I found this survey very interesting in that it appeared that Presstek had identified a niche market where its customers operate and where they find excellent business. The following two paragraphs are taken from the Infotrends report and are The Conclusion.

“DI press owners are increasingly finding new print opportunities. DI presses are expanding print provider’s abilities, allowing them to produce new applications, expand into new vertical markets, and win business away from competition. Overall, users are very satisfied with the quality, speed, and ease-of-use offered by these devices. Their DI print revenue is growing and profit margins are increasing. It is clear that print providers are building their businesses around their DI presses.

Most of our survey participants were in the printing industry before they acquired a DI press. Most of the respondents consider their conventional offset and toner-based printing capabilities to be complementary to DI presses. These are key points, indicating that print providers are seeking a range of flexible solutions that meet the increasingly complex requirements of their customers. These print providers indicated that Presstek DI presses are well-positioned between toner and conventional technologies, satisfying customer requirements in the 500 to 20,000 run length range with increased print quality, faster turnaround time, a wider range of substrates, and a lower price per page.”

At the same time that the Infotrends survey was published Heidelberg UK announced that it made its first installation of a Speedmaster SM52 Anicolor long perfector to a company called Colourstream. This is only the second 10-colour configuration of this press sold into the world. Colourstream is an HP Indigo user and John Greene the managing director of Colourstream indicated that the calculations they have done suggest the breakpoint between their Indigo press and the SM52-10 Anicolor is around 200 copies. The new press is replacing one of their existing Speedmaster 74-10P presses and Greene indicated that the breakpoint between the B2 and B3 long perfectors would be about 5,000 – 6,000 sheets.

There are some interesting points between these two companies’ announcements. Firstly they both indicate that with these advanced modern presses (Speedmaster SM52 Anicolor and Presstek 52DI) they are highly competitive against digital printing as low as 200 copies, and are far more competitive in the longer run printing. It is also interesting to note that 83 per cent of the Presstek users also operated a digital press. The survey found the following assessment of where the devices fitted for work.

• Toner-based devices were seen as the most suitable for run lengths of less than 250.

• Run lengths between 250 and 499 were fairly evenly mixed between toner and DI printing.

• DI presses are most suitable for run lengths between 500 and 20,000 press sheets.

• Conventional offset was seen as most suitable for run lengths of 20,000 or greater.

At Ipex in 2006 Heidelberg announced the Speedmaster SM52 Anicolor and more or less indicated that in its view DI printing was dead. At the same show Presstek introduced the larger format 52DI press. It also brought this press to market far quicker than Heidelberg with their new press. What can be seen from reviewing the Infotrends survey is that for small and medium sized commercial printers and digital printing companies DI printing is far from dead. It is alive, well and profitable. At the same time Heidelberg is showing that its Speedmaster SM52 Anicolor is also proving excellent in allowing printers to build more profitable businesses with a range of run lengths for work often working to complement their digital print businesses.

These examples show that very efficient offset printing with low make-readies, low start-up waste, ease of operation and high quality can really challenge digital printing. These companies that are running both digital and modern small-format offset can get them to really work together where the digital presses concentrate on the variable data and very short run work under 250 copies, and the DI or Speedmaster SM52 Anicolor prints the work above this level. Now haven’t some of us analysts being saying for years that the two processes are complementary?

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