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TECHNOLOGY REPORT

He adds: “A digital-only business will By extension, there will be questions about consumables – inks, tion and AI requiring much less
still have a requirement for skilled print papers, ancillaries. As might be expected, “Xerox,” says intervention. Therefore, skill levels and
operators plus finishing and fulfilment.” O’Donnell, “can provide a full service and maintenance package experience are less of a problem”. Rather
For him, digital is, as he describes it, that includes consumables, but not paper”. than employees seeing threats, he’s of
“an opportunity to embrace new skills For that, he recommends that printers speak to their existing the view that “‘adopting digital’ presents
that support the broader digital transi- merchant to advise on suitable stocks and substrates. an opportunity for operators and staff to
tion which will include higher levels of What to look for be part of future innovation of the busi-
workflow automation, data and web ness and the sector at large”.
integration”. As to what to look for in a new digital press, O’Donnell moves However, staff will need training on
But new equipment will require train- beyond quality and price to emphasise features. If he were a new equipment and techniques. But as
ing of users. Speaking from the Xerox printer he would first look for a system that offers automated to how it should be done, Carter reckons
perspective, O’Donnell says that the operation. On this he comments that “Xerox presses have high that the needs will determine the actual-
company can “advise and provide levels of automation in their DNA, reducing manual intervention, ity which “will vary on a case-by-case
designer, operator and business train- that self-monitor and adjust colour and image consistency on-the- basis”. That said, he thinks that “training
ing. It’s the same but different so the fly and drive benchmark productivity”. Part of this means greater to be proficient requires much less time
ramp up time in most instances is in days use of AI, machine learning and analytics. Next O’Donnell would than traditional processes; anything
or weeks rather than months”. seek out a platform that can grow. As he advises, “look for a digital between two days and two weeks
press that goes beyond CMYK – not just additional colours like
Costs considered gold, silver, white and fluorescents, but also a range of capabilities depending upon the type of equipment”.
Moving on to cost and the expense of such as wider paper and substrate support, smaller and larger for- It’s about cost
digital equipment compared to offset mats and finishing options”. He says that these may not be fea- Any move from one process to
and how it should be funded, O’Donnell tures require straightaway, but an upgrade path should protect an another will likely come with an
doesn’t dwell too much on this. investment. attached cost and as Carter has experi-
He says to also think about whether the latest technology offers
However, he does say that “Xerox offers
The digital divide a scalable portfolio; most devices are suitable production gains and tangible benefits that are time and enced, fixed and variable costs for digital
do differ from offset. He says that while
money saving. “Speak to existing customers about new capabili-
financed, and we offer a number of plans
both include a fixed monthly charge for
ties and plan how you promote these to new markets,” says
to suit the buyer.” He adds that “the
important task is to identify the right O’Donnell. For example, using QR codes to speed a buying deci- equipment, digital’s variable costs relate
only to toner, or ink for inkjet systems,
solution that integrates, provides a plat- sion – “add value to a customer’s output so that it works harder for and in some cases, a fixed maintenance
form for today’s work but can adapt to them and gets their product or service noticed”.
new work in the future”. Ricoh charge. However, as he points out: “The
O’Donnell recognises that both offset combination of all these fixed and varia-
and digital carry running costs over and Tim Carter, commercial print director for Ricoh Graphic ble charges associated with digital have
above the cost of acquisition, but says Communication, sees digital as a process that offers printers many reduced significantly over the years,
that one solution, the click model – benefits over offset. In particular, he says that they include the meaning the break-even point between
which he asserts was pioneered by Xerox ability to service shorter runs more efficiently and being able to digital and offset continues to be more
– “provides predictable all-in cost”. He provide exact quantities when required and where required. attractive to printers.”
He also sees printers involved with digital as being in a position
does, at this point, note that general run- Allied to this are issues over the lon-
ning costs must be part of the equation. to “deliver further value by making print more impactful via ver- gevity of equipment and how long it will
He notes that “Xerox digital devices will sioning or variable data while supporting an online presence for be supported for.
use significantly less power than offset B2B and B2C where lead times are more critical”. That said, he The reality for Carter is that digital
thinks that printers should not leap into the dark without proper
devices, single-phase versus three-phase, planning. As he points out, when considering the move from off- technology tends to have a duty cycle
and with energy costs and sustainability set to digital printers need to “analyse current volumes to investi- that determines the maximum volume
high on the agenda for businesses, this gate run lengths and decide which can be effectively moved to a capable before there’s a deterioration in
can offer a significant cost saving”. digital platform, and find a suitable partner to outsource the performance. With this in mind, Carter
That may well be the case, but as to longer runs”. So while printers may decide to focus production on reckons that in general, with toner-
the form of digital equipment that digital, they still need to plan for the more traditional require- based systems, this would be equivalent
should be opted for – toner, inkjet, HP ment. to five years, but with inkjet systems this
Latex, or others – O’Donnell simply says could be seven to nine years.
that printers should opt for something Staffing issues Interestingly, he sees a buoyant second-
that meets the demands of the client and On the matter of staff and whether the process is more labour hand digital market that “allows printers
the type of work, and which “offers an efficient, Carter sees little in the way of obstacles to surmount. His to acquire systems that have been pre-
economic, flexible and adaptive plat- reasoning is based on the fact, as he explains, that “digital solu- owned, or sometimes ex demonstration
form”. tions are more simplified in operation with new levels of automa- models”.

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