If you are thinking about investing in a digital press, how will you get the most from that investment? What it will take to operate the press at an optimal level for maximum profit? How will you minimize costs and feed the press with ideal jobs, so you don’t waste ink and substrate? Although the piece of technology is important, it is only one of the components necessary to be successful with digital printing.
Optimization for productivity in digital printing is very different than in conventional Flexo. Inks are very expensive and can rival the cost of substrates in some cases. The other advantages of digital certainly outweigh the ink costs up to certain volumes. It can be a delicate balance of cost vs. profit if not managed closely.
Managing that balance requires you to thoroughly understand color management and how your prepress RIP builds colors. Why use Magenta and Yellow when you can use Orange? Building colors from the CMYK ink set becomes critical to the cost of a job. Since most digital presses are based on a CMYK and sometimes Orange and Violet (OV) ink set, it becomes crucial to understand color management as most if not all of your spot colors will be made up of CMYKOV in some percentage.
Another key to maximizing your investment is efficiency in loading up the press with jobs that need the same substrates, same die-cut, etc. Similar to scheduling for conventional presses, lining up jobs on digital presses makes a big difference in profitability. In most cases, the number of SKUs is much higher than conventional printing, which makes automation more of a necessity to get the most efficient and cost-effective output from the press every day.
Efficient front-end processes as well as pre-press operators who feed the press and have color management skills will be more capable of understanding the best quality/cost balance. Proper training beyond the primary operation of the press is beneficial, and the more you can learn about how jobs can be optimized for the best quality printing and the lowest cost will bring your operation the value you are seeking.
If you don’t have the in-house expertise, help is available. Use the resources of your digital press supplier and take the time to get good at understanding how to make sure your digital press is making money for you on every job. Having this resource close by as you begin your digital journey will be critical to your success.