Imprinters Make Their Marks

Changes in the industry have an impact on imprinting.

To some, imprinting refers to screened or embroidered logos and marketing messages on promotional items. But in the printed document industry, imprinting usually describes personalization on checks, consecutive number applications, bar codes and variable data—mostly done in black ink—applied inline during product production or added later to pre-printed stock.

Non-impact printing technologies—such as laser and ink jet—have had a tremendous impact on the use and manufacturing of imprinting equipment. Ten years ago, there were approximately 28 imprinting equipment manufacturers worldwide. Today, there are fewer than half that.

Depending on whom you talk to, the reasons may include difficult registration, a glut in the market, improper marketing techniques and, obviously, computer technology.

Demand Still Alive

But according to Enrico Ruta, president of Orlando, Florida-based FME, the demand for the application is alive and experiencing a growth spurt, especially for short-run pack-to-pack web offset work. And the manufacturing of the equipment has not come to a halt—it has just been restructured and consolidated a bit.

"There's a real misconception out there," said Ruta. "The market has not declined, but people stopped manufacturing imprinters because it wasn't profitable for them, especially some of the sheet-fed equipment manufacturers who got into the game. They didn't know how to market them properly for short-run imprinting and conventional continuous forms applications."

Ruta stated that sheet-fed and continuous applications must be handled differently—from quoting the job and processing the job ticket through the plant up to and including distribution.

When evaluating short run orders, Ruta stressed thinking in terms of the dollar figure rather than the number of pieces. He defined a typical short-run job as being between $350 and $600. "Printing a small number of a four-color, four-part form can be much more expensive than producing a larger volume of a one-part form," said Ruta.

Features such as makeready, speed and pricing distinguish different types of imprinting equipment. Most imprinters are one- or two-color.

FME offers a two-color offset pack-to-pack press—the Hamada-based Rota-print model CS2C —designed for the shorter run computer forms market.

Ruta predicted that the short run market will continue to drive the demand for imprinting applications for some time. "Eighty percent of the companies in the U.S. are small and still only order about a thousand checks at a time," he said.

The New Is Improved

According to Mark Nagley, general manager of Mid-City Columbia, Dayton, Ohio, impact and dot matrix printers do not produce the quality bar codes utilized today, and this is one area where thermal- transfer has proven superior.

"The prevalence of two-dimensional bar codes in so many industries is driving thermal-transfer technology to where dot matrix used to be," said Nagley.

Mid-City Columbia's line of thermal-transfer ribbons—in-cluding the CGL-80, 80 HE, MCC-23 HE and MCC-14—provide indelible, chemical-resistant images on matched label stocks, for effective industrial applications. In addition, the MCC-14 offers an indelible security feature.

"The great advantage is that any manufacturing line can print online, on-demand permanent print labels without a secondary process," said Nagley, "which significantly reduces costs."

He also noted a growing trend toward eliminating multiple labels in favor of a single label that incorporates linear and two-dimensional bar codes as well as human-readable information in many packaging applications. According to Nagley, "As technology moves to thermal-transfer printing, Mid-City Columbia has developed these component systems to satisfy our customers demands."

Outsourcing Bar Codes

Having in-house bar code labeling capabilities is not always practical or cost-effective—companies may lack the staff or the need may be too sporadic to warrant purchasing the necessary equipment, giving rise to a profitable niche market. Weber Marking systems, Arlington Heights, Ill., developed its ECLIPSE Bar Code Label Service Bureau to meet these imprinting needs.

Ann Marie Cook, director of marketing, said that Weber specializes in two different types of imprinting—ion deposition and on-demand label printing.

"Ion deposition is a toner-based, programmable inline system mounted directly onto a high-speed rotary press," said Cook. It is an efficient way to produce large volumes of labels containing variable text, sequential numbers and bar codes, particularly for asset management, warehousing and distribution.

The thermal-transfer, laser and impact printing capabilities of Weber's stand-alone Legitronic labeling system are best suited to lower-volume orders.

"This service is perfect for handling customer's special project needs and even as a supplement to in-house imprinting equipment," explained Cook.

For quality assurance, Weber scans all bar codes and offers delivery in roll or fanfolded form.

Saving Time and Money

Headquartered in Peachtree City, Ga., CFC Print Solutions offers a full library of software-compatible documents, which includes MasterForm Limited—a cost effective imprinted check program.

Available in 81⁄2x11˝ laser and 91⁄2x7˝ continuous formats, the program features a black ink line copy imprint on pre-printed security check paper.

In addition, the company's short-run commercial printing plants in Georgia and Pennsylvania offer a solution for high-quality imprinted business products, helping distributors capture more of the short-run commercial print market.

According to Sean Warren, director of marketing for CFC, "We take shell stock pre-printed with a company's logo and imprint variable information in one-color on business cards, letterhead, envelopes, prescription pads, etc., as needed."

Warehousing customer stock pre-printed with consistent information particularly benefits distributors serving large national accounts. "It helps control costs, reduce turnaround time and give the customer top-quality imprinted products," said Warren.

By Maggie DeWitt