IBM will not be seduced by the promise of faster digital press speed from the NexPress engine, according to Peter Fensky, general manager of the groups printing systems division in Europe, Middle East and Asia.
So far the engine has been Xeikon, he said. We believe our current solution is for the best. IBMs value added is in its architecture, its controllers, hardware and software like Infoprint Manager.
One of IBMs major product launches at Drupa was the Infoprint Color 130, which uses the Xeikon 500D engine. Fensky said the groups principal long-term aim was to create the architecture in such a way that we dont have to care about the engine.
Fensky said the full potential of digital printing had not yet been explored. 35% of all printers are newspapers. They are still printed on normal presses, he said. Theres a move from classical offset to digital, but I would say that digital will never substitute all kinds of normal offset printing. But there are areas, especially personalisation, where digital is a more economic solution.
According to Fensky, digital printings viability depends on value added more than cost. Fensky used IBMs partnership with United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), which prints personalised statements for high-level customers using IBM kit, as an example: When you are able to attract and retain only one customer it's enough to cover the investment.
The way we are doing business is changing, he added. Companies have to ensure that the right information is going to the end user."