Compared to offset, where plates and ink create the output, digital can now send output direct to paper in a flash from an electronic file.
Set up is faster and because there’s no need to produce plates it is less expensive; overall, digital is well suited to short-run jobs that are required quickly.
However, none of this means that offset is dead – far from it; offset has plenty of applicability where high-quality output is demanded on a wide range of paper stock and, importantly, where the print volume is large scale.
This aside, there has been an undoubted move to digital and it’s important to understand what the move can mean for firms in the sector.
Printweek spoke to three of the major manufacturers involved in the technology: Xerox, Ricoh and Canon.
Xerox
Kevin O’Donnell, head of marketing – Graphic Communications and Production Systems UKI and The Nordics, is well aware of the reasons for the growing rise of digital.
Why change?
He considers the prime driver behind it being print volumes and economics. As he sees it, the use case of offset and digital used to revolve around “differences in quality and substrate support” but says that “that has disappeared for most commercial work and of course the decline in run lengths”.
In deciding whether to move from offset to digital, O’Donnell reckons that economics will be the deciding factor. In particular, he says that those thinking about scrapping their offset machinery in favour of digital presses need to give thought to their “current work profile and more importantly, future work profile and the economics that sit around that”. For him, a sound business plan will point a printer in the right direction and then the decision of which technology will follow. He does feel that ‘scrapped’ is a rather emotive word and that it’s more of a transition between technologies.
Of course, any change in technology use is likely to involve different levels of staffing and skills required. Inertia can be both helpful and a hindrance in the workplace. This is why O’Donnell recommends making the implementation of digital inclusive and open. He says that staff “are the best asset of any company and will provide great and experienced based service in the future”.
He adds: “A digital-only business will still have a requirement for skilled print operators plus finishing and fulfilment.”
For him, digital is, as he describes it, “an opportunity to embrace new skills that support the broader digital transition which will include higher levels of workflow automation, data and web integration”.
But new equipment will require training of users. Speaking from the Xerox perspective, O’Donnell says that the company can “advise and provide designer, operator and business training. It’s the same but different so the ramp up time in most instances is in days or weeks rather than months”.
Costs considered
Moving on to cost and the expense of digital equipment compared to offset and how it should be funded, O’Donnell doesn’t dwell too much on this. However, he does say that “Xerox offers a scalable portfolio; most devices are financed, and we offer a number of plans to suit the buyer.” He adds that “the important task is to identify the right solution that integrates, provides a platform for today’s work but can adapt to new work in the future”.
O’Donnell recognises that both offset and digital carry running costs over and above the cost of acquisition, but says that one solution, the click model – which he asserts was pioneered by Xerox – “provides predictable all-in cost”.
He does, at this point, note that general running costs must be part of the equation. He notes that “Xerox digital devices will use significantly less power than offset devices, single-phase versus three-phase, and with energy costs and sustainability high on the agenda for businesses, this can offer a significant cost saving”.
That may well be the case, but as to the form of digital equipment that should be opted for – toner, inkjet, HP Latex, or others – O’Donnell simply says that printers should opt for something that meets the demands of the client and the type of work, and which “offers an economic, flexible and adaptive platform”.
By extension, there will be questions about consumables – inks, papers, ancillaries. As might be expected, “Xerox,” says O’Donnell, “can provide a full service and maintenance package that includes consumables, but not paper”.
For that, he recommends that printers speak to their existing merchant to advise on suitable stocks and substrates.
What to look for
As to what to look for in a new digital press, O’Donnell moves beyond quality and price to emphasise features.
If he were a printer he would first look for a system that offers automated operation. On this he comments that “Xerox presses have high levels of automation in their DNA, reducing manual intervention, that self-monitor and adjust colour and image consistency on-the-fly and drive benchmark productivity”. Part of this means greater use of AI, machine learning and analytics.
Next O’Donnell would seek out a platform that can grow. As he advises, “look for a digital press that goes beyond CMYK – not just additional colours like gold, silver, white and fluorescents, but also a range of capabilities such as wider paper and substrate support, smaller and larger formats and finishing options”. He says that these may not be features require straightaway, but an upgrade path should protect an investment.
He says to also think about whether the latest technology offers suitable production gains and tangible benefits that are time and money saving. “Speak to existing customers about new capabilities and plan how you promote these to new markets,” says O’Donnell. For example, using QR codes to speed a buying decision – “add value to a customer’s output so that it works harder for them and gets their product or service noticed”.
O’Donnell finishes by saying that “no press is an island. At Xerox we believe the right press choice is important, but buyers should also look to the wider ecosystem”. Doing this, he reckons, will support a business and the service and support that it can give.
Ricoh
Tim Carter, commercial print director for Ricoh Graphic Communication, sees digital as a process that offers printers many benefits over offset. In particular, he says that they include the ability to service shorter runs more efficiently and being able to provide exact quantities when required and where required.
He also sees printers involved with digital as being in a position to “deliver further value by making print more impactful via versioning or variable data while supporting an online presence for B2B and B2C where lead times are more critical”.
That said, he thinks that printers should not leap into the dark without proper planning. As he points out, when considering the move from offset to digital printers need to “analyse current volumes to investigate run lengths and decide which can be effectively moved to a digital platform, and find a suitable partner to outsource the longer runs”. So while printers may decide to focus production on digital, they still need to plan for the more traditional requirement.
Staffing issues
On the matter of staff and whether the process is more labour efficient, Carter sees little in the way of obstacles to surmount. His reasoning is based on the fact, as he explains, that “digital solutions are more simplified in operation with new levels of automation and AI requiring much less intervention. Therefore, skill levels and experience are less of a problem”. Rather than employees seeing threats, he’s of the view that “‘adopting digital’ presents an opportunity for operators and staff to be part of future innovation of the business and the sector at large”.
However, staff will need training on new equipment and techniques. But as to how it should be done, Carter reckons that the needs will determine the actuality which “will vary on a case-by-case basis”. That said, he thinks that “training to be proficient requires much less time than traditional processes; anything between two days and two weeks depending upon the type of equipment”.
It’s about cost
Any move from one process to another will likely come with an attached cost and as Carter has experienced, fixed and variable costs for digital do differ from offset. He says that while both include a fixed monthly charge for equipment, digital’s variable costs relate only to toner, or ink for inkjet systems, and in some cases, a fixed maintenance charge. However, as he points out: “The combination of all these fixed and variable charges associated with digital have reduced significantly over the years, meaning the break-even point between digital and offset continues to be more attractive to printers.”
Allied to this are issues over the longevity of equipment and how long it will be supported for.
The reality for Carter is that digital technology tends to have a duty cycle that determines the maximum volume capable before there’s a deterioration in performance. With this in mind, Carter reckons that in general, with toner-based systems, this would be equivalent to five years, but with inkjet systems this could be seven to nine years. Interestingly, he sees a buoyant second-hand digital market that “allows printers to acquire systems that have been pre-owned, or sometimes ex demonstration models”.
It’s logical to ask here how much digital equipment is in relation to offset and how it can be financed. In answer, Carter says that the expense very much depends on the technology: “High-end inkjet solutions can be comparable in costs to offset, whereas toner systems are significantly less. However, many manufacturers offer their own ‘in house’ finance in addition to many external funders who have experience in this field.”
Carter adds that historically, lease purchase was the preferred method of finance due to high residual values. However, with digital, pure lease or lease rental is now favoured as this can become an off- balance sheet transaction.
As to the form of digital that should be opted for, Carter thinks, again, that decision will vary according to need. Ultimately, though, he says that “it depends on the applications, volumes and quality requirements. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and learning about the advantages of all technologies should be on everyone’s agenda.”
The effect on scheduling
As Carter commented earlier, one of the key reasons for choosing digital over offset is that it enables print providers to be more agile and flexible, producing more shorter runs on demand, and within very short deadlines. As a consequence, he sees digital as “opening new opportunities and applications particularly when you overlay personalisation and versioning”, However, scheduling may end up being more complex because, as Carter notes, “a print service provider will typically have many more jobs each day to manage and plan. But this can be addressed by seamless integration with digital workflow solutions which can complement hardware for efficiency”.
A final point
Ultimately, Carter emphasises that flexibility and versatility of digital print solutions should be considered when looking to invest – especially when materials are brought into scope. He would ask printers to think about “whether the capability of this tech can integrate easily into the existing supply chain when it comes to media and finishing; a manufacturer with a solid pre-sales support should be able to make this change as seamless as possible.”
In conclusion, Carter says that the manufacturer and supplier of the original technology will supply all the associated parts and consumables required, excluding media. Even so, Carter doesn’t write off offset. In fact, he says that “the technology can complement all the existing pre-press processes in addition to existing finishing systems”.
Canon
Stuart Rising, head of Commercial Print at Canon UK & Ireland, sees the move to digital as inevitable but not exclusive. From his standpoint, digital is on the rise because of decreasing run lengths and the increasing need for personalisation, microzoning and variation. As he says, while “digital and inkjet have a part to key play in the overall manufacturing mix, companies are looking towards a blend of technologies – analogue and digital – to meet their customer demands.”
It’s notable that Rising rarely sees companies ‘scrap’ offset. Instead, firms with an offset press that is no longer required usually exploit its second-hand value which, as he says, “forms part of the business case to support the digital investment”.
Changing employment needs
Onto staff, and Rising too knows the importance of the correct handling of change: “The most successful projects that involve business transformation rely on the management team creating a vision around the future and involving the key staff members to get a buy-in to ‘the new way’. Does the process involve fewer employees minding the presses? Invariably yes.”
It needs to be accepted that the sector is struggling to employ experienced staff. This, for Rising, is another feather in the cap for a digital investment as one “that includes workflow automation, printing solutions and finishing solutions will allow companies to simplify and streamline the manufacturing process”. This, for him, means that firms can “recognise the benefits of lower skilled labour along with a reduced time to market for shorter run lengths, allowing the business to sell a reduced time to market”.
Costs
And as for costs, Rising thinks that any digital investment should be “based on the ‘end to end’ total cost of manufacturing as cost elements should not be critiqued in isolation”. He continues: “A project should look at the costs from inception of the print job –workflow touchpoints – plates, chemistry, parts allocation, waste paper, power consumption, to the end-to-end process and labour savings to name just a few points.”
Of course, costs will vary depending on the size and productivity levels of the system. But as Rising highlights, “there is a heightened awareness and realisation of the longevity of the solutions, and this has opened up the financing options for customers and prospects”.
Indeed, as the technology has developed, so have the financing options. Says Rising, “it is not uncommon now to finance solutions over a seven-year period. The production inkjet solutions from Canon have a minimum operational life of seven years with many solutions operational for over 10 years”. For him, the bonus comes from the fact that “secondhand values are strong and the second hand market for inkjet is buoyant with many solutions being re-sold after their initial lease period has ended”.
On consumables
As to the effect on consumables, Rising highlights what many in the domestic market have found – the need to buy consumables from the manufacturer. He explains that “the science of data handling / DFE’s, inks, writing systems such as printheads and drying requirements are all linked and therefore the manufacturers closely control the IP around the integration of these components”. He says that the different elements are held to very exacting standards with a high level of quality control and so, in his view, “it makes sense for customers to purchase all of the solution related consumables directly from the manufacturer”. The exception to this is, of course, paper.
In concluding, Rising comments that digital print has opened up what he terms ‘the Print On Demand market’. “This,” he says, “initially started in book printing but is starting to become more relevant in other segments including packaging.” However, despite the advent of digital, he thinks that there will always be a place for offset in the high-volume longer-run applications.
Summary
Digital may have made in-roads into the world of print but offset still has plenty of life in it yet. And for those wanting to implement digital, there will be no substitute for trawling the market to find a supplier and machinery that will meet both current and future needs.
