Continuous-feed Printing In The In-plant

A new survey tracks trends in continuous-feed printing.

By Andy Plata

When struggling to balance the mix of legacy and new equipment, in-plant printers face a continuous dilemma. How much time and money should be devoted to existing hardware and software? How many resources should go toward preparing the future? At a time when every penny counts, striking that delicate balance is trickier than ever.

Those who rely on continuous-feed printers may gain some insight from a new research report from InfoTrends/CAP Ventures and OutputLinks entitled "Continuous-Feed Printing in the In-Plant Environment." InfoTrends/CAP Ventures and OutputLinks, organizations in the high-volume computer output (HVCO) industry, identified current and future strategic directions for this industry workhorse.

While the majority of respondents identified a strong legacy foundation with 240/300-dpi, AFP/PDS print data streams, and channel connectivity, they also expressed interest in convergence with their support of page description languages, such as PostScript and PDF. Users are cautious about expenditures for new equipment but are evaluating the addition of new capabilities, such as migrating from simplex to duplex and vice versa.

Who was in the survey mix? The majority of these in-plant providers work within the finance and insurance industries. The remainder come from industries such as utilities, healthcare, manufacturing, public administration and the wholesale and retail trades. A majority produce mixed (transactional and graphic) applications or transactional applications only. Half produced mixed applications and 44 percent solely produce transactional applications. Only 5.6 percent of respondents produce graphic arts applications.

Regardless of industry, they all expressed interest in watching the bottom line. The HVCO industry is keeping its stalwart continuous-feed legacy equipment and operations in good working order rather than rushing headlong into new purchases, according to Andrew Gordon, senior consultant, On Demand Printing and Publishing Consulting Service, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. At the same time, the industry recognizes that no business is an island, and connectivity and convergence are the paths to future growth.

Continuous-feed Is Top Priority

To many of the respondents, continuous-feed (CF) printing is the backbone of the data center. Over 71 percent indicated that keeping their CF devices updated is their top investment priority. There appears to be good interest in other options, such as leasing additional new equipment (50 percent), leasing new equipment to replace existing equipment (53 percent), purchasing new equipment to replace existing equipment (46 percent), and purchasing new additional equipment (40 percent).

And just what are they doing with their continuous-feed equipment? A whopping 93 percent indicated that print data streams such as AFP/IPDS are quite important to operations, indicating that legacy data streams constitute the major flow within the shops.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that those surveyed are primarily concerned with legacy applications. Support for page description languages such as PostScript and PDF was also deemed very important or extremely important by 80 percent of respondents, indicating a strong influence of convergence, according to Gordon. To support this, 66.7 percent of respondents considered server-based connectivity to be very important or extremely important. More than half—57.2 percent—felt the same way about channel connectivity.

Their choice of important features is also telling. Top-ranked abilities include 600 dpi resolutions and network connectivity.

When you factor in the support for these page-description languages and high-level features, a picture emerges of a group that clearly has its eye on the future and the new abilities that the future demands, according to Gordon. In-plant printers understand that this is the time to plan for change, which means connectivity and convergence.

Keeping The Current Fleet Stable

On the way to the future, however, respondents indicated that the best strategy is to keep the current fleet stable; they plan to spend their money on maintenance and upgrades. As mentioned, more than 71 percent said their top investment priority is keeping their continuous-feed devices updated.

One reason, of course, is the sheer durability of the continuous-feed engine. The mean number of functional years for this industry workhorse, according to those surveyed, is a respectable 8.5 years. More than half of the respondents—68.7 percent—said they did not expect to change their number of continuous-feed printers; 12.5 percent expected a decline, and 18.8 percent indicated an increase. This averages out to a small increase in engines.

Since these devices are so robust, it's not surprising that most users prefer to upgrade their equipment rather than buying new. These findings are also a wake-up call to the vendors who serve this industry. This loyal installed base is looking for hardware and software that offers enhanced functionality.

Features Of Choice

Recognizing the importance of diverse print options for their user base, the respondents ranked duplex printing and migration from simplex to duplex as important features. Interestingly, MICR was considered very important or extremely important by 37.5 percent of respondents.

Though there was less interest in in-line finishing or Triplex configurations, both of these attributes scored well. Triplex, a new three-engine concept introduced by Océ, was deemed moderately important or greater by 28 percent of the respondents. One site indicated that this feature was extremely important. In-line finishing was very important or extremely important for 28.6 percent of the respondents, and another 28.6 percent considered this feature to be moderately important.

In-plant printers that rely on continuous-feed printers are clearly choosing a cautious but progressive path. They continue to invest and support their essential legacy foundations, but are also looking to the future with features such as 600-dpi resolutions, network connectivity and page description languages like PostScript and PDF. With an equipment replacement cycle of about 8.5 years, however, this evolution will likely occur slowly.

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Andy Plata is the president and publisher of OutputLinks, the Global Multi-Media Publishing Resource of the High Volume Computer Output Industry. This research report is available at www.OutputLinks.com/survey or by e-mailing Andy Plata at ap@OutputLinks.com