Gordon Pritchard
Continued from page 14
TRADE PRINTING
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Indigo Digital & Heidelberg Offset
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ALL ACCOUNTS TRADE PROTECTED E
Best deal on time on budget Best deal on time on budget When you have deadlines to meet… Trade Printing Fast turnaround & competitive trade pricing
6-Colour Mitsubishi 40” w/AQ
5-Colour Mitsubishi 40” w/Perfector
4-Colour Heidelberg 25” w/AQ
CTP & Film Output
Over 25,000 sq ft facility
T: 416-299-8568 F: 416-299-3977
Prompt estimates
E: bestdeal@on.aibn.com
NEW
24/7 Production
Full In-house Bindery and Finishing
Colour Posters, Brochures, Flyers,
Books, Catalogues, Etc
www.bestdealgraphicsprinting.com
20 Production Dr. Scarborough, Ontario M1H 2X8
Toll Free: 1-866-719-3339
and subsequent buy-in, a printing plant
cannot possibly operate at an efficient
and profitable peak.
In today’s printing world, the most
obvious example of mass-customization
buy-in can be seen within the direct-mail sector, where inkjet- and toner-based technology suppliers are constantly
promoting and pushing the benefits
of differentiation as deployed by personalized mail.
While every direct-mail product can be
unique and perfectly suited to a specific
customer or print buyer’s need, at the
same time, these products and processes
are typically modularized and standardized. Successful output providers in the
sector purposely make their direct-mail
customization as repeatable a process as
possible. Because the modular components of the process are standardized,
they are very efficient from a manufacturing point of view, while at the same
time being easy to communicate to personnel and customers.
If the process is not repeatable, and
every unique job must be built around
new steps in a printer’s workflow, it is as
if every project has become a research-and-development exercise. Even the
largest manufacturing R&D budget is
truly alloted to find a repeatable process.
Outside of printing, if millions of dollars
are spent on the development of a particular product, you can be assured
much of that budget was earmarked for
building a repeatable process to commercialize that product.
A suitable mass-customization catch-
phrase for printers is: “Standardize the
invisible, customize the visible.”
Printers succeed by having the flexi-
bility to deliver a variety of presswork
options, which can include third-party
standards tailored to individual cus-
tomer and project needs. To do so in an
efficient and cost-competitive manner
requires that the printer selects press-
work characteristics to deliver the most-
visible difference to the customer. These
offerings are then defined, pre-tested,
standardized and packaged in ways that
can be easily communicated to the print
buyer, as well as everyone in the produc-
tion chain.
The links companies forge with customers when they move to mass customization can deepen market
penetration, solidify customer loyalty
and create a cost-efficient production
cycle. Without adding to, and in some
cases lowering costs, mass customization
can move a company formerly fighting
for market share to the front of the pack.
BROKER / ACCOUNT PROTECTED
• Three Didde Webs • 5-colour, 26” Komori • 6-colour, 40” Komori • Two Jet Envelope Presses • Digital Printing • Two AB Dicks • Bindery • Pre-Press • Direct-to-Plate
There are six key concepts in mass
customization:
A. Evaluate printing in customers’ terms,
