Although inkjet-treated stocks have decreased in price over time, they still may cost as much as 10 percent to 30 percent more than comparable untreated stocks. Growing Opportunities in Publications and General Commercial Print It is clear that the earliest success for high-speed continuous-feed inkjet systems has been for low coverage applications on uncoated papers. That is beginning to change. New systems and techniques have been announced that address high-quality inkjet printing at very high speeds on coated stocks. These systems, and the running costs associated with them, will begin to tip the balance in favor of some print applications that have not been economically feasible so far. The next frontier for high-speed color inkjet will be high-coverage work on lightweight glossy stocks for applications like books, magazines, and catalogs. These will benefit from inkjet’s productivity, its ability to manufacture significant quantities cost effectively (and in a just-in-time fashion), and its mass customization capabilities. In general commercial print environments, promotional applications like brochures and inserts will also gain ground. Inkjet is also having increasing impact on industrial applications outside of document printing. These are often systems with very wide webs (50 inches or wider) in applications such as packaging or decorative printing of fabrics. More Affordable Entry Points To date, the inkjet equipment available has been very expensive requiring extremely high volumes to justify cost. Monthly volumes of more than five million letter-sized impressions per month are where many sites get started. Not many print service providers have that kind of volume, and as the market matures, system vendors are bringing new offerings to the market with acquisition price points under a million dollars. These may be systems that leverage a rollto cut sheet design, or they may be true cut-sheet printers. What’s Next As the next generation of inkjet production devices comes to market at lower price points, InfoTrends predicts that even more applications will shift to inkjet. We do still expect to see color electrophotography grow, but not at the rate of inkjet. These new, less-expensive roll- and sheet-fed inkjet devices will be more appropriate for general commercial printers and will create opportunities to increase the pool of applications that inkjet can address. The table below shows some recently announced, next-generation color inkjet devices with price points well under $1 million. There are also other trends driving the trend toward digital print, such as the move from black & white documents to fully variable color. The greatest difference with these new devices is their entry-level price point. As this comes down, it impacts the total volume required to cost-justify such a purchase. Hypothetically, a multi-million-dollar web-fed device may require a seven to 10 million pages per month to cost justify while one of these devices (with an acquisition price in the upper range of hundreds of thousands of dollars) does not require nearly as much volume, perhaps as little as 600,000 impressions to justify. This, of course, is a generalization. The only way to know for sure is to calculate a cost per page (or piece). This will be different for different applications and run lengths, but it’s a good starting point for comparing this to your company’s specific demands. What is clear, however, is that the justification model will change as the less expensive devices come into the market. As the entry price point comes down, other elements such consumable, maintenance, and paper costs are likely to increase somewhat compared to the per-page costs of the higher volume products. The bottom line, however, is that more companies will be able to afford these devices and the printing industry will benefit by offering more value-added opportunities such as variable data and custom printing for longer run lengths. If you have any questions or want more information about Inkjet Production equipment email Howie. Fenton@Infotrends.com. Manufacturer / Model Feed Type Format Maximum Speed Canon Océ VarioPrint i300 Cut-sheet B3 (13.9 x 19.7 inches/ 353 x 500 mm) 300 A4 impressions per minute Delphax elan 500 Cut-sheet 18 x 25.2 inches (450 x 640 mm) 500 letter impressions per minute Xerox Rialto 900 Roll- to-cut- sheet narrow web 9.84 inches (250 mm) 342 letter / 320 A4 impressions per minute Find this article at MyPRINTResource.com/12059403 MyPRINTResource.com Inkjet’s Age | June 2015 13
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