Short - run pr int ing refers to pr int ing assignment of very
small quantity ranging from a few dozen to several hundred
imp ressions . Compared with zero overhead cost and
push-and-print digital printing, conventional printing bears
overhead cost of plate-making and press set-up and cannot compete in costing and turnaround time for low print volumes. In
addition, as digital print quality is gradually approaching offset
quality and the requirement of substrates for digital print is
becoming loose, digital printing is getting more competitive for
small quantity jobs and gaining a significant share in short-run
market.
Under no extra value-added service, customer choosing offset
or digital printing to fulfill a printing assignment depends on the
trade-off between print quality, turnaround time, and printing
charges payable.
Please go to Chapter (27) Economics, to understand how (1)
print quality, (2) turnaround time, and (3) comparative curves of
printing costs, perform for both offset and digital printing under
different print quantity.
If customers need to complete a printing assignment of very
small quantity (a few to several dozen impressions) within very
shor t t ime and are not very demanding in pr int qual i ty and
size, digital printing is an ideal choice. To make an economic
choice for bigger print quantity, customers need to review the
competitive printing range of digital printing over conventional
printing in the concerned market.
The printing range in which digital printing has economic
competitive advantage over other means is rapidly extended as
a result of the launch of more production-oriented digital printers
and continuously sliding digital print cost.
Today, in European and American countries with expensive labour
and offset printing cost, the competitive range of digital printing using
high-end production printers has expanded from initial popular stage
of 100-200 impressions to currently 1,000 impressions. Depending on
equipment type and model, the competitive range of digital printing in
Beijing still stay below 300-500 impressions. Besides China market
cannot catch up with the latest trend of global digital technology
development, relatively low wages and sliding conventional offset
printing cost as well as relatively high cost of digital equipment and
consumables (probably related to imported duty), have buried the
competitive advantages of fully-automated digital printing.
Short-run jobs suitable
for digital printing include:
posters, company annual
r e p o r t s , s t a f f ma n u a l ,
training material, conference
documents, invitation for
functions, certificates, and
project planning proposal,
etc.
Currently, short - run
printing centres possessing
high-end production colour
printers in Beijing include
L&J Fast Print Shop, Top Print Digital Print Shop, China Intellectual
Property Press, and Xicailong Digital Print Shop.
These centres offer digital printing services with document
production printers to meet commercial customers?requirement
economically for high quality, high speed, big size (max. size
364 x 571mm) and various types of substrates. |
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