Inkjet & Digital Printing
Short and sweet: low-volume runs – Océ produces books on demand at drupa 2008
Monday 19. May 2008 - Book production is one of the greatest growth opportunities for digital print solutions - and not just because of the ability to print shorter runs. Reaching far beyond the actual printing process, benefits can be harvested along the entire value chain. Océ is illustrating these opportunities at drupa 2008, showing four examples of workflows for on-demand digital book production.
The trend in publishing is clear as day: the number of new titles is rising steadily, yet run lengths are falling. The growing pressure to accelerate production is also presenting challenges to the print industry. “In the coming years digital printing solutions will capture substantial market share – at the expense of traditional technologies,” says Peter Wolff, Vice President Graphic Arts.
Trend 1: short-run digital printing
Digital printing makes it possible to print short runs and produce additional copies quickly on demand, even to the extent of operating automated ordering systems that place an order with the printer for a specific number of books as soon as the wholesalers inventory drops below a certain level. Flexibility indeed – but only at a price? “No, quite the opposite,” says Peter Wolff. “Its no use just comparing the print costs per page. If we consider every step in the process chain, digital book production is a totally viable proposition.”
Indeed, on-demand book production is one of the areas where digital printing can really show its strengths. Data can be forwarded straight into print workflows, and output is delivered sequentially, which eliminates the need for post-print collating. So throughput is far faster, less personnel is needed, and less equipment. Peter Wolff states: “From the publishers viewpoint, there is no difference in the value chain between digitally produced and conventionally produced books. The advantage derives from the substantially lower level of capital that publishers have to keep tied up in inventory, and the reduced costs for inventory management.”
Trend 2: changed value chain
The on-demand production trend is fundamentally changing the traditional value chain – as evidenced by the escalating growth of self-publishing portals that work without inventory of any kind. Books are ordered over the Internet, printed by the service provider, packaged and shipped complete with invoice and delivery papers. The entire workflow is largely automated. As a result, a second value chain has emerged which serves to unite the book production and wholesaling stages, completely eliminating inventory and the associated risk and cost.
“Of course, digital production and logistics also deliver a range of benefits to traditional book retailers,” explains Peter Wolff. “Retailers are able to deliver any book at any time. There is no need to tie up cash in inventory, and no extra cost for storage and inventory management.”
Océ solutions at drupa 2008
With a comprehensive portfolio of products for digital book production, Océ is showing five different systems at drupa 2008 (hall 6, stand A44) with workflows for short-run production of books. The Océ ColorStream 10000 full-color continuous-feed digital press is producing books with color and B/W elements (among other applications) and the Océ VarioStream 9720, complemented by finishing equipment, is showing fully automated printing of high quality books in black & white. The digitally printed color covers (produced on the Océ CPS900) are channeled to the system automatically, creating a workflow which delivers professionally bound books in a single, intervention-free end-to-end run.
With its special “Roll Over Gutenberg” book, Océ is showing how high quality color and B/W pages can be merged inline in an automated production workflow. The book combines prints from two digital presses, the Océ VarioPrint 6250 (black & white) and the Océ CS650 Pro (color). The unrivalled register accuracy of the Océ VarioPrint 6250 delivers perfectly aligned text blocks on every page of the book. The workflow is managed by Océ PRISMAprepare, which separates the B/W and color portions of the book and ensures the page data is routed correctly to either the B/W or color press. It then takes charge of the post-print merging to reassemble and finish the product.