Variable Data Printing Prepare For It

Full-color variable data printing is not an "if" technology, but a "when." So ask yourself: "What happens if I don't?" And, "If I don't, who will?"

By Vic Barkin

MAYBE YOU'VE heard this one: A customer walks into your office and says, "We need 50,000 full-color variable data brochures by Friday!"

O.K., maybe you haven't.

For the past decade, full-color personalization has been proselytized as the printing technology of the future. The vision of millions and millions of pages being produced digitally, in full color, at rated speed, for an audience of one, has been the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the digital printing technology rainbow.

For most, though, it has not yet come to pass. As a former in-plant manager, I saw the potential and envisioned the path needed to get there. That path was customer education. Unlike the rainbow, I firmly believed, and still do, that there is an obtainable destination—and a pot of gold for those adventurous enough and creative enough to seek it.

As former manager of Northern Arizona University's Printing Services department, I knew if I didn't travel down the road to full-color personalization, I would lose out. I watched the industry leaders and bleeders carefully and made the calculated decision, as many of you have, that the time was right to start building a digital printing empire. The fear of not being ready to take advantage of the full-color variable data opportunity was too great to ignore.

The Secret Is Out

Case in point. In 2003 a new vice president for Enrollment Management was hired at NAU. While taking him on his introductory tour of our facility, I was proudly explaining all the black-and-white variable data we were producing on our Heidelberg (now Kodak) Digimaster. He asked me two very simple questions. "Can you do the same thing in color?" and "Can you also change images like you change text?"

Wow! If an enrollment VP knows about the concept of full-color variable data, then the secret must be out. Indeed it is. In fact, every management, marketing and executive trade magazine on the planet has, at least once, published an article on the wonders of variable data printing.

It's not just a cool little private domain of techno-weenies and wannabe digital printers anymore, it's a...how did Arlo Guthrie put it in his song "Alice's Restaurant?" It's a "Movement." Yessiree, before you know it all of your VPs, department heads, deans, directors, operation managers, CEOs, CFOs and CPAs will come walking through your door and say: "Can y'all print me some that thar variable data?"

Whoa! Sorry, I got carried away there. Let's get back to reality.

Faster, Better, More Affordable

A year ago I gave a presentation on digital printing for the Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference. There, I made some points that bear repeating.

Digital printing is getting faster, better and more affordable. Will it ever reach the economy of scale that offset printing enjoys? No. The fact is, however, digital printing will coexist with offset for a long time to come, but with better margins.

Turnaround times are shrinking, but fortunately, so are operating costs for digital printing. This is driving up cost-effective run lengths for digital, and since the quality of digital presses is now so close to that of offset, the fruit is ripe for the picking to transition many smaller runs of two, three and even five thousand static pieces to digital devices, even if you have to compete with offset prices in higher quantities.

It's all about positioning and leverage. It's about productivity and volume for you, and time-to-market for your customers. When the opportunity presents itself, are you asking your customers if they would be willing to pay more to get their order faster?

Prepare to Provide VDP

A major consideration is what are you buying technology for? My slogan is "Buy for POD; be ready for VDP." In other words, like Teddy Roosevelt said, "speak softly, and carry a big stick." Your soft voice is being able to give your customers options for their current needs, be it short-run versioning, personalization or automated fulfillment.

But have you asked the questions that dig down to what your customers really need? Have you educated them on the benefits of going digital? Have you proven the value of changing the way "printing" is perceived and produced?

Full-color variable data is not an "if" technology, but a "when." So ask yourself these two questions: "What happens if I don't?" And, "If I don't, who will?"

At this moment commercial printers are already producing a huge amount of variable and versioned work for your customers. They are integrating their products with other value-added services. You will see the impact if you haven't already.

As the trend continues, your "Old Reliable" customer base will erode. As the customers' education increases, the vendors that can prove value will win their business.

Remember when carbonless forms were a way of life? When the Rapidograph pen ruled the world? When there was a profession we called a Typesetter? It really wasn't that long ago (or maybe I'm just really old). All these things didn't go away, they transformed.

It really doesn't matter whose technology you buy, it still comes down to understanding what it means to your customers. After all, if they don't see the benefits, in the form of tangible results, all the really cool front ends and back ends and print engines mean nothing.

So there it is, friends. Educate your constituents. Prove the concepts. Validate the results. Secure a commitment for the future. Printing's future depends on it.

Buy for POD; be ready for VDP.