How to choose the best printing solution

How to choose the best printing solution

We are a big printing company in Shenzhen China . We offer all book publications, hardcover book printing, papercover book printing, hardcover notebook, sprial book printing, saddle stiching book printing, booklet printing,packaging box, calendars, all kinds of PVC, product brochures, notes, Children's book, stickers, all kinds of special paper color printing products, game cardand so on.

For more information please visit 

http://www.joyful-printing.com.   ENG only    

http://www.joyful-printing.net 

http://www.joyful-printing.org

email: info@joyful-printing.net

Situation analysis

Maybe you already have a traditional offset printing factory and are ready to add variable data, on-demand printing services; maybe you already have a light digital printing device that can print in black and white, but a steady stream of new orders is inspiring Your interest in heavy-duty color printing units; perhaps you are a group of companies that are already ready to introduce full-color short-run printing equipment; perhaps you are just a start-up printing company that is investigating the possibility of digital production.

However, no matter which stage of your career development, we will let you know the latest developments in the printing market through the mouths of various equipment manufacturers.

Market dynamics

Digital color production printing machine has experienced many years of development since its birth. At present, it has reached the level of quality comparable to offset printing, and its speed is also increasing. Moreover, it can also prepare for large-volume jobs with the shortest preparation time. Process it. So no matter what state your business is in, it's the best time to research and invest in this technology.

Jerry Murray, vice president of marketing for Xerox's production systems products, said: "This is a market that is expanding rapidly. If you don't know digital color printing and this market until now, chances are that you will have bigger problems in the future. ”

One of the main problems facing print service providers today is to increase production speed. As on-demand print jobs continue to increase and customer requirements continue to increase, meeting the printing goals and unique production requirements is a key factor in helping them succeed.

Evolution of printing

As technology advances and customer needs change, printing is constantly evolving. People's yearning for paperless offices, the need for environmental protection, and the increasing fuel and mailing costs are likely to lead to a decline in the printing industry, but many people do not agree with this view. George Promis, vice president of color solutions and technology alliances at InfoPrint Solutions Company, said: "Although environmental awareness (for paper, natural resources and trees) is increasing; mailing costs and network information It has also achieved significant growth in the last five to ten years, but print production has not decreased, which clearly contradicts our original thinking. Everyone thinks that the above factors will cause the printing industry to decline, but in fact the industry is steadily Moving forward."

Digital color printing technology opens up a vast market for print service providers. Aditya Dwivedi, senior marketing manager at Xcare/Punch Graphix USA, introduced us to several emerging applications such as direct mail, transactional printing, label/packaging, point-of-sale/retail signage and Other special printing and so on.

Targeted variable data printing materials are the primary means by which marketing companies communicate and respond to customers. Promis said: "There is a revolution in thought in my mind. The changes in the market require us to engage in more data collection and classify this information according to the customer's geographical location, characteristics and individual requirements, so that we can When sending a hard copy file, pass the correct information to the target customer. This may cost me a lot of money, but it can also bring me a good return. With the increase in energy costs and postage in 2005 and the environment The problem is getting worse and our industry has been hitting an unprecedented impact. Most customers say that if they receive direct mail content that has nothing to do with them, they will throw them away and will not Received such letters."

More and more personalized and customized documents are being produced, and the requirements for image quality, registration accuracy and automation are further enhanced. When the digital color printing effect is recognized by customers, the market demand will increase exponentially. The current market demand will change every other quarter, and every six months, people will find some new applications, and they will also ask the equipment manufacturer: Can I produce this on your press?

Photo albums are another area of rapid growth. In addition to the traditional printing of the four primary colors, the HP printing press has added two colors, light green and light, to achieve better printing results. Francis McMahon, marketing manager for HP Image Solutions USA, said: "Light green and light products allow us to improve the reproduction of all images. The photo album is perhaps the most popular print in 2008, but professional photo agencies are They were printed on the HP Indigo press. If two days ago, the photo agency might not consider introducing devices like Indigo, and now it has become a good helper for these companies."

[next]

Evolution of workflow

The workflow is also maturing. Customers now need to print a lot of short runs, so job management is especially important. If you receive orders online, but you can't automate this process, your costs will increase, so we need to pay special attention to our workflow.

Murray claims that Xerox's flagship process manager simplifies production and reduces costs. He said: "Our production presses, especially the iGens series, which uses the open process architecture, not only integrate job reception and prepress processing, but are also compatible with offset and digital workflows. This is a very important factor of production, but it is often overlooked. When you need to print a lot of jobs, this feature of Xerox press can help you further reduce production costs. For printing companies to succeed, they must There are three basic elements: the right technology, the workflow, and the business process."

Survivor of the printing revolution

So who is the biggest beneficiary of this change? Forrest Leighton, senior marketing manager for the production systems division at Canon USA, said: "The commercial printing sector, including retail fast printing, has seen dramatic changes in the market, and many companies are in trouble. The number of these difficult companies is around About 30,000, but we also see that this number is declining. Companies that can survive in the fierce market competition often have the qualities that other companies do not have, and can use these qualities to add points to their own prints. Some companies have fallen victim to the price war, and some companies have taken a new world. The VistaPrint online printing website is a good example of how to integrate resources to improve productivity. If you are just a street printing Small stores, then you can't compete with companies like VistaPrint."

Small printing companies should follow the path of differentiated operations, and should not only focus on the price of products. They need to change the way they talk to their customers and focus on showing them how they can help them solve business problems. We have seen many traditional offset printing companies enter the digital printing market and have gained new development opportunities. In other words, digital printing technology has opened the door for new markets such as variable data printing for these companies and transformed them from a print service provider to a marketing service provider.

The evolving printing industry always provides us with new profit margins, but only companies that adapt to this business model can succeed. Almost every month we can see some new changes, some are mergers between competitors, and some are integrations between new technologies. But advances in technology will surely make people in the market realize that printing is not just about printing on paper, it's about all the goals that printrs and print customers want to achieve. The printer not only talks to customers about printing, but also shows them how they can help them manage their marketing campaigns to drive their business.

From the user's point of view, print service providers are evaluating their current business models and production capabilities to determine which digital color applications will bring them the most value. Successful printing companies often have clear business objectives, and Xeikon can help them achieve these goals and achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

What is a production press?

What is a digital color production press? People's first reaction may be based on the speed of the device, and the equipment provider provides us with a more reasonable basis for judgment: duty cycle, resolution and other characteristics.

Murray said: "I think this is a very broad product category. The way a production press works is closely related to the printing company it is in." Printing format, production capacity, image quality, duty cycle, Register accuracy, paper flexibility, production speed, and print stability at specific speeds are all important factors in distinguishing production presses.

Promis Solutions' Promis pointed out that the biggest feature of production presses is the ability to print variable elements on static offset jobs. Followed by speed and capacity. He said: "In these two factors, the production capacity of the equipment is more important. People tend to confuse the production speed of the equipment with its maximum speed. This is like we are saying that a car can run as fast as possible. 150 mph, but it's actually not able to drive it to this speed. The same is true for the press. You can tell others what the maximum speed of a device is, but you have to check if it can be like this The speed of production, because everyone wants their printing machine to run at full speed."

More important than the speed of a press is how much it can be printed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Time is money. When the press is stopped, it cannot create value for the user.

Hewlett-Packard's most important thing is the duty cycle of the device. McMahon said: "We believe that a digital production press will have a minimum of 1 million prints per month." As a result, HP has increased the speed of its latest Indigo 7000 press from 68 pages per minute to 120. Page/minute.

All in all, to evaluate the quality of a device, there are many factors to consider. Production speed is one of them, but its duty cycle, reliability and job preparation time are equally important.

Investment

From entry-level models to high-volume models, from black-and-white printing to spot color printing to full-color printing, the market now offers you the widest range of press options. When you want to buy a production press, be sure to understand the meaning of this investment. For example, a basic configuration of the Xerox iGen4 press is priced at $640,000. However, most manufacturers offer customers a comprehensive quotation including parts, maintenance and other services.

For the most part, competition among equipment vendors is mainly focused on quality and service, not on price. If you have an understanding of the three major digital printing giants, HP, Kodak and Xerox, you will find that their equipment does not have a significant price advantage. Their strength lies in their productivity and workflow.

in conclusion

Today, printing has been able to deliver customers with higher potential, ROI and flexibility at higher speeds and shorter turnaround times. With the development of the printing and marketing market, the printing press technology has also made great progress, and the printing quality is no longer an important criterion for us to evaluate the quality of a piece of equipment. Changes in printing methods have revolutionized the entire industry, and this change will continue for some time.

The emergence of digital production presses has revolutionized the entire industry and brought new opportunities for traditional printing companies. In the eyes of many people, digital printing does not replace offset printing, but it will complement it well. ”