Printing Shop Managers with Inkjet Presses Offer Their Advice

At an in-plant breakout session during the recent Inkjet Summit, four managers with inkjet presses discussed their experiences and answered questions. On the panel were:

• Simon Ortiz of Intermountain Health, which recently installed a Ricoh Pro VC60000 roll-fed inkjet press.
• Greg Estep of the U.S. Government Publishing Office, which runs three Canon ColorStream 6900s and an i200
• Nikki Hiller of Omaha Public Schools, which has both a Xerox Brenva and a Baltoro
• Sylvia Palmer of Jurupa Unified School District, which runs a  Super Web WEBJet 100D

In-plant managers listen to the panel of their peers talk about inkjet presses during the 2024 Inkjet Summit.

Each had different goals when considering inkjet. Intermountain wanted to eliminate preprinted shells for its transaction work. GPO needed to replace aging web offset presses with devices that were easier to run, required fewer operators, and could still produce the same volumes. Both school district in-plants wanted the speed of inkjet for producing educational materials.

“Our main goal was to start bringing curriculum consumables in-house … so that we can control the way that they’re printed … and have the ability to make sure that they’re going to be there when they need to be there,” said Palmer. The in-plant prints all jobs with quantities over 3,000 on inkjet and is able to charge less for color than black-and-white.

Omaha Schools uses inkjet to print homework, marketing materials, business cards, brochures, booklets, and more. Intermountain prints items like explanation of benefits statements, individual plan contract booklets, and certificate of coverage booklets. GPO uses the continuous-feed inkjets to print the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, bills, calendars, and more, while the cut-sheet press prints book covers, tickets for events, White House programs, and letterhead.

When asked about the quality of inkjet pieces, the term most often used was “good enough.”

“It’s not quite where offset is,” said Estep. “But we can sell it.”

“It does not hold the color like we’re used to on a toner machine,” added Hiller. Others said their need for offset quality was minimal.

While Palmer noted extremely minimal downtime on her press, others have had more issues.

“We just don’t have enough volume to keep it running – and they like to be run,” said Ortiz. “We’ve only been running one shift, and we’ll let it sit second and third shift. It can take us two or three hours to do all the cleaning and get into a print-ready state.”

In-plant managers listen to the panel of their peers talk about inkjet presses during the 2024 Inkjet Summit.

When looking at an inkjet press, panelists said finishing should be researched at the same time. While in-line finishing has efficiency advantages, it also slows down productivity. Panelists use both in-line and offline processes.

Omaha Schools has in-line C.P. Bourg finishing on both inkjets, and Hiller said, “We rarely have problems with our finishing.” Jurupa moves printed rolls to offline Plockmatic or Bourg finishing equipment, and Palmer admitted, “finishing is my pain point. The WEBJet is obviously way faster than any finishing.”

Intermountain’s offline finishing equipment has not been able to keep up with the inkjet press.

“We’ll have 12-14 rolls sitting, waiting to be finished through our one single cut line,” explained Ortiz. “It is a bottleneck for sure.”

The in-plant is budgeting for another cut line, he said, and also plans to bring in a finishing line with the Canon iX inkjet press being installed later this year.

In-plant managers at the Inkjet Summit case study presentations.

GPO has a mixture of in-line and offline finishing, and is about to add an offline roll-to-sew device to create finished books from a roll.

“We spent as much time looking at finishing as we did looking at inkjet engines,” said Estep, with nods of agreement from other panelists.

Because of the speed of inkjet presses, users often find they need to add more work to keep the presses busy. Palmer is talking to departments to find new work and is also seeking work from community partners like the city, the recreation and park district, and other school districts that don’t have in-plants.

“We actually have excess capacity,” she says. “That machine is way faster than anything we had before.”

When preparing to install an inkjet press, panelists warned others to double check electrical requirements and make sure your shop is prepared. Also make sure you understand the press’s water requirements and have that equipment in your budget. And be sure to visit a shop that is using the press you want to buy.

“Personally, I will not buy a product if I cannot go to a like shop that is already running that product so I can talk to the technician without the vendor,” said Palmer.

She also emphasized the importance of preparing your staff for the transition to inkjet.

“Start talking to your people now, about the idea of inkjet because it is scary for them,” she stressed. “Even if they’ve been in the business for 40 years, they are still scared to switch to this technology. And their hesitation to evolve can just be your Achilles heel. So start talking to them now. Make them feel included in the buying process, take them with you on those field trips to go look at the machines, because it will make your life a lot easier.”