Case Study: Manroland achieves 50% faster development of a high-precision printing press controller with MathWorks Model-Based Design

Manroland Develops High-Precision Commercial Printing Press Controller

Manroland, a leading manufacturer of commercial web‑fed offset printing systems, needed to improve cut‑register accuracy to within 0.3 mm at material speeds up to 15 m/s, where the control algorithm has only about 10 ms to act. To enable fast exploration of control ideas and rapid deployment, Manroland adopted MathWorks’ Model‑Based Design tools, including MATLAB, Simulink, Simulink Coder, Simulink Real‑Time, Stateflow, and DSP System Toolbox.

Using MathWorks tools, the team built a validated plant model, developed and tuned PID‑based controllers in Simulink, generated C code with Simulink Coder, and ran real‑time tests with Simulink Real‑Time before deploying directly to production presses. The MathWorks workflow cut development time by over 50% (about 10 months versus an estimated additional year), reduced design iterations from weeks to minutes, delivered a controller that met accuracy and response specs immediately in the field, and streamlined error analysis and customer support.

Manroland

Thomas Debes

Lead Software Engineer