On the Phenomenon of Outputting the Company's Transformation CTP Pattern Making Center

Perhaps the printing industry will still remember the splendor of the output center. Today, in the face of fierce competition from competitors and the impact of the new technology CTP, most output centers have entered a low period of development. Where are the new profit growth points? The output centers have explored new modes of operation: some of the powerful output centers have purchased printing presses to enter the traditional offset printing field; some output centers have increased creativity, design production volume, and developed to the front end; while others have relied on the rise of digital printing to develop digital products. The printing business; there is investment in the purchase of CTP equipment, the establishment of a plate making center, to provide high-quality digital printing plates for the printing factory, complete the transition from film to CTP.

Export company transformation The CTP platemaking center has matured in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places, and this trend has gradually emerged in the Mainland. Is this operating model feasible in Mainland China? What are the conditions required for the output center to complete the transition to the CTP platemaking center? To this end, we invited Mr. Wang Bing, vice president of the Asia-Pacific market for Kodak Graphic and Video Group, Ms. H. Bai, technology and support director of Wirts Image Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and Wuhan Caifeng Digital Graphic Express. Mr. Hu Yanhua, the general manager of the company, and Mr. Li, the general manager of Taiyuan Apple Printing Design Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Apple Printing), made detailed analysis and bold predictions on the development trend of this model in China from different perspectives.
Application: Hong Kong Sees New Trends Again

In the field of printing, Hong Kong has developed more maturely than the mainland market, and the introduction of advanced technologies has also become faster. Taking CTP as an example, large and medium-sized printing companies in Hong Kong have basically purchased CTP equipment, completely free of dependence on export companies. . Output companies are constantly looking for new business opportunities as their businesses shrink. Usually a small-scale printing factory has only two or three printing presses, with a scale of 30 to 40 people. They have neither plate making ability nor binding capacity, but are unwilling to pass orders, so they choose to be provided by large-scale platemaking and binding plants. Upstream and downstream services rely on the integration of upstream and downstream industries to help them compete with large and medium-sized printing plants on the same starting line. This phenomenon is common in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. The export company is seeing the eagerness of small-scale printing plants for CTP technology, so it added CTP equipment to provide services for small-scale printing plants. Usually an export company is responsible for the CTP plate making business of seven or eight printing houses. Wang Bing said that there are more than a dozen export companies in a building in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, and there are dozens of small printing plants nearby. A stable business relationship has formed between them. In addition, CTcP equipment has become one of the options for export companies to invest in its low-cost plate, etc. According to H.C., Hong Kong Graphic Arts Terminal Co., Ltd. is the first export company to introduce CTcP in Hong Kong, and has passed a period of business. The company's development, the rapid development of the company and growing, in order to meet the needs of production, also purchased two CTcP, currently in Hong Kong has four export company transformation and printing center for the printing plant to provide CTcP plate service.

Export company transformation CTP platemaking center has been applied in scale in Hong Kong. With the development of the market, this model has emerged a new trend. Wang Bing, who was in Hong Kong, introduced us to the development and trends of Hong Kong’s export company in recent years: When the model of the export company’s transition to the CTP platemaking center has just started operating in Hong Kong, most of the export companies’ choices are low-end CTP equipment. After the export company purchases CTP, another round of vicious competition has formed in the market. In order to pursue differentiation, in the past year or two, the output companies have begun to purchase CTP equipment that is faster and more accurate. The society is developing, the economy is improving, and the customer's needs are also increasing. Therefore, this kind of “low to high” development trend has been formed.

Transformation: in line with China's national conditions

Export companies in Hong Kong and other places provide a certain reference value for the successful operation of their peers in the Mainland. However, blindly copying may not be successful, but they also need to analyze the problems that may arise in the operation of the domestic market. market.

From the point of view of the use of CTP by domestic printing companies, the penetration rate and utilization rate of CTP are still very low. Some printing companies that have already purchased CTP have even left them idle, mainly because the prices of CTP plates have remained high, giving people "Affordable, can not afford" feeling. There are a large number of small-scale printing factories in all parts of the country. However, they are unable to introduce advanced technologies because of the problem of funding. The quality of printed products is rough and the packaging is poor, resulting in a serious loss of customers. CTP technology continues to move forward, and the speed of upgrading equipment is getting faster and faster. However, CTP has been questioned in China. Most printing companies take a wait-and-see attitude toward CTP. The output company introduced CTP equipment in advance, so that indecisive printing companies can try and experience the "effect" of new products. However, how can we ensure that export companies can operate smoothly after introducing CTP? Can a small printing house accept the price of a CTP plate? After most printing companies adopt CTP, what will the export company do? These issues deserve our in-depth discussion.

Caifeng is a professional company with 10 years of export experience. With the company's development, the scale of production has grown and it has established several branches in Shanghai and other places. Caifeng always grasps the pulse of the market, stands at the forefront of technology, and maintains its leading position. Not long ago, Caifeng introduced Fujitsu's CTP equipment and became a pioneer in the mainland market. Apple Printing is a large export company in Shanxi Province. Although it is located in an economically underdeveloped area, there are a large number of local printers, and there are only a handful of printers capable of purchasing CTP. Therefore, Apple Printing has a certain market for CTP. prospect. The license said that the company has incorporated investment CTP into its development plan. Of the two export companies mentioned above, one is a trial operator and the other is a desire-seeker, but they are very optimistic about the transformation of the export company. Regarding the issue of the use of CTP by domestic printing companies, both export companies pointed out that although the choice of hardware is very important, its supporting software is more important. Therefore, the key to making good use of CTP is to establish a smooth prepress process. Because the documents submitted by customers of general printing factories are not standardized, they must be processed and processed in the early stage. That is, the documents are standardized through the process, then transmitted to the printing factory via the network for digital proofing, submitted to the customer for confirmation, and then exported directly to the company. The output media is finally shipped to the printing house for printing. The most important reason why many printers are unable to increase production efficiency through CTP is because they lack experience in prepress operations and are not familiar with prepress technology.

CTP can increase production efficiency, but the cost is more of a concern for printing plants. The price of CTP plate has always restricted the popularization and development of CTP in China. Due to the issue of plate material prices, some large-scale printing companies have not completely adopted CTP plate-making in their production. How do small-scale printing companies accept the price of CTP plate-making? In this regard, Hu Yanhua said that before Caifeng invested in CTP, he calculated an account, and the results showed that if the price of CTP plates is twice that of traditional plates, they can open up this market. The cost of traditional printing includes film, proofing and PS version, which is slightly higher than the price of CTP plate plus digital proofing. In addition, the printing process in traditional printing prolonged the preparation time and caused the loss of outlets, and it also caused downtime revision due to problems such as dirty spots. In addition, the use of CTP can also save the cost and labor of the traditional plate-making workshops. It seems that CTP plate-making is not only directly printed and even slightly lower than the traditional printing cost, but the quality and efficiency have been steadily improved. Customers can accept it. It's a natural thing. CTP platemaking also has an advantage: In the past, the film was sheet-fed, and the small-scale printing factory took it to the imposition. Now according to the size, size, and demand of the customer's printing machine, the output company can directly make it to the printing plant and not only save the printing plant. The process also strengthens the relationship between the export company and its customers. Wang Bing also pointed out that as long as the output company provides CTP printing plates for the printing plant to save more money than the purchase of printing plate costs, then the customer will recognize the new price, of course, in the promotion process, the output company should also bear Be responsible for cultivating and educating customers. According to Beijiang Yan, the CTcP plate is due to the use of a PS plate, which has a low cost, and it also eliminates the expense of printing process and manual training. This means that CTcP can enjoy both digital and direct plate technology. The advantage of coming here can also produce direct economic benefits.

With the decrease of the price of CTP plates in the future, as well as the continuous expansion of the printing plant, when the plate-making capacity of a printing factory reaches a certain scale, some printing companies will invest in CTP equipment themselves, thereby eliminating the need for output companies to provide services. At this time, the output company should further expand its service scope to provide customers with more digital services, such as saving data for customers and digital asset management. This is mainly due to the fact that the digital infrastructure of small printing plants is relatively weak. .

Overall, the transformation of the output company into a CTP platemaking center not only facilitates the sharing of resources and advanced technologies, but also promotes technological advancement and market development. It can also help customers create benefits and save labor costs and material costs. Now, in the domestic market, the momentum of this model transformation of exporting companies has already begun to show. In addition to Caifeng, it is understood that companies that have invested in CTcP have also appeared in Shanghai and Guangdong.

Trial: Joint promotion of media and technology output

In addition to the market environment, the development of new business also needs to consider whether the company's own advantages meet the conditions required for business development. In response to the phenomenon of export companies transforming the CTP platemaking center, Hsueh-yan pointed out that this model will bring challenges to the output company in three aspects. The first is the accumulation of technology, the photo-taking machine has been used in the industry for a long time, and the operator has Investors are familiar with each other. As a new technology, CTP needs to understand the technical knowledge of the entire process. The second is that sufficient funds, whether CTP or CTcP, invest much more than imagesetters, so they need to have enough Thirdly, the service requirements are high. In the past, the material of the film was soft and portable, and it was sent to the printing plant for printing. The probability of damage was very small. Even if there were problems, the technical staff of the printing house would solve the problem by themselves. The output of the CTP plate will eventually be loaded onto the printing press. It is very likely that a bad version will be caused due to a variety of reasons. The printing plant is at a loss, which requires the exporting company to provide a supplemental version and how to transport the plate well. Service.

Output company transformation CTP plate making center This mode of operation requires that the output company is built in a place where the printing factory is relatively concentrated, ensuring that there is sufficient demand prospect within a reasonable radius. Export centers in Hong Kong and Taiwan are often located in industrial parks. The printing factories are only responsible for printing. They are not involved in plate making at all and the plates are all entrusted to the exporting companies. However, this advantage of domestic printing plants is not obvious, Hu Yanhua said that the printing plants in Wuhan are very scattered, which also brings certain trouble to the operation.

For China's domestic market, Caifeng believes that the current CTP printing plate is unlikely to replace film in a large area, but the market has already emerged in demand. The printing plant that cooperates with Caifeng intends to improve the printing quality, but is also worried about using a bad CTP. To think of customers and worry about the urgency of customers, Caifeng purchased CTP equipment. At the beginning of the operation, Caifeng will start cooperation with 35 printers first to let them realize the advantages of CTP and the benefits for them, and then slowly infiltrate. In this process, Hu Yanhua also made a meticulous two-step plan.

The first step is to provide printing materials for the printing industry, so that they can appreciate the benefits of CTP for printing, and make CTP recognized in practice. For printers with three or four machines, if they use CTP, if they also choose to purchase CTP, Caifeng will provide them with CTP technical training. However, there are only a small number of small printers with one or two machines. They do not have enough funds to purchase CTPs, and they promote their recognition of the benefits and quality of CTP through promotion, further expand the scope of CTP services, and gradually penetrate from Wuhan to neighboring cities.

The second step is to provide technical output. Most of the CTPs purchased in some printing plants in Yunnan, Chengdu and other places are idle. Caifeng will help print shops like this to re-use CTP, take advantage of CTP, and truly realize production. Increased efficiency.

Each printing house is different, and there are differences in the characteristics of the printing press. Therefore, the output company personnel need not only to master the hard and soft printing process.