The State of On-demand Printing

Ink-jet’s Promise

The advances in ink-jet technologies will continue to outpace advances in electrophotographic and offset systems, both fairly mature technologies. The most important issue for in-plants to consider is equipment cost and utilization rates. Ink-jet presses are approaching the costs of mainstream four-color presses in the $1 to $5 million price range. As with other printing technologies, you need to achieve a 60 to 70 percent utilization rate to cost justify the purchase. As a result, these high-speed, color ink-jet presses may fit in-plants that have transactional or transpromo requirements. For now these high-speed ink-jet presses are best suited for specific applications.