drd 2012-05-06 - Drupa Report Daily

32 drupa Technology
May 6, 2012
How best to invest in digital printing
Aus der Digitaldruckinvestition das Maximum herausholen
If something can be printed, it can also be printed on inkjet digital press
Fast alles, was gedruckt werden kann, kann auch eine Inkjet-Maschine drucken.
Some in the industry speak of digital printing as a “mature”
technology. If this perception is correct, it’s clear that we
have been witnessing an amazing growth spurt in a process
that’s barely 20 years old. By Andreas Nielen-
Haberl, Product Category Manager, EAMER, Graphic
Communications Group, Kodak
In fact, digital printing has matured,
but not because of any peak
or slowdown in technical development.
On the contrary—the platforms
continue to evolve and improve
at an undiminished pace.
Where we see the maturity is in the
print market’s confident embrace
of the technology in a remarkably
short period of time. Around the
world, in printing plants, reprographic
departments, and data
centers where hundreds of thousands
of digital printing devices
are hard at work, the acceptance of
digital printing as a production
solution is close to universal.
From a business standpoint, it
means that digital printing now
represents a profitmaking oppor-
tunity for every printing business,
regardless of size or specialty.
What’s more, each business can
leverage the opportunity in its
own way with an investment in
digital print capability that makes
the most sense for the kinds of
work it does and the base of customers
it serves.
Right solution, right time
By now, most printers understand
the fundamentals of digital printing.
A number of different printing
processes fit the definition, but
the two most important are tonerbased
electrophotography (EP)
and inkjet. What’s behind the
warm reception that the industry
has given to these technologies?
It’s simple: customer preference.
Print buyers increasingly are opting
for digital printing because it
enables them to:
■ print small quantities cost effectively
■ target niche audiences with customized,
one-to-one content
■ create multiple versions of
print materials
■ update materials easily
■ eliminate overproduction and
waste by moving to print-ondemand
sourcing
■ explore new market opportunities
in self-publishing, content
aggregation, and specialized
products with “long tail” sales
potential.
All over the world, digital printing
businesses—as well as many conventional
plants that have installed
digital presses—are serving
their digital-savvy customers
with transpromotional documents,
direct mail, promotional
materials, labels, point of purchase
(POP) items, photo merchandise
(books, albums, calendars,
etc.), versioned publications,
on-demand books, short-run periodicals
and newspapers, and
short-run/versioned packaging.
With a dwindling number of exceptions,
if something can be
printed by another process, it can
also be printed—and probably
should be printed—on an EP or
inkjet digital press.
These new patterns of demand
are altering the landscape of the
printing industry as a whole. Conventional
printing processes will
continue in wide use around the
world, but the distribution of work
is shifting as sales in the older processes
decline at about the same
rate that digital print sales are increasing.
Equipment markets also
reflect the trend, with global combined
sales of inkjet and EP
presses expected to exceed those
of conventional sheetfed presses
just a few years from now.
The “new normal”
It’s apparent everywhere that
short runs, on-demand turnarounds,
web-to-print (W2P) purchasing,
and variable-data printing
(VDP) customization are the
“new normal” in the printing business.
No matter where they are located,
printing firms without digital
capability will find it increasingly
difficult to deliver the kinds
of products and services that their
customers want to buy.
The good news is that there are
still healthy profits to be made in
the printing business by those
who have accepted the fact that
the business isn’t what it used to
be. The best news is that the choice
of digital print platforms and ca-
The choice of platforms and capabilities has never been more attractive
Die Auswahl an Produktionsmöglichkeiten ist so attraktiv ist wie noch nie.