I. Overview
The concept of Print-on-Demand (POD for short) began in 1990. Xerox has developed the DocuTech Express printer, which can receive electronic files or scan documents directly, store these files in the system and reprint them as needed. In 1993, the emergence of high-quality digital presses made it possible to print high-quality, full-color, personalized prints. Compared with the traditional publishing process, on-demand printing technology has the advantages of low risk, short cycle, etc. It is very suitable for the printing of short-run and out-of-print books, personal publishing, various industry standards, technical standards, college textbooks, academic monographs, etc. The publication. Today, many large publishing groups, including Ingram, Simon and Schuster, and Barnes & Noble, have joined the ranks of promoting on-demand printing technology. Nowadays, more and more things are suitable for POD, and the range of applications can become very wide. Actually, printing on demand has become a method, and various applications are slowly being developed. Originally conceived of POD, people think that it is more cost. Gradually, the charm of the personalized POD service manifests itself. On-demand printing can take into account the individual requirements of the reader, and it can provide a variety of options including paper, format, etc. The average consumer is willing to spend a certain amount of money on the diversified choice of reading materials. Therefore, on-demand printing has a mature service and application environment. In the POD process, documents are stored digitally. Electronically stored documents can be updated or replaced as necessary, always the latest version to be printed. In digital format, the contents of the document can be stored chapter by chapter. Therefore, they can be re-assembled at the time of printing according to the customer's needs, resulting in a unique document. For example, a custom device manufacturer can store maintenance information for each product feature separately, and a manual for a specific device can be printed by combining different chapters (product features). In addition, the content of the document is objectified and can also be reused. Most importantly, personalized printing is a high value-added application. Prints with unique content are more economical than prints with hundreds or thousands of copies. Readers react better to information produced for themselves. Personalized printing allows everyone to really get what they want. In addition, printing of commercial letters, mail order forms, and bank credit cards can also benefit from personalized printing. POD technology can be widely used in the field of personalized printing. Personalized applications have also become POD's newest and most promising applications
Second, "on-demand printing" business operations steps
1. Use sophisticated high-speed scanning equipment to digitize the original without damaging the original.
2. Print pre-press processing for scanned images, then output Portable Document Format (PDF)
3. Through the Internet and other data transmission channels, PDF files of the specifications are transmitted to the digital printing company's prepress center for storage and destined for printing.
4. After receiving the customer's approval, place the order.
5. The digital printing company began printing immediately after confirming the order.
6. Postpress processing.
7. The quality inspection of the printed matter shall be delivered to the customer by mail after passing the inspection.
Third, several important content of "print on demand"
1. Digital content
The variety and quantity of digital content and the development of on-demand printing are mutually reinforcing, because what consumers really need is the information content itself, and all technologies and equipment are the means to serve the information content. Therefore, if there is a shortage of digital resources available for on-demand printing, consumers will lose interest in on-demand printing, which will affect technology research and development and market operations. Therefore, digitizing the content of paper information, establishing a powerful electronic document database, and providing sufficient digital content for on-demand printing are the primary issues to be solved.
2. Effective Digital Resource Management System
Personalized printing involves a large amount of different data. It is necessary to establish an effective digital resource management system. The system contains the following three aspects.
(1) Collect and analyze customer data to ensure that the data is accurate, no spelling errors; determine how to organize data, graphics, and text to form a usable layout; solve problems such as data loss caused by different database connections.
(2) The data format conversion data is transferred between different systems, and it is better to convert it into a standard language format to solve the problem of compatibility between hardware and software of different vendors.
(3) Form a complete workflow When dealing with a large amount of data related to customers, effectively manage digital documents and provide technical support for the company's internal printing production system.
3. Data security
On-demand printing databases contain important information for many companies or individuals, which involves data security issues. The current solution is to create a database and check, proof, and send PDF files to the printer. This method protects the security of information to a certain extent, but the workload of the enterprise itself is very large. Therefore, establishing a restriction mechanism between the printer and the enterprise and ensuring the security of the data will also become a solution.
4. Copyright Protection
On-demand printing also involves copyright protection issues. Because the digitalization of the manuscript requires the consent of the author, the transmission of the digital file to the user via the network also requires a license.
5. On-demand printing
On-demand printing emphasizes flexibility, individuation, short version, and efficient and fast delivery methods to promote rapid development of on-demand post-press processing. Old-fashioned folding machines, sewing machines and inserters can only accomplish simple operations. Therefore, efficient and automated on-demand post-press processing equipment has become a common expectation.
6. Hardware requirements
On-demand printing of paper requires a lot of performance. Good dimensional stability, low warpage and low wrinkling; proper frictional resistance and surface conductivity, sufficient stiffness; suitable paper properties for product form, research and development of paper can not be ignored. At the same time, advanced and effective digital printing equipment and related materials also affect quality, cost and profit.
7. staff training
The development of on-demand printing is inseparable from education and training. The training target includes not only management personnel, sales personnel, and operating personnel, but also customers. It is necessary to improve the level of technology and management, but also to train customers and actively explore and develop the market.
Fourth, "on-demand printing" production process
The above discussed the on-demand printing process and several key contents. After understanding the on-demand printing, the process can be set up.
1. Conduct market research.
Does the customer really need digital printing? How to achieve on-demand printing in today's economic and social life? Cost (device, paper, ink, etc.) Geometry? Digital printing product price geometry? Is printing on demand really profitable?
When Xerox introduced the first DochTech 135 Production Publisher ten years ago, on-demand printing was only a concept. The market that started from scratch in 10 years has now reached an annual production revenue of US$13.3 billion. On-demand printing has driven the development of the printing market with an annual growth rate of 21%. In the past few years, a new field of digital printing services has been formed, from handicraft printing production to electronic technology-based service industries. Although it will take time to replace optical lenses and analog devices, the general trend toward digital development is obvious. Speed ​​and business relationships are the necessary capabilities for conducting every business activity. All digital printing equipment will be networked or have Internet access capabilities. The boundaries between every member of the Internet, such as companies, data centers, and printers, will become increasingly blurred, not only because the devices themselves are basically not individually characterized by network technologies, bandwidth, and the Internet. Connected to this online, each member of the company is doing its own business. Strengths and professions - it is the intangible value that printers provide to customers in the next 10 years - not print or advanced technology. By that time, dividing the world by products and services no longer makes any sense. Instead, it should be integrated product-service sales, which are both "productized" services and "service-oriented" products.
The three trends (also known as megatrends) that affect the way business activities are conducted over the next 10 years are e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM), and omnisourcing. These three major trends are the major forces that affect the printing industry.