Documents or Data?

 

Are you hoping to shut down the shop, sell the equipment and retire? Pass the business down to your children? Find a buyer and get out of the industry?

 

Most of the businesspeople I see are interested in growing their companies and keeping them relevant. Even if they are looking forward to retirement someday, they want to pass along a thriving business to their offspring or the new business owners. If those ideas match your plans, I have a question for you.

 

Is your commercial printing operation's business strategy based on documents or data?

 

In the history of commercial printing, focusing primarily on documents has been the prudent approach. Creating materials with the right colors and sharp images or text were important. Printing on a variety of substrates and applying finishes allowed printers to produce high quality direct mail, point of sale, packaging, and other products that met the needs of their customers.

 

Add Variable Data to Static Images

Those document-centric items are still important, but how printed materials leverage data has changed the ways print providers deliver value to their customers. Data drives the economy and digital technology allows printed materials to participate. I envision expanded growth in the ways data affects materials our commercial print customers produce in the years ahead.

 

Digital presses allow printers to create personalized and targeted materials using data to determine the final output. This is the functionality your customers want. Variable print allows them to create messaging that connects with their customers on a level impossible with analog color printing methods. Your customers won't have to use the bulk approach anymore to attract attention, which means those printed materials will be more effective.

 

Most printers tell us they can't afford to convert to a digital-only workflow or add a separate digital production line. They are searching for strategies that allow them to use the power of color variable print but continue leveraging the assets and experience they've built over many years and across multiple generations.

 

The Best Solution for Most - Hybrid

Our HP inkjet modules and the DDS custom controller turn document-oriented companies into hybrid printers. Hybrid printers are ready to take advantage of data-driven printing opportunities that are happening right now and will continue to expand.

 

With hybrid solutions your existing printing equipment continues to provide the quality and flexibility your customers expect. It isn't necessary to make huge capital investments in digital presses or replace the workflow you have fine-tuned over the years. Your pre and post-print equipment will continue to work with your jobs as always.  The power of data happens when the inkjet modules add the variable content.

 

We think adding inkjet to existing production lines is the best way to transform printing businesses from document shops into modern communication providers. You can future-proof your business by supporting color variable data printing now. It will make those upcoming plans more reachable.