At every step of workflows that support inkjet print production there are opportunities for optimization to unlock more profit potential. Whether your site was a greenfield inkjet startup or you brought inkjet into an existing shop, your workflow has a significant impact on your ability to make money with your presses.

In the first episode of this series, the spotlight was on the people in your operation as a point of friction. The more people you have touching a job, the less money you make on that job. The recommendation is automation of as many tasks as possible, taking people out of the workflow. But people are only a part of the equation with friction. Two more elements require consideration so that your highly productive inkjet press can deliver the results you want to the bottom line. Those two elements are the materials and the capital expenditures. If you can control these, you control the chaos that disrupts your profitability.

Materials as Friction

One of the essential raw materials of printing is the substrate. It might be vinyl, glass, metal, or fabric, but in inkjet production printing it is likely to be paper. As we start 2023, paper supply is down. Mills are changing their production to more packaging products. Uncoated and coated stocks are still constrained while paper prices continue to increase. It might feel that the friction is so intense that there is nothing you can do to ameliorate the situation, but there are things you can do. Yes, automation can be the lubricant you need.

Before we get too deep into the power of automating, start with what paper you use and offer to your clients. In the world of inkjet, we see many approaches. Some companies settle on one uncoated and one coated stock and that is all they offer. Others offer one house paper and one premium paper. Some add a few more to the list. Others agree to print on anything the customer requests, as long as they can get it. There are positives and negatives to any approach, but take the time to understand the impact on the business today.

The best recommendation for this year and the near future is to look at what most of the work you do uses and find two or three backup papers that perform in a similar way on the inkjet devices you use. Not every paper is a perfect match for every inkjet device, but there are papers that work well across CIJ, TIG and Piezo solutions. Talk to your paper merchants to find the best options for the work you do.

Once you have a plan on supply, turn your attention to reducing waste and optimizing the paper you have. There are several elements that contribute to reducing waste. Begin with your software and look for options to batch. Some companies approach this by routing jobs to specific hot folders and releasing the jobs when they reach a specific number of pages, and that is a good way to start. Use job characteristics to build the batches so that you minimize changing substrates. White paper factories also contribute to efficiency because they avoid the problem of changing preprinted substrates for each job.

Then look at the papers you use and how you color manage for them with an eye to qualifying backup stock. Create automations to ensure that the best color profiles are used for any backup stock. And then think about your consumable materials beyond paper.

Look at your ink usage. Does it seem high? If so, talk with your vendors and your color management team to see if you have options to reduce ink levels and still attain the quality you require. There may be some wiggle room!

Once again, automate to lubricate.

Capital Expenditures as Friction

Finally, look at your capital expenditures. Maximizing the use of any capital asset is the normal goal. Often we see inkjet shops where the speed of the machine isn’t a match for the work coming into the shop. There are two solutions – trade up or down in speed options or sell more or less work to bring the machine capacity and your workload into alignment.

Investments into new equipment can open many doors, improve capacity, and expand options for the type of work you can sell. Before you jump in, walk your workflow and do a deep dive on your product catalog. If you are in a multi-technology environment, do the math to see if all the work that should be on your inkjet press is produced on the technology. Go back and look at your waste to see if you are suffering from a lack of investment in your finishing, causing reruns.

Leverage automation of the production processes to ensure the fastest recuperation of your CapEx investments.

The essential takeaway is that automation should be the place to start to eliminate the friction in your Labor, Materials, and CapEx.