How to go about digital printing for the hottest p

How to go about digital printing in printing enterprises

digital printing has always been the focus of the majority of commercial printing industry. However, from the market situation in recent years, it seems that manufacturers have been more enthusiastic than users: on the one hand, manufacturers are sparing no effort to publicize their digital printing systems; On the other hand, these digital printing systems have never been able to arouse the enthusiasm of large-scale traditional commercial printers

the main reason is that the printing factory does not have a clear understanding of the profit model of using digital printing system. For digital printing system, it still uses the traditional investment and management ideas, and does not develop the market according to the characteristics of digital printing

some printing houses that purchased digital printing equipment (such as di equipment) earlier did not achieve the expected purpose after using it for a period of time. They found that the printing quality of digital printing machine is not as good as that of traditional printing, and the cost is much higher than that of offset printing. The profit margin of short version movable parts may be higher, but the market capacity is not large. Similarly, the short version takes about the same energy and time as the long version, but the profit is much less. Moreover, to make an expensive digital printing machine profitable, we must take a lot of short version jobs, and the business management costs a lot. Some companies find that too many short versions affect the efficiency of the machine and make it unable to operate efficiently

then, do you want to consider the digital printing system? We must consider the problem from another angle

first of all, the business suitable for digital printing machines is not the traditional short edition printing of moving parts

it should be said that short edition printing is the advantage of digital printing, but this advantage depends on how to use it. If you buy a digital printing system to specially receive 500 or 1000 short edition printing live parts, and do not correctly let the end users understand the characteristics and limitations of digital printing, then the printing factory will find that these customers are picky about the printing quality and compare the price with offset printing, making everyone unhappy and unable to make much money. The reason is that these short edition movable parts can also be made by traditional printing, but the unit cost is slightly higher. In this highly competitive market, some companies set the price very low in order to retain the long version work and do the short version work regardless of the profit. Therefore, digital printing has almost no advantage

the traditional management mode and operation mode of the printing factory are set around offset printing. Generally, the operation of short edition is urgent. The printing factory does not have this mechanism, but the Express Printing shop is good at it. This is why there are many short version digital printing systems in express printing shops

therefore, the process control temperature is often much higher than the thermal deformation temperature of materials, and operation management is also a problem. Most printing plants are large enterprises, and the goal is to take over a large amount of offset printing business. If all are short version live parts, whether the machine has this ability or not, it is too late for business management alone. Suppose 50 salesmen do 1000 long version jobs every month, and the turnover of each job is 50000 yuan, that is, 50million yuan per month. No matter how low the profit margin is, it can feed a factory. Similarly, if you want to do the same amount of turnover, you need to do 10000 jobs if you calculate 5000 yuan for a short version of work, and 50 salesmen are simply too busy

therefore, when introducing digital printing machines, printing factories should not only focus on short version operations, but also have long-term and overall consideration

secondly, in a printing factory, it is almost impossible to achieve the purpose of making profits by relying on a digital printing machine alone. Printing houses should regard digital printing as a supplement to traditional offset printing, rather than a substitute for traditional offset printing. Perhaps the digital printing system does not make direct profits, but the indirect profits it brings to enterprises should also be taken into account

the experience of some printing houses at home and abroad that have bought Di equipment also shows that it is difficult to rely on a digital printer alone. On the contrary, combining the advantages of traditional offset printing and digital printing can create a complete "one-stop service" environment for printing plants

third, digital printing equipment should do businesses that traditional offset printing cannot do at all. At present, for these businesses, only researchers are committed to developing a polymer that can be quickly converted when encountering external stimulation, which requires printing and variable data printing

on demand printing refers to the realization of zero inventory printing of some key printed materials of enterprises that contact customers, such as product manuals. In this regard, printing plants can help enterprises reduce hidden costs and improve market competitiveness through digital printing technology. In this regard, Fuji Xerox has entered many large enterprises through its outsourcing service model, doing on-demand document printing, and has achieved great success. It should be said that many of these businesses that used to be offset printing began to flow to digital printing machines

variable data printing is a powerful tool for enterprises to explore the market, including variable data printing such as bills, cards, personalized printed matter, etc. it is a high value-added business, but it is also the most difficult business to receive. To have the ability of variable data printing, the version free digital printing system is not the most important. What is important is that enterprises should have the ability to sell variable data, a good it environment and high-level design and operation personnel. In this regard, printing plants are often lacking

what conditions should a printing enterprise have to introduce a digital printing system? The author believes that there are three. First, enterprise leaders should have a correct understanding of digital printing. The digital printing system is different from the traditional printing machine. We should understand its characteristics and operation clearly, and its expectation should be consistent with its ability. Secondly, enterprises should have computer operators. The most basic thing is to have a computer prepress department, and have a basic understanding of printing, postscript, etc. The operation of digital printing machine is different from that of traditional offset printing machine. It can't be solved by a few weeks' training. Finally, enterprises should cultivate a sales team that can promote digital printing services. In the traditional printing business, the salesperson only needs to compare the quality, service and price, and the product is very clear. The sales of digital printing is more related to implicit cost analysis, business process changes, electronic document transmission and so on. At present, the Sales Department of most printing plants does not know how to sell digital printing services

in terms of investment and development of digital printing, for printing enterprises, capital is not a big problem, but talents and technology are the constraints

then, what aspects should enterprises pay attention to when choosing to introduce digital printing system

first of all, we need to determine a direction, that is, what kind of business to buy digital printers for. If you only need to do short edition work, you can consider choosing a digital printing machine with edition. If you are not only making short version live parts, you should choose a more flexible version free digital printing machine to develop new businesses such as personalized printing, on-demand printing, variable data printing, which are different from traditional businesses. In the final analysis, the most important thing is that business leaders should no longer revolve around traditional processes, but should cultivate digital awareness and really devote themselves to studying the development trend and needs of the digital printing market, which has reached 90% in some provinces and cities; Some cities and towns in three provinces in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia

second, before buying, we should make clear what we mainly use it to print. Some manufacturers advertise that their machines can print anything, but the actual situation is that they can either not print in batches, such as thick cardboard, or some live parts are not received by ordinary printing companies at all, such as invoices, credit cards, etc., so they should pay attention to their main business and should not be misled by the flashy function propaganda of products

third, retain existing talents and cultivate new talents who understand both digital technology and marketing

fourth, one-time expensive investment should be cautious. Flexible payment methods should be selected. It is best to be tied with equipment manufacturers. Only when printing enterprises make profits, equipment manufacturers can make profits and share risks. Digital technology is changing with each passing day. When you buy a digital printing machine, you must not take the old idea of buying an offset printing machine with you, thinking that the value of the two can be maintained, because relatively speaking, the value of the digital printing machine depreciates rapidly. If it is a one-time investment and you are not sure about the operation of the digital printing business, the equipment manufacturer takes the machine money and leaves, leaving the printing enterprise in a hurry

fifth, choose equipment manufacturers with sufficient after-sales service guarantee to cooperate. Digital printing machine is different from ordinary offset printing machine, with complex structure and high technical content. If there is no good service, low-carbon steel tightening will also produce service guarantee, and users will have endless troubles. Before deciding to buy, it's best to see whose equipment peers choose and what business they are doing

finally, the author reminds all printing managers that you can not buy a digital printing machine now, but you must pay attention to the development of the digital printing market. After all, business opportunities wait for no one

source: digital printing