NOTEBOOK: Will Print Productivity Rise If More Print Turns To Digital?

Economists are said to be perplexed over U.S. productivity gains, long after a mature economy might be expected to have slowed. Instead, operations here have gained ground in productivity at a pace typical of newly developing markets.

A recent study by a British economist suggests U.S. businesses have done so well because of a knack for implementing information technologies, which also, incidentally, drop in cost every year.

But European businesses have access to the low-cost IT systems. Do U.S. firms somehow make better use of them? Yes, according to “Americans Do IT Better,” a paper written by a London School of Economics professor. One example cited was a British discount retailer that grew market share and profits—after it was acquired by Wal-Mart. Famed for its logistics and IT prowess, Wal-Mart is also viewed as a paradigm for Americanizing operations. (Write me or visit online for the link.)

Another take on this productivity conundrum appears in a June 18 BusinessWeek study, saying output grew because we outsource so much abroad. Import data masks dramatic labor savings.

Whether sourced overseas, next door or optimized with computer efficiency, a similar story is playing out in print markets. Advances in automated workflow—whether in high-flying Web-to-print or in high-volume, “lights-out” JDF throughput—are optimizing U.S. print firms.

Printers at the Komori launch last month of its automated and Web-friendly half-sized press told me things have changed: on-press computerization has been embraced and is being used. It's more user-friendly, for one thing; and it resolves the quandary about operator skills. Like our PCs, the press computer software manages the machine.

Perhaps surprisingly, digital print operations have had a tougher time with automation. Digital presses show smaller utilization rates and bigger time gaps between their ultra-short runs, productivity eaten by file tweaks and on-press proofing.

This will change as the next wave of new digital print engines meets unified digital and offset workflow. To wit: IBM and Ricoh's launch of InfoPrint; Screen and Kodak readying dazzlingly speedy inkjet transpromotional print engines; Océ pushing high-speed digital color into short-run newspapers; and HP unleashing industrial-grade machines aimed at shifting digital run lengths upward.

Progress on this was much in evidence at the recent raft of gatherings and users groups, which now draw thousands of participants: IPA, Dalim, HP DScoop, R&E Council Applied Technology Conference, Kodak Users Group and EFI Connect last month in Las Vegas. (This issue's Online Extras links to related blogs at www.graphicartsmonthly.com.)

Although it is a users group, EFI Connect is also the industry's largest technical conference. With 1,500 registrants and Heidelberg, MAN Roland, Komori, Canon and Konica-Minolta among the exhibitors, Connect provides a venue uniquely targeted to examining the impact of IT processes on print. It is also a chance to hear why Silicon Valley-based EFI, neighbors to Google and Apple, professes fondness for our industry.

In particular, EFI savors the prospects for an extremely robust and long-lived transition to digital runs. Sitting astride its Fiery, a key nexus for so many workflows, EFI can recount to its investors this bright scenario: From the current 90% analog and 10% digital printing we will transition to 25% digital print by 2015.

Even more compelling, just 4% of digital work is now done in color; by 2015 that figure will rise to 61%, a 1,500% leap in color pages. All that will require lots of RIPs and ripping horsepower. This growth is already happening. “The power of color is in the pages,” notes Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, reporting 30 billion color pages produced on its technology last year. It's a start.

bill.esler@reedbusiness.com