Cost savings, reduced waste, high quality—what's not to love about digital print? According to IBISWorld, the digital print industry has seen 4.1 percent annual growth from 2009 to 2014. We spoke to two leading suppliers to find out what's trending in the world of digital print, what advancements they've made at their companies, and what distributors should take into account when selling digital.
Why Go Digital?
Tony Rouse, president and CEO of Team Concept Printing, Carol Stream, Ill., said that digital printing has allowed for new value-added security applications. "[One] of the new digital printing applications we have been using is an invisible security feature that cannot be viewed by the naked eye, but can under a security light," Rouse said. "This helps with things like high-end tickets or badges."
Rouse added that while the ability to efficiently do short run or variable printing jobs has always been a major draw to digital equipment, he is most impressed with the quality of the work. "With how high the quality is now on these machines, more and more people do it for the smooth vibrant colors." Using white in printing processes has even allowed Team Concept Printing to produce vibrant colors on clear or dark substrates.
Pat Larson, marketing director for Repacorp Inc., Tipp City, Ohio, said that digital print has a considerable advantage when it comes to cutting costs and waste. "Art is sent directly to the press, which eliminates the cost and time of making plates," she explained. "Setting up a digital press takes about 15 minutes and about 3' of material, compared to a flexographic press, which takes about three hours to set up and about 2,000' of material." Ever since Repacorp added laser cutting to its digital printing capabilities, the cost and time necessary to make tooling has been eliminated, she said.
Repacorp has five digital medium- to short-run presses with laser cutting. The company recently purchased a digital press for its Wisconsin facility, which Larson hopes to get running by next quarter. She noted that this will allow Repacorp to create greater details for images and small text size, and works at up to 246' per minute, competing with flexo speeds. "By investing in digital printing and laser cutting, we became very cost-effective in the short-to-medium label run business," Larson said. "Lower cost, lower minimum quantities and higher print quality attracted new business opportunities, which have grown our digital production substantially."
Team Concept Printing has made some equipment investments of its own. According to Rouse, the company recently upgraded its Indigo system to run 18pt paper, and will soon purchase two Ricoh C7110X digital presses. "These presses will enable us to run format up to 27", run spot coatings and prints white as well," he noted. "One of the biggest things this machine adds is its ability to collate, stitch and final trim a book in line as we are running the job. This takes out the need for booklet making offline, and helps with costs, quality and turn times."
What's in Right Now?
Larson has observed a switch from UV-cure inkjet technology to L.E.D. UV-cure inkjet, and said that this allows printers to save money and print on different materials.
"L.E.D. UV-cure uses a lower temperature to cure the ink," she remarked. "In addition to lower operating energy costs, the advantage of L.E.D. UV-cure inkjet is that you can print on heat-sensitive substrates, such as flexible packaging films. We are also seeing digital presses getting wider and faster to compete with flexographic printing."
However, digital doesn't come without challenges. Larson mentioned that with current digital printing technology, it's difficult to match a PMS color with four-color digital printing, but many presses are adding orange and violet to closer resemble a PMS color match.
Rouse said that Team Concept Printing now has the ability to run spot Pantone colors. "This enables us to run colors like orange, that do not print well in CMYK, and still be able to offer short runs or variable," he said.
What Should You Know?
For distributors new to digital printing processes, Larson and Rouse suggested a few ways to learn more about the technology as well as the human side of the business.
"I would tour and meet with companies that operate these machines," Rouse said. "I know when we do that here at Team Concept, the distributor leaves much more knowledgeable."
Larson agreed that plant visits are a great way to get your foot in the door and see firsthand how the presses work. "Sometimes, seeing the process helps you understand it," she said. "Our distributors are welcome to schedule a tour of our facility, ask questions and partner with us to grow their label business."
Repacorp also offers webinars and learning sessions to educate distributors on the intricacies of digital print production. Larson explained how these offerings work. "We tailor the webinar or session to your needs, and we provide samples for your sales kit," she said. "These sessions allow you to ask questions and get a pretty good understanding of what you are selling.
"At Repacorp, each distributor is assigned to a customer service representative (CSR)," Larson continued. "Their CSR is always available to answer questions and provide information needed for a label application."
What Can You Expect?
Given the rapid pace of technology, there are new features and possibilities in printing on the horizon. Rouse said that digital print is a major part of Team Concept Printing's growth, and that the company will now run four machines 24 hours per day.
Larson believes that, in the near future, digital printing will rival flexographic printing technology. "Digital presses don't have the special configurations of a flexographic press, but those demands will be fulfilled in the future with the growth of digital technology," she said. "Web widths are getting wider, presses are getting faster, more colors are being added and they are working on market-driven configurations."
Brendan Menapace is the content director for Promo+Promo Marketing.