What a Waste!

With margins in the modern print shop – no matter the size, equipment type or niches served – getting smaller and smaller, finding ways to save on costs has become increasingly critical.

“About five years ago, as the industry began to change and regulations from agencies around the world began to press harder on the print industry to be more environmentally responsible, it put a lot of pressure on our customers,” said Todd Bigger, worldwide director of product management, Print Systems Division, Kodak. “And not just from environmental perspective; it had an impact on the bottom line as well. Printers struggle to maintain a high profit; the high is around 8%, but the normal range is just two to three percent. So any change can negatively impact their ability to do business in the future.”

It’s not, he stressed, that printers don’t want to do what’s best for the environment, but the problem is that they have to do what’s best for their business at the same time. If they go out of business because the profitability has been squeezed to the point of no return, that doesn’t help anyone in the cycle.

One way printers can boost their profitability is to examine their entire operation for areas of waste, and the implement a complete waste management solution that touches on every department and process.

The Paper Trail

When most printers think about waste, they probably first think about paper. And for good reason. It is one of the larger sources of potential waste, and for many shops streamlining which substrates are used and how they are managed can mean immediate savings.

“Paper is probably the first area that can be targeted because it represents a significant portion of the cost of printing, so there is immediate financial benefit,” noted Ed Wong, director, Product Marketing; and Kousuke Ito, director, Environmental Sustainability and Product Compliance at Ricoh. “Looking at workflow and automation software options to help reduce errors and thereby reduce reprinting is one way to address paper waste. Another would be to assess mail operations and software to decrease errors in final delivery and avoid resends of direct mail pieces.”

“Being a web printer we have those big nice toilet rolls,” said Garry Gunter, director of sales and Marketing at Mitchell Press. “We can have a ton of waste before you know it. If we’re running at 40,000 feet per minute, we can blink our eye and lose 1,000 pieces.” In fact, Gunter noted, his company has actually been experimenting with the stock, and has found that rolls that are even 1/8th of an inch smaller in diameter can save them as much as two to three percent profitability on a job because they can run it faster and more efficiently. That savings might not seem like much, but it adds up quickly over time.

The Software Side of Print

But paper isn’t the only area of concern, noted Erik Holdo, VP, Production Print - BIS, Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc. “While materials waste is certainly something to consider, particularly with offset, I will assume most operations are already tracking and following that form of waste. Certainly, waste can also be seen when excessive time is taken changing over between jobs, whether on offset or digital, or if paper handling of unused materials is not part of a defined changeover process. Hopefully we can also assume the correct job has been routed to the correct press. If you are running 75 feet of web-fed stock to print a 100-page book for five sets, then yes, that's naturally an issue. But the fault lies in the production plan, not in the operator or the press itself.”

The software used to manage every part of the print process is a critical element in reducing waste. Workflow, in particular, is an area our experts agree can have a major impact on the bottom line. “Implementing smart parameters in a workflow allows a printer to do things in a more manufacturing centric way as opposed to the 'art of printing',” said Larry Moore, vice president, Partner Programs, North America at Esko. “Process control allows printers to gain efficiencies through repetition—through deliberate process control rather than hoping things work out. This means that there is less waste through manufacturing consistency, with less errors.”

“The most expensive form of waste tends to be time, said Holdo. “Time lost in all stages of production can frequently be addressed with new software solutions and a specific focus on elimination of Non Value Added steps (those steps which a client is not only not paying for, but may not even know takes place as they are due to equipment or software limitations in your specific environment). Identify the wastes of time, including wait time, processing time, prepress time, etc., and you can increase overall shop capacity and improve profitability.”

Chem Trails

Another major source of waste in many shops are the chemicals, from inks to washes and even the solutions needed to process plates. There are a few different ways to approach this area of waste reduction.

The first is in the inks. Wong and Kousuke believe that more printers should be taking advantage of recycling or buy-back programs in their shops. “Another area printers’ can focus on is having responsible waste disposal practices by participating in toner container take-back programs available when using cutsheet printer products. This will certainly help reduce ‘excess waste’ and again will allow companies to focus on environmental impact as well,” they noted.

Another option is to move to computer-to-plate processing, which eliminates quite a bit of the chemicals needed to produce traditional plates. But today, even those still running the traditional platesetters can find options that are designed to be better for the environment and produce better results with less product. “We have created technology that enables faster imaging that is more error free, with results in a more consistent product on every plate, every job, every year,” said Bigger. “This reduces reworks due to damaged or improperly imaged products, and it also reduces the waste stream with those products.”

Buy-in From Above

To really see the savings from a waste management solution – no matter which direction a shop goes, or where they choose to start‑ it takes buy-in from everyone in the operation. “Waste reduction should focus on all areas of the operation,” said Wong and Kousuke. “While there are areas like the press room which may have greater financial impact with waste reduction practices, the entire print operation should be involved in waste management. This builds solidarity and helps reinforce the image that the entire company has adopted key environmental programs.”

“Any change in process or priority can be challenging,” agreed Holdo. “By including operational staff in process improvement and assessment efforts, the elimination of waste becomes a source of pride and ownership. Operational process documentation is critical as well in conjunction with appropriate management support.”

At Mitchell Press, Gunter noted that’s exactly how they went about the process. “It started at the executive level, where we made the decision that we have to reduce waste and look at all areas of the business,” he said. “The team understands that this is about their future ‑ not in the sense that ‘if you don’t do this you won’t have a job,’ but that this is where is the future is, and efficiency and waste management go hand in hand.”

And the results of waste management programs speak for themselves. The numbers will certainly vary by shop, based on how efficient they were before embarking on this journey, what areas of waste they target and how much buy-in they have from everyone in the operation, but the averages are pretty impressive.

“From what we have seen with customer applications, with just 'easy to moderate' efforts and the right amount of dedication, it is not uncommon for companies to experience a 30 percent increase in productivity and a reduction of 25 to 30 percent in waste and error,” said Moore.

Holdo is more conservative in his numbers, but he still finds significant results. “Realistically, between waste in time and raw materials, without factoring in improved capacity, a five to eight percent increase in profitability is not out of line. When factoring in the impact of additional capacity, which may reduce the need for additional equipment, new top line revenue and bottom line profitability opportunities are even greater.”

Gunter backed that up with his own experience, noting, “It depends on how aggressive the program is and where in the business it was targeted. As a rough guess, on paper alone we save two to three percent, so the total savings is in the region of five to seven percent or more.”

And in the world of print, where even a few percentage points either way on the bottom line can make or break the business, these savings are significant. While shops looking to go “all in” can certainly make investments in new, more efficient hardware and software, many areas throwing away money today can be addressed without any more immediate investment than the time it takes to analyze the operation and find ways to make the process more efficient.