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Most printers who have production digital color copier/printers are pleased with their performance, quality, and support, according to a recent Quick Printing online survey that drew more than 400 responses. In addition, some 62 percent plan to buy another digital color unit in the next 18 months. That said, offset still has a place in these shops, with the majority of respondents saying offset accounts for a significant percentage of all color work, including two- and three-color in addition to four-color.
Some 41 percent of respondents identified themselves as small commercial printers, while 28 percent said they were quick printers. Another 12 percent said they operated a copy shop and 18 percent said they were "other," including in-plants, digital printers, and print brokers.
Shop size ranged from nine or fewer employees (70 percent) to 10 to 20 employees (18 percent) to 20 or more employees (11 percent). Some 52 percent of respondents reported sales of $500,000 or less with 13 percent having sales between $500,000 and $750,000, 12 percent having sales between $750,000 and $1 million, and 23 percent with sales of $1 million or more.
How Many of What?
Of the printers responding, fully 27 percent said they have more than one production digital color copier/printer. While 37 percent of printers said their digital color copier work accounted for 10 percent or less of sales, 41 percent had digital color sales of between 10 and 30 percent, 10 percent had sales of between 30 and 40 percent, and 12 percent had sales of 40 percent or more.
There was not much doubt about the overall placement leaders, with Xerox (40 percent), Canon (34 percent), and Konica-Minolta (24 percent) heading the pack. No other manufacturer accounted for double digit placements but, HP, Kodak, Gestetner, Lanier, Océ, Ricoh, Savin, Toshiba, Xeikon, and Xante all were reported.
Speeds of the installed units varied from less than 20 ppm (14 percent), to 20 to 50 ppm (58 percent), 50 to 75 ppm (20 percent), 75 to 100 ppm (four percent), and more than 100 ppm (four percent).
While the majority of jobs produced on these machines required some finishing, only 37 percent of respondents said they had in-line finishing capabilities. The need for finishing varied widely, with 34 percent saying only a quarter of their digital color output needed finishing. Another 30 percent said that between 25 and 50 percent of jobs required finishing, while 27 percent said half to three-quarters needed finishing, and 10 percent said that more than three-quarters of digital color work needs some finishing.
How Happy Are You?
While a few respondents said they wished we had included "Somewhat" in the questions on satisfaction, fully 84 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the performance of their digital color copier/printer. Only two percent said they were "Very Unsatisfied." The gap was just as wide when questioned about the quality of output, with 90 percent saying they were happy or very happy and two percent saying they were very unhappy. Support also got high marks with 87 percent of printers saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with the support they received while 10 percent were not satisfied and three percent were very unsatisfied.
Digital Input
An indication of the digital transition in our industry could be seen in the responses to questions on jobs received in digital form. Some 39 percent of printers reported that more than 60 percent of all jobs that come into the shop are in digital form while 41 percent said that 75 percent to 100 percent of jobs destined for output on their digital color copier/printer are received in digital form.
It is apparent that the majority of those printers responding to the survey rely on their digital color copier/printer for their in-house, four-color output. Only 35 percent of printers responding said they also produce four-color offset printing in house.
When asked what percent of all color work (two-, three-, and four-color) is done offset, there were some wide disparities. Some 16 percent said they did no color work offset at all, while another nine percent said they did 10 percent or less and 17 percent said they did between 10 and 25 percent of multi-color offset work. On the other end of the spectrum were those printers reporting 25 to 50 percent of all color work was done offset, 23 percent saying that between 50 and 75 percent of all color was offset, and 19 percent saying that they rely on offset for output of 75 percent of all color work.
Other Results
Printers might have been mostly happy with the digital color equipment they already have in-house, but they are looking to the future to upgrade, expand, or replace existing units. While 42 percent say they have no plans to acquire another digital color copier/printer, 29 percent say they plan to acquire one six to 12 months from now and 29 percent say they plan to acquire one in 12 to 18 months.
Finally, a somewhat disappointing result involved association affiliations, with 68 percent saying they were not affiliated with any printing association. Some 15 percent said they belonged to NAQP, 14 percent to PIA/GATF, 10 percent to NAPL, and 10 percent to a PIA state chapter. From my perspective, the more digital becomes the mainstay of our industry, the more printers can gain from the resources offered by association affiliation.
author: By Bob Hall