Taking the Direct Route

The promise of offset-quality, short-run, ultra-fast-turnaround color that made direct-imaging (DI) printing a burgeoning profit center before the economic downturn struck continues to win new adherents as companies look for low-risk ways to get past current business slumps.

"The economy is actually driving DI," testifies Bill Farquharson, president of PrintTec University, an on-line digital printing sales training program that has been adopted by Heidelberg USA for its customers. "Because companies using print are focused on the short term and not even thinking about the third and fourth quarters of this year, they don't want to risk any long-run, long-term messages."

He adds, "They want to stay nimble and be able to test the waters with different marketing messages. DI, which is perfectly suited for such last-minute short runs, is the way to go, as it also helps companies run more efficiently by creating little or no inventory."

One company reaping the benefits of DI is three-year-old One Source Digital Solutions of Phoenix, Ariz. Recognized as the 27th-largest digital printing firm in North America, One Source reports that it has maintained an aggressive growth curve through the recent installation of a Heidelberg Speedmaster DI 74 five-color press with coater.

The first such machine installed in Arizona, says the company, the press replaced a five-color 20 Heidelberg GTO-DI that One Source sold last month to Durango, Colo.-based ColorQuest Graphics, a 16-employee two-up commercial shop anxious to distinguish itself by being the only DI printer within a 400-mile radius to meet a heightened demand for high-quality, short-run color.

"Whether it's on the manufacturing or service end, niche marketing has become key for the vast majority of area companies looking to lower their risks, so DI allows us to play in this market space," reports ColorQuest president Jim Henley, explaining that his shop previously had been at a quality disadvantage trying to do short-run four-color process work on two-color presses.

Adds Mike Chiricuzio, president and general manager of One Source, "Unlike recessions in the past, when people bought printing because they had to do something to stimulate business, this time around—especially since September 11—people seem to be just holding back and doing the most minimal amount.

"Part of that holding back has translated into a higher likelihood that they're going to produce fewer pieces, or do those that are in shorter supply. This is going to drive more work towards DI or digital presses."

In a study recently released by Norwell, Mass.-based industry research group CAP Ventures, printers that own a Heidelberg Quickmaster (QM) DI press report on average a 45% gross profit margin, a lead of 15 percentage points over the 2001 Printing Industries of America (PIA) digital printing profit leaders, and 19 points better than the average of all PIA printers.

Says CAP Ventures, the profitability level of the 480 QM DI printers surveyed for the report is three percentage points higher in 2001 than the year before.

"When you consider that the vast majority of DI presses in the U.S. are Heidelberg machines, with 1,500 installations of the QM DI and nearly 100 of the Speedmaster DI 74 models, these numbers would seem pretty much representative of the whole group," explains Ron Gilboa of CAP Ventures.

Gilboa reports that overall DI unit placement grew 16% last year, with high sales levels for KBA Karat and Ryobi DI presses.

He says that KBA North America, for example, doubled the orders for its direct-imaging four-color 74 Karat in 2001, to boost the model total to over 50 installations worldwide. At the international Ipex 2002 show next month, KBA will introduce to the European market its two-page 46 Karat DI, which utilizes DI pioneer Presstek's new ProFire laser imaging and spooled media technology with PearlDry plates.

Projections from NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies indicate that more than 2,700 direct-imaging presses will be in use worldwide by the end of 2002.

At the Print 01 show last fall, more than a dozen DI presses were on display, leading Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology's Frank Romano to remark about the definitive arrival of "the digital revolution in printing." Among the DI vendors at the eight-day event were Adast, Heidelberg, KBA, Komori, MAN Roland, Presstek, Ryobi, Sakurai, Screen, and Xerox.

Print 01 attendees got their first peek at MAN Roland's DicoWeb, an innovative DI web offset press that enables imaging, erasing, and re-imaging directly to a plate-like "form" cylinder. "Dico," which stands for digital changeover—which the manufacturer says takes less than 12 minutes from job to job—utilizes laser imaging heads and a patented thermoplastic transfer medium to apply a job directly to the machine's image-carrying cylinders in less than two minutes.

When the print run is completed, the image is automatically erased to ready the cylinders for the next project.

MAN Roland director of marketing Christian Cerfontaine confirms that the first printer to use DicoWeb, Nussbaum Medien, is successfully utilizing the press for newspaper work in Germany, and that eight more installations are expected in Europe by the end of the year.

Quebecor World MIL Inc., Don Mills, Ontario, represents the first North American customer to use Komori's new Project D, recognized as the first eight-page 40 DI press. The printer intends to use the machine for the production of annual reports and high-end collateral pieces as well as general commercial printing jobs. Once running, Quebecor will serve as Komori's demo spot for the new press.

"This represents the only Komori press this Heidelberg shop has ever purchased, so there's a learning curve not only for the new technology but for a brand-new press as well," explains Jackie Hudmon, general manager of Komori's imaging systems unit.

"The shop also bought a Prinergy front-end system to closely tie in with Project D, so there's compatibility with the whole production process," Hudmon continues. "As run lengths and turnaround times get shorter, managers feel this set-up should meet the demands of their customers and give them a marketing edge on their competitors. That's why people are looking at these technologies—they're trying to separate themselves from the pack and add value to the production process befitting the print buyer."

With flexibility a core strength of direct imaging, DI presses can accommodate a broad range of jobs regardless of run length, print on virtually all types of paper, add spot colors and varnishes, and eliminate the problem of toner cracking along folds, which sometimes occurs with toner-based digital press output.

The DI production process reduces manual intervention and the number of iterations between the original and finished plate, making it easier to keep the press "full."

"Gone are the instabilities associated with traditional chemical-based systems such as emulsion variances, processor condition, and age of chemistry; plus, there are no more remakes caused by processor or vacuum frame deficiencies," says Stan Najmr, director of DI marketing for Presstek, Inc., supplier of plates and imagers to most DI-based press manufacturers, including Adast, Heidelberg, Karat, Ryobi, Sakurai, and Xerox.

Najmr explains that because Presstek-enabled DI presses are waterless in nature, temperature is controlled by factory-installed chilling systems, which eliminates the need to balance ink and water on press. Also, because all four plates are imaged simultaneously on press using lasers and software to control accuracy, registration accuracy is enhanced.

In certain press designs, such as the Ryobi 3404DI, 46 Karat DI, and Xerox DocuColor 233 DI, "the sheet remains in a single set of grippers without transfers, furthering the accuracy of registration in four-color printing," he says.

After contemplating for 18 months the purchase of a DI press to complement its two-and-a-half-year-old Indigo Turbo-Stream digital press, former prepress house CrossTech Communications could hardly wait for the arrival of its new 74 Karat press. The machine was delivered directly from the KBA booth at Print 01 to the printer's new building in downtown Chicago, where the majority of its customers operate agencies and demand 24/7 service.

CrossTech officials say they chose the large quarters to accommodate the 29, 26,000-pound press. Once climate control was added and operators trained, the press has been running steadily for two months.

"Interest from customers has been exceptional, and, if anything, we've had to be cautious not to over-commit because we don't have another press to put the jobs on like a conventional printer would," reports CrossTech president Richard A. Di Pietro, who invited customers into his shop last month to see the press in operation at an open house.

Di Pietro adds, "We're saying to clients, 'Even if you don't use it, come and see this technology because you really want to see how plates are made right on press. You want to see the registration; you want to see the fact that there's no ghosting.' "

The executive says CrossTech was sold on the technology's ability to go direct-to-press, which eliminates the need to mount plates or worry about water dampening issues. "Our strength is on the prepress side, and this press takes advantage of that strength, enabling us to avoid finding and hiring trained operators to run it," he says. "One operator can run the press consistently."

While 34% of the respondents in the CAP Ventures study claimed to have adopted a DI press based on quality, another 26% favored the technology for its cost per sheet.

"The typical run length crossover position [of conventional offset presses] with toner-based printing devices is 500 to 700 sheets," says CAP Ventures' Gilboa, "but the most reliable estimates of the actual breakeven point [for the Quickmaster DI] appears to be 450 to 600 copies of 11x17" sheets printed four-over-four, and 350 to 500 copies of 11x17" sheets printed four colors on one side."

Regarding speed, Gilboa says that a Heidelberg QM DI user, on average, completes three to six customer projects within one shift, translating into as many as 12 makereadies per shift.

When it comes to selling DI jobs, One Source's Chiricuzio states that it is not so much a matter of getting through to the print buyer, who typically is charged with buying a document at the lowest cost per page, as it is finding the person in the company with a higher level of vision and understanding as to the real goal of the communication.

Being able to offer variable-data printing from a digital press to work in tandem with DI jobs for targeted marketing campaigns gains a real advantage, he adds.

"It's the entrepreneurial person within the corporation who understands that what they're really trying to do is get their message across at the lowest cost per acquisition and/or with the highest number of responses," remarks Chiricuzio.

He says OneSource has used this approach to develop a niche in contract and program work for corporations, ranging from those in automobile manufacture and casino operations to healthcare and finance. "If you can talk to that person and create a model that offers them this value, then you've really got something."

As an on-demand digital printer specializing in end-of-the-month statement printing, XRC, Inc., New York City, has been holding off buying a DI press to complement its stable of Xerox DocuTech 2060 variable-imaging machines while examining next-generation digital color offerings from NexPress (2100 digital press) and Xerox (DocuColor iGen3 digital production press).

"We want to see if variable-data technology is the better direction to go," says XRC president Roger Gimbel. "Because DI is very limited on the variable-data side, we've looked at it as a bit of a Band-Aid to the linkage between traditional press and digital technologies. The industry is changing rapidly right now, and the components of how color printing takes off is going to be based on being able to convert more people to color."