By Sander Sondaal, Director, Commercial Print Sales, Graphic Communications Group, Ricoh Europe
Shorter print runs with faster turnaround times are fundamental factors shaping today’s print production environment.
They are increasingly being driven by pressures on supply chains to improve sustainability and operate with greater flexibility and responsiveness says Smithers’ The Impact of Changing Run Lengths on the Printing Market.
Traditionally, run lengths would have dictated the most suitable production technology for jobs.
Analogue was more cost effective for longer run lengths, on a per print basis, due to the typically higher setup when factoring in plates and print substrate waste, but lower consumables costs.
Digital was more suited to shorter runs due to its low setup costs – there are no plates and sellable prints can be achieved with minimal substrate waste. However, with inks and toners often more expensive, this has an impact when run lengths increase.
With the introduction of responsive digital inkjet technology, this clear division is no longer so apparent.
Digital inkjet solutions have made the production of mixed run lengths cost effective.
Jobs of all sizes can be profitably produced on one system for maximum productivity and greater capacity utilisation.
This responsive production approach is ideally suited to answer the pandemic-accelerated growth in e-commerce. The ability to be flexible and agile helps companies improve the resilience and versatility of their supply chains. It supports sustainable operation by avoiding over production with affordable, shorter, print runs.
It also taps into the preference of more than 50% of consumers for personalisation according to The Deloitte Consumer Review data. Crucial to their uptake of the service was the ease of finding suppliers that allow the creation of a unique item or design.
Digital inkjet solutions from Ricoh enable easy adoption. They include the continuous feed Ricoh Pro™ VC70000 and Ricoh Pro™ V40000. Investment in these and other Ricoh systems is supported by online resource Business Booster. Clients can also access post-sales guidance with the EDGE consultancy’s tools, advice and methodologies.
This complete package has been created to help clients adapt to the changing market and map their successful future service delivery. What changes are you looking to achieve? Managing a greater mix of run lengths? Offering a more responsive print on demand service? Or enhancing your personalisation capabilities?
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