The use of cost-effective printing technology is a critical success factor for print operations. The use of shorter print runs, a trend experiencing great momentum in the printing industry, sets up cost differences that can contribute significantly to the bottom line. The Impact of Changing Run Lengths on the Printing Market, a new study from Smithers, looks at the highly competitive and dynamic business of printing over a 10-year period. The fundamental differences of analogue and digital printing related to run length are examined in this new research, as well as the underlying market drivers that favour shorter run lengths.

Analogue vs. digital printing
Analogue and digital printing are fundamentally different printing approaches. Analogue printing involves the reproduction of a static image that is defined by a pre-patterned intermediate element such as a printing plate, gravure cylinder or screen, whereas in digital printing the image can be dynamic and is formed in direct response to a computer image file. These differences are important in the context of the cost vs. run length profile of print technologies.

Analogue printing typically involves higher set up costs – including contributions from plate, cliché or cylinder production, and print substrate waste while the press achieves registration. Analogue printing processes typically use lower cost consumables (especially inks) than digital printing, which come to dominate the cost per print as run length increases and the set up cost contribution per copy is diluted – consequently, analogue printing is more cost effective over long run lengths on a cost per print basis.
 
In contrast, digital printing has low set up costs – there are no plates or cylinders needed and sellable prints are normally achieved with minimal substrate waste. However, the inks and toners used in digital print are typically more expensive than those for analogue printing. As print run lengths increase, the relatively higher consumables costs of digital print outweigh the set up cost benefits of digital and analogue printing becomes favoured on a cost per print basis.
 
Outlook for print and run lengths
Print overall is shaped by technological, behavioural, economic, and environmental factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has acted to accelerate many trends that were in evidence prior to the pandemic. There has been huge growth in e-commerce, which – as the customer is known to the retailer prior to dispatch of goods – has opened new opportunities for brands and retailers to use print to connect with consumers. On the other hand, the footprint of physical retail is shrinking in many countries as retailers adjust to the multi-channel retail environment. This will result in less in-store signage.

The effects of the pandemic have put strain on supply chains – affecting production and distribution. As a result, companies are reviewing ways to improve the resilience and agility of their supply chains in anticipation of future supply interruptions. The market is seeing:

• Increasing supply chain digitization that will give supply chain partners visibility of issues as they arise. There will be more multi-vendor sourcing, which may result in shorter runs.
• Re-shoring/near-shoring of production will occur to a limited extent, employing advanced technologies in agile Smart Factories located close to the end market with production closely coupled to demand. This will lead to fragmentation of demand and drive shorter runs.
• Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have re-affirmed their commitment to reducing the burden on the planet through sustainability. Large fast-moving consumer goods companies are committed to drastically reducing consumption of virgin plastic, designing products and packaging for reuse, recycling and/or repair, and avoiding over-production of product and packaging in the first place, which will lead to shorter print runs.

 
Changing consumer preferences
There have been significant changes in the way consumers access information, with declines in printed newspaper and magazines, while online channels have thrived. As print readership falls, so does advertising revenue and the challenge for newspaper and magazine publishers is finding ways to secure sustainable and substantial revenues from the switch online. Online advertising has grown significantly – but it is tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon that have benefited.
 
Catalogue printing is also in decline, with companies preferring different ways to engage with their customers. IKEA has abandoned its printed catalogue for a mix of online and smartphone enabled virtual reality – allowing customers to scan the rooms in their homes and create virtual reality images of those spaces filled with their chosen IKEA products.
 
Economics of shorter print runs
Shorter run printing is becoming more economical to produce. New technology is being adopted across all print processes, with increasing use of automation, AI, data analytics and other Industry 4.0 related technologies improving the productivity of printing. Digital printing presses are becoming significantly more productive, reducing the cost of digital print. Analogue press OEMs are introducing many different ways to make job changeovers more efficient, which improves the shorter run economics of analogue print.