In 2017 the Digital Printing Market was estimated to be over $22 billion and expected to grow to close to $29 billion by 2023. There is an ever-growing demand for more sustainability in printing, coupled with a reduction in per unit cost of digital printing, which is fueling the growth.
Let’s face it, the world has become digital. We have transitioned from the earlier technologies into today’s modern digital age. For anyone using printed materials in their marketing efforts or in their packaging of products, it is important to understand the value of digital printing.
Digital printing has come a long way over the years. In the early days, most companies preferred offset printing due to the inconsistency found with digital images and the cost of digital printing, which could be prohibitive. Today, however, digital printing offers quality that is comparable to offset printing and it offers the ability to do things not easily done in offset printing. Given that the quality of digital vs. offset print is fairly comparable and both methods generate professional results, the determination as to which method of printing you should use is made based on the specifics of your individual print projects.
The most critical specifics to take into consideration are; Speed and Quantity. Other issues such as Finishing Options are not as critical in a decision to print digitally or offset since options such as Die Cutting, Embossing, De-bossing, Foil Stamping, Coatings and Binding are pretty much available regardless of print technology.
Speed of Delivery
One of the biggest values of digital printing is the time in which materials can be produced and shipped back to the customer. Digital printing does not require a lot of setup. Most of the work that was done in the past is now completed through the computer files used.
The color and printing variations are all contained within the actual printing equipment, so the process of getting a professional product to the customer is much faster.
What this means for the customer is that they can get materials printed, even under tight deadlines, helping them to communicate their messages in a timely manner.
Quantity
A major value of digital printing is the ability to only print what you need. In the past, if you wanted to have access to professional materials, you needed to order large quantities. This limited a company’s ability to have access to a variety of sales, marketing, and product materials.
With digital printing, you can print as little or as much as you need. The beauty of digital printing is that, if you run out, it’s extremely easy to reorder those materials since the company will already have your information on file. On the other hand, at some point in your determination of quantity of a project, it becomes more economically feasible to produce the print via offset printing. While the setup is longer and more labor intensive, once a project is made ready on an offset press the incremental cost lies mostly in the paper and the ink. Therefore, if you are producing quantities in the thousands you typically will benefit by going offset.
Production Flexibility
A quality print provider will possess both technologies and will utilize the most feasible technology based on the project or even the stage of the project in which they are printing.
The speed of delivery of Digital Printing enables a printer to produce samples or prototypes, on a tight timeframe. Later when that same item that needs to be produced in much larger production runs, offset printing is the feasible option. In the healthcare industry this is a critical capability often used to support product launches and clinical trials. During a launch and clinical trial time is of the essence and meeting tight deadlines can be facilitated through digital printing. Once a product is in full production, offset printing becomes the most economically feasible method of meeting supply chain demands. A quality print and packaging provider can ensure the same print quality and consistency, regardless of the print method.
In Marketing campaigns, often being the first to market when a trend is spotted can be the difference between success and failure. Digital printing provides the ability to turn a project around in a fraction of the production time and provides the flexibility for last minute changes or tweaks to the copy. Once a foothold in the market is captured, production runs of tens of thousands are best created via offset printing. By combining the technologies of digital and offset print, a quality print vendor can facilitate every phase of a project for their customers.
Rondo-Pak, LLC is a global print and packaging provider. As a provider of secondary packaging to the Healthcare and Life Sciences Industries we utilize the latest techniques in both digital and offset printing to produce results with maximum flexibility and at optimum economical value.
Contemporary Graphic Solutions (a division of Rondo-Pak) also uses the best of both technologies to help our clients launch successful marketing campaigns and to introduce new products to market.