Page 26 - PWM2025_JUNE EBOOK

TECHNOLOGY REPORT

The digital divide

C ompared to offset, where plates and ink create Why change?

He considers the prime driver behind it being print vol-
the output, digital can now send output direct to
umes and economics. As he sees it, the use case of offset
As in other elements paper in a flash from an electronic file. and digital used to revolve around “differences in quality
Set up is faster and because there’s no need
of commercial life, to produce plates it is less expensive; overall, and substrate support” but says that “that has disappeared
where once the world digital is well suited to short-run jobs that are for most commercial work and of course the decline in
was completely ana- required quickly. run lengths”.
logue so digital has However, none of this means that offset is dead – far In deciding whether to move from offset to digital,
made inroads and from it; offset has plenty of applicability where high-qual- O’Donnell reckons that economics will be the deciding
revolutionised the ity output is demanded on a wide range of paper stock factor. In particular, he says that those thinking about
scrapping their offset machinery in favour of digital
and, importantly, where the print volume is large scale.
world of print. This aside, there has been an undoubted move to digital presses need to give thought to their “current work profile
and it’s important to understand what the move can mean and more importantly, future work profile and the eco-
Words by for firms in the sector. nomics that sit around that”. For him, a sound business
Adam Bernstein Printweek spoke to three of the major manufacturers plan will point a printer in the right direction and then
involved in the technology: Xerox, Ricoh and Canon. the decision of which technology will follow. He does feel
that ‘scrapped’ is a rather emotive word and that it’s more
Xerox of a transition between technologies.
Kevin O’Donnell, head of marketing – Graphic Of course, any change in technology use is likely to
Communications and Production Systems UKI and The involve different levels of staffing and skills required.
Nordics, is well aware of the reasons for the growing rise Inertia can be both helpful and a hindrance in the work-
of digital. place. This is why O’Donnell recommends making the
implementation of digital inclusive and open. He says

26 PrintWeek MENA June 2025 www.printweekmena.com