Adoption of new technology to enhance efficiency
Technology is the driver of transformation: we said that just a couple of lines ago at the end of the last chapter. A simple look around the printing industry will confirm the truth of that statement. The trade press and other sources of information are packed with examples of printing companies investing in technology in the search for efficiency and new revenue streams. Most often, the major investment is in a new printing press, and even a concept such as Thinking Beyond the Printed Page must acknowledge that hardware investments are important to the future of the printing industry.
When you look around at the technology available, there can be no doubt that the printing technology which carries most promise for the future is high speed inkjet. Already, inkjet printing systems such as Ricoh’s Pro VC60000 are beginning to hasten the migration of the industry from offset to digital, especially where there are data-driven applications targeted at the individual, and increasingly also where there is a need for high quality, high volume and a fast turnaround. Already, users can produce more than 120,000 high quality, unique A4 images per hour using this technology, making it a viable production technology across direct mail, books and commercial printing markets.
If we think about the printed page for a moment, rather than beyond it, it is clear to see that high-speed inkjet printing technology is going to make the printed page even more impactful and more dynamic. This is going to be an exciting area of research & development for the entire industry to watch over coming years, and Ricoh will be at the forefront of it.
Without infrastructure around it though, no amount of new printing firepower, inkjet or otherwise, is going be the silver bullet that many companies have imagined over the years. A professional transition will factor in a new press technology’s impact throughout the organisation and take measures to smooth the workflow. It is therefore imperative, as this paper has sought to emphasise, that print businesses pay equal attention to the ways that jobs and digital assets are captured and managed within their organisations – the software and processes that can deliver a quantum leap in efficiency and profitability.
Starting with job capture and creation, an online storefront – or web-to-print system – should be the first priority, because it is the ideal starting point for linking together your other business software, such as production workflow, management information systems, inventory control and accounting packages. These links and the clarity and efficiency they provide should be your ultimate goals when considering infrastructure.
The web-to-print system is also the world’s gateway to your service offering and a showcase for what you do best. It is also an invaluable communication platform that brings you and your customer closer together, as well as making it quick and easy for customers to submit their work to you. Consumers are used to ordering online via websites such as Amazon and most customers are entirely comfortable with doing so for their print too.
Job composition software is especially important for those production environments handling transactional or variable data documents, enabling them to quickly create eye-catching documents that intelligently make best use of data streams and then flow efficiently through the production process. Software can also be used to assist the creative process through management of digital assets as well as automating a variety of marketing and fulfilment processes through an integrated online marketing portal.
Once a job has been created, it is important to be able to track documents through production, smartly prioritise workflows and make your print delivery more efficient, and this can be achieved both through integrated digital front end software and through standalone technology. This is about automating manual tasks and organising scheduling of production in the most efficient way, with the ability to intelligently route jobs to make best use of available capacity and inventory. The benefits are obvious: maximising the efficiency of production capabilities improves your margins and saves you money. The software solutions available are smart enough to be moulded to your exact needs. The management information that can be collected during these processes will deliver the true picture of your business performance, and guide your next steps.
Knitting every process together – from CRM through production to inventory and accounts – and giving your entire print business operation a unified direction is possible through sophisticated software integration. It will bring efficiency to your business processes, enable you to adapt your production and resourcing to short and long run needs, and provide a granularity of information that makes it possible to see clearly what is happening in the business and how this can be improved upon for even greater efficiency and growth.
Book printer Clays has been through this process to enhance its ability to handle high quality, fast turnaround, short run book production. It found a solution in Ricoh’s TotalFlow BatchBuilder software, and Paul Hulley, Clays Managing Director, commented: “Return on investment will be about 18 months based on current production methods. TotalFlow BatchBuilder automates file batching and imposing 4-up on SRA3 and it integrates into the existing MIS system to report and track single book production.”
Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that any technology vendor can suggest. What is required is a detailed study and appraisal of a business’s situation, followed by expert, professional guidance on how best to remove pain points, link processes together and achieve that goal of putting an infrastructure in place that gives the print business strength beyond its production firepower. Once agreed upon, the vision needs to be implemented with great technical acumen, alongside a clear view of the big picture and the ultimate goal. No printing company, with its eyes firmly fixed upon winning and producing print volumes, can be expected to retain this hawk-like intensity of focus. A good technology partner will guide a printer along this path.
So, there is a huge body of software that can be harnessed to deliver efficiency to your printing operation, but this needs to be thought through and executed with great diligence. Another method of bringing about efficiency gains is through practicing the tenets of management philosophies such as Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma. These are of course about continuous process improvement and waste elimination, and therefore of great relevance to this conversation. However, much has already been written about them that is readily accessible to those who are interested. Here, it will suffice to say that these philosophies are not without merit, as has been proven.
We can also say that technology, whether hardware or software, is not the only route to efficiency and profitability; and that any print business considering business transformation as described throughout this paper would do well to speak to their technology partner about how Lean Manufacturing and such approaches can be best utilised.
In talking about the Thinking Beyond the Printed Page concept in this paper, we have made reference to the new dynamism that print can be armed with, especially when combined with electronic, digital and mobile methods of communication and marketing. It stands to reason that your customers are going to be increasingly interested in this, since marketers are seeing response rates turn sharply upwards from multi-channel activity, and publishing models are already infused with a mixture of digitally and traditionally-produced publications.
This is a route to broadening your service offering and meeting your customers’ requirements. Since these interactions are generally highly data-driven, it is also a handy way of tying your customers more closely to you. It should be viewed as part of your toolbox for effecting business transformation. There are numerous technologies on the market for integrating the printed page with electronic channels, and it’s not necessary to describe them in detail here. The world has certainly moved on from the QR code however, and solutions such as Documobi and Ricoh Clickable Paper are among the sophisticated tools already delivering great results. Augmented Reality, when used correctly, is also capable of creating compelling content and driving response.
The specifics of how these different technologies work is not as important as knowing how to inspire clients with the impact they can deliver. More so than with a straight print job, these kinds of applications require faultless planning and execution – but done well, they will cut through the noise and provide a greater response rate.
Technology can also be used to produce ever-more creative printed items, with print embellishment such as Scodix and rapidly expanding ink sets that include metallics and fluorescent colours, white ink on black materials, and a host of systems that print directly onto a wide range of everyday items and materials. In finishing, laser cutting is taking creativity to another level.
Therefore, from your internal processes and your high-tech printing and software systems, to your customer-facing service offering, technology can be the true driver of business transformation. There is huge complexity in plotting the right path, given the shifting sands of printing technology and the digital demands of the market. There will be challenges along the way, and that’s what we look at in the next chapter.
