Tribute wrote in a recent article that offset printers could make good money from short-run web-to-print work provided "sophisticated ganging programs, predominantly that from Metrix Software, are used to plan a range of different jobs onto the same sheet".

"The only real difference between doing most of this web-to-print work using offset rather than digital printing is offset cannot do variable data or run lengths of less than 100 copies effectively," he said.

"The revenue and profit that this offset approach can give is vastly more than be done with any digital printing technology."

Tribute said that while digital printing was important, printers who thought it was the only solution had "lost the plot".

"When you assess how much more work can be put through a modern automated offset press with digital pre- and post-press workflows, the potential earnings are so much greater than with digital presses," he said.

[Feature: Offset trade supplier capitalises on ganging]

Metrix Software has responded to Tribute with a report that said it could help deliver those efficiencies with its automated job planning and imposition system, Metrix.

Offset ganging can be "very profitable – as long as the right system is in place to solve the complex mathematical problem that job combining presents", according to Metrix Software.

"The key ingredient here is the ability of Metrix to quickly and efficiently combine multiple jobs… [and] combine them in the most profitable way possible, using its print-specific algorithms and user-defined costing data.

"As Tribute mentions, many people associate web-to-print with digital presses. But too often, the gains that can be achieved by using existing machinery more efficiently are overlooked.

"And in this case, existing machinery plus Metrix plus an e-commerce portal equals profitability not seen in the printing industry for a very long time."

Metrix Software president Rohan Holt said offset ganging could be "an incredible revenue- and profit-making machine" for printers.

"Tribute has hopefully started a new conversation about how to maximise existing equipment and how to thrive in this extremely challenging economy."

[LinkedIn: What is your break-even point for digital vs offset?]

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