Digital Printing and Small Offset Printing

Everyone now admits that digitalization is the direction of development. However, it is not always easy when printing companies with different situations turn to digital printing in any way. Some viewpoints of the industry in the UK and their practice are worth learning from.

The future is digital, but at the same time, the market continues to need to print economically and efficiently using offset presses. Offset presses are faster and easier to use than in the past. Many companies that have purchased new printers are watching the development of digitization, but at the moment they still choose offset presses because they meet the needs of users.

Small offset presses have been around for about 25 years, so it is not illogical to suggest whether their useful life is over. In particular, considering that many digital printers have entered the market, most are A3/BA's small specifications. In addition, the continuous improvement in the quality and economy of digital presses has brought them into the area traditionally considered a restricted area for small offset presses. But why did we see so many new types of traditional offset presses on Drupa2000 in May? Just like a digital press, there are 15 small offset presses. Ryobi and Hamada have 5 units, Heidelberg has 3 units (including the improved GTO), Komori has 1 unit. Even manroland also announced that it entered the offset market through OEM, although like Heidelberg and ABDick, Roland also exhibited a digital press. It seems that the answer is that in a wide range, there is nothing that can beat small offsets in terms of cost and print quality. When the high-speed copying machine appeared, people said that offset printing had come to an end. However, it actually promoted quality improvement at the low end of the market. It allows manufacturers to respond with more convenient and simpler presses. The color control of the press is also more reliable. The same thing happened when high-speed color copiers and digital printers appeared. They are not taking away all the markets. They are making people understand what they can do. In fact these devices have developed new markets. If we say that because there will always be a middle ground and that digital presses will never take away our market, it is stupid, and we see them as a parallel technology. In fact, the scope of B3 is still a growing market for us. Due to the lower number of prints, people who originally printed only with A2 are now turning to B3, and in particular can obtain the same print quality and output.

Some printing manufacturers believe that the important development we are concerned with over the past few years is no longer the speed of printing. Now, in most cases, it is to look at the whole process of production, and the time is closely related to the auxiliary work. Printer manufacturers responded in this regard. For example, the semi-automatic changeover time on the Ryobi multicolor machine is about 40 seconds, plus the ink setting system takes only a few minutes to open. The small offset printing market still has a certain vitality, and this is a big market. The printing of five-color advertising booklets ranging from 5000 to 10,000 will help the existence of this market. The other products are packaging, cards and labels. There are 30 tags on a sheet, which means you can produce 20,000 tags with just 800 prints. Digital presses have an impact on this market, but digital presses tend to establish a new market, giving more people the concept of small-scale production. There is also a cost factor. In the coming years, the cost of using a small offset press will be lower than that of digital printing.

Although the small offset market may expand, this is not the case in all aspects. ABDick explained that after the improvement of plain paper copiers and digital printing, especially in the black and white area, the sales volume of entry-level offset printers has dropped and it has almost disappeared. In order to meet the requirements of users, we turned to the two-color A3 market. In fact, we now sell about six to eight two-color offset presses to sell a traditional A3 small offset press. Our 9995 two-color printing press uses semi-automatic plate change and off-press ink control. The printing press increased its production capacity, and of course the price went up. Heidelberg's Quickmaster and Printmaster are more expensive, but the SM52, GTO and QM46 are selling well. The global small offset printing market is growing at a rate of 5% to 6%, and the overall offset printing market has a growth rate of 2% to 3%.

Like other manufacturers, Heidelberg has seen the need for hybrid presses. For example, it has the meaning of marking and punching the QM46 and adding light to the GTO and SM52. A printing press has multiple printing units. Even with the QM46, the sales of monochrome machines have been very low. Today, the machines sold are usually two-color machines, and more than half of the SM52 and nearly half of the QM46 are four or more colors.

Quickfold, a mail company founded 14 years ago, began printing in eight years to control the entire process. The company has its own design studio, so it can provide users with complete services. Quickfold's printing shop has 18 people. In November last year, it bought the Ulrich 512H press and Purop Eskofot's DPX computer plate making machine. The main benefit of moving to CTP is to save time and increase production capacity. It also adapts to the fact that most of the jobs that Quickfold receives are in digital format. The company has a digital press that prints short runs, such as color samples. For an order of 10,000 sheets, offset printing costs much less. Another factor is that the registration of digital printing is not precise enough.

Brook & Learoyd, a commercial printing and print design company, purchased the ABDick9995 offset press and 2340 drum polyester CTP equipment in July this year to increase the output of the short-lived four-color version. By the end of this year, the proportion of four-color printing will increase from 10% to 50%. Four weeks after the new equipment went into production, two users who lost due to price competition were taken back. According to the company, printers who do not turn to CTP will inevitably face competition. The speed of turnover alone is very different. We can make a four-color version from the disk in ten minutes, and it takes two hours to make it from the film. If the plate is not scratched, it takes only four minutes to complete the plate change. Since there is no longer a £80 A3 film fee, there is more room for negotiation. Before purchasing another press, the company seriously considered the digital press. There is no doubt that digital presses are becoming cheaper and easier to accept. At the right time, we will turn to the past, but the quality is still not enough, especially the registration. At present, more than 1,000 batch offset presses are more economical. Offset presses are more flexible and can print two-color jobs when needed, while digital presses always print four colors, which adds to the cost.

Imagelink, a commercial printer in Dublin, uses digital presses and offset presses to meet the needs of users. The company chose the Universidad 525HX to accommodate the growing five-color short-run printing. This kind of live quality is the key, and the amount of prints is large, and using digital presses is not economical. Five-color printing plus on-line coating greatly reduces turnaround time. Now four hours or five prints, cuts and deliveries can be completed in three hours, which used to take three days.

Not all small offset printer buyers are ready to go to the CTP. Many of them are still willing to solve the problem of the press itself. It is becoming more common for suppliers to provide other content, such as post-processing equipment. Preston, a subsidiary of TSnape, needed an A3 press to produce A3 and A4 jobs more economically. The company's presses are Heidelberg products (one TOK and two MOs), which are A2 size, replacing the waste time between A2 and A3 and wasting the plates. The company increased its production capacity after installing a GTO and a Polla paper machine. The printing press is mainly used to print short editions of magazines and books, as well as two-color stationery and loose-leaf pages. As a 150-year-old TSnape company is very clear about the need to keep investing to keep up with technological changes, and has always been watching the development of CTP digital presses. The problem is always to know in what way and when to join. The company will not make any decision until the price falls to an acceptable level.

All MIC companies that use the Heidelberg press have turned to CTP. When the sixth GTO was purchased last year, the Trendsetter3230 was also installed to accommodate the plate-making requirements of 2,500 to 3,500 sheets per month. The company said that we have to produce up to 40 batches of live in this system every day. Short live more and more, which means that each printer will print four batches per hour. Prior to the purchase of Trendsetter, the company had to hire 4 full-time personnel in the platemaking department. After switching to computer-to-plate, the production capacity increased by 60% to 70%, and the workflow was improved and the preparation time was shortened. The appearance of CTP means that the skills are transferred to the prepress department. It is now easier for people who employ computer skills than those who have traditional platemaking skills.

From "Printing Magazine"