Digital Printing Technology Innovation and Existing Problems (4)

Third, the factors affecting the development of digital printing in China

1, the market is not clear

There are many digital printing operators who place their business focus on the “short-run” market where they compete with traditional printing in small batches and fixed graphics. The price and labor cost of China's small offset presses are very cheap, and the balance between traditional printing and digital printing is lower than the 1,000 commonly used in the world, and even 500 copies or less using the digital printing press are economical, so such positioning Can not make use of the advantages of variable and fast digital printing.

2, there is a certain gap between the print quality

Due to the different color gamuts of toner and liquid inks used by digital printers and printing inks, combined with the structure of digital printers, for some customers, the color printing of digital printing is too bright. Sharpness, darkness, and high-definition detail performance are not as good as traditional printing. In spot color reproduction, traditional printing is superior to digital printing. In addition, since toners and liquid inks have special requirements for media, the range of substrates for digital printing is relatively narrow compared to conventional printing. However, with the advancement and development of technology, the gap in printing quality is significantly narrowing. NexPress, which Heidelberg and Kodak launched in cooperation with the company, can almost compete with the quality of offset printing. And Fuji Xerox's IGen3 is even more comparable to offset quality. However, Fuji Xerox’s IGen3 has not yet entered China’s plan.

3, prices, especially high prices of supplies

Since digital printers currently use inks and papers that are produced or specified by equipment manufacturers, the high cost of digital printing is a major factor hindering their development. In terms of quantity, currently China's digital printing is far lower than 5% of the total market, and most of them are monochrome print jobs. Digital printing, especially color digital printing, can only be used as a special service and is defined as a business plan to persuade customers to pay for their high prices.

4. The combination of digital printing technology and variable data processing software and database has yet to be developed.
5, the technical level of employees is still relatively low.

6, the construction of digital workflow is still relatively lacking.

IV. Suggestions for Chinese Digital Printing Practitioners

1. Seize market opportunities and identify market positioning

The continuous development of China’s economy has become increasingly closely linked with the world economy, and the demand for digital printing has steadily increased. The world’s leading multinational companies have entered China. These multinational companies will follow the international conventions to file requirements and management. Each company hopes to minimize the cost of storage and transportation, and document outsourcing services will continue to grow. For example, the multinational company Oracle (Oracle) is the world's largest information management software and service provider. They are producing globally-available product training materials at the headquarters, and then storing files on a web server to provide certified digital products around the world. Printers, as required, are sent to local branches after printing, and Oracle Corporation in China also uses this format for on-demand printing. Therefore, China’s digital printers can keep a close eye on these multinational corporations and domestic large-scale groups, companies, supermarkets, and chain stores, identify their own market positioning, and further develop their own businesses.

2. New growth in the publishing industry and the steady growth of small batch reprinted books

The book publishing industry in China is a stable and growing industry, which grew from 143,000 books in 2000 to nearly 200,000 in 2003. With the increase of new works and small batch reprints, the growth prospects of on-demand printing are very promising. .

3. The rapid development of personalized direct mail business letters in the insurance, finance, securities, postal and other industries.
With the gradual opening up of the Chinese market, competition in various industries is fierce. In order to adapt to market competition, the business methods of the insurance, finance, securities, postal and other industries are rapidly changing, and various types of bills have become more and more personalized, and the demand for personalized direct mail is expanding.

4. The 2008 Olympic Games brought about the development of related industries.

The 2008 Olympic Games will not only give Beijing but also many opportunities for China. For example, the construction of infrastructure with the Olympic Games will bring prosperity to the construction industry, and the development of industries such as culture, communications, and services will be self-evident. This will also bring great business opportunities for digital printing.

5, using the characteristics of digital printing for market development

Combining with the manufacturing industry, such as the use of a wide variety of products in the IT industry and the rapid update of product specifications, printing services are used; the use of personalized print products to promote the product, digital printing can be used as a means to increase company revenues and enhance customer communication. For example, automotive manufacturing, real estate companies, etc.; can use digital printing technology to customize personalized promotional materials for potential customers, conduct one-on-one publicity, and achieve the purpose of attracting customers; personalization of consumer goods such as printing personal papers Collections, personalized name cards, invitations, calendars, stamps, etc.; educational and training materials such as lecture notes, papers, training manuals, and certificate production.

6, find a reasonable business model of digital printing

Fast-printing shop model: highlighting features built in or near colleges, construction industry, CBD shopping districts, and should be developed in the direction of chaining; large-scale enterprises build their own digital printing centers, such as Lenovo, China Post, etc.; publishing groups set up digital printing Center; traditional printing companies increase digital printing projects.

7, should pay attention to the technology and development model

Network technology and database technology, ready for remote printing and control; personalized post-press equipment; customer relationship management (CRM) and supplier relationship management (SRM) systems; cross-media publishing technology.

Author / Qi Qi Source: "Guangdong Packaging" (2005, Issue 5)