I know I am in danger of surprising a lot of people – but it is time I came out of the Microsoft Office Suite closet and admit I am power user of Office products like Word and PowerPoint.

I would be the first to tell you Not to use Word for page layout and to create color separations. But the fact is that No matter what you say or do you can’t stop some people from using the wrong program to create files they want to print from.

I have learned through teaching a seminar “150 Money Saving Tips to Avoid Output Mistakes” there will always be some people using Word, Publisher or PowerPoint who want to go to a printing press.
Therefore you can help them or avoid them – I decide to help them.
 
So like many other people  - I have figured out how to get Word to print 4 color wor...Read More

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It often surprises me which blogs motivate interest. For example, 2 that generated responses were “Goodbye CompUSA Hello Best Buy” and the “Web to Print Shipping cart”. Maybe I should conclude that the simple act of discussing a way to buy stuff is good way to motivate responses.

Of course “Something to ease the Pain for Rockies Fans” and the blog on “Going Green” generated interest too.  So referring to a sporting event, (especially during the playoffs) and discussing how to save the planet generates interest.

Recently a new topic that has generated interest is entitled “Online vs. Face to Face Training”. As you can see by reading the comments most agree and have something interesting to say.

• A student says that online training is only as effective as

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I don’t pretend to be an expert on the effectiveness of different types of training, but the fact is I perform a fair amount of face to face training and talk to a lot of people about training effectiveness. I believe that some trends are clear.

Most companies today are looking for less expensive and faster alternatives then those in which people have to travel or spend days to attend. This results is online training tools such as one hour webinars or teaching tools that allow you to log in whenever you want and train at your on pace.

So the potential advantages are clear – online training is faster, cheaper and does not require travel. My 16 year old recently went through an online training course for his learners permit. The question is how effective is it. For my teenage son who usually gets A’s and B’s it was not that e...Read More

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I have been thinking a lot about workflow lately. Not the usual how can I squeeze one more job off each press in a 8 hours shift, reduce the piles in the estimating or CSR area or deliver an additional 30 more jobs off a digital press. Those are conversations with people who already appreciate the importance of workflow and recognize the benefits of workflow.

In this assignment I have to explain the reasons why workflow is important to people who may not appreciate the advantages to their businesses. This is a different conversation.

First you have to talk about the challenges in our businesses which include waning profitability, declining sales, and increased competition. Second you have to discuss how streamlining workflow reduces the number of manual steps or “touches”, reduces bottlenecks and allows less people to do more work and wi...Read More

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We have been discussing the hype in the popular press that new inkjet technologies will be shown at Drupa that could result in inkjet becoming the dominate technology used for commercial printing. Although not as new as the rest one other to consider is the Screen Truepress Jet520.

On Jan 26 2006 at IPEX Screen introduced the Screen Truepress Jet520 continuous feed, single-pass system. Previewed at Ipex, the Jet520 combined Piezo drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet heads manufactured by Seiko Epson and water-based pigment inks. The Truepress Jet520 which is also sold as the IBM Infoprint 5000, can print onto a variety of stock, from inkjet paper to standard paper and even uncoated paper.

The Truepress Jet520 can print up to 210 ft/ min to a width of 165in which equates to 25,200 A4 color pages per hour simplex, 50,400 pages an hour duplex and 37,200 3-page ...Read More

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Lately we’ve been talking about the hyped message in the press that new inkjet technologies shown at DRUPA could result in inkjet displacing offset as the dominate technology used for commercial printing. Two other products fueling this interest, are from Oce.

At a Oce Press & Analysts Event in Boca Raton Florida on Dec 3-5 2007, Oce announced the JetStream 1100 single-engine system and the Océ JetStream 2200 twin system. The Océ JetStream 1100 is a four color inkjet press running at 492 fpm. With a print width of 20.3" and paper width of 20.5", the Océ JetStream 1100 system can produce up to 1,074 letter impressions per minute in two-up simplex format.

The Océ JetStream 1100 system is duplex press with a single engine printing at 1,074 letter impressions per minute. By using a narrow web (9.5" or 242 mm...Read More

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In earlier blogs we discussed the hype that new inkjet technologies will be shown at Drupa that could result in inkjet becoming the dominate technology used for commercial printing. Two other products fueling this interest are the newest Kodak Versamark and Kodak Stream Inkjet Concept Press

On January 17, 2008 in Dusseldorf, Germany, Kodak announced the release of their new strategy for inkjet printing. The new product they announced was the Kodak Versamark VL2000 printer. This is the first high-speed drop-on-demand (DOD) printer from Kodak. Up to now Kodak has only offered high-speed continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers. The new Versamark VL2000 will provide the same speed as Kodak's existing CIJ Versamark VT3000 printer but with a higher quality color image.

The most important announcement, however, was of the new Kodak Stream Inkjet Concept Press. Ac...Read More

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Previous blogs discussed the hyped message that new inkjet technologies shown at DRUPA could result in inkjet displacing offset as the dominate technology used for commercial printing. One product fueling this interest is the HP Inkjet Web Press.

On March 10, 2008 in TEL AVIV, Israel, HP announced a move into the continuous feed inkjet color printing market. The HP Inkjet Web Press is a 30-inch wide web press creating excitement because the competitive products are 20-inch wide. This twin-engine duplex printing engine press runs at a speed of 122 meters/minute (400 ft/min) and this equates to 2,600 Letter or A4 pages/minute. Although not official the speculation is that this press will sell for around $2.5 million.

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If you have read the articles in the popular press you probably noticed that the DRUPA has been coined the Inkjet DRUPA. Although not discussed in depth, the assumption is that new inkjet technologies will be shown that will start the migration from offset lithographic printing as the dominate technology used for commercial printing to inkjet. If this is true it will mean that inkjet will overcome not only electrophotographic (laser, LCD and toner based) technologies for shorter runs but offset printing for longer run lengths.

Few discussions generate as much controversy as the prediction of which printing technology will be the dominate technology in the future. It should be no surprise that large grandiose predictions about technology and the future occur in conjunction with the large international shows.

Years ago the themes emerged after the sh...Read More

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Last week I attended the Xerox analyst meeting in Norwalk Conn. While most of the technologies and new products are covered under a NDA (non disclosure agreement),  one thing can be discussed. The one clear message from the start was the announcement of one new phrase to the standard Xerox expression: “The Right Business Model, the Right Workflow, the Right Technology”.

This new addition was the expression “Right Now”. This was meant to say that while there is a lot of excitement about these new inkjet products in the future lets not forget that may not be available for a year or more.

Clearly this was in response to all the hype in the popular press about the Inkjet DRUPA. The assumption is that new inkjet technologies will be shown that will start the migration from offset lithographic printing as the dominate technol...Read More

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Previously we discussed a few issues for web based ordering from catalogs. What we continue to learn is that certain products are more frequently purchased from online sources then others.

For example, its not unusual to see a large portion of high tech gear (computers, software) sold on line while anything that falls under the jurisdiction of the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) may not.

One thing  I found most interesting on a catalog assignment was the evolution of purchasing preferences. At first the catalog was the main option for marketing the product and the phone the main ordering tool. Over time this was followed by internet marketing and internet ordering tool and superstores for marketing and sales.

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The more I work with web to print solutions the more I see how oversimplified and misunderstood the business models can be. For example, about a decade ago catalogers were compelled to hire programmers or outside service providers to create web sites that would allow customers to order online.

The thinking at the time was  that people would flock to buy all things on-line. While some sales grew others shrank and most remained the same. Pundits point to many things to explain the less then stellar growth, especially the lack of consumer confidence in security during this time.

One thing that changed was the ordering process. Instead of throwing a catalog into a briefcase, getting to work and ordering on the phone, now people opened the catalog at work and went to the web site.

However an often overlooked consideration is customer...Read More

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