——Representation of Krefu, director of Kodak’s film media in Japan, in Japan
â– Taiwan's Long Chen Co., Ltd. Huang Xiu-chen Translated Source: Taiwan Printing Think Tank
On December 8, 1999, Mr. Kevin P. Clifford, Director of the Print Media Department of Kodak Films, USA, sent Mr. Kevin P. Clifford to report the latest status of printing in the U.S. printing industry to Japan's printing and platemaking industry. With permission, I would like to translate the full text of the report to share the readers and use it as a reference.
Mr. Crichford serves as the trade relations manager for Kodak's US and Canada regions. He often supports the activities of the U.S. and Canadian printing industry groups. He also serves as the Director of Print Media. He often supports various printing and platemaking companies, advertising agencies, and publishing companies. It also bridges the communication between customers and companies.
9. The merger of enterprises is more lively
Although it is optimistic about the prospects of various kinds of printing products in the industry, the number of printing-related companies is reduced in the United States. In particular, prepress companies have reduced more. Small-scale companies can now be said to be at the most difficult moments. The mass number of large companies is also increasing, and the consolidation of the industry is accelerating this trend. The following figure shows. The total number of printing companies from 1972 to 1999.
How will it become in the future? In order to integrate, AGT has heard that it is acquiring several companies. Consullida also acquired various companies in the past 2, 3 years. The biggest news for the United States this year is the merger of Quaker Inc. and World Colors.
According to industry and consultants, Mr. Sui Weifu’s forecast for U.S. commercial publications is as follows: Although the number of printing-related enterprises will decrease, the turnover will increase, and by the year 2005, it will decrease by approximately 7,000. Now companies with a business size of less than US$1 million can hardly survive. Only large companies with a scale of more than US$1 million can survive. Although all business integration is ongoing, the number of factories will not decrease.
In terms of the number of factories, I am afraid that in 2005, it will reach 28,000. It is not only the United States that has such a tendency but it should also be global. We are deeply influenced by the supplier's position. We Kodak Company also merged with Polykron Inc. on January 1st, 1998 to establish a new company, which combined to generate new commercial scale and cutting-edge technology. In the future, To respond to customer needs is the focus of consideration.
10. Corresponding to the trend of personalization, indispensable
According to the personalization trend of printed communication, there is a need for a system for reform. For modern society, everyone will only consider the selection of a unique product that expresses his or her own personality. There is also an increasing need to rack their brains for future goals. There are also a small number of diverse products targeted at fewer and fewer consumers. This is not only the product's own characteristics, such as: packaging or product style, or for the sale of methods, the differentiation is more and more obvious.
That is, this trend will be greatly affected in the printing industry. For example, DMs or special orders may also increase. At the same time, product packaging will also take on various forms. That is, the packaging media also Brand equity, differentiation. Therefore, the website further promoted the catalogue. In the near future, the catalog market will also be a new height to form a beginning. As a result, the number of prints for special order prints will also be reduced.
In order to satisfy such conditions, it is not possible to improve the printing job. The result of CTP (Computer to Plate) will be an important role. In addition, digitalization and remote proofreading also help improve the workflow in the United States. Moreover, depending on the application, digital printing has also become a major help in reducing the number of copies. It is now being made directly into lithography as a result of digital printing, or it can form a digital system of images on a roller.
Heidelberg's DI Quick Master is a well-known example. There are also technologies for digitally printing using other images, for example, electrophotography, photocopying, and the like. The printing of variable information has also provided a very attractive option. In particular, the personalization of the printed pages has become a very convenient choice. The joint venture between Kodak and Heidelberg also focuses on this division. I am afraid that it is DRUPA 2000. The main display at the printing exhibition will also be the printing of variable information.
11. Towards the future, pursuing digital asset management
Almost all printing-related companies in the United States are introducing new technologies to improve their workflow. Even small-scale companies mostly adopt new business forms. For example, making a CD, or a multimedia CD. At the same time, hire new talent to provide development services for the site. As everyone knows, websites not only provide information or market marketing, but also provide more value and increase the need for e-commerce. So beautifully meet all needs, not just as a slogan.
Development on the Internet can be handled electronically. Managed by a database, while requiring more complex work. Many business decision makers in the United States believe that digital asset management is the key to future success. RR Darnelli, AGT, Panduit and other companies, both large and small, are actively pursuing this opportunity.
Now consider the example of McDonald's company that the United States has experienced in its own corporate restructuring. When I was young, I thought that it was necessary to park outside the car and enter the shop to sit in order to eat. Of course, before this was a long line of teams to buy hamburgers, but after McDonald's reorganized its business form, most of the burgers now sit directly through the window of Drive Through. Available in the car. So not only don't step out of the car to McDonald's, even the car does not have to stop. In the car, as long as you order a meal with a microphone, you can take something and walk within minutes. For a company's restructuring, it is necessary to think like this, and we cannot change with it.
12. Digitized workflows bring business improvement
So far, the digitalization of the United States has not only remained on the adoption of digital workflows, but also a closer and closer relationship between suppliers and customers involved in printing. Thus, what companies do in business Improvements in improvements and financial performance are also helpful. Based on the feasibility of digitalization, the overall progress has been made. The first is CTP, which can improve the productivity and quality. "Color management" requires the integration of the first creative process and the final print job flow, digital color proofing, and minimizing the risk of work. This is indispensable for the digital workflow. The second is the printing of variable information. This is in response to changes in the market rather than individualization.
13. The progress of digitalization is based on the existence of standardization
In this sense, the progress of digitalization, the operation process and the reliance on the so-called specifications/standards are very much dependent on it, so that the so-called specifications/standards make it very important to freely share files. ANSI (United States National Bureau of Standards) is the main standard organization of the United States and ISO (International Standards Agency) is also represented by ANSI in the United States. Therefore, the ANSI-recognized committee is known as IT8. This is the electronic information and graphic arts. (Printing) The most primitive organization for the production of both parties' communication standards, and now its function is continued to be accepted by the CGATS (Technical Standards Committee).
The CGATS proposes TR001 specifications, where SWOP print correction information is specified and then formulated. It is well known that SWOP has had very important results in the standardization of publishing and printing industry.
Although the ANSI/CGATS TROOI specification also defines SWOP, it also visually refers to the colors and establishes and defines the relationship between all CMYK dot values ​​and CIELAB values. The so-called DDAP (Digital Publishing Advertising Extension) has also become a small committee in the CGATS for the advertising information of the publishing industry. TIFF-IT's page format is a standard developed by this group and is also recognized by ANSI and ISO. On the other hand, the Adobe system is the creator of Postscript and also promotes the page format that competes with it - PDF (portable file format).
The U.S. big advertising company, Y&R's new technology department manager, recently said that "the battle between TIFF-IT and PDF is over, and no one is a winner," which means that we will not support two standards in the foreseeable future. No, this means that Kodak's desktop proofreaders also support both formats. At the same time, the ICC (International Color Conference) produces worldwide standards for image processing, and has very Significance.
14. CTP will continue to be alive despite the increasing popularity of CTFs
What is the current situation in the world using digital workflow? The BS marketing company's investigation of this, the number of installed stations around the world in 1997 was about 1,400 units, and by the year 2002, there are expected to be 11,100 units. At present, there are about 250 units in Japan that need to know a The fact that CTP adoption is now increasing very steadily. However, most of the most common digital workflows are now using CTFs (Computerized Negatives), which are the so-called image generators.
The number of CTP stations in 1998 was much higher than the number of CTF stations in Japan. According to the current growth rate of CTP, the printing industry in the United States, Japan, and Western Europe is the highest, but the major printing companies in Asia, Japan, and Central and South America are also introduced. I and Kodak’s position is: Regardless of whether customers are in the technical stage of CTF or CTP, they must all help them succeed, and many customers continue to enjoy the benefits of the original operation process. In other words, it is necessary to support both the digitized and original workflows at the same time.
15. What are the most important technologies for printing companies?
The GATF (American Printing Technology Foundation) believes that the printing companies in the United States have the greatest impact on the printing business for a short period of time. The survey conducted shows that the impact of CTP is the largest, followed by digitization and remote proofreading. On Demand is followed by the database format, workflow, and so on. There are no detailed explanations on PDF and TIFF-IT, workflows, etc. Nowadays, these two formats have become more than a computer platform in the field of printing, and can be exchanged with book page archives.
16. Use CTP time can be shortened
The following three kinds of technologies are described in detail as follows. First, starting from the topic of CTP technology, that is, using CTP can be shortened. In fact, the pre-press work is an anti-retroversal project. The same work that did not repeat much using the previous method will not work. In order to make a new database and have individual proofreading work, the cost is very expensive, but if you use CTP, you can eliminate many unnecessary work.
Esun Furniture Company Limited , http://www.fs-furnitures.com