Finishing can add profitability to a product portfolio.
One of the strategies that distinguishes some very profitable manufacturers and distributors of printed products is a strong focus on post-printing operations that add value through product features or print-related services.
Printing industry participants have traditionally looked upon press production as the heart of their business—and press capabilities certainly continue to be very important—but market trends and overcapacity in the printing industry have reduced the ink-on-paper part of many printed products to commodity status. This includes forms, labels and commercial printing, where the ability to add value with press capabilities has gradually declined.
At the same time, opportunities to add value by post-press finishing or print-related services have increased to the point where suppliers of forms and related products find finishing and services more profitable than printing.
Cut Sheet Possibilities
The product mix of both forms manufacturers and distributors includes a growing proportion of cut sheet products for the rapidly expanding population of sheet-fed laser printers. Forms suppliers, looking for new products to supplement traditional forms business, often find opportunities in the large and growing market for common types of commercial printing. This creates major changes in the types of finishing equipment required to support forms presses dedicated to cut-sheet production and the increasing number of sheetfed presses found in forms plants.
Many forms plants are installing sheet folders, sheet collators, booklet makers, signature collators, saddle stitchers, three-knife trimmers and more efficient guillotine cutters. Products resulting from these new finishing capabilities are sold by most distributors today and include booklets, brochures, newsletters, manuals and other products that start as printed sheets.
To increase the value of cut-sheet products, manufacturers have many sheetfed equipment options, including foil stamping, holograms, embossing, diecutting and other auxiliary operations. One example is the new Twin Tower NSF sheetfed stamping press from Thermotype, Nokomis, Fla., which can apply two colors of overlapping foil, blind and foil embossing and diecutting.
One of the latest innovations in cut sheet finishing is the Optimum ILC 52 Sheetfed Labeling System from FME, Orlando, Fla. This machine can integrate cards and labels into preprinted sheets or affix foil patches. One of the advantages is that the sheets can be coated or uncoated paper and special grades that are not available in rolls.
Another category of new cut-sheet products is self-sealing mailers. Many forms suppliers sell both the self-seal mailers and the pressure sealing equipment, in effect shifting finishing operations to the end-user. Others have taken a different approach by installing the printing and sealing equipment in their facilities to capture the full value of the finishing operations. These suppliers sell personalization of mailers, folding, sealing and mailing as finishing services that substantially increase the value of a cut-sheet product.
Web Finishing Products
Most forms industry participants are very familiar with the products created by web finishing systems, but there are also new developments in both equipment and product design. Both inline and off-line web finishing systems have led to a vast variety of promotional mailers, multiple function forms with labels, documents with security features and carriers for cards and product samples.
One of the newest web finishing operations from Bielomatik and Melzer, Plymouth, Mich., affixes radio frequency antennae and control chips to cards, labels and tags for contactless reading. Web-fed finishing equipment is also available to laminate magnetic stripes to cards, tags and tickets for use with popular types of readers.
Another new web finishing machine is the Av-Pro web thermography unit from Glendale, Arizona-based Form Flo Equipment Manufacturers. With a maximum rated speed of 500 fpm, the unit sets new productivity benchmarks for this process.
Web finishing also plays an important role in manufacturing the growing number of small roll products sold by forms suppliers. This category includes thermal and other types of labels for on-site imprinting, forms for point-of-sale printers, ATM forms, lottery tickets, general purpose la-bels and rolls of fax paper. The specialized slitting and rewinding equipment needed for production of small rolls is found in many label and paper converting plants, and several forms producers have also added small roll capabilities.
With the exception of some short-run labels, small rolls are commodity products and the finishing operation must be very efficient for profitable participation in this specialty.
Document Production
A growing number of direct-selling and trade manufacturers have started document printing operations which require digital printing devices coupled with compatible kinds of finishing equipment. Some of these facilities specialize in publications, such as manuals, directories and bulletins. The digital printers may be sheetfed or run from a roll, but processing of the output almost always requires sheet finishing equipment. Since most of the printing is done with black toner, finishing operations make a sizeable contribution to the value of the final product.
In document production, finishing may involve perforating, file hole punching, merging and cutting of webs, batching and stacking of sheets and several binding options. In some applications, the documents must be mailed and volume can justify use of an automatic envelope inserting machine.
While some of the equipment is similar to machines used for bindery work in commercial printing plants, the growth of document printing has prompted development of specific models that have features and production rates matched to digital printing. Document production normally does not require a sheet collator, since pages are assembled in computer memory and printed as one complete set or book at a time.
Another document production specialty for forms suppliers is statement printing, which may also include printing of invoices, checks and other transaction documents. Several forms manufacturers operate document factories for statement printing that combine traditional forms with variable image printing done in a data center and finishing functions performed by a mailroom.
Document production usually demands consolidation of all printing, finishing and mailing tasks in a single facility, making finishing a more integral part of the total operation than in traditional forms production. It is sold on a program or project basis, and requires a close working relationship with customers for transfer of files and other data to the printing site.
Post-Press Services
Finishing operations do not always add product features. A growing part of the value that forms suppliers add consists of post-press services, which can all be considered to be part of finishing. Both distributors and direct-selling manufacturers bundle these services into comprehensive print management programs that include warehousing, distribution, pick-and-pack operations and fulfillment.
The finishing services provided by forms suppliers include packaging for retail sales, kit assembly, envelope inserting and mailing. Some distributors also process returned documents and provide document imaging services. The move into more and more services is one reason why some distributors have developed internal printing and finishing operations.
Today's forms industry requires a different view of finishing. The finishing services that can be combined with products range far beyond what has been done in most conventional forms plants. Finishing operations and services frequently provide greater opportunities to add value and define competitive advantages than printing. The growing importance of finishing poses the challenge of a more complex sale for distributors.
The challenge for manufacturers is in the need for additional investment in equipment, systems and training to update and expand finishing capabilities and marketing to show the value and variety of new products created by finishing operations.
By Ivars Sarkans
Ivars Sarkans, president of Sarkans & Associates, Los Angeles, can be reached by telephone at (323) 221-7791, by e-mail at isarkans@sarkans.com or via the Web at www.sarkans.com.
- Companies:
- FME
- Form Flo Equipment Manufacturers