The best of UK print can wipe the floor in terms of productivity with the US and Germany but there is a huge gap between the best and the rest.
While much of the attention will be focused on the headline catching proposals for infrastructure investment in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week, perhaps of more importance will be what he says about stepping up the UK’s competitiveness.
The UK it seems, lags when it comes to investment in IT, which in printing industry terms means MIS and automation. And it means investment in proper apprenticeship training, quite probably with remedial teaching to ensure that those being taken on have the required levels of maths and English.
Print can point to huge investments in digital technology, in faster makeready presses, and the best of UK print can wipe the floor in terms of productivity against printers in the US or Germany. But there is a huge gap between the best and the rest. The UK’s standing is a credit to the continuing efforts of Vision in Print, but much still needs to be done. Where one company can achieve 60% or more overall manufacturing efficiency another may be stuck at 30% of less. Little wonder than many printers complain that they are undercut on price by rivals.
This may be the result of IT fear, that protocols, operating systems and coding languages are unfamiliar to those of us used to dot gain, mottling and ghosting. Partly also because investment in a new press is very tangible while investment in a computer system and software, particularly cloud software, is not. Software has no retained value. We must get over this attitude.
Properly implemented workflow software can have a greater impact on capacity than a replacement press. And MIS can indicate where attention is needed in the business to improve its profitability. If press performance is the muscle of a business, software is its business brain. Both are necessary, but brain is essential for brawn to perform.
Choose brain over brawn
The best of UK print can wipe the floor in terms of productivity with the US and Germany but there is a huge gap between the best and the rest.
While much of the attention will be focused on the headline catching proposals for infrastructure investment in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week, perhaps of more importance will be what he says about stepping up the UK’s competitiveness.
The UK it seems, lags when it comes to investment in IT, which in printing industry terms means MIS and automation. And it means investment in proper apprenticeship training, quite probably with remedial teaching to ensure that those being taken on have the required levels of maths and English.
Print can point to huge investments in digital technology, in faster makeready presses, and the best of UK print can wipe the floor in terms of productivity against printers in the US or Germany. But there is a huge gap between the best and the rest. The UK’s standing is a credit to the continuing efforts of Vision in Print, but much still needs to be done. Where one company can achieve 60% or more overall manufacturing efficiency another may be stuck at 30% of less. Little wonder than many printers complain that they are undercut on price by rivals.
This may be the result of IT fear, that protocols, operating systems and coding languages are unfamiliar to those of us used to dot gain, mottling and ghosting. Partly also because investment in a new press is very tangible while investment in a computer system and software, particularly cloud software, is not. Software has no retained value. We must get over this attitude.
Properly implemented workflow software can have a greater impact on capacity than a replacement press. And MIS can indicate where attention is needed in the business to improve its profitability. If press performance is the muscle of a business, software is its business brain. Both are necessary, but brain is essential for brawn to perform.
Gareth Ward
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