Making the leap from offset to inkjet is no small decision — it’s a shift that impacts ROI, quality, efficiency, and even the way teams think about production. In a recent webinar, “From Press to Progress: The Smart Shift from Offset to Inkjet,” hosted by In-plant Impressions and sponsored by Canon USA, industry leaders Chris DuBach, executive vice president of Sales and Business Development at Phoenix Innovate, headquartered in Troy, Michigan; and Sherry Morris, general manager, Alabama Operations, with Election Systems & Software, based in Birmingham, shared candid insights from their own transitions. From stronger-than-expected ROI to efficiency gains that surprised even their operators, the discussion offered a clear-eyed look at what it really takes to succeed with inkjet.
Here are three of the top takeaways.
- The ROI on inkjet equipment far exceeded initial expectations.
Dubach pointed out that ROI, for starters, can’t be evaluated in a vacuum. It’s about more than just the printing process itself. “That’s only one part of the equation,” he said. Other elements such as speed, waste, paper differences, and ink costs will all contribute to the actual ROI. Time, in particular, he stressed was a critical factor to look at.
“Time has to be part of the equation,” he continued. “The print industry is probably laughing at me because [customers] are never on time with things. But when it’s got to hit mail dates, and you’ve got mail times to meet, those times become even more critical.”
In the end, he notes, after doing the ROI calculations taking into account how much time an inkjet press would save them over their traditional offset equipment, DuBach noted, “we wouldn’t have done it if the ROI hadn’t been so positive. But it wasn’t just slightly positive, it was extremely positive in favor of inkjet, and that helps our clients, that helps our production, and it helps us be able to take on more growth.”
Morris agreed, noting, “When we came looking at it, we considered everything for the ROI, not just the print, but the time we have put into it. We looked last month, and we’re running about 9 months ahead of schedule on our ROI right now, and it’s actually been better than we expected. We have been able to take in more work than we were doing before, and because we’re faster and more efficient, we’re ahead of our ROI, which the Board of Directors love.”
Read the full story on Printing Impressions.
