Inline Finishing
Unlock the potential of higher productivity and product differentiation
Increase your profits, cut production times and differentiate your product – with inline finishing
Providing inline finishing capabilities lets you increase your profit margins on print jobs, whilst at the same time shortening your own production times, reducing labour costs, improving quality control, cutting back on waste and saving energy.
Traditionally viewed as an afterthought and production bottleneck, finishing is now being viewed as a critical stage in production and a way to differentiate products and create added value. It is not unusual for finishing to generate as much as 40% of production costs, and for poor quality control at this stage to destroy a great deal of added value.
With updates in digital production technology, SME printers have woken up to the fact that investing relatively modest sums in finishing equipment can lead to significant productivity improvements and reduce costs. Results from a recent drupe global trend report show that 48% of respondents were planning to invest in finishing equipment, and 40% are investing to drive efficiency improvements.
Which inline finishing workflow do I need?
Digital inline finishing features a variety of different workflows
These are all about automation, making in-line and near-line equipment critical, but sometimes an offline approach will be more applicable.
So how should you be investing? In inline finishing, the press and inline finishing equipment are directly connected and closely integrated using front-end management controls. This is the solution for you if you produce a defined range of products in standard formats such as stitched booklets, reports, calendars and book blocks. The overall productivity of a digital press with in-line finishing capability is determined by the speed and efficiency of the finishing components, so it is essential that these don’t detract from the rated speed of the digital press.
An offline finishing workflow is more common when a printer has a range of digital and offset equipment, but this increases labour costs. Sometimes the higher speed of off-line finishing equipment will more than compensate for the increased operator invention. It all depends on the type and quantity of jobs you need to finish.
In contrast to in-line and off-line, near-line offers greater flexibility. There is no physical connection between equipment in this case, but the finishing line knows the requirements of each job, from OMR (optical mark recognition) technology or from a direct interface with the press’s print server, through JDF. This enables the finishing line to manage the printed output from a variety of presses and create an audit trail, which is critical to personalized products like mailshots or transactional documents.
Choosing the right finishing workflow will depend on understanding not only your workload, but also how you can apply different finishing solutions to improve efficiencies and add value through new products. However one major benefit that has been largely overlooked by the printer and has not been sold effectively to the customer is inline finishing.
Digital inline finishing features a variety of different workflows
These are all about automation, making in-line and near-line equipment critical, but sometimes an offline approach will be more applicable.
So how should you be investing? In inline finishing, the press and inline finishing equipment are directly connected and closely integrated using front-end management controls. This is the solution for you if you produce a defined range of products in standard formats such as stitched booklets, reports, calendars and book blocks. The overall productivity of a digital press with in-line finishing capability is determined by the speed and efficiency of the finishing components, so it is essential that these don’t detract from the rated speed of the digital press.
An offline finishing workflow is more common when a printer has a range of digital and offset equipment, but this increases labour costs. Sometimes the higher speed of off-line finishing equipment will more than compensate for the increased operator invention. It all depends on the type and quantity of jobs you need to finish.
In contrast to in-line and off-line, near-line offers greater flexibility. There is no physical connection between equipment in this case, but the finishing line knows the requirements of each job, from OMR (optical mark recognition) technology or from a direct interface with the press’s print server, through JDF. This enables the finishing line to manage the printed output from a variety of presses and create an audit trail, which is critical to personalized products like mailshots or transactional documents.
Choosing the right finishing workflow will depend on understanding not only your workload, but also how you can apply different finishing solutions to improve efficiencies and add value through new products. However one major benefit that has been largely overlooked by the printer and has not been sold effectively to the customer is inline finishing.
What exactly is ‘inline finishing’?
Inline finishing is the process of bringing services such as folding, saddle stitching, side stitching, case binding, punching and other post-processes in-line, so they are accomplished at the same time as the printing. A wide array of finishing equipment is now available to be connected directly to digital production printers to achieve this,
Providing these services in-line not only saves on labour costs; it also prevents missing pages, imperfect collation, and other common mishaps. It makes printing extremely small lots possible – even a single copy – and extends the range of just-in-time services from fliers to catalogues, manuals and other high page-count projects.
Inline finishing in the print industry gives you benefits including:
- Labour-intensive post-processing completed at same time as printing
- One-pass production of high page-count materials
- Flawless binding, free of missing pages and imperfect collation
Inline finishing is the process of bringing services such as folding, saddle stitching, side stitching, case binding, punching and other post-processes in-line, so they are accomplished at the same time as the printing. A wide array of finishing equipment is now available to be connected directly to digital production printers to achieve this,
Providing these services in-line not only saves on labour costs; it also prevents missing pages, imperfect collation, and other common mishaps. It makes printing extremely small lots possible – even a single copy – and extends the range of just-in-time services from fliers to catalogues, manuals and other high page-count projects.
Inline finishing in the print industry gives you benefits including:
- Labour-intensive post-processing completed at same time as printing
- One-pass production of high page-count materials
- Flawless binding, free of missing pages and imperfect collation
Inline Finishing
Differentiate your product hugely and create stronger customer loyalty
Inline Finishing means your customers will benefit from already-finished print products, shorter production deadlines for more complex print products and a ‘one-stop shop’ offering everything from a single source.
For smaller printers and in-house print departments, reducing the amount of work that is outsourced gives greater production flexibility and control. (A good example of this are W2P systems, providing a steady but unpredictable flow of digital short run on-demand jobs, which cannot be outsourced and have to be completed in-house.)
Essentially, the more aspects of a print job you can control internally and offer on-demand, the greater your growth will be and the more customer loyalty you will generate.
Your company will also benefit directly in a range of other ways, including:
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Do you think Inline Finishing might be right for your company? To chat about how our joined-up software and hardware solutions could be meeting your needs, click on Contact Us, and one of our specialists will be in touch!
Success story
SkySat Technologies Ltd., Nigeria
Offering a wide variety of finishing options in one print run significantly increases profits and cuts production time
Skysat Technologies is a Nigerian-based company that operates a chain of quick printing shops throughout the country. Just five years ago, the first “copy shop” opened in Lagos, offering a wide variety of digital print services, including brochures, business cards, reports, mailings and presentations.
As the business grew, more shops were opened and new print services added, including photo products and even producing some magazines and books on demand.
The challenge
Initially, the finishing of all the printed documents was outsourced. However, it became clear that this was causing a hit on the print job profit margins, seriously increasing production and delivery times and creating logistical problems. Experiments with several types of stand-alone finishing equipment produced some improvement, but proved time-consuming and difficult to service.
The solution
Skysat spoke to Konica Minolta and learned about the inline finishing options available on the bizhub presses, when the finishing device is connected directly to the press. Tests proved successful, and a decision was taken to install a colour press with one of the most versatile inline finishing units connected to it.
The result
“This solution took away all our headaches,” says Izzat Debs, Managing Director at Skysat. “It is an ‘all-in-one’ solution that saves us a lot of time and eliminates the logistical hassle. Sometimes a customer can simply wait for the job to be done. On top of that, it has allowed us to maximize our profit margins on each job, because we can charge for each finishing requirement separately even though we can produce automatically in the same print run.” Mr. Debs concludes: “Even in a country like Nigeria, where labour is cheap, we have seen that inline finishing is the quickest and most cost-effective solution compared to using offline devices.”
Future outlook
“The inline finishing solution has been instrumental to the growth in the Skysat chain of quick printers” continues Debs. “The growth of our business has allowed us to expand. We are now operating four different shops and plan to open three new shops by the end of this year. Without the inline finishing options, we would not have been able to offer such a wide variety of digital quick print services!”
Discover our wide range of inline finishing solutions to optimise your individual printing processes. Our innovative products enable seamless integration into the printing process, increase efficiency and improve the quality of your printed products. From folding and binding to finishing, our solutions offer the flexibility and precision you need to meet your specific requirements.
Increased profit margins
The ability to offer all-in-one print solutions
Energy Savings
Fewer machine setups
Greater flexibility in production
Improved Quality Control
Less Waste
Lower Labour Costs
Shorter Production Times
Konica Minolta Printing Hardware
Hardware
Want the ultimate in digital print production performance? You just found it. Konica Minolta’s Production Printing and Office hardware are industry benchmarks, with devices offering revolutionary colour image quality, ultra-high-speed black-and-white output, pro-quality inline finishing options to meet your complex job specifications, and more. Regardless of the size or area of specialisation of your company, our print hardware lets you build up your printing infrastructure, manage digital content, put in place state-of-the-art measuring instruments, and explore other solutions designed to change your workflow beyond recognition.
Konica Minolta Software Products
Software
Explore the countless different ways in which Konica Minolta software products could improve your operations. Konica Minolta solves the problems of your company, matches different working styles, and offers software solutions meeting the needs of your industry. By prioritising your needs at all times, Konica Minolta meets the software requirements of even the most demanding global organisations. Using the system, you can keep a lid on the cost of any printed or copied output, create advanced security measures to ensure sensitive documents don’t fall into unauthorised hands, and more.
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Services
Our experienced, knowledgeable specialist staff will answer any questions you may have, and show you how to operate your product. Our services function for your benefit, within a support system designed to ensure you and your company benefit fully from the solutions. We offer a range of different services, including optimised print services to combine your consulting; hardware and software implementation; workflow management to lower your document spending; and smart security services, to keep your business safe.
Izzat Debs
Managing Director
The inline finishing solution has been instrumental to the growth of the Skysat chain of quick printers. The growth of our business has allowed us to expand; we are now operating four different shops, and plan to open three new shops by the end of this year. Without the inline finishing options, we would not have been able to offer such a wide variety of digital quick print services!
Izzat Debs
Managing Director