DO THE MATH: The Consolidation Equation
Calculating the pluses and minuses of transitioning to sheetfed inkjet from toner takes more than checking the equipment price and comparing speeds and feeds. You need to do the math and determine the total value of this technology shift. A great place to begin is applying the Consolidation Equation.
The Consolidation Equation: Maximizing Print Production with the Support of Canon Inkjet Technology
In the highly competitive commercial printing industry, organizations are constantly evaluating the financial and operational implications of transitioning from traditional toner fleets to advanced inkjet systems. Making the right strategic investment decision requires looking far beyond the initial acquisition price or conducting basic comparisons of machine speeds and feeds.
Print providers must conduct a comprehensive, high-level analysis of the total value of operation. This involves carefully weighing the overarching expenses of acquiring and operating a piece of equipment over its entire life cycle against the significant upside advantages that production inkjet technology can provide.
To accurately determine the true value that this technology transition brings to an enterprise, industry leaders must actively apply what is known as the "consolidation equation," a strategic framework based on a simple premise: consolidating a print fleet by replacing multiple toner units with one highly efficient sheetfed inkjet press.
Toner Inefficiencies and Resource Drain
Historically, commercial print facilities operating expansive fleets of standard toner engines have faced significant operational bottlenecks that severely limit overarching business growth. High-volume toner shops typically require multiple shifts of highly skilled operators just to meet standard client deadlines, which heavily inflates baseline labor costs. Finding and carefully managing all that reliable, specialized talent remains a major, ongoing challenge across the printing industry.
Furthermore, managing multiple toner presses requires an expansive physical footprint, consuming valuable floor space that is currently devoted strictly to printing. Because print providers get paid to deliver finished pieces rather than simply printing pages, occupying vast amounts of space with multiple legacy machines severely limits overall profit opportunities. Material management also presents a massive logistical hurdle. Toner fleets frequently require facilities to order, inventory, and manage a large number of distinct paper SKUs and preprinted shells, leading to excessive paper waste and complex storage requirements. Facilities often incur additional paper waste when trimming these various substrates to fit specific sizes. Finally, standard toner engines inherently struggle with mechanical reliability, often averaging an operational uptime of closer to only 75 percent.
The varioPRINT iX-series
To help print providers overcome these compounding inefficiencies, Canon offers the varioPRINT iX-series, a revolutionary sheetfed inkjet press designed to help transform the modern print floor. By implementing the varioPRINT iX-series, facilities can actively execute the consolidation equation, successfully collapsing the workload of multiple disparate toner units into one centralized, high-performance inkjet press. This technology transition fundamentally restructures how a print business manages its resources.
The varioPRINT iX-series serves as a comprehensive manufacturing solution that seamlessly integrates advanced internal quality controls, allowing the system to maintain flawless print consistency from the very first print to the final sellable sheet without requiring manual operator intervention.
Reclaiming Space, Labor, and Materials
The strategic implementation of the varioPRINT iX-series delivers profound, multifaceted benefits. First, by consolidating the printing fleet, facilities can immediately reclaim highly valuable floor space. This newly available square footage can be intelligently repurposed to optimize the shop floor layout, minimizing physical steps and maximizing efficiency during every stage of the printing and finishing process. Alternatively, the space can be used to house new finishing equipment, bringing previously outsourced functions entirely back in-house to put more profit directly into the operation.
Labor utilization is also completely revolutionized. The Canon inkjet press is incredibly easy to run, allowing new operators to be trained rapidly without requiring specific prior printing skills. Because the technology automates quality control, it is not unusual for a single full-time equivalent employee to easily produce the volume of work that previously required multiple toner units and several people. This dramatic increase in labor efficiency can free up excess personnel to focus on other productive, revenue-generating tasks.
Material management is similarly streamlined. Transitioning to the full-color capabilities of inkjet enables a highly efficient "white paper print factory" model, eliminating the costly need to produce and inventory preprinted shells—a major source of industry waste. Consolidating to a single varioPRINT iX helps simplify materials management while creating critical economies of scale, offering increased buying power and more cost-effective ordering and storage. When mixed media jobs are required, the press can seamlessly switch between sizes and paper types using up to 12 different input trays, any of which can be reloaded without ever interrupting active print production.
Ultimately, applying the consolidation equation goes beyond basic subtraction; it reveals benefits that are highly additive. The varioPRINT iX-series boasts an outstanding average uptime at or exceeding 90 percent over a 24-hour period, coupled with a staggering duty cycle of up to 10 million letter impressions per month. With throughput speeds approaching two-and-a-half times that of most standard toner engines, the business case for Canon inkjet becomes undeniable. Adding all these advantages together multiplies a facility's opportunity to pursue new markets, charge lucrative premiums for advanced personalization, and profitably execute short-run jobs entirely in-house.
Interested in learning how Canon production printing technology can help your business grow? Contact us today.