Digital Printing's Three Hearts and Two Meanings (I)

In the past two weeks, when talking with a group of printers who had been printing, they talked about the recent reversal of the printing market. They lamented how difficult it is to print today. The competition is so fierce that the prints are far worse than before. In the past, a single business could be printed in tens of thousands. Tens of thousands are now added together. With lower prices and increasingly thin profits, how can we maintain our livelihood? The big factory has a big factory. Fine factories have difficulties in producing factories, and all of them are blowing in a light wind.
Confidence in the future of the printing industry From the perspective of industry trends, the printing industry does not seem to be able to provide traditional offset printing services. Instead, it provides customers with a wide range of printing and peripheral services. Why? It is because the social environment has shifted from a production-oriented economy to a knowledge-based economy. Mass production modes have not had much advantage in Hong Kong. From the printing factory to the north of the production business, in pursuit of lower production costs can be known one by one; and local demand is starting to turn to high value-added products or services, most of these products or services have some common features 1. First after ordering Production, with a small amount of production test market tastes; 2. The amount is small and can provide a personalized design; 3. Combine the Internet sales channels and promotional strategies. The transformation of these business models has brought many challenges to the printing industry, but it also brings more business opportunities.
Recently, I have seen several successful reports in the press about printing experts entering the digital printing industry. I found that there are also some similarities with the above arguments. Several experts are aiming at adding a new element to the traditional printing business - digital printing. The advantages of both digital products provide customers with new services and can bring existing services to new heights. Although the printing industry is faced with the existing difficulties, individuals who believe that they can grasp the opportunities and successfully break through must be able to grasp and grasp the opportunities brought about by the economic transformation.
Concerned about every aspect of digital printing operations, when it comes to investing in digital printing, many connoisseurs have heard of digital printing since Drupa 95. However, there are also many who have known digital printing during the “digital printing appreciation dinner” held by a large digital printing equipment supplier last year and this year. In 1995, digital printing seemed to be only a conceptual product. The quality and application of printing were only at the preliminary stage. Now that digital printing has developed quite maturely, quality and application have been recognized by the market. Nowadays, everyone is unfamiliar with it. However, if we say that now is a good time to invest in digital printing (it can be a step faster, and the investment cost is also lower), what should we pay attention to? Here's what you can do:
When investing in digital printing, plan for your own investment plan. Because digital printing is a combination of prepress, printing and postpress processes, failure to master any of these areas may affect overall investment. It is necessary to have a basic understanding of prepress computer equipment, desktop publishing, film output, and digital copying; and to have a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of offset printing and digital printing, and to understand the market positioning of both; How does the cooperation of postpress processing meet the high requirements of "one-stop" services?
When investing in an investment budget, it is also necessary to consider the technical support and software update costs for various types of supporting equipment, network systems, and application software. What's more important is the cooperation of people. If there are no corresponding talents, there are even more factors to consider when hiring staff. How to select suitable talents and how to manage them is also an important issue; if there are corresponding talents, how to cooperate with the digital flow management methods that are different from traditional management and put talents to the top should also be taken into consideration.
In addition, when considering digital printing equipment, it should not solely pay attention to the performance and characteristics of the machine, such as: different mechanical design, black and white or color image recovery, the maximum printing speed and maximum printing capacity of the equipment, and technical parameters such as printing quality. At the same time, key factors other than the machine should also be considered. Because digital printing is different from offset printing, even the highest quality equipment does not mean that you can do digital printing. Therefore, when comparing digital printing equipment from different suppliers, we must also consider services other than those provided by suppliers, including:
1. Financial arrangements for equipment - Most manufacturers will not pay in one lump, so the equipment is provided by a bank or financial company in phases, or is it provided by the supplier itself to install, rent or lease the service? Are there different flexible payment arrangements such as the 36/48/52/60 period? These financial arrangements are all key issues that must be considered by SME print shops.
2. Technical support and maintenance services - The more advanced equipment also has the opportunity of maintenance. When the sudden shutdown at the critical delivery time, does the supplier have experienced technical support and maintenance personnel to solve the problem immediately? At the same time, is the size of the maintenance team sufficient to meet the service requirements of different customers at the same time?
3. Technology and Application Training - Digital printing equipment is advanced technology, employees need to combine computer technology, output concepts, color management and post-press processing expertise. In terms of technology and application, it takes time to master. Does the supplier have specialized and experienced instructors to provide training in this area so that staff can quickly grasp the application of equipment to meet the pace of business development?
4. Services such as operations and sales training - backing support in football matches also require forward attack. Similarly, how to train sales staff to master the sales methods and techniques of digital printing so that the business can get on track as soon as possible. Can suppliers provide training services in this area?
Some producers of offset printing equipment in the market began to develop digital printing equipment. As a member of the printing industry, individuals are strongly supportive. This is also a positive message. They also agree that the development direction of digital printing is correct. At the same time, it also gives more choices to various experts; but it is precisely because they used to be traditionally used in the past. Concentration of type equipment, the development of digital printing is only in its infancy, and many of the supporting services outside of the equipment have become powerless. Printing experts must do a good job of digital printing. The comparison of machines is only one of the aspects. It is more important to consider the overall plan. Suppliers can provide unique opinions and support in the relevant experience and qualifications of digital printing, which will certainly help your printing business and make a big step towards success!