|
Business Printing Technologies Report TABLE OF CONTENTS
Every year, Print Image International (formerly NAQP), publishes its annual pricing study, a controversial document that shows what the average prices are for various products produced by quick printers. According to the preliminary data from the study, the average sales of participants (quick print companies) is down approximately 14% from the previous year, moving from $873,000 to $748,900 in annual sales. Interestingly, the participants claim that their actual company sales are down between one and two percent from the previous year. Another interesting statistic is that the average sales per employee, including the company principal, is $99,548, which is approximately $2,500 up over the 2001 study. Here are some other averages published in the Print Image 2002-2003
study: For more information on the study, go to <http://www.printimage.org>www.printimage.org. Want to join a discussion on this article? <http://www.dmia.org/sol_center/UBBbptr/Forum19/HTML/000002.html>Click here to go directly to the BPTR Discussion Bulletin Board.
On-Demand 2002 Re-CAP With massive media hype, endless lists of seminars, extensive exhibition coverage and articles in trade publications, etc. digital printing has to be on nearly every printer’s evaluation list. Is now the time? Is it the technology to lead printers out of a "commodity" image? Can the traditional sheetfed offset printer survive without adding digital production? What follows is a summary article, on key presentations and technology announcements at On-Demand 2002. Charles A. Pesko’s (Managing Director, CAP Ventures, Inc.) opening keynote
address set the stage for the 100’s of individual presentations over four days,
as well the tone of the exhibition. "Paper is no longer the medium of choice.
The speed of business is accelerating, and print can be too slow, too heavy, and
too expensive. Today, almost all documents are first created electronically,
viewed on a monitor, and then—maybe—printed." So, how do you play in this changing world? Color print-on-demand has moved out of the early introductory phase and launched into its growth phase. Finally, the industry is witnessing the critical price-performance required to take digital color printing to the next level. These, along with increasing quality and ease of use, are all coming together to propel digital production color into the mainstream. Preliminary numbers show that the retail value of print on-demand will grow
from $26 billion 2001 to $55 billion by 2006, at a compound annual growth rate
of 16%. Digital printing will be a key driver in print industry growth. The
print-on-demand color market generated $17 billion in retail value of printing
in 2001. This will grow to $32 billion in 2006, at a compound annual growth rate
of 14%. The message is clear. Redefine your business. * Continue to invest in digital print technology. There is no question
that this must be a key element of your future strategy. In the black and white print-on-demand marketplace, specific strong trends include: * Added value provided by advances in front-end system technologies
including job submission, job ticketing, workflow management, job archiving and
reprinting, etc. Color copiers and printers for print-on-demand applications today feature: * Process color digital devices that copy or print with four-color
electrophotographic toners. Most news today concentrates on high-speed digital color printers. This class of device prints color output at 25 or more variable-imaged 8 _ x 11" pages per minute, using four (or more) color process. All current products in this class support up to 12 x 18" paper size, enabling printing of a full-bleed 11 x 17" image, and offering standard or optional duplex. Another important trend witnessed is Workflow Automation and Standards. Key efforts for print on-demand standards include: * PPML/VDX – VDX, a variable data standard that builds on a subset of
PPML (the personalized page mark-up language). On-demand printing has to lead to a logical requirement for on-demand finishing. Otherwise, what’s the use? Specific trends in feeding and finishing include: * Automated set-up for standalone devices. Interface (UP3I) standard; including its debut at Xplor 2000 and vendor support by Duplo, Hunkeler, OCE, Stralfors, and others. One of the prime opportunity for printers in evaluating digital toner printers such as the NexPress 2100 , iGen3, Indigo or Xeikon is their ability to print each individual page, differently. While evaluating this, printers must realize the immense challenge facing them. These include: * Lack of printer and customer knowledge of personalized printing
business potential and requirements. It is important to note that a recent study by TrendWatch indicated that only 29% of digital printers see variable data as an opportunity, while only 3% of creative professionals view digital printing as a top sales opportunity. So where is the opportunity? Specific questions a printer should ask himself or herself include: * Is there an adequate volume within current customer base to drive
700,000 impressions a month? Variable data trends in print include: * Document creation and composition standards based on XML and
object-oriented document structures. Digital printing trends include: * Migration from copier/printer to printer-only models in color now, as
it happened to B&W in the past.
From Print-Centric to Content-Centric: The recommendation is for printers to become content managers. This should be about as easy for the average printer to do as buying your way into heaven. When desktop arrived, it took years (and is still taking printers some time) to develop systems and procedures to successfully deal with client files. Dealing with missing fonts is still a problem for some printers. Working with clients’ Web needs has been almost an impossible task for most printers. They simply don’t want to touch this. Incredibly, there is a large number of printers who do not have Web or e-mail connectability throughout their organization. These are the printers that are going to deal with content management? With all good wishes, managing a client’s content is an amiable goal, but will be extremely expensive and difficult to achieve. It is an executive level sale far beyond most printers’ sales capabilities. It also places responsibility on the printer that most do not want to accept. It will require another new executive in the print organization – the CM (Content Manager) executive or the IT officer, at a time when printers simply have to reduce their costs. Content Center is a marvelous idea for avoiding "commodity" printer image, but nearly impossible to achieve. In addition, a majority of print sales representatives are simply not "solutions" providers. They sell vs. listen. Variable and personalization printing will require these same print sales representatives to listen to client needs, relate these to possible digital solutions, have the guts to suggest an appropriate solution, and then implement the digital alternative. Each of these processes is fraught with danger, with sales representatives with less than perfect expertise. Data is One of the Stumbling Blocks: Even if the sales person has enough
expertise to sell the database management part of variable (personalized)
digital print project(which most do not), the next question is—can the printer
or distributor handle this internally, which is preferred? If not, can an
outside third party provider be used and trusted? Planning This Transition: Most print providers simply do not plan for the future. Less than 5% of all printers have even a rudimentary strategic plan. Without a well-formulated strategic plan (business/marketing/sales) the risk of failure in the digital/content world will be significantly heightened, especially with the immense amount of change that will have to be planned, and executed. One approach for a printers and distributors seeking to offer Content
Management is, of course, to partner with companies already in this business.
This takes extensive investigation, trust, and patience. It also requires a
change in how print sales people sell. A second, more preferred way of
developing a Content Management orientation, is to build it from within. This is
difficult, expensive, time consuming and fraught with risk. Terry A. Nagi is president of Terry A. Nagi & Associates. He now concentrates his energies on assisting print providers in positioning their organization in the digital print world. He can be contacted at 202/342-1727(voice), or by email at <mailto:tanagi@aol.com>tanagi@aol.com. Want to join a discussion on this article? <http://www.dmia.org/sol_center/UBBbptr/Forum19/HTML/000001.html>Click here to go directly to the BPTR Discussion Bulletin Board.
The BPTR Discussion Bulletin Board Here's how to register: 1. Click on the "register" link near the top right of the BPTR
Discussion page, or click here.
EDITORIAL STAFF: <mailto:jgordon@dmia.org> <mailto:isarkans@sarkans.com>Ivars Sarkans Submit articles, questions, or letters to: ADVERTISE:
|