Additionally or alternatively, if there are at least two platemaking systems, it is possible to compare one platemaking system with another platemaking system. For example, some platemaking systems may belong to one customer, and some other production systems may belong to another customer. These features make it possible to compare data from different customers and find trends in the data.

[0031] Furthermore, the information is presented in a more visual manner using a graphical user interface compared to numbers or tables, and therefore the data can be more easily analyzed by an operator.

[0032] Each plate production system may comprise a production unit of a first type, and the method may further comprise determining, based on the received data, which features of the production unit of the first type are used for each plate production system, and optionally ranking the used features based on the number of times the features are used. For one relief plate, not all features of the production unit may be used to process the relief plate. By knowing exactly which features of the production unit are used, the properties of the relief plate can be more accurately mapped to specific features of the production unit. Also, feedback can be given to the manufacturer of the production unit about the most used features.

[0033] Preferably, the at least one parameter includes at least one of the following: the number of relief plates processed by the production unit; the surface area processed by the production unit; a scrap rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plate not captured by the image file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plate; a process parameter of the production unit; an integrity parameter of the production unit; power consumption of the production unit; and the status of the production unit. The number or surface area of ​​plates processed over time may provide a good indication of the efficiency of the production unit. Also, by comparing these numbers for different production units, for example, slower production units may be added to make the overall plate production system more efficient. Information about the scrap rate may be used to optimize the placement of images on the relief plate masters. The status of the production units is typically plotted over time and may refer to "asleep," "production," "number of scheduled jobs," "initialization," "stopped," "error state," "plate transport mode," etc. In this way, an operator can track the status of each production unit.

[0034] Optionally, at least one manufacturing unit includes a writing device configured to ablate the mask for a subsequent exposure step, and the at least one parameter includes one or more of the following: the state of the writing device, the number of laser beams, the size of the laser beams, the power consumed by the writing device, the maximum ablation power of the writing device, the ratio of the ablation power actually used by the writing device to write the relief plate compared to the maximum ablation power available in the writing device, the rotation speed of a drum in the writing device measured with the relief plate master fixed to the drum, the connection quality of the writing device, the temperature of the writing device and / or the relief plate master, the writing resolution, the writing duration, the start time of writing, and the end time of writing. Optionally, the writing device may include means for checking the quality of the resulting mask, for example, by optical density measurements or other optical methods as described in DE 202022002301 A1 and US 2022 / 0349796 A1. Furthermore, the operation times (such as start time, end time, or duration) of various components of the writing device may be recorded.

[0035] Optionally, at least one production unit includes an exposure unit having a main exposure means and / or a back exposure means for exposing the relief side and / or the back side of the relief printing master. Typically, the exposure unit is located downstream of the imaging device. The at least one parameter may include one or more of the following: main and / or back exposure time, main and / or back exposure power or intensity, number of exposure cycles for the main and / or back exposure, connection quality of the exposure unit, parameters of a cooler of the exposure unit, power usage of the exposure unit, and temperature of parts of the exposure unit. Furthermore, operating times of various components of the exposure unit may be recorded.

[0036] Optionally, at least one production unit comprises a washing machine, and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: nature of the washing medium (e.g. solvent or water), washing speed, temperature of the liquid in the washing machine and / or the relief plate during washing, maximum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate, minimum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate, washing duration, viscosity data of the liquid in the washing machine, minimum viscosity during washing of the relief plate, maximum viscosity during washing of the relief plate, viscosity at the start of washing, viscosity at the end of washing, solids content of the liquid, level of liquid in different compartments of the washing machine, liquid consumption, liquid addition or removal time.

[0037] Optionally, at least one manufacturing unit comprises a dryer, and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of: a drying duration, a drying temperature of the relief plate during drying, a minimum temperature during drying of the relief plate, a maximum temperature during drying of the relief plate, a temperature at the start of drying, a temperature at the end of drying, and a consumption of a drying medium (e.g., air).

[0038] Optionally, at least one production unit comprises a post-exposure unit downstream of the dryer, and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: post-exposure duration, delay time between different steps performed by the post-exposure unit, minimum temperature during post-exposure of the relief plate, type of light source (e.g., UVA, UVC), exposure duration, exposure power, maximum temperature during post-exposure of the relief plate, temperature at the start of post-exposure of the relief plate, temperature at the end of post-exposure of the relief plate. Furthermore, operation times of various components of the post-exposure unit may be recorded.

[0039] According to a further aspect, there is provided a method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system comprising at least one, preferably at least two manufacturing units for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a computing means, the method being performed by said computing means, receiving, from at least one manufacturing unit, information regarding the processing performed on the relief plate master by the respective manufacturing unit; - analyzing the received data to detect defects and / or to detect whether improvements to the relief plate manufacturing system are possible; If a defect or possible improvement is detected, notifying the user, for example by email or any other messaging service, and / or performing predictive maintenance. The method can also be used in multiple plate production systems each having at least one production unit, in which case it can provide even better results.

[0040] Thanks to these features, once the computing means has analyzed the received data, it can warn the user if it notices an anomaly and / or can already perform maintenance based on the analysis, for example based on empirical data regarding how long the production unit can operate before maintenance is required. In this way, the relief plate production system can operate more proactively by reacting in time to data from the production unit or by proactively predicting when maintenance will be required. The useful life of the relief plate production system is extended. The relief plate production system according to this embodiment is made more reliable. Furthermore, by using alerts, the operator does not need to monitor the dashboard of the relief plate production system all the time, or even every day. Instead, he receives an alert when a problem occurs.

[0041] Optionally, the receiving step includes receiving parameter data of the production unit over time, and the analyzing step includes predicting when components of the production unit will need to be replaced or serviced based on the received data. By predicting when components will need to be replaced or serviced, operation of the relief plate manufacturing system becomes more proactive. Instead of waiting until a problem occurs to address it, components in the relief plate manufacturing system are always kept in a state for better performance.

[0042] Each of the aspects of the present disclosure may include any one of the following features or any technically possible combination of the following features.

[0043] The computing means may be a central computing means or a distributed computing means. The computing means may be part of a computing cloud. Thus, this embodiment does not require modifications to existing manufacturing units to perform advanced data analytics. Also, locating the computing means in the cloud reduces the strain on local computing resources.

[0044] The at least one production unit may include at least one, preferably two, more preferably at least three, and even more preferably at least four of the following: a transport unit, a pre-treatment unit, an imaging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit such as a washer or a thermal development unit, a post-treatment unit such as a dryer, a post-exposure unit, a post-treatment unit such as a cutting unit configured to cut the plate, a mounting unit configured to mount the relief master on a substrate such as a sleeve, and a storage unit. Most preferably, the at least one production unit comprises at least an imaging device, an exposure unit, and a developing unit. The production units may be combined into a single machine.

[0045] According to a further aspect, there is provided a computing means comprising computer executable instructions configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0046] According to a further aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of the above-described embodiments when the program is run on a computer.

[0047] According to a further aspect, there is provided a plate manufacturing system comprising at least one manufacturing unit for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate and a computing means as defined above.

[0048] Any feature of any one aspect of the present disclosure may be combined with any feature of any other aspect of the present disclosure.

[0049] The above-mentioned and further aspects of the present disclosure are explained in more detail below on the basis of several embodiments which are illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0050] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment according to a first aspect of the present disclosure; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram according to a further aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating two relief plate manufacturing systems according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each including a writing apparatus, an exposure unit, a cleaner, and a dryer. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment according to a further aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] Flexography or letterpress printing is a technique commonly used for mass printing. Flexography or letterpress printing plates are relief plates with printing elements, typically called reliefs or dots, protruding above the non-printing elements to produce an image on a recording medium such as paper, cardboard, film, foil, or laminate. Cylindrical printing plates or sleeves may also be used.

[0052] There are various methods for preparing flexographic printing plate precursors.According to conventional methods, flexographic printing plate precursors are prepared from a multilayer substrate comprising a backing layer and one or more photohardening layers (also called photosensitive layers).These photohardening layers are imaged by exposure to electromagnetic radiation through a mask layer containing image information, or by direct and selective exposure to light, for example, by scanning the plate to transfer image information to obtain a relief plate.

[0053] The relief master may be, for example, a digital relief master or an analogue relief master. In the case of a digital relief master, the mask layer is an integral layer of the master and imaging of the mask layer results in an ablated layer, whereas in the case of an analogue relief master, the mask layer is typically a separate layer, such as a film, comprising radiation-transparent and radiation-opaque areas, which is attached onto the relief master before exposure with electromagnetic radiation. For example, an opaque ablatable layer on a substrate layer may be used and structures may be generated by ablation, or the transmittance of a layer of film may be modified by exposure with a laser.

[0054] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment according to a first aspect of the present disclosure. According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, there is a method for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system 10. The relief plate manufacturing system 10 comprises at least one, and preferably at least two, manufacturing units 20 for processing a relief plate master and obtaining a relief plate. The at least one manufacturing unit may comprise, for example, at least an exposure unit and a development unit. Optionally, an imaging device may also be present, or the relief plate master may be imaged elsewhere or provided with a mask. The relief plate manufacturing system 10 also comprises a calculation means 30.

[0055] Whenever this specification refers to at least one manufacturing unit, it also discloses the possibility of having at least two manufacturing units.

[0056] At least one production unit 20 may include at least two of an imaging device, an exposure unit, a washer, and a dryer, as shown in Figure 3. More generally, at least one production unit 20 may include at least two of a transport unit, a pre-treatment unit, an imaging unit, an exposure unit, a development unit such as a washer or a thermal development unit, a post-treatment unit such as a dryer, a post-exposure unit, a post-treatment unit such as a cutting unit configured to cut the plate, a mounting unit configured to mount the relief master on a substrate such as a sleeve, and a storage unit. It should be noted that the plate production system may also include multiple exposure units (same or different) or multiple development units (e.g., washer and thermal development unit), or more generally, multiple of the above units operating in parallel.

[0057] The calculation means 30 is configured to perform the steps of receiving data from at least one manufacturing unit 20, including the plate identifier of the relief plate and information about the processing performed on the relief plate master by the respective manufacturing unit 20, and analyzing the received data and generating a relief plate report 40 based on the analyzed data.

[0058] The computing means 30 is preferably different from at least one production unit 20. According to one embodiment, the computing means is located in a server. According to one embodiment, the computing means 30 is located in a computing cloud. According to some embodiments, all production units 20 of the plate making system 10 are configured to send information to the computing means 30. According to some embodiments, a relief plate report is generated using information received from all production units 20 of the relief plate making system 10.

[0059] According to one embodiment, the computing means 30 can transmit the relief report 40 to an external terminal, such as a mobile or stationary computing device, on which a user can then read the relief report 40.

[0060] The calculation means 30 receives data from at least one production unit 20. The calculation means 30 receives the data by wire or wirelessly. The data includes plate identifiers of the relief plates. The data also includes information about the processing performed on the relief plates by the respective production unit 20.

[0061] The identifier may be attached to or integrated with the relief plate master, for example. Alternatively, the identifier may be attached to or integrated with a carrier, such as a dolly, that transports the relief plate master. The carrier may be wirelessly coupled to at least one production unit, for example. Alternatively, the dolly may have multiple screws, each of which may occupy at least two positions. The combination of screw positions may provide information about the type of master on the dolly. For example, the dolly may have three screws, each with two positions. In this configuration, the screws may have a total of eight possible combinations, representing eight plate types. According to some embodiments, the dolly may be identified, for example, by an RFID tag.

[0062] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, an indicia of the identifier is generated on the relief master by an imaging device, and according to some embodiments, the identifier is already visible to the human eye even before the relief master is exposed by the exposure unit.

[0063] The production unit may receive job instructions and process the plate according to the job instructions. The job instructions may also include an identifier, typically a unique identifier, for the relief master. Each job instruction may have a unique identifier that is different from other job instructions. According to some embodiments, the unique identifier is a universally unique identifier (UUID). The UUID may be created using specific software, for example, the Win32 API function UuidCreate provided by Microsoft as part of the Windows API. The job instructions may also include at least one lookup parameter configured to enable the production unit to determine configuration settings used to process the relief master. The lookup parameter may include information about the type of relief master. Alternatively or additionally, the lookup parameter may include information about the size of the relief master. Alternatively or additionally, the lookup parameter may include information about the thickness of the relief master. Alternatively or additionally, the lookup parameter may include information about different processing options for the same type of relief master. For example, for one type of relief master, it may be desirable to process the master with different parameters to suit different customer needs. For example, for master type A with customer request C1, the job instructions include a first set of lookup parameters that enable the manufacturing unit to process the relief master in setting 1. For master type A with customer request C2, the job instructions include a second set of lookup parameters that enable the manufacturing unit to process the relief master in setting 1'. For master type B with customer request C1, the job instructions include a third set of lookup parameters that enable the manufacturing unit to process the relief master in setting 2.

[0064] According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes information about the relief plates processed by at least one manufacturing unit 20. According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes aggregated information about the relief plates based on data received from at least two of the manufacturing units 20. According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes aggregated information about the relief plates based on data received from all manufacturing units 20 involved in the production of the relief plates.

[0065] The relief plate report 40 may include any one or more of: a plate identifier for the relief plate; dimensions of the relief plate, such as length, width, and thickness of the relief plate; an identifier for at least one manufacturing unit that processed the relief plate master; settings used by the at least one manufacturing unit; a scrap rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plate not captured by the drawing file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plate; a job identifier that identifies the job performed on the relief plate master by the at least one manufacturing unit; image data related to processing by the at least one manufacturing unit; measurement data measured during or after processing by the at least one manufacturing unit, such as bed thickness; and an alert if an abnormality is detected in the analysis data.

[0066] Image data relating to processing by at least one production unit is included, for example, in a tiff file. Such image data may be transmitted separately to the production unit and, in particular, to the drawing device. The image data included in the relief plate report may be a low-resolution version of the original data used for drawing.

[0067] Some of the measured parameters are measured, for example, by the production unit. Additionally or alternatively, some of the measured parameters are measured by a machine different from any production unit 20 in the relief plate production system 10. In some embodiments, the received data includes measurement data based on measurements performed by at least one production unit 20 and / or based on measurements performed in a separate unit downstream of at least one production unit 20. The measurement data includes data related to measurements performed on the processed relief plate, such as, for example, the plate thickness and / or bed thickness of the processed relief plate, and / or the lowest stable tone value that can be produced on the relief plate, and / or dot gain. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement data includes production unit-related data and / or data related to the environment surrounding the production unit 20, such as, for example, the temperature of the relief plate and / or the processed relief plate and / or at least one production unit 20. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement data includes data based on the results of printing using the processed plate.

[0068] If at least one production unit 20 includes a writing device 21, the relief plate report 40 may include one or more of the parameters described in the description of the writing device. If at least one production unit 20 includes an exposure unit 22, the relief plate report 40 may include one or more of the parameters described in the description of the exposure unit. Similarly, if at least one production unit 20 includes a washer 23, the relief plate report 40 may include one or more of the parameters described in the description of the washer. Similarly, if at least one production unit 20 includes a dryer 24, the relief plate report 40 may include one or more of the parameters described in the description of the dryer. Similarly, if at least one production unit 20 includes a post-exposure unit, the relief plate report 40 may include one or more of the parameters described in the description of the post-exposure unit.

[0069] According to some embodiments, the method further includes analyzing the relief plate report 40 if the parameters of the processed relief plate or the process parameters are not within expected ranges. Additionally or alternatively, the method further includes analyzing the relief plate report 40 if the printed results of the processed relief plate are not within expected print quality. In this case, the results of the analysis can distinguish problems caused by the processed relief plate itself before printing, i.e., before ink is applied to the processed relief plate, from problems caused by the printing process using the processed relief plate, i.e., after ink is applied to the processed relief plate and the ink is transferred to the print medium. In this way, the source of the problem, i.e., the processed relief plate itself or the subsequent inking and printing steps, can be identified.

[0070] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises a step of reading or receiving, in the production unit, a plate identifier of the relief plate master to be processed and transmitting the plate identifier together with information about the processing performed to a computing means.

[0071] Optionally, the method further comprises attaching or including a relief plate report 40 or an identifier of the relief plate report 40 to the obtained relief plate. For example, a code such as a barcode or a QR code can be integrated into or attached to the relief plate. This may be the same code as the code used for the plate identifier or it may be a different code. By scanning the code, an operator can obtain the relief plate report 40.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes information about the temporal evolution of the data. According to one embodiment, the relief plate report 40 is generated after the relief plate has been processed by the relief plate production system 10, i.e., after the relief plate has been processed by all production units 20 within the relief plate production system 10.

[0073] According to some embodiments, the method includes generating at least two relief reports 40 based on the same received data. These relief reports 40 include an extended relief report and a limited relief report. The extended relief report includes more information than the limited relief report. The extended relief report is, for example, intended for the relief manufacturer. The limited relief report is, for example, intended for the relief manufacturer's customers. The extended relief report may include information that the relief manufacturer considers confidential (e.g., information from other customers) and does not want to show to a particular customer. This confidential information is not included in the limited relief report.

[0074] According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes a quality certificate for the relief plate.

[0075] According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes timestamps indicating when the relief plate report 40 was generated. According to some embodiments, the relief plate report 40 includes timestamps each indicating when the manufacturing unit 20 finished processing the relief plate. For example, the relief plate report 40 includes a first timestamp indicating when the imaging device 21 finished imaging the relief plate and a second timestamp indicating when the exposure unit 22 finished exposing the relief plate.

[0076] According to some embodiments, the method includes providing a status report of the relief plate production system. The status report provides an overview of the production status of the relief plate production system and is generated by a computational means based on data received and analyzed over a period of time. The status report is provided periodically, for example daily, weekly or monthly. The status report is periodically sent to an operator, for example via email. In this way, the operator automatically receives an overview of the status of the relief plate production system, as compared to providing information on a screen of the relief plate production system.

[0077] According to some embodiments, the relief plate manufacturing system 10 can be in communication with another system, for example, an enterprise resource planning system, such that the enterprise resource planning system can have an overview of the relief plate manufacturing system.

[0078] 2 shows an embodiment according to a further aspect of the present disclosure. According to a further aspect, a method for analyzing data from one or more relief plate production systems 10, 10' is provided. Each relief plate production system 10, 10' comprises at least one, preferably at least two production units 20, 20' for processing relief plates. The relief plate production systems 10, 10' also have computing means 30. According to a preferred embodiment, some or all of the relief plate production systems 10, 10' share the computing means 30.

[0079] The method comprises the step of receiving, in said computing means 30, from each production unit 20, 20' of one or more plate-making systems 10, 10', data relating to the processing carried out by the respective production unit. The method further comprises the step of analysing the received data and, based on said analysis, displaying the data on a graphical user interface 60 of each plate-making system 10, 10', said graphical user interface 60 a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each plate-making system 10, 10′ over time; a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each plate-making system 10, 10' as a function of the resolution of the drawing file used by the plate-making system; a graphical representation showing, for each of at least one production unit 20, 20′, at least one parameter of the respective plate-making system 10, 10′; information allowing a comparison of each plate-making system 10 with the other plate-making systems 10' of said one or more plate-making systems; A geographical map showing one or more plate making systems along with one or more parameters associated with said one or more plate making systems. Display at least one of the following:

[0080] A separate graphical user interface 60 for each platemaking system 10, 10' or a common user interface 60 showing data for multiple platemaking systems 10 can be provided.

[0081] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 is configured to show a graphical representation of each plate-making system 10, 10' over time, e.g., any one of the parameters outlined above. This possibility allows the operator to see the variations over time during the production of multiple relief plates. The operator can then observe trends in this variation. For example, an increase in the bed thickness of the relief plates that deviates from the tolerance range, which may indicate a problem requiring attention, can be distinguished from a simple variation in the bed thickness within the tolerance range.

[0082] Additionally or alternatively, the graphical user interface 60 may be configured to show a graphical representation of each plate-making system 10, 10' as a function of resolution, where the resolution may be the resolution of the drawing file or the resolution of the printing features of the relief plate. Additionally or alternatively, the graphical user interface 60 may be configured to show a map showing at least one production unit 20, 20' associated with information about the respective plate-making system 10, 10'. Additionally or alternatively, the graphical user interface 60 may be configured to show information about the respective plate-making system 10, 10' and information that allows a comparison of the respective plate-making system 10 with other plate-making systems 10' of the one or more plate-making systems.

[0083] According to some embodiments, one relief plate production system 10 belongs to one customer and another relief plate production system 10' belongs to another customer, so that data from one customer can be compared with data from another customer.

[0084] According to some embodiments, having a map showing at least one production unit 20, 20′ associated with information about each plate production system 10, 10′, it is also possible to compare relief plate production systems 10, 10′ located in two different locations. For example, differences due to location can be identified. For example, if a North American-based relief plate production system has a waste rate of 20%, while relief plate production systems in other parts of the world average only 15%, the relief printing plate manufacturer can inform its North American customers that there is room for improvement. According to some embodiments, the map shows the production volumes of different types of printing plates using circles of relative size on the graphical user interface 60.

[0085] All graphs and information shown in the graphical user interface 60 may be stored or printed for documentation reasons.

[0086] According to some embodiments, each plate-making system 10, 10′ includes a first type of production unit. The first type of production unit may be, for example, a writing device 21, 21′, an exposure unit 22, 22′, a washer 23′, 23′, or a dryer 24, 24′. In these embodiments, the method further includes determining, based on the received data, which features of the first type of production unit to use for each plate-making system 10, 10′. For example, if the first type of production unit is a writing device, the feature may be which sampling pattern is imposed on a writing file that controls ablation of a mask layer. For example, if the first type of production unit is an exposure unit 22, 22′, the feature may be which level of illumination intensity to use to expose the photopolymerizable layer. Preferably, the method also includes a step of ranking the used features based on the number of times the feature was used.

[0087] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 includes at least one of the following: a total number of relief plates processed by the production unit, a number of relief plates processed by the production unit over time, a scrap rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plates not captured by the drawing file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plates over time, and a process parameter of the production unit over time. Additionally or alternatively, the graphical user interface 60 includes at least one of the following: a total surface area of ​​the relief plates processed by the production unit, an average time for the production unit to process a relief plate, an uptime of the production unit, an integrity of the production unit (e.g., whether hardware such as an illumination source is still functioning as expected; as another example, when the last hardware check was performed), and a status of the production unit (e.g., the status of the production unit indicates whether the machine is in at least one of the following states: dormant, producing, initializing, shut down, in an error state, undergoing an integrity check, or in the process of transferring plates from one production unit to another).

[0088] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 includes at least one of the following: a motor speed of a single manufacturing unit (e.g., a pump motor or a lead screw motor of a cleaning machine or a drum motor of a drawing device), a tolerance parameter, a liquid level in the cleaning machine, a viscosity of a solvent in the cleaning machine, an illumination intensity of an exposure unit, an error status of a manufacturing unit, a warning level of a manufacturing unit, and a power usage of a single manufacturing unit.

[0089] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 indicates the type of relief plate processed by at least one production unit 20. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 includes the percentage of time that each relief plate spends in the production unit 20 relative to the total time that the relief plate spends in the relief plate production system 10, 10′. For example, the graphical user interface 60 may indicate that the relief plate spent 20% of its time in the relief plate production system 10, 10′ in the imaging device 21, 21′, 30% of its time in the relief plate production system 10, 10′ in the exposure unit, 20% of its time in the relief plate production system 10, 10′ in the cleaner 23, 23′, and 30% of its time in the relief plate production system 10, 10′ in the dryer 24, 24′.

[0090] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows the surface area of ​​the relief plates processed by one production unit 20, 20' or relief plate manufacturing system 10, 10' over time, such as per day. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows the number of relief plates processed by one production unit 20, 20' or relief plate manufacturing system 10, 10' over time, such as per day. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows the thickness of the relief plates over time. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows at least one of the parameters described herein for the relief plate manufacturing system 10, 10' or for at least one production unit 20, 20' over time.

[0091] According to some embodiments, at least one manufacturing unit 20, 20′ comprises a writing device 21, 21′, and the graphical user interface 60 indicates one or more of the following: writing device parameters, writing device status, at least a portion of the input from the operator, the number of laser beams, the laser beam size, the writing device ablation power, the ratio of the ablation power actually used by the writing device to write the relief master compared to the maximum ablation power available in the writing device, the rotation speed of the drum in the writing device measured with the relief master fixed to the drum, the connection quality of the writing device, the temperature of the writing device and / or the relief master, the ablation resolution, the power consumed to process the relief master, the writing duration, the start time of writing, and the end time of writing. Optionally, the writing device may comprise means for checking the quality of the resulting mask, for example, by optical density measurements or other optical methods, as described in DE 202022002301 A1 and US 2022 / 0349796 A1. Furthermore, the operating times of the various components of the writing device may be indicated.

[0092] According to some embodiments, at least one of the production units 20, 20' comprises an exposure unit 22, 22', and the graphical user interface 60 includes one or more of the following: main and / or back exposure time, main and / or back exposure power, number of exposure cycles, parameters of the exposure unit, at least a portion of input from an operator, connection quality of the exposure unit, parameters of a cooler of the exposure unit, power usage of the exposure unit, temperature of at least a portion of the exposure unit. Additionally, operating times of various components of the exposure unit may be indicated.

[0093] According to some embodiments, at least one production unit 20, 20′ comprises a washer 23, 23′, and the graphical user interface 60 shows, for example over time, one or more of the following: the nature of the washing medium (e.g., solvent or water); the washing speed; the temperature of the solvent in the washer and / or the temperature of the relief plate during washing; the maximum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate; the minimum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate; the washing duration; the viscosity data of the solvent in the washer; the minimum viscosity during washing of the relief plate; the maximum viscosity during washing of the relief plate; the viscosity at the start of washing; the viscosity at the end of washing; the parameters of the washer; the solids content of the liquid (e.g., the maximum or minimum solids content during washing of the relief plate); the level of liquid in different compartments of the washer; the liquid consumption; the time for adding or removing liquid; and at least some inputs from the operator. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 may also show the amount of solvent or water in the washer. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 may also include the length of time the washer has been stopped (e.g., 30 minutes). According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 indicates the period of time that the washer has an error.

[0094] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows the surface area of ​​the relief plate processed by the washer over time. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows information about the pre-washer before the relief plate is processed by the washer. The pre-washer information includes, for example, the amount of solvent in the pre-washer and / or the temperature of the solvent in the pre-washer.

[0095] According to some embodiments, at least one production unit 20, 20' comprises a dryer 24, 24', and the graphical user interface 60 shows one or more of the following: the drying duration, the drying temperature of the relief plate, the minimum temperature during drying of the relief plate, the maximum temperature during drying of the relief plate, the temperature at the start of drying, the temperature at the end of drying, the consumption of the drying medium (e.g., air), dryer parameters, and at least some of the inputs from the operator. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows aggregate information about at least two dryers. In this way, comparisons between different dryers can be made.

[0096] According to some embodiments, at least one production unit 20, 20' comprises a post-exposure unit downstream of the dryer 24, 24', and the graphical user interface 60 indicates one or more of the following: the type of light source (e.g., UVA, UVC), the exposure duration, the exposure power, the post-exposure duration, the delay between the different steps performed by the post-exposure unit (e.g., a delay occurs before the first type of illumination is started in the exposure unit), the minimum temperature during the post-exposure of the relief plate, the maximum temperature during the post-exposure of the relief plate, the temperature at the start of the post-exposure of the relief plate, and the temperature at the end of the post-exposure of the relief plate. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 indicates the temperature of the post-exposure unit over time. Furthermore, the operating times of the various components of the post-exposure unit may be indicated.

[0097] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 shows a distribution of relief plate processing status over a period of time. For example, the manufacturing graphical user interface 60 may show that 90% of the relief plate processing by the manufacturing unit 20, 20' or the relief plate manufacturing system 10 was completed within a day, and 10% of the relief plate processing by the manufacturing unit 20, 20' or the relief plate manufacturing system 10 was canceled. The period of time may be selected by the operator, for example, today, last week, last year, last February, or June 6th, 10:00 AM - June 10th, 2:00 PM.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 indicates the health of at least one production unit 20, 20′. For example, the production unit health may indicate the health of the hardware, such as the health of the exposure unit hardware. In this example, the hardware health may indicate, for example, whether the illumination source is still functioning and / or whether the output illumination intensity is high enough.

[0099] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface is configured to apply a filter to the graph shown in the graphical user interface 60. For example, a filter may be applied so that only relief plates from one relief plate manufacturer are displayed in the graphical user interface 60.

[0100] According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface is configured to zoom in on a graph display to examine the results shown in more detail, for example, to examine changes in the graph over a shorter period of time. According to some embodiments, the graphical user interface 60 is configured to adjust the scale of one graph according to the scale used for another graph. For example, if a user zooms in on the temperature of a washer, the graph of solvent viscosity will be zoomed in accordingly, since an increase in temperature also affects the viscosity of the solvent in the washer.

[0101] According to some embodiments, the relief plate manufacturing system 10 is configured to allow a user to input information, such as free-format commands, via an input interface. The relief plate manufacturing system 10, and in particular the calculation means 30, may be configured to receive the information entered by the user and factor this information into the relief plate report 40 and / or the graphical user interface 60 and / or the status report of the relief plate manufacturing system. In one example, the information is entered via the graphical user interface 60 or via another user interface, such as the user interface of the user's mobile device. For example, the information may be sent by the user to the calculation means 30. Additionally or alternatively, the information is entered into the relief plate manufacturing system 10 via a file, such as a .txt file. The input information may include any information that may affect the quality of the manufactured relief plate and / or any information worth including in the relief plate report 40 and / or the graphical user interface 60 and / or the status report of the relief plate manufacturing system. The information may be, for example, information about the printing results obtained using this manufactured relief plate, information about the environmental conditions during production (e.g., environmental temperature), information about defective components of the manufacturing unit, measurement data performed on the plate by a user using a measurement tool, etc.

[0102] 4 shows an embodiment according to a further aspect of the present disclosure. According to this aspect, there is provided a method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system 10 comprising at least one, preferably at least two, production units 20 for processing relief plates and a computing means 30. The method comprises a step of receiving, in said computing means, data relating to the operation of the respective production unit 20, 20′ from at least one production unit 20. The method also comprises a step of analyzing the received data in said computing means 30. The method also comprises a step of notifying / warning a user and / or performing predictive maintenance based on the analyzed data in said computing means 30.

[0103] The alert is sent, for example, when an anomaly is detected, which may include any one or more of the following situations: a cooler has failed, at least one illumination source, e.g., a light emitting diode, is not functioning properly, or the temperature of the relief printing plate has exceeded a predetermined threshold.

[0104] The alert may be sent to the user, for example, by email, or, additionally or alternatively, the alert may be sent to the user's smartphone.

[0105] The predictive maintenance here may be performed on relief plate manufacturing systems 10 that transmit data to the computing means 30 for analysis. Additionally or alternatively, the predictive maintenance may be performed on relief plate manufacturing systems that did not transmit data to the computing means 30 for analysis. In the latter situation, if one manufacturing unit 20 has a problem, other manufacturing units of the same or similar specifications in another relief plate manufacturing system 10 may also currently have a problem or may soon have a problem. By performing predictive maintenance, malfunctions in other similar manufacturing units can be prevented. According to some embodiments, the receiving step includes receiving parameter data over time. The analyzing step includes predicting when components of the manufacturing units 20 will need to be replaced or serviced based on the received data.

[0106] Any feature of any one aspect of the present disclosure may be combined with any feature of any other aspect of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. 1. A method for analyzing data from a relief plate manufacturing system (10) comprising at least one, preferably at least two manufacturing units (20) for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a calculation means (30), said method comprising the steps of: receiving data from said at least one manufacturing unit (20) comprising a plate identifier of said relief plate and information about said processing performed on said relief plate master by each said manufacturing unit (20); analyzing the received data (received data) and generating a relief report (40) based on the analyzed data; How to analyze the data, including:

2. 2. The method of analyzing data according to claim 1, wherein the relief plate report (40) includes aggregated information regarding the processed relief plate masters based on the information received from the at least one manufacturing unit (20).

3. 3. The method of analyzing data according to claim 1, wherein the relief plate report (40) includes any one or more of the following: the plate identifier of the relief plate; dimensions of the relief plate, such as length, width and thickness of the relief plate; an identifier of the at least one manufacturing unit (20) that processed the relief plate master; settings used in the at least one manufacturing unit (20); a scrap rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plate not captured by a drawing file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plate; a job identifier identifying the job performed on the relief plate master by the at least one manufacturing unit (20); image data related to the processing by the at least one manufacturing unit (20); measurement data measured during or after the processing by the at least one manufacturing unit, such as bed thickness; and an alert if an anomaly is detected in the analyzed data.

4. 4. The method for analyzing data according to claim 1, wherein the received data comprises measurement data based on measurements performed by the at least one manufacturing unit (20) and / or the method further comprises receiving the measurement data from a separate unit downstream of the at least one manufacturing unit (20).

5. The method for analyzing data according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the measurement data includes data on the physical properties of the processed relief plate, such as the plate thickness and / or floor thickness of the processed relief plate master, and / or measurement data based on measured printing results, such as the lowest stable gradation value and / or dot gain produced by the relief plate.

6. 6. The method of analyzing data according to claim 3, wherein the measurement data comprises production unit-related data and / or data relating to the environment surrounding the production units (20), such as the temperature of the relief plate master before and / or during and / or after the processing, and / or the temperature inside at least one of the at least one production units (20).

7. 7. The method of analyzing data according to claim 3, wherein the measurement data includes data based on the results of printing using the processed plate, and optionally further includes printing-related data such as ink type, printing medium type, etc.

8. 8. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one production unit (20) comprises a writing device (21, 21') having a writing means such as a laser, and the relief plate report (40) comprises one or more of the following: writing duration, writing power, writing speed, position of the writing means, measured parameters of actuators such as motors used to move the writing means relative to the relief plate master, such as motor current, motor speed, time interval used to generate a writing feature corresponding to a writing pixel, e.g. an operating time value for controlling the beam of the writing means, a beam diameter value and / or beam shape value for controlling the beam of the writing means, the number of passes performed by the writing means, an indication of which writing head or heads of the writing means were used, the temperature inside the writing device.

9. 9. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one production unit (20) comprises an exposure unit (22) having a main and / or back exposure means for exposing the relief side and the back side of the relief plate master, and the relief plate report (40) comprises one or more of the following: main and / or back exposure time, main and / or back exposure power, main and / or back exposure amount, number of exposure cycles performed by the main and / or back exposure means, speed at which the main and / or back exposure means moves relative to the relief plate master, temperature of the relief plate master and / or temperature in the exposure unit, data on cooling of the exposure unit, power consumed by the exposure unit.

10. 10. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the at least one production unit (20) comprises a washing machine (23), and the relief report (40) comprises one or more of the following: washing speed, washing temperature, washing duration, viscosity data of the liquid in the washing machine, power consumed by the washing machine.

11. 11. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the at least one production unit (20) comprises a dryer (24), and the relief report (40) comprises one or more of the following: drying temperature, drying duration, consumption of drying media, power consumed by the dryer.

12. 12. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising the steps of analyzing the relief plate report (40) and determining a cause if the parameters of the relief plate or the printing results of the relief plate are not within an expected range or print quality.

13. 13. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising the steps of reading or receiving, in the production unit, the plate identifier of a processed relief plate master, and transmitting the plate identifier together with the information on the performed processing to the computing means.

14. A method for analyzing data according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising the step of attaching or including said relief plate report (40) or an identifier of said relief plate report (40) in said processed relief plate.

15. 1. A method for analyzing data from one or more relief plate production systems (10, 10'), each comprising at least one, preferably at least two production units (20, 20') for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a calculation means (30), said method comprising the steps of: receiving, from each production unit (20, 20') of said one or more plate-making systems, data relating to said process performed by said respective production unit; analyzing the received data and displaying data based on the analysis on a graphical user interface (60) of each of the plate-making systems (10, 10'), wherein the graphical user interface (60) a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each of said plate-making systems (10, 10') over time; a graphical representation of at least one parameter associated with each of said plate-making systems (10, 10') as a function of the resolution of the image file used by said plate-making system; - for each of said at least one production unit (20, 20'), a graphical representation showing at least one parameter of said respective plate-making system (10, 10'); a graphical representation of at least one parameter related to the power consumption of the at least one production unit; and a graphical representation of at least one parameter related to solvent consumption of the at least one production unit; and information enabling a comparison of each of said plate-making systems (10) with other plate-making systems (10') of said one or more plate-making systems; a geographical map illustrating the one or more plate-making systems along with one or more parameters associated with the one or more plate-making systems; a displaying step configured to display at least one of How to analyze the data, including:

16. 16. The method of analyzing data according to claim 15, wherein each plate-making system (10, 10') comprises a production unit (20, 20') of a first type (21, 21', 22, 22', 23, 23', 24, 24'), and wherein the method further comprises the steps of determining, based on the received data, which features of the production units of the first type are used for each plate-making system (10, 10') and, optionally, ranking the used features based on the number of times the features are used.

17. 17. The method of analyzing data according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of the number of the relief plates processed by the manufacturing unit, the surface area processed by the manufacturing unit, a waste rate indicating the area of ​​the relief plates not captured by a drawing file compared to the total area of ​​the relief plates, a process parameter of the manufacturing unit, a completeness parameter of the manufacturing unit, the power consumption of the manufacturing unit, and the state of the manufacturing unit.

18. 18. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the at least one production unit (20, 20') comprises a writing device (21, 21'), and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: a state of the writing device, power consumed by the writing device, a maximum ablation power of the writing device, a ratio of the ablation power actually used by the writing device to write the relief plate compared to the maximum ablation power available in the writing device, a rotation speed of a drum in the writing device measured with the relief plate master fixed to the drum, a connection quality of the writing device, a temperature of the writing device and / or the relief plate master, a writing resolution, a writing duration, a start time of writing, an end time of writing, and power consumed by the writing device.

19. 19. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the at least one manufacturing unit (20, 20') comprises an exposure unit (22, 22'), and wherein the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: main and / or backside exposure time, main and / or backside exposure power or intensity, number of exposure cycles for main and / or backside exposure, connection quality of the exposure unit, parameters of a cooler of the exposure unit, power usage of the exposure unit, temperature of a part of the exposure unit, power consumed by the exposure unit.

20. 20. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the at least one production unit (20, 20') comprises a washing machine (23, 23'), and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: washing speed, temperature of the liquid in the washing machine and / or of the relief plate during washing, maximum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate, minimum washing temperature during washing of the relief plate, washing duration, viscosity data of the liquid in the washing machine, minimum viscosity during washing of the relief plate, maximum viscosity during washing of the relief plate, viscosity at the start of the washing, viscosity at the end of the washing, power consumed by the washing machine.

21. 21. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein the at least one production unit (20, 20') comprises a dryer (24, 24'), and the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: a drying duration, a drying temperature of the relief plate during drying, a minimum temperature during drying of the relief plate, a maximum temperature during drying of the relief plate, a temperature at the start of the drying, a temperature at the end of the drying, and power consumed by the dryer.

22. 22. The method of analyzing data according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein the at least one production unit (20, 20') comprises a post-exposure unit downstream of the dryer (24, 24'), and wherein the at least one parameter comprises one or more of the following: a post-exposure duration, a delay time between different steps performed by the post-exposure unit, a minimum temperature during post-exposure of the relief plate, a maximum temperature during post-exposure of the relief plate, a temperature at the start of post-exposure of the relief plate, a temperature at the end of post-exposure of the relief plate, and power consumed by the post-exposure unit.

23. 1. A method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system (10) comprising at least one, preferably at least two manufacturing units (20) for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a computing means (30), said method comprising: receiving data from said at least one manufacturing unit (20) containing information about the processing performed on said relief plate master by each said manufacturing unit; - analyzing the received data to detect defects and / or to detect whether improvements to the relief plate manufacturing system are possible; notifying the user and / or performing predictive maintenance if a defect or possible improvement is detected; A method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system (10), comprising:

24. 24. The method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system (10) of claim 23, wherein the receiving step includes receiving parameter data of the manufacturing unit over time, and the analyzing step includes predicting when components of the manufacturing unit will need to be replaced or serviced based on the received data.

25. 25. The method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system (10) according to any one of claims 23 or 24, wherein said computing means (30) are part of a computing cloud.

26. 26. The method of operating a relief plate manufacturing system (10) according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the at least one manufacturing unit (20) comprises at least two of a transport unit, a pre-processing unit, an imaging unit, an exposure unit, a development unit such as a washer or a thermal development unit, a post-processing unit such as a dryer, a post-processing unit such as a cutting unit configured to cut the plate, a mounting unit configured to mount the relief master onto a substrate such as a sleeve, and a storage unit.

27. Computing means (30) comprising computer executable instructions configured to carry out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

28. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions, said computer executable instructions causing said program to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 26 when said program is run on a computer.

29. A plate-making system comprising at least one production unit (20) for processing a relief plate master to obtain a relief plate, and a calculation means (30) according to claim 27.

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