It Costs
How Much?
Plotting a path to profitability
Defining the exact cost
per page has long been a
critical issue for every type of print provider. Today, with cost
pressures
tighter than ever and inkjet moving to displace some of the work done on
electrophotographic and offset presses, it's more important than ever to
truly
understand the cost of printing on inkjet devices. Confusing the issue,
though,
is that no two vendors state the operating costs of their machines in
quite the
same way. What's needed is a tool that shows the true cost of printing
in a way
that helps ensure jobs are quoted accurately-and profitably.
"Digital color inkjet is new territory for print
providers and provides tremendous opportunities for growing their
business. Critical to profitably exploiting this technology is for
users to clearly understand the value of color applications. As
customers take on this new technology, they need to be aware of the
factors that influence an accurate pricing model. They must consider
things like paper, droplet size, coverage and volume-based calculations.
There are many factors that contribute to cost per page, but once you
understand them and factor them into pricing your products, the
opportunities are significant," explains Guy Broadhurst, Vice President,
New Products & Client Development, in the Production Printing
Systems division of Océ North America.
Broadhurst says the cost per impression is the most correct basis, and that this must include five key factors:
Combining the lease and monthly maintenance equals the total fixed cost per month, whether the machine is running or not. Then come the variables:
Click (a fixed amount per thousand impressions) Toner or Ink (a fixed cost per liter, but yields are not fixed and vary by equipment). Developer (a fixed cost per page on toner machines)
Combining these three variables yields the cost for a given number of impressions.
The total cost per impression is the combination of fixed and variable costs. "And," cautions Broadhurst, "don't forget the "Three Ps: People, paper and power."
For print providers, the challenge is making these calculations accurately on every job, because the amount of toner or ink used can vary widely. While coverage is all but irrelevant in offset printing (because ink is such a minor cost factor), this is not the case with inkjet printing. And even most equipment vendors don't have accurate information about just how much ink a given job may require. This makes predicting the true costs of a job run on most of the new inkjet presses difficult at best. And that makes profitability an elusive goal. Until now.
TrueCost, a new software tool from Océ designed specifically for the JetStream family, not only tracks and helps estimate costs, it learns about the jobs a customer runs to help provide accurateand profitablejobs over time.
"It helps us count every single droplet, no matter what size they are, and report it out of the JetStream," explains Guy Broadhurst, Vice President, New Technologies and Client Development at Oce North America Production Printing Systems Division. "This gives the customer information on coverage and how much ink is used. It is the first tool in the industry that shows exactly how much a job costs in ink."
Generating an initial cost calculation using the Océ PRISMAproduction TrueCost tool is as simple as running a small sample of the color job. The software calculates the exact number of dots for every color in a sample, breaking out percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, MICR or spot color coverage. Being able to calculate usage and costs in this way gives print providers more precise data for formulating quotes to help them run their businesses more efficiently.
In addition, the Océ PRISMAproduction TrueCost tool "remembers" ink consumption on a job-by-job basis for every document printed on the Océ JetStream system. As a result, print providers can look up historical pricing data on jobs weeks or months after they're printed. In addition, they can determine which jobs are making or losing money and ensure that all costs are in line. Print providers benefit from the ability to quickly generate accurate, competitive quotes, which helps improve profitability, enhance customer satisfaction and keep tight control of consumables cost and usage.
Driving Productivity with Digital Print Océ helps Merrill Corporation increase productivity by 100 percent
Supporting the business-critical communication needs of leading companies in the legal, financial services, insurance and real estate industries is serious business. And its getting more serious as customer expectations rise, turnaround times get shorter and quality requirements become more exacting. Thats why the Merrill Corporation counts on Océ for a fleet of digital workhorses.
Océ and Merrill Corporation Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, Merrill Corporation built its business on successfully serving customers in markets with complex information, document, and communication requirements. Merrill Corporation differentiates itself by providing rapid turnaround, high quality and comprehensive one-stop outsourcing solutions in four key markets: legal, financial services, insurance and real estate.
The company serves regional and national customers via an offset production facility in St. Cloud, Minnesota and digital production facilities in Sartell, Minnesota; Tewksbury, Massachusetts and Grove City, Ohio. Services include document and data management, litigation support, branded communication programs, fulfillment, imaging and printing. Staying at the leading edge is a key element of the successful service bureaus ongoing success.
The challenge: Improving throughput, image quality and uptime Merrill Corporation had an enviable challenge they needed additional capacity to support new business and growing volumes. The company was outsourcing nearly 500 million impressions per month to a third-party provider in Dallas, Texas. The bulk of the work consisted of enrollment kits, quarterly investment statements, and prospectuses. The cost of outsourcing was high and getting higher.
The first step was to bring outsourced volumes in-house and migrate offset press work to productive digital machines. The company wanted to replace a fleet of aging cut-sheet systems with more advanced technology. Our primary focus was consolidating outsourced clicks to an internal manufacturing platform that would support peak volumes and same and next-day turns, recalls Vice President of Technology, Jeff Weiss. We were also looking for an enterprise replacement for a deteriorating fleet of cut-sheet devices hobbled by downtime, slow output and inability to handle clients diverse requirements, says Weiss. It was becoming increasingly difficult to deliver the quality our customers expected. We needed a more productive platform that would allow us to produce high-quality benefits booklets for our Fortune 500 customers, consolidate volumes and reduce costs.
The print team began researching digital duplex cut-sheet printers that could deliver the required quality and throughput. The criteria were simple. The system had to deliver uptime of more than 80 percent. Rapid service response was a must. So was timely parts availability to ensure that the print center never experienced downtime while a supplier sourced parts. The ideal system would provide excellent quality and robust throughput. The company also began investigating continuous feed solutions to consolidate offset volumes and bring outsourced work in-house.
The solution: Océ digital printers and workflow software In May 2007, Merrill Corporation installed an Océ VarioPrint® 6250 and a competitive cut-sheet device in a six-month head-to-head trial at its Grove City production facility. The idea was to put the two machines through their paces and see how they performed in a real-life environment. Weiss recalls. The performance indicators we established were image quality for halftones, along with speed, reliability and uptime. For six months, the print shop tested the two machines.
The Océ VarioPrint 6250 was much more productive than the other device, which was down about 50 percent of the time, states Weiss. We ran all of our work on both machines throughout the trial and the Océ VarioPrint 6250 clearly outperformed the other device in terms of reliability, throughput, quality and productivity. Merrill Corporation purchased the Océ VarioPrint 6250 system along with Océ PRISMAproduction® workflow management software. The biggest issue we faced had to do with our workflow, Weiss adds. We were using Xerox job tickets and banner pages and had to find a way around that. Océ resolved the problem with Océ PRISMA® workflow software and custom scripting that allowed the Océ VarioPrint 6250 system to interface with our Xerox workflow.
With the Océ VarioPrint 6250 system up and producing millions of prints per month, Merrill was ready to tackle its next challenge: bringing outsourced volumes in-house and migrating work from offset to continuous feed digital presses. Once again, the print team decided to compare two systems in a head-to-head trial. Merrill installed the Océ VarioStream® 8750 Twin and a competitive device in February 2009. We measured performance against criteria like uptime, ease of use, operator friendliness, service and organizational responsiveness, recalls Weiss. From day one, Océ scored high on every aspect of operation.
Merrill again encountered a workflow challenge as it transferred outsourced work to the trial systemsa requirement to process PDF files and enrich them with barcodes and OMR for finishing. The files were so big that we couldnt process them quickly enough for the printers, says Weiss. Océ software experts created a custom fix that encapsulates the PDF files, wraps them in an AFP wrapper and places them in the queue. When the PDF files are transmitted from Océ PRISMA workflow software to the printer, the Océ VarioStream 8750 SRA controller unwraps and processes them natively to bypass the rip process, compressing a 35-hour process to about 30 minutes.
Pleased with the first Océ VarioPrint 6250 and the Océ VarioStream 8750 Twin systems, Merrill replaced its aging fleet of cut-sheet devices with 15 Océ VarioPrint 6250 systems, with Océ BLM500 booklet makers and BGB1208 perfect binders to produce finished books and booklets. We replaced every three of the old devices with two Océ VarioPrint 6250 systems to increase efficiency and reduce costs, notes Weiss. At the same time, we tripled our capacity, enabling us to complete jobs faster.
The print operation today Today, the Merrill Corporation print center produces 35 million prints per month on the 16 Océ VarioPrint 6250 systems and 22 million prints per month on the Océ VarioStream 8750 Twin systems. The facility runs three shifts, 24 hours a day, six days a week. Merrill Corporation runs the Océ systems around the clock.
We produce documents on the Océ printers with OMR marks and then feed them into stitch liners. The marks tell the stitch liners where sets begin and end and when to stitch. We print large volumes of booklets, so this is critical, says Weiss, and so far, its working well. The Océ VarioStream 8750 systems are teamed with Hunkeler pre- and post-processing systems and are used primarily for investment statements, annual enrollment kits, and pharmacy and provider directories.
Result: non-stop uptime raises the productivity bar Already, the Merrill Corporation print facility in Grove City has realized impressive results. Because the Océ VarioPrint 6250 system supports all types and weights of media with ease, it can handle just about any job that comes through the door. Productivity and uptime are definitely improved, states Weiss. The quality of the documents is excellent, he adds, and our customers are impressed.
In addition to improvements in productivity, Weiss concludes, weve been able to take on jobs that we couldnt before and print on a wider range of coated stock. From a quality standpoint, the Océ system gives us a better look when were presenting samples to clients as part of an RFP response. The excellent image quality gives customers confidence that we can produce high-quality documents on a digital output device, and thats a big advantage.
As for the Océ VarioStream 8750 systems, Merrill Corporation has greatly improved productivity. When you compare the productivity of the Océ VarioStream 8750 system, which runs 60 million pages a month to the machine we had before which ran two million pages a month on a good day and factor in maintenance and labor, the new machines are about 100 times more productive, says Weiss.
Merrill Corporation is pleased with its workflow improvements as well. The Océ software team was able to take our existing workflowfrom receipt of file, composition, and impositioning to validation of data, integrity and post composition marksto produce output a thousand times more efficiently, says Weiss. With custom programming, we eliminated eight manual steps, automated the entire process and cut hours of work cycle. Were saving a lot of time, which adds up to big cost savings.
Our clients are very happy with the quality theyre receiving, Weiss concludes, and were very happy with the throughput. Were more productive and were doing more work using fewer machines. As a result, we can go after new business, take on more work and really grow our business. Were definitely pleased with our decision to go with Océ.
Jetstream Delivers a Competitive Edge Italian firms lead in direct mail and transactional print
Two leading Italian print providers have extended their leadership in direct mail and transactional print with new Océ Jetstream presses. Abramo Printing & Logistics of Calabria is using an Océ JetStream 2200 full-color inkjet printer to produce top quality transaction documents, turning out 3.4 million pages in its first week of operation. Meanwhile, Pubblipost is running a JetStream 1000 for innovative direct mail and TransPromo applications.
The Competitive Edge The system joins other Océ systems in Abramo's powerful, innovative document infrastructure. Various production workflows run on the , and a color production line uses the system for full-color toner printing. The powerful, high-end Océ printers are the backbone of the companys industrial-style production processes. Abramo customers benefit from consistent quality and turnaround for their time-sensitive transaction documents.
High quality, high speed and a wide range of substrates makes Océ JetStream printers perfect for companies like Abramo that are known for their high-end products and services. Océ JetStream 2200 printers are equipped with drop-on-demand technology, unmatched inkjet color quality and ultra-high print speed. Océ DigiDot multilevel printing supports a wider grayscale range for output with softer contours and clearer details.
Top quality direct mailing service at Pubblipost Florence-based Pubblipost has delivered direct mailing, digital printing and packaging services for more than 25 years. The full-color Océ JetStream 1000 inkjet printing system supports their professional, quality-oriented services and brings their customers effective direct mail and TransPromo applications.
Pubblipost's production line handles monthly output of up to 20 million printed images. With the Océ system, Pubblipost has enhanced its color printing power with the compact, full-color Océ JetStream 1000 inkjet system and its capacity of 1,010 A4 pages per minute. Other Océ digital printers are also part of the state-of-the-art operation.
Continued leadership in digital production printing with color We introduced digital solutions to the graphic arts market over 10 years ago, when digitally printed books were just a dream. Now we continue our leadership as we bring the latest Océ digital color solutions to the Italian market. With the advent of inkjet technologies and the shift of transactional documents and direct mailing toward digital color, the success of Océ customers like Abramo and Pubblipost has established Océ as a provider of sophisticated equipment combining quality, capacity, efficient performance, and sustainability, said Sebastian Landesberger, Executive Vice President, Océ Production Printing.
Harvey Hirsch says you should . But Trish Witkowski says that . What are these people talking about?
Then Howie Fenton talks about , while Elizabeth Gooding tells about the who happens to be Trish Witkowski. And you There's plenty more, all for reading and considering at The Digital Nirvana. Take a few minutes to check in, read, think and join in the discussions.
About Océ Océ is a leading
international provider of digital document management technology and
services. The company's solutions are based on Océ's advanced software
applications that deliver documents and data over internal networks and
the Internet to printing devices and archives -- locally and around the
world. Supporting the workflow solutions are Océ digital printers and
scanners, considered the most reliable and productive in the world. Océ
also offers a wide range of display graphics, consulting and
outsourcing solutions.
Océ employs around 22,000 people, with
2009 revenues of approximately $3.7 billion, operates in around 100
countries and maintains research and manufacturing centers in the
Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, the
Czech Republic, Romania and Singapore. Océ North America is
headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in
Chicago, IL; New York City; Boca Raton, FL; Salt Lake City, UT and
Vancouver, BC. North American revenues represent approximately half of
Océ's worldwide business, and employment is approximately 10,000. For
more information about Océ, visit . Outside the U.S.,
consult .
"Océ"
and the Océ logo are registered trademarks of Océ-Technologies B.V. All
product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks and
are the property of their owners and are respectfully acknowledged.
