Buy used computer equipment

Byline: JILL ROTH Special projects editor

Diversity is printing's middle name. The industry boasts multinational companies, specialty printers, package printers, consolidated companies, all-digital printers and mom-and-pop shops that do business out of a garage. But the majority of the printing industry consists of printers just trying to figure out how to solve today's pressroom crisis. These companies aren't the biggest or the smallest. They have some of the same concerns as their gigantic relatives, but their decisions have a much more immediate impact on the company - for good or bad.

The facts remain the same. The number of U.S. printing plants is declining. Print is a mature industry growing more slowly than the overall economy. The good news is that there are fewer printing companies around. The bad news is that the remaining firms are tough, aggressive competitors. All printers, regardless of size, must learn how to survive in a world that regards print as a commodity and looks increasingly toward more and better services when choosing a print supplier.

Add to this tough competition the pressures that customers create. Runs are getting shorter. In 1999, for example, 54 percent of all printing consisted of run lengths averaging 2,000 impressions or fewer. By 2010, 30 percent of all printing will be turned around in one day - or less - according to PIA (Alexandria, VA). Cycle times are shortening, and incremental makeready improvements, while important, may not by themselves shave enough time to meet ever-increasing customer demands for speed.

And even as the industry shrinks, the demand for skilled employees continues to soar while enrollment in traditional graphic-arts programs declines. The industry is struggling to attract new talent. The average printer understands that the key to success and profitability lies in doing more with less.

With fewer skilled employees on tap, demands for faster turnaround and the need to differentiate your printing company from its competition, today's mainstream printer is faced with a boatload of challenges. What makes it more difficult is the overlaying pressure to invest money wisely. A wrong decision can jeopardize the company and even the security of the family who owns the business.

"George Bush was wrong. It is never going to be a kinder, gentler world," observes consultant Robert Rosen. "Printers have three choices: Complain, suffer quietly or do something to become a truly profitable company."

Getting started

Planning a strategy for profitability doesn't start with getting out your checkbook. Everything stems from the markets you select and the customers you serve. Without a thorough understanding of its customers, any printing company will face an uncertain future. You will need to identify technologies that meet your customers' needs, differentiate your company in the marketplace and increase your internal productivity. The goal is to design a convenience store that delivers your customers' favorite products and services.

Processes are becoming more digital, networked and integrated. But to the average printer with limited funds, choosing among all the technologies available can be overwhelming. Even armed with a good strategic plan and a clear understanding of customer needs, there are just too many variables when picking a direction in which to jump.

The transition to digital prepress and computer-to-plate (CTP) can be confusing. But it becomes simpler if you take advantage of consulting services that help optimize your internal operations. These consulting services don't have to be expensive, and vendors can help. Creo, for example, can analyze your manufacturing process, identify inefficiencies affecting your bottom line, and then help make systematic changes on an incremental basis. Creo focuses on best practices to help your shop benefit from increased production capacity and a consistent manufacturing process.

These consulting services are not just for "the big guys." Since the average print business lives and dies on the investment decisions it makes, having an outside expert cast his or her eye on operations will provide the objectivity that owners and managers sometimes lack. Smaller-scale operations can benefit most from an outside opinion, since the improvements recommended will have a greater effect on that size shop. Creo can put its experience to work for your shop, helping to choose the products, financing options and most efficient implementation process. The goal, of course, is to assess, recommend and help implement changes that will positively affect your bottom line.

One size doesn't fit all

One of the biggest problems faced by mainstream printers is choosing digital systems (including workflows, CTP, scanning, proofing and digital printing) that are scalable for their operations. Open architectures are extremely important. Systems must be able to accept a wide range of input formats, and machines (regardless of their function) must operate with legacy workflow systems within a shop.

Gone are the days of proprietary systems. No longer do the behemoth color electronic prepress systems costing millions of dollars dominate the landscape. Vendors have moved away from their proprietary formats, offering a variety of soup-to-nuts systems geared to all sizes and types of printers.

Four-page CTP systems are widely available that help printers make the jump into full digital production. Creo's new Lotem 400 Quantum, for example, features automation that smaller operations will find attractive. After all, with a limited staff, automation will help operations run smoothly without tying up skilled employees on unskilled tasks such as plate loading. The Lotem 400 Quantum has a loading capacity that can exceed 150 plates of three different sizes - a feature that will appeal to smaller printers who must accommodate a variety of jobs coming through the plant.

The 400 can be configured to automatically load from a single cassette of more than 50 plates. The platesetter also offers an optional multiple-plate punch and an inline processor. And, like other Creo products, the Lotem 400 Quantum features SQUARESPOT thermal imaging.

Complementing the CTP output device is the iQsmart line of color scanners. Featuring a compact size, the iQsmart handles transparencies, reflective, mounted slides, line art, printed materials and halftone-screened films. This versatility gives printers the ability to meet customers' requests easily, and the high productivity of 40 scans per hour means increased efficiency within the plant.

Digital proofing also is part of the digital shop, and this is an area that has improved rapidly during the past two years. In the past, smaller printers complained that there were no contract proofing systems on the market that met their needs for affordability and color accuracy. New technologies, such as inkjet, along with greatly improved software, have changed that picture.

Consider the Creo Veris proofer, a four-up tabletop digital proofing system (available this fall) that is designed for contract proofing. It uses Multi-Drop Array inkjet technology that produces proofs with a controlled stream of dots that are precisely placed on the proofing media. It allows the Veris device to provide a resolution of 1500 x 1500 dpi. And the Certified Proofing Process checks that the proofer has been calibrated recently and that the correct calibration set-up has been used. Next, the system verifies that the correct ICC profile has been selected. Finally, the system ensures that the proof is printed with the ink and media defined.

What to look for

Affordable and cost-effective systems are, indeed, on the market. But when evaluating systems, what should printers consider before making buying decisions? Scalability and modularity are good features to consider. As a shop grows or customers' needs change, so, too, must systems to accommodate these new demands. To maximize initial and long-term investments, experts recommend buying only what you need today but choosing systems that can be easily upgraded, step by step, as needs change.

Then, too, for many commercial printers, versatility becomes an important consideration. Most smaller operations must accommodate a range of customers and a range of job configurations. Selecting systems that can accommodate a range of sizes, resolutions, speeds and configurations helps printers get the most from their investment.