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www.MyPRINTResource.com JUNE 2014 • INKJET'S AGE 21 said Cascades' Loyer. "The end user is looking for good quality reproduction of its logo. That's a big challenge for the printers. It's not true as much in the transactional segment, but it's much more important in direct mail." This is especially true when you are trying to combine ma- terials printed on different types of presses such as, said PDD's Manade, "marrying an offset-printed piece with a digital-printed piece, and one is glued to the other. So you can imagine the color control required for that." However, technology improves, and inkjet has been improv- ing with regard to substrate performance and color quality and consistency, and the limitations on the types of substrates you can run, are starting to fall away. "All those restrictions like substrates are disappearing," said Manade. "That opens the window for us for our clients. We don't always dictate the paper. A lot of the inkjets now can attack paper coatings." Paper companies like Cascades, International Paper, Finch, and others have been working with printers and equipment manufac- turers alike to boost performance, as well as expand the range of grades available for inkjet equipment. The Road Ahead The direct mail conversation, whether it be in the context of inkjet or some other printing technology, is not simply about a static printed sheet any longer, and it hasn't been for a long time. Some could argue that the campaign management strategy that PDD is doing so effectively is not an easy transition for small or even mid-size printers, and that's a fair point. After all, PDD itself had to obtain the capabilities though the acquisition of a business that focused on interactive media and analytics. But it can be done, and the benefits are tangible. "We don't see people coming up to us and saying 'we want to drop 10 million,'" said Manade. "They're coming to us and they want to drop much smarter. We do a lot of analytics, we do many many many versions. That's a huge trend. Some of the biggest mailers, some of the non-profits that mail over 50 million a year are very savvy at purchasing. The net result, the ROI, is huge. They're not thinking about how to drive the cost of an envelope down, but how do I mail smarter." ✚ (continued from page 16) Next-Gen Direct Mail The cost depends on the speed required, the width of the web itself, and the duty cycle. Not everyone needs a printer that will run 700 feet a minute; some can make do with 200 feet a min- ute, he noted. Noting "it's a big expenditure," Shafer added that like any piece of machinery, inkjet presses have to be kept busy. The cost of the TKS USA JetLeader is toward the higher edge of the inkjet price range, Shafer said, but adds that the cost includes the entire sys- tem, including the finishing. Capabilities Offset and electrophotography still offer the best image qual- ity, but inkjet is gaining ground and evolving in image quality, Wagner added. "Every six months there are improvements from multiple manufacturers in inkjet technology. That's the nature of this very dynamic industry at this time," he said. Shafer finds the first thing TKS USA inkjet press customers address is taking on the smaller runs that are more cost effectively on the inkjet than on offset. After that, they usually begin taking on the variable print runs. "The flexibility of the product is a big factor," he added. "With the offset, you're kind of locked into certain formats in terms of page widths and cutoffs. With JetLeader, you have the flexibility on both the cutoff and the page width." Factoring in ink and media Water-based inkjet technologies will deliver the highest image quality with inkjet treated papers, which of course are more costly than plain offset or laser bond paper. And though you can run plain paper through most inkjet ma- chines today, there typically is a tradeoff in image quality. "This also depends on the inks that are used," Wagner added. "So we're starting to see positive results with new formulations that enable the use of plain, low-cost papers. Then there is the unique Xerox CiPress production inkjet printer that uses solid ink technology with no water and this enables direct mail caliber image quality on plain offset papers." For his part, Shafer noted that at the beginning, TKS USA suggested Topweb should print on an inkjet-treated paper. "But they later went to an offset paper and now print exclusively on that paper," he added. "That saves them a lot. The offset paper is about 60 percent of the cost of the inkjet-treated paper." Productivity Shafer reported there is a "tipping point" where it makes sense based on the print window and the run length to embrace inkjet. That tipping point is 5,000 and fewer prints. "In that range, you're better off going to inkjet," he said. He added: "Everything that can go inkjet is going to go inkjet. Years ago, we saw a transition from letterpress to offset on our side of the business. And now we're seeing the same transition, this time from offset to inkjet." As for Xerox, because it acquired Impika a year ago, the com- pany has a full portfolio of water-based inkjet systems, which complements the company's existing waterless inkjet printer, CiPress. "If you just look at all the vendors in the industry, Xerox now has the largest portfolio in the inkjet industry," Wagner said in conclusion. ✚ (continued from page 12) Production Inkjet "Everything that can go inkjet is going to to inkjet." QPsupp_13-16_0614 NextGen.indd 21 5/15/14 12:39 PM