Quick Printing

NOV 2014

Quick Printing is the only business resource serving the quick and small commercial printing niche in North America. Quick Printing is the authoritative source for business information, emerging technologies, shop profiles and management insight.

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N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / Q U I C K P R I N T I N G 17 w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m segments initially, but it will likely be some time before they mature to the point where they can replace litho on a wide- spread scale. These newer digital technologies will likely com- plement, rather than replace, offset lithography, most notably [in instances] where faster turnarounds are required." Markets for Offset Among the market areas that can be served with offset, the packaging segment is a standout, Myers reported. A number of growing offset printers are very successfully competing with rotogravure printers in the packaging arena. (Read more on that trend next month in the December 2014 issue of Quick Printing.) Other potential growth opportunities include hybrid tech- nologies that retrofit high-speed inkjet technologies on litho- graphic presses. That enables variable-data functionality to be incorporated with the benefits of conventional data, Myers said. "In looking at cost per page and duty cycles, emerg- ing digital printing technologies can compete with sheetfed offset technolo- gies and complement litho," he added. "I know of no digital technologies that can compete with web-offset in terms of duty cycle. It is unlikely that markets currently served by large offset web presses will lose share to digital printing technologies in the foreseeable future. Again, in my view, the most successful companies offer offset as a viable tech- nology as part of an overall communi- cations and marketing strategy that can include other media types." Going forward, print service provid- ers (PSPs) need to seize opportunities beyond packaging and longer-run work, Myers advised. He urged them to exploit the advantages print offers in terms of a tactile experience unmatched by any other media type. Com- plex printing jobs, including custom diecutting, spot finishing, embossing, and foil stamping all can enhance the tactile nature of print and help printers break through the perception of com- moditization permeating the marketplace. Of course, advanced finishing technologies are available in other types of printing besides offset. "But in educating buyers on what's possible and effective in communications strategies, all printing technologies will likely benefit, including litho," he says. "Offset printers need to take advantage of these and other inherent benefits to address opportunities. "Due to its stability, offset technology in particular is poised to address a wide variety of marketing, publishing, and com- munications needs," Myers concluded. Offset, Industry's Commonalities For his part, AMSP, NAPL, and NAQP chief economist Andy Paparozzi sees a future for offset. The question is, he said, who will share in that future? "Certainly production efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness will be essential because, despite consolidation, the offset market will continue to be far too competitive for anything less," he not- ed. "But production efficiency will not be enough. Companies that win offset's future will also document their value to clients. "They will know, for example, how much money they've saved the client, how much time they've saved them, how much they've increased the return to their direct-mail cam- paign or traffic to their website," Paparozzi said. "And they will communicate that value to clients, never assuming they get it. Put simply, when there was a lot more work to go around, it was about our capabilities. Now it's about showing clients and prospects how our capabilities will make them more successful. That's the future of offset. And it's the future of our industry." What PSPs Say Among the PSP community, there are operators who see a profitable future using offset as one of the arrows in their quiv- ers. "It will be around," said Michael Brown, president of the AlphaGraphics location in Pineville, NC. At one time, the shop was around 60 percent offset in house and is now down to 26 percent, with the largest drop coming in the last five to seven years. "We're still doing some short-run bro- chures; it's mainly the brochure work," Brown said. "It makes sense in anything above 1,000. The break-even on our 14-by-20 [inch] press is 500 sheets... Being in the short-run color business, having the color offset press is very handy. The nice thing about it is it's paid off. We can still pull some margins out of it on lower quantities because it is." Another AlphaGraphics location, this one across the country in Idaho Falls, ID, also has found a niche for offset. The company bought a Heidelberg Speed- master with the Anicolor inking unit about two years ago, reported manager Walt Baker. "We were mainly getting larger orders that really didn't fit our digital equipment, larger than, say, 500 impressions, where we began to think about going to offset," he recalled. "And we were doing runs much longer than that. The customer really expects to have a very high-quality piece. That suggests offset." Having looked at several options, AlphaGraphics found the quality it sought in the Speedmaster with Anicolor. Baker and team get offset quality, and the Heidelberg allows the shop to produce runs as low as 500. With the same equipment, they're cost-effectively running 50,000 pieces. "There was a fit with a much broader gamut of applications by going with the Ani- color," Baker said. He believes that if a shop's customers require a low-cost, high- quality product at greater run lengths of perhaps 500 to 1,000, offset is the solution. Baker added that his shop is in a small enough town that its targets are anyone who needs a print product, and it has built its business on that model. "We're trying to build our equip- ment package and capabilities to meet any need," he said. "Greater run lengths -- we bought offset to do that, while keep- ing the digital for shorter run lengths and quicker turn times." That said, Baker remembered there was a learning curve asso- ciated with the acquisition of the offset. "Coming from a digital model, we found there was a higher level of skills needed of the operator," he said. "We had some growing pains," Baker admitted, "but we were able to lean on our vendors and Heidelberg, in particular, as a reference for any kind of problems." ◗◗ "Offset technology can be described as mature. Commercial lithographic printers can benefit from the inherent stability that enables more precise business models and planning, and enjoy more incremental technological changes as they are introduced."

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