ask the expert

Anew challenge has emerged forthe print provider that is purelydigital: as your business hasgrown, you have demand for some longer run lengths,

which has meant either farming out more workand losing control of quality and lead times,or running longer runs lengths of 600 andabove on your toner device, which you knowis expensive but saves the inconvenience ofsending work out.

What is the best solution to bridge thisgap? There are many solutions out there andthis depends on what your application fit is.Before we look at some possible solutions,we need the equipment to fulfil the followingbase criteria:

Quality – this is a given; everyone is looking to produce the highest quality print,no matter what process, as this is what customers demand.

Reliability – as you will intend to generatea good volume of work through your newpress you need a high percentage of uptime.

Fast turnaround – production schedulesare squeezed: it could be delays in theapproval process or just a last minute require-ment. Whatever the reason, it’s usually theprint process that bears the brunt of the tight schedule.

Cost – whether we like it or not we all havepressure to be competitive, so cost per copyis crucial. Cost per copy needs to be lookedat in the whole, including: cost of the press,jobs per shift, wastage costs, ink costs, servic-ing, operator costs, downtime, etc.

Flexibility – if you can invest in equipmentthat can print onto a wider variety of stocksand print using spot colours easily, then thiscould be the tipping point for you to gain thatextra business.

Environmental – this has been seen in thepast as being useful for marketing but we nowlive in a world where we are much moreaware of our environmental responsibilities,and so just printing on recycled substrates isnot enough. The continued rise of waste dis-posal costs and local waste disposal regula-tions requires this aspect to be looked at froma different angle.

So the challenge is to hit all of thesedemands without sacrificing any of the others.It’s no good turning a job around quickly in an

environmentally responsible way whilst beingcompetitive but the final product is of poorquality. Alternatively, if you have the newesttechnology press on the market which is thefastest but has reliability issues, then it isbound to be just when you need that quickturnaround job for your biggest customer thatit breaks down.

If your applications are short run (up to500) with a good volume of work, and youmay require an element of variable data print,then there is an array of toner based devices.Quality can be great if you have the right pressand substrate mix. If you have a very high vol-ume of short run then look into the newerinkjet presses. Your volumes will have to behigh as the cost of the press can be £1 mil-lion-plus. But if you need short run, quick turn-around applications of 32 page booklets withVDP, or just 100 of each, then you might beable to justify it.

If your application run lengths are between500 and 20,000, you require quick turnaroundand the highest quality print, the solutioncould be Direct Imaging. A DI press fromPresstek is the ideal companion to toner-based digital presses of all sizes and brands.We believe that the Presstek DI solution hasnever been more relevant than in today’s printmarket, allowing companies to not only main-tain their digital lifestyle, but also upgrade it.

Lost revenue can be brought back in housewhile creating new opportunities, and with300 lpi printing or stochastic screening andmake readies of less than 10 minutes, the DIpress fits seamlessly into a digital workflow. A Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) programmenow offers customers a more affordable entryinto this market, with CPO presses beingaround 50% of the cost of a new press, withfull 12 month warranty. n

Presstek Europe’s sales manager for digital printing systems Simon Cosh suggests analternative solution for those tricky run lengths between mainstream digital printand litho.

Opinion 28

www.digitalprintermag.co.uk

Bridging the gap-

May 2015

‘We believe that thePresstek DI has never been more relevant than in today’s print market,allowing companies to not only maintain their digital lifestyle, but alsoupgrade it.’ Simon Cosh

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