Product Reviews

Printers were not convinced about the benefits of inline digital finishing until fairly recently. The fear was that it would slow down their machines and, more worryingly, impact productivity.

However, this is not now the case, according to Ricoh's marketing manager for professional print solutions Karen Lawrence. She says that, since speed has improved, more and more people are looking into it as a viable option for their businesses.

"For mono machines, it's now a must to have inline finishing," explains Lawrence. She adds that falling run lengths means getting your finishing done by a third-party supplier is fast-becoming less and less cost-effective and that colour printers are really beginning to embrace these inline technologies too.

"Traditionally, inline finishing slowed the machines down and people wanted to maintain machine speed. They can do that now as it can run on the fly."

It also means labour costs are lower, as it is an end-to-end solution, enabling, for example, one-touch bookletmaking.

Saddlestitching remains the most popular finishing product in this market, says Lawrence, but many are seeing the benefits of having a bookletmaker as well as a saddlestitcher, which can give really good results.

As with any investment, Lawrence says the first thing to look at is the total cost of ownership and the needs of your business. "People have been reluctant in the past to bring finishing in-house as there was a lot of training needed. Now, inline is done on the machine at the touch of a button, so you don't need an extra operator and it is easier to learn to use," says Lawrence.

For envelopers and inserters, Simon Illingworth, marketing manager for direct mail at Pitney Bowes, says that the biggest change in DM has come from bringing the processes online. This has meant that it does not have to produce envelopes batch by batch, but it can be done, for example, by postcode. Envelopes batched by area can be despatched in a single mailbag, which can earn postage discounts. It also means less wastage too, according to Illingworth.

The other new trend has been for paper wrapping instead of traditional enveloping. There is a lot more room for printing on a paper wrapping, which is great for marketing and branding. Technology has also meant that a wrap can have a window patch, which makes it look more like an envelope. This moves it away from its association with 'junk' mail, which puts off many consumers.