Page 28 - PWM2024_November EBook

TECHNOLOGY REPORT

The digital divide

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

26 PrintWeek MENA November 2024 www.printweekmena.com