SPECIAL REPORT -- The State of Web Printing - Web Printing At Mid-Decade

by Dennis E. Mason

Halfway through the first decade of the 21st century seems a good time to step back and assess the status of web offset printing and what the future may hold. The web printing industry is five years beyond the Y2K scare, and has largely recovered from the downturn that followed the 2001 terrorist attacks.

So where do we go from here? For answers to this key question, Printing Impressions went to a number of web industry observers and printers. Here is what they had to say about a number of important issues:

How are JDF and Computer-integrated Manufacturing (CIM) affecting the web industry?

According to Peter Doyle, operations manager at Action Printing in Fond du Lac, WI, the principal benefits of JDF (Job Definition Format) and CIM to web printers come with the ability to set ink keys automatically, set folder ribbons and angle bars, automatically position web handling equipment to the correct roll size and set cameras to read registration marks. In-line color control, Doyle says, is more difficult because of problems in precisely positioning cameras.

Binderies benefit from automation, as well. Doyle, who runs both web and sheetfed equipment, notes that he is already using JDF data to set up buckle folders, flatbed cutters and saddlestitchers.

But the real payoff, he feels, lies in getting information back from the machinery. With a modern print business management information system, printers can monitor manufacturing operations such as run time and impressions, as well as those as diverse as web and ribbon alignment and registration, gathering data throughout the press run and determining the nature of problems or the reasons for profitability.

Printers often fail to effectively use the automation features available on modern presses and the detailed management information that is available. Doyle attributes this to the general reluctance of printers (and their operating personnel) to change their operating methods.

He points out that, today, only a small percentage of printers use CIP3/4 data to automatically set ink keys, despite that feature having been available on most presses for more than a decade.

Several industry observers note that data and automation have effectively reduced startup waste to as few as 1,000 impressions for those printers who diligently use the features available on modern presses. But on a long press run—such as those encountered by publication printers—it may be necessary to fine tune settings to accommodate roll-to-roll paper differences.

What are current and future trends in web offset press design and features?

Consultant Bob Erbstein, principal of Naples, FL-based Graphic Transitions, sees ultra-wide web presses and higher speeds in web printers' futures. Erbstein says that double-around, 81˝ wide presses are rapidly gaining popularity among commercial printers, replacing the prior standard 66˝ presses.

Initial installations of the new press size have occurred at printers such as Quad/Graphics with excellent results, notes Erbstein, who adds that the increased efficiency of the new presses enables printers to offer better pricing or to achieve greater margins.

According to long-time web industry watcher Ted Ringman, vice president of development for the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation, the increased productivity of the new wider presses, coupled with the quality improvements resulting from gapless technology, make web offset printers ever more competitive with rotogravure printers.

Another trend noted by Erbstein is that of 'zero-makeready' presses. These machines (typically eight units) do four-color printing on four of the units while the other four are being made ready.

First popular among book printers, zero-makeready presses are now being offered for the commercial market, and have the potential of making runs as short as 20,000 practical, with 10,000-impression runs targeted for the future.

Erbstein also likes the promise of variable cutoff web presses now appearing on the market, for both newspaper and commercial printers. He contends that plants employing variable cutoff machines are able to accommodate various customer requirements for flyers without the need to change equipment.

More important, web offset printers with variable cutoff machines can offer more and different products to their customers, and can compete more effectively with rotogravure printers. And newspaper printers can realize better equipment utilization through their ability to print a significantly wider variety of products.

How are customer demands impacting web printers?

Charles Nason, president of Worzalla, a juvenile book printer based in Stevens Point, WI, says run lengths are getting shorter, and customers are demanding quicker job turnarounds. "The typical job today," reveals Nason, "is expected in half the time we were given to produce it just a few years ago."

Nason also notices pricing pressure caused by increased competition from offshore printers, especially in his book printing business. According to Nason, original print runs are often done in China or elsewhere in the Far East, but subsequent printings—which are generally needed more quickly—are often done domestically.

He sees pressure from offshore printers with low labor costs affecting both sheetfed and web printers. Nason also acknowledges that offshore printers are capable of producing top quality product, and that paper is relatively uniform around the world.

What should web offset printers do to remain competitive?

The advice of William Lamparter, principal of PrintCom Consulting in Waxhaw, NC, is to abandon the traditional approach of buying a press and then looking for business to fill it.

Instead, Lamparter counsels web printers (and sheetfed printers, for that matter) to look at the product mix being purchased by their customers—and then buy appropriate equipment.

"In a medium- to long-run market, the best equipment configuration might be a half-size web, a full-size web and a long sheetfed perfector," Lamparter says. A five-over-five or six-over-six sheetfed perfector eliminates the issue of cutoff, he points out, and enables printers to economically print on the paper size desired by the customer.

Lamparter envisions the commercial printer of the future with a combination of web and sheetfed presses under the same roof. "To be a general commercial printer, one must determine the products to be printed, and appreciate that not all can be produced equally well on all pieces of equipment. The sheetfed printer that is now doing direct mail, for example, might want to consider a narrow web with in-line finishing."

"Digital printing," Lamparter contends, "should not be thought of as only a short-run process. Today, digital printing can be profitable at run lengths of more than 5,000 copies." Industry guru Frank Romano agrees, noting that he sees work done on narrow web presses now moving to digital presses.

Lamparter notes that printers tend to focus on cost per page when, with digital web presses, they should be looking at total job or production costs.

Related factors include in-line, near-line and off-line bindery functions. According to Lamparter, "If you know how to handle color, you can handle both digital and offset in the same facility. The key lies in the ability to do good color. Thinking about just one process is old-fashioned."

Lamparter also counsels web printers to take full advantage of closed-loop color, noting that a study of apparel catalogs undertaken recently by his firm indicates considerable color variation throughout individual press runs.

For catalog marketers, color variation—especially in clothing—dramatically increases order returns and customer dissatisfaction.

What would be the best way to describe the successful web printer of the future?

Erbstein, Lamparter and Ringman all agree that the increased productivity and throughput of modern presses will make it ever more difficult for web printers with legacy equipment to survive in today's ultra-competitive market. The key to success in web printing may well lie in capitalization and the ability to invest in the latest technology.

Some printers attempt to do this by modernizing older presses and adapting them to include shaftless drives and closed-loop color. Anything less is problematic, the experts agree.

Dennis Mason is the president of Mason Consulting, a firm specializing in marketing and technology issues in the graphic arts and electronic industries. He may be reached via his Website, www.masonconsulting.com.