In previous blogs, I have written about inkjet production printing as a disruptive technology and introduced some of the challenges when comparing toner inkjet-based production. But I learned more about earlier this year when I worked on a project that did a head-to-head comparison of toner-based digital presses to inkjet-based digital presses.
For high-volume transactional printers (bills and statements), this has become a critical issue as their leases expire and they have to consider continuing with the same equipment or investing in inkjet equipment. Most transactional in-plants today have fleets of toner-based machines that could be replaced by a smaller number of inkjet production machines.
The question becomes how you compare a fleet of toner-based machines to a fleet of inkjet production presses. In my opinion, the only way to do so is to use a total cost of operation, or TCO, analysis. Obviously you have to include the differences in cost of the equipment, staff, consumables, and productivity. But there are some subtle factors which makes the comparison tricky.
1. If you simply compare the uptime or utilization rate of an inkjet press to a toner-based machine, inkjet presses generally are more productive and cost effective, however, it’s important to keep in mind that they require greater volumes of work in order to be more cost effective.
2. The square footage and staffing requirements can come down dramatically as twelve machines are replaced by four higher-speed continuous feed inkjet devices.
3. Electricity charges can increase significantly with some inkjet technologies out in the marketplace today, especially if big heavy duty dryers are required and if you need to build vents around them.
4. Paper costs can be different as well. While you can save money by buying a greater number of rolls, inkjet paper can be more expensive due to the pretreatment required at the mill. A key benefit of Xerox’s CiPress Product, one of their two lines of inkjet technology, is its waterless ink technology allows it to handle a wide range of plain papers. This eliminates the need for specially treated papers, helps deliver high-quality color on inexpensive plain papers, and results in flat sheets that work well with existing finishing lines. The Xerox Impika products uses High Density (HD) pigment inks that are also well suited for plain papers.
5. A service contract can look completely different as vendors can include the price of the inkjet inks and printer heads as part of the service contract. Furthermore, while the inkjet inks and printer heads are more expensive, some of the inkjet devices are built to allow self-service or user replaceable parts, resulting in fewer trips and lower travel costs.
6. Printers can save money by eliminating their preprinted shell strategy (purchasing pages preprinted from offset press, then overprinting on a toner device). The alternative is to build a white paper factory strategy which can eliminate the costs associated with buying and storing preprinted shells.
7. In-line finishing is a great strategy if you are producing one or two types of application sizes consistently. However, it’s also important to note that jams in the in-line finishing equipment reduce the utilization rate of the entire production line.
If you are considering replacing toner machines with inkjet production machines, don’t forget to consider these and other subtle differences that can have a dramatic affect.
Did we forget anything? Are there other subtle factors you need to consider when moving from the toner-based fleet to an inkjet-based fleet?
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Howie Fenton is Associate Director of Operational Consulting at InfoTrends. For 25 years, he has worked with in-plants and commercial printers on: benchmarking operational and financial performance, recommendations to increase productivity/reduce costs and strategies to increase value.To email click here.
If we assume the intention is to replace B&W toner based systems with high speed color inkjet, one resource often over-looked is workflow and support specialists. Color inkjet requires a new support model. This should include a color workflow software application that manages the data files and balances the print work across all inkjet systems. An IT support team is needed to manage the workflow application(s). Finally, a color specialist is required to manage the color profiles to ensure color and quality consistency across all production lines, paper testing to develop quality samples per paper and the specialist can determine image costs based on ink coverage. The addition of support and specialists will help increase client satisfaction and the success of the color inkjet implementation.
All this is good from a production and operational cost saving point of view, however, where does quality come into the conversation. Inkjet quality might be accepted for bills and invoices but it might not be accepted on direct mail, publishing and high quality print items. A production floor of both inkjet and toner might be needed to meet all customers needs. This way the customer can choose price versus quality of the work the want.
Russ and Peter: Thanks for contributing to the posting. You both add valuable insight.
Russ,
You’re absolutely right if you replace black and white toner machines with inkjet then you do need to add a color management infrastructure (spectrophotometers, profile software, test targets, etc). In my experience however the inkjet devices are replacing both toner black and white and color devices and some of the color management infrastructure are already in place.
Peter,
Quality is a little tougher to talk about in the inkjet world then offset or toner. While paper quality can impact the quality from offset and toner based printing devices – it has a much more dramatic effect on inkjet quality. I have seen night and day differences in quality when moving from poor quality uncoated sheets to precoated inkjet sheets. Some people will argue that use of a great inkjet sheet can result in print quality that rivals offset or high quality toner printing. But don’t believe me… visit a few manufacturers and do side by side comparisons … you may be surprised.
Howie Fenton, Associate Director, InfoTrends
you mentioned that in-line finishing can have jams that can reduce the overall utilization of an inkjet line. While this can be true, it is also true that there are pre and post manufactures that have designed their pre and post to specifically work with inkjet presses…
Toner printed stock and inkjet printed stocks are very different…Toner drys out/shrinks the stock and inkjet adds moisture/stretches stock. Despite the various devices added to the machines to control moisture content eg adding a re moistening device or a dryer, the pre and post finishing must control the stock from an inkjet press much more gently. If the pre and post finishing was not designed for the inkjet press than there can and will be jamming or smudging issues…especially with high ink coverage.
When deciding on a continuous feed press of any type, you must first understand the finished product(s) and work backwards. By doing this, a potential purchaser of inkjet or toner based press will nearly eliminate problems associated with the production of their work.
By running work offline/nearline you add flexibility but also touch points floor space, and equipment cost…something to consider when consulting your vendors