When you think about differentiation in the operation of your printing presses, you think about things like press operator expertise, preventative maintenance, and optimal workflows.

When you get a new press installed at your printing business, do you scour it, looking for things you want to change or that you want to work differently? It’s a funny question, right? The press is made of hardware, heavy metals and plastic. We don’t think about asking a press manufacturer to make changes to a press. We love this press—we just need it to be about one foot shorter so it fits better!

Obviously, a press vendor can’t make a special press for the way you want to do business. They design/build presses and then all the printers invest in the same press. Your press operators learn how to operate the press. Not all press operators will operate a press in the same way. There are definitely differences; I’ve heard print business owners brag that their press operators can make their digital presses “sing” or their workflows in front of their web presses keep those engines running 24/7. Printers can and do differentiate in their optimization of press equipment, but the optimization is in how much the staff learns about the press and then applies that learning in order to optimize.