Quote & Print industry update
Internet access, faster turnaround, increased digital printing, lack of hardware and networking support – nothing stays the same in this fast-changing industry. Alan Alexander (pictured right) reports on trends in the Sunshine State
These continuing trends are influencing the printing industry and changing the way printers are doing business. However, the printing industry is once again proving how adaptable it is and printing companies are looking towards their software, and their software suppliers, to help with adapting to the market’s demands.
Internet access, faster turnaround, increased digital printing, lack of hardware and networking support – nothing stays the same in this fast-changing industry. Alan Alexander (pictured right) reports on trends in the Sunshine StateThe internet has played an increasingly important part in recent years, with many customers now recognizing that a corporate internet presence is becoming essential. This can either be as a mere identity page or as a full-blown print ordering portal. Printers are now forced to develop an internet strategy for their businesses – many under pressure from their customers’ demands. Print buyers are becoming more sophisticated and many printing tenders have internet access as a necessity.
Internet facilities may entail giving customers the ability to order personal stationery such as business cards online; order finished goods or request quotes and initiate print jobs.
The Internet Interface of Quote & Print software already caters for this. A new release, QPONLINE currently provides better proofing for personalised stationery, better control of finished goods and increased levels of customisation.
Has the increased productivity available from modern machines kept pace with the customers’ expectations?
Computer to plate (CtP) has been a great advance in the prepress department with most printers now employing this technology. Even small companies that don’t want to undertake the capital expenditure are outsourcing their CTP requirements for improved costs and efficiency.
But their customers have become increasingly demanding and sometimes expect long-run offset jobs to have the same turnaround time as digital jobs. They are also wanting to see the status of their quotes and jobs online.
As well as having internet access, this has sparked a revived interest in the Shop Floor Management and Scheduling modules of Quote & Print. As printers are striving for more streamlined production they are turning to these technical tools in order to better control their production.
Digital printing is on the increase and shows no signs of slowing down. Digital photocopiers are getting faster, cheaper and their quality is improving. The number of printed sheets it becomes economical to print on an offset press is increasing. Other machines such iGen3s, HP Indigo and various print engines from Canon and Océ are all crowding into the market. Wide format plotters and printers are also becoming increasingly popular.
The effect of this is that most traditional offset printers are installing some form of digital equipment to complement their traditional offset machinery and I can see this trend continuing. Quote & Print has integrated modules for digital, plotter and fast entry that caters for that demand.
The cost of computers is still decreasing and while this is obviously good for the bottom line, there is a hidden downside. For most independent suppliers the decreasing cost of computer hardware has put pressure on their profitability as they try to compete with large retailers such as Harvey Norman. Once a small supplier would provide the necessary hardware and provide installation as part of the cost. But now they are expected to do this for a price that is competitive with large retailers who do not provide installation. This is perhaps tolerable for a small peer-to-peer network but the installation of Windows 2003 Server, Windows Terminal Services, Exchange Server, Firewalls, etc. is a different situation.
The result is that it is becoming more and more difficult to get a good hardware/networking supplier as more and more experienced suppliers struggle to compete.
Quote & Print is easy software to install with very little customisation necessary and it is uncommon for even large clients to have a full-time IT consultant/employee who simply adds to the cost. Also, future versions will be even more independent of the network or individual workstation.
This means that the Quote & Print consultant can concentrate on training issues and implementation of the software that best suits the needs of the client without being distracted by unrelated networking installation issues.
Alan Alexander
Calprint Systems Pty Ltd
Qld Dealer for Quote & Print Software
calprintsystems@comcen.com.au