Going Digital: Lessons Learned

What would you do differently if you were buying a digital press today?

Karen Meyers: A lot of time and research was put into the decision-making process. The only thing that I would change would have been to decrease the time frame so we could have moved forward and purchased the equipment sooner.

Jimmy Friend: I would spend more time researching the cost of operations and consumables of each of the machines we would be considering. In doing so I would contact current in-plant as well as commercial users of the equipment who do similar type work. I really think it is important that we know the true cost of operation of the equipment, prior to placing it. I've had enough surprises in my career and don't need to add to the list.

Steve Dimond: I would research devices that are actually out in the field, in working locations more than simply seeing them in vendor showrooms. Since I acquired the KM C8000, I have been asked to allow quite a few potential purchasers come in and see the device and talk to my staff. I originally would have said take your time and proceed slowly but to be honest, technology changes so fast these days that you may wait too long and make a decision based on features on a machine that have since changed dramatically. Do your research behind the scenes, talk to your peer institutions on device capabilities, get as much knowledge of the devices as you can and then set a short time frame to make the choice.

Stephen Murray: I think the amount of time we spent looking at equipment was right—about six weeks from start to decision. The reason we could make a quick decision was because we did a lot of research before looking. Based on that research the decision was made to look at one machine, the iGen. The reason we went with Xerox had to do with speed and the operator's ability to do a number of repairs when required. Six years later we have never missed a whole day of production.

How would you have evaluated equipment differently?

Meyers: We had an excellent sales representative and also received feedback from other users on various equipment and attended live demos to help solidify our decision. I would go through the same process again because it was very successful in gaining the information that we required.

Friend: I don't know if we would have evaluated the equipment any differently. We gave all vendors the same files of a varied selection of projects. They were difficult jobs that we had produced within our operations. We took the same files and went to a couple of commercial operations that we knew, and they loaded the files and walked us through the workflow from start to final output. This was helpful, and several of these samples were not the same as the vendor output samples.

Dimond: I would never go by the performance of a vendor showroom device or job examples run in a showroom. Always bring your jobs to sample in a device already placed in the workplace. Always use your stock and not anyone else's. Always talk to peers, particularly those that run the type of work you are familiar with.

Murray: I think the most important thing you can do is ask the sales people to give you all information they have on the equipment they are selling you. Do your homework on what they give you. The Internet is a great way to validate the sales materials. Putting a question out on a listserv will only get you responses from people who are either unhappy with their equipment or in love with it. Very little other relevant information usually comes from these discussions: what they like, don't like, color quality, types of paper it runs, ease of service and what the customer thinks about its output. And never forget to talk to those who design the files and send them to the printer.

What have you have learned after using your digital press for a while now?

Meyers: One of the requirements for guaranteed success with a digital press is having a good operator. We felt very confident in the staff that we had on board, and the training process went very smooth for both of them. Our operators are very diligent in maintenance and upkeep, which has had a very positive impact on the cost of running the machine. They are very good about knowing the best time to perform maintenance and stretching the life of the ORCs (operator replaceable components). The outcome that we have had for the machine has far exceeded our expectations.

Friend: Here are some things we learned:

• Some papers work better than others.
• Look for new operators who have an eye for color.
• Continue to train your operators, not only in operation of the equipment but in maintaining the equipment.
• Daily equipment maintenance is necessary to attain the best quality.
• And room environment is important—both humidity and temperature.

Dimond: The operators really need to work closely with the technicians. The ability to fine tune and maintain consistency is more critical at this segment. Staff should take care of minor problems before making service calls to maintain uptime. Speeds are always a bit tricky, especially when you install in-line finishing options. Be aware of the changes that occur with features like special stocks, heavier weights and unusual media as they can all result in speeds being compromised.

Murray: Performing maintenance and repairs requires a lot of training. Being able to do our own maintenance and repairs has resulted in never losing a whole day of production. A major issue requiring a service tech may only occur three or four times a year. Our lesson with paper was easy: trying to save a few pennies by running cheaper paper will cost you a lot more in the long run. We have experimented with offset and digital stocks, and for the most part use only digitally proven paper. We also purchase the most expensive paper that our vendor makes. I think it is more important to make less (money) and provide a high-quality product to the customer. Smaller margins can easily be offset by increased volume from a happy customer via repeat business.

Have you gotten the type of work and the volumes that you expected?

Meyers: We have been able to increase our color volumes by 14 percent due to the increased reliability, quality and speed of the new machine, and this has allowed us to expand our services. We have also been able to insource more jobs that were previously being outsourced. In addition to this, we have been able to increase volume on our printing presses due to envelopes needed to complete the job and other black-and-white printing to go along with the color. The capability for dimensional printing has also been a key highlight to the machine and has also allowed us to capture more work.

Friend: Our types of work and volumes were more than we expected.

Dimond: We have reached customers and applications that we could not touch before based on the capabilities and qualities of the device. Volumes continue to grow.

Murray: We have gotten more work then we expected. In the beginning we expected to see more projects move from smaller digital devices to the iGen. Instead, with time we added long-run VDP projects, and projects that in the past would have printed offset, but could be done just as well digitally and cost less. Business cards are now all printed on the iGen, improving delivery times. We are also printing more black-and-white projects on the iGen than we thought, usually at least 100,000 clicks a month. We also do a lot of print on demand since we handle form printing for a hospital. I feel strongly this market is still in its infancy, and we have a lot more opportunity out there for POD.

As expected our digital business really took off as our customers learned more about what the iGen could do, but at the same time the customers that were digital customers were learning what else we could do, like offset. Before digital we didn't have a cost competitive solution for the customer who only needs 500 brochures. At the same time when they decide to order 10,000 the next time, we run them on the six-color press. With the iGen our philosophy was simple: run the customer's project the least expensive way while exceeding their expectations for quality. The marriage of digital and offset has let us do that.

Have you done as much variable data printing as you initially expected?

Meyers: We were already producing variable data printing so this has not changed much, although we would like to grow this aspect of our business.

Friend: We have not produced as much variable as we had originally expected. We were excited with the opportunity to offer the variable, but for us it has been a hard sale to the campus community. There are a few departments that have embraced it and use it on a regular basis, but there are also others who are very sporadic about the use of variable. Those who track the results of their campaigns are more apt to use variable than those who don't.

Dimond: Not as of yet, as our marketing campaign on this service is being developed.

Murray: I was told to not try to sell VDP for a year or so after purchasing the iGen to give everyone time to get use to it. I never understood that since we got the iGen to be able to run variable data print (VDP) projects. A few months after installation we were printing 50,000 VDP postcards. It took longer than expected to sell VDP to our customers, but now about 50 percent of our digital work on the iGen is VDP. I would be lying if I didn't say it was harder than we expected, but after a few mistakes and learning a few tricks we are off to the races. The sales cycle on VDP is longer than most other print technologies. The key is to start small like a name on the front plus an address, and then as your customer gets positive results discuss other ways to improve their response rates even more.

Any unexpected installation issues that you encountered?

Meyers: No, the installation process was smooth because we were well informed about what to expect.

Friend: The cost for the electrical was a little more than budgeted but not excessive. Working with our campus IT department was an issue. The machine was hacked into several times before IT could secure it.

Dimond: Nothing out of the ordinary and for the most part, uneventful.

Murray: Not at all. Installation was a two-day process followed by two weeks of on-site training. I think it was important that we prepared the space exactly as requested and made sure the staff who needed to be there for the installation and training were there for the duration. Our iGen4 was up and running in less than one day.

Have you had any service-related issues?

Meyers: Service has been excellent. We have been very pleased with the fact that service has been required very infrequently, and when we do have to place a call, our techs respond promptly and pro–fessionally.

Dimond: Service is by far the most critical aspect of the success of any of the devices. Service can vary by region. Make sure you know how good yours is, not simply because you use them for other devices, but how do they do with this segment machine. Even the best vendor has different levels of service within the segments that they sell devices for. Talk to other customers who use this vendor and have the same kind or model of equipment about their service.

Murray: Not at all. The key is that with the iGen there isn't much the operator can't repair, and in some cases if your operator is mechanically inclined there are things they can fix that would normally require a tech. This aspect of the iGen is so important to our business. Anything we can do to avoid being down and missing deadlines is key.

How about customer-related issues?

Meyers: We are able to turn jobs quicker than we ever have been able to in the past, and our customers are extremely pleased with the decreased turnaround times. They are also very impressed with the quality.

Friend: Our customers have embraced our digital solutions more than we anticipated and have allowed us to print some really elegant projects using the digital technology.

Murray: With our ability to deliver digital projects same day and the growing pressure to get everything done faster, cheaper and still look great, our new norm is the rush job. It is imperative to purchase new technologies that help you meet the growing needs/demands of your customers. If you don't, you stop meeting their needs, and we all knows what happens after that.