Digital and Offset Convergence -- Going Long on Shorter Runs

IT’S HARD not to automatically view everything through the frame of the current economic climate. In most cases, however, the business challenges companies are struggling with were preexisting conditions that have now been greatly amplified. The trend toward print buyers, at every level, cutting back their order quantities is a case in point. At the same time, technological advancements are enabling digital, sheetfed and web offset printing operations to be competitive over a wider range of jobs, extending the run length crossover between processes. Organizations that offer all three processes, therefore, are taking a more holistic approach to printing and developing their capabilities as a continuum rather than as discrete operations.