Digital Printing refers to methods of printing from a digital-based image directly to a variety of

media. Although most commonly experienced by many people when they use a personal

printer in their home for printing out simple documents or family pictures from their computer,

it usually refers to professional, industrial level printing where small-run jobs from desktop

publishing and other computer controlled digital sources are printed using large format or high-

volume laser, LED, or inkjet printers. Digital printing has a higher cost per page than more

traditional offset printing methods, but this price is usually offset by avoiding the cost of all the

technical steps required to make printing plates. It also allows for on-demand printing, short

turnaround time, and even modifications to the image used for each impression. The savings in

labor and the ever-increasing capability of digital presses means that digital printing is reaching

the point where it can match or supersede offset printing technology͛s ability to produce larger

print runs of several thousand sheets at a low price

The history of digital print is relatively short compared to printing as a whole, which dates back

to 1439, when Mainz (Germany) goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg developed an adjustable type

mold and the press to use it. It was cemented into popularity when Gutenberg, his creditor

Johann Fust and his own workman, Peter Schoeffer collaborated under a Papal request to

complete the first mass-produced Bible in 1455. The printing industry grew and evolved

globally, moving from stencils, seals, woodblocks and movable type to such innovations as

Lithography in 1796, Offset Printing in the 1870͛s, modern Screen Printing in 1907, Xerography

in 1938, Phototypesetting in 1949, and Inkjet Printing in 1951. The introduction of the Pantone

Color Matching System came in 1963, Dot Matrix printing in 1968, Laser Printing in 1969, and

Thermal Printing in 1972. Many more advances would be introduced with the new digital age of
computers. The first digital print was released on watercolor paper in 1989 when a pre-press

printer, the Iris 3047, was modified for ink-jet printing an art reproduction for the very first

time, thanks to the interest and backing of Graham Nash, co-founder of the Crosby, Stills, Nash

and Young music group. In 1993 the world͛s first digital color printing press was launched called

Indigo. This was the same year that saw the invention of the Portable Document Format (PDF),

and only 2 short years after the launching of the World Wide Web.The name of the printing

press series comes from a company formed by Benny Landa in 1977 to develop the world͛ s

fastest photocopier. Landa later discovered that the ink developed for the photocopier, called

ElectroInk, could also be used in printers. ElectroInk uses small color particles suspended in

imaging oil called Isopar that can be attracted or repelled by a voltage differential. The ink

forms a thin and smooth plastic layer on the paper͛s surface. In 2000 the Hewlett Packard

Company invested in the Indigo, and a year later acquired the remaining shares. Digital print

had risen to account for 18% of all printing by 2016.HP predicts that digital printing will

continue to move beyond commercial printing to publishing and packaging, becoming faster

and designed to handle more types of printing in the future.

The researcher started working at vhanline printing in 2016 as a printing technician, but this

company was founded in 2008. The company offers printing services such as tarpaulins, flyers,

brochures, calling cards, vouchers, and personalized giveaways such as t-shirts. , umbrellas,

mugs & tumblers, mostly using digital printing. Although there are no formal educational

qualifications needed to become a printing technician, there are certain skills that can help you

to achieve success in this role. Printing technicians must be proficient with technology, both in

the form of computer software and printers. You must be able to troubleshoot when
malfunctions occur, and you should be equipped to perform simple maintenance without the

help of a printer repair company. You also need to have top-notch communication skills to

communicate appropriately with clients before, during, and after project completion. Your

responsibilities as a printing technician are many, so flexibility is another key attribute of the

job.

When a client does tshirt printing, for example, the artist and the client will first talk about how

complicated the design and price of each garment print is. First we need to know how big the

design is whether they already have a design or not. It doesn't matter how many colors the

design is here because what we do is digital printing. When it comes to pricing it is important

to know the quantity of the project the client wants because it depends on the material we will

use, the less we will make the more expensive. Time should also be considered here whether

the client is in a hurry or not because if it is in a hurry we need to finish the project in a short

time, because of this we need to focus on this project. The shorter the time the more expensive

it will be.

Normally, the company asks for atleast 50% down payment from the client to start the project,

this serves as an assurance that the client will return to the project. After the project, the client

must pay upfront balance of 50%. There are times when the client no longer takes the finished

product, this is a problem because the 50% down payment went to expenses such as materials

labor and machine fees.

FINANCE

Financing

The company need to continually upgrade their printing equipment to remain competitive,

which drives up capital spending and fixed assets. Business like ours are small-businesses that

are not well capitalized. When the overall economy slows, printing industry become

unprofitable and find it hard to make their equipment loan payments. All of these

characteristics make it challenging for industry participants to obtain low cost working capital

and equipment financing. The company should work to position their business over time for

traditional financing by improving business profitability, liquidity, solvency ratios. They should

also consider increasing cash reserves. Improving business efficiency, increasing bottom line

profit, strengthening the balance and driving growth will make the business more attractive to

traditional lenders. It can also put the company in a good position to: weather any downturn in

the economy, cyclicality in the market, or impact from changing material prices.

Profit Management

The printing industry is very competitive, which puts pressure on product pricing and can result

in low bottom-line profit margins. It is critical that businesses in this industry operate as

efficiently as possible. This includes effectively managing capital equipment such as printing,

cutting and folding equipment, ensuring that you have the right equipment for the job, that the

equipment is utilized 95%+ of the time and that they are well maintained. It also includes
utilization of subcontract printers for certain types of print work that requires special

equipment. Maintaining good controls over indirect spending is also important. These indirect

spending areas include: people, utilities, rent, supplies and insurance. Maintaining highly

productive employees is key. Taking the time to hire the right people for the right position is

critical. Also, ensuring they are well trained, motivated, have clear expectations and that they

are delivering the desired results for the company. Reviewing insurance coverages on a regular

basis is also important. Making sure you have the right insurance for your business today and

into future and working with your insurance carrier to do everything you can to reduce your risk

of loss with solid business processes. Many businesses in this industry have significant rent

expense for buildings. Business owners need to ensure they are utilizing their building

efficiently, that they do not have excessive unused building space. This will help keep rent

expense, property taxes, insurance and utility expenses at a minimum. Use of technology in the

printing industry is also very important. Businesses should be evaluating the latest technology

that can be used to more efficiently produce its printed materials. This could be items such as:

new printers that offer higher quality customized printed material in both large and small

format. Printers that allow for 1 to 1 marketing. Enhanced computer technology that enables

electronic transfer of information with customers and vendors. It could also include the use of

alternative sources of energy, such as solar energy, to lower utility costs.

Cash Flow Management

The printing industry has historically been a very high-volume business with very low gross

margin and profit margins. This results in large accounts receivable and account payable
balances on an ongoing basis. If customers are slow to pay their invoices (i.e. >30 days), this can

quickly present challenges from a cash flow perspective. If a print job does not get completed

correctly there can be a claim regarding the printed material, and collection can be delayed.

Printers should consider taking deposits from customers upfront to cover hard costs such as

paper, ink and printing plates. They should also maintain aggressive accounts receivable

collection processes to ensure clients receive invoices quickly, clients acknowledge receipt of

outstanding invoices, and payments are received within payments terms. Providing invoices

and receiving payments electronically is highly recommended. Maintaining a positive

relationship with vendors is also critical, ensuring that vendors are paid according to payment

terms is key. Matching payment terms with vendors and customers can really help to maintain

positive cash flow.

Solvency

As previously mentioned, the printing industry is evolving rapidly, technology is changing and

this industry is challenged with effectively managing capital equipment. Hold printing

equipment too long and it becomes obsolete and inefficient. Buy new equipment too early and

it can be difficult to install, run, manage and maintain. It can also be under-utilized. New

equipment can also saddle a small printer with a large amount of debt and large debt service

payments. This increased debt can have a significant impact on the printer’s solvency ratios

such as its Debt-Equity Ratio (long term debt ) and its Interest Coverage Ratios (income from

continuing operations + interest expense + income taxes)/interest expense. If these solvency

ratios fall below industry averages, the printer can be in default on its loans, making it difficult
to maintain its financing or qualify for additional financing. These large debt service payments

can also have a large impact on the printer’s working capital, making it difficult for a printer to

make its current liability payments on-time. This can damage vendor relationships and make it

difficult to do business in the future. Printer could benefit tremendously from a well thought

out capital purchase / financial plan. This will help ensure they are buying the right equipment

at the right time. It will also help to ensure they have the right financing in place for the

equipment and that they understand the impact to their solvency ratios.

Uncollectible Accounts Receivable

The printing industry is also characterized by many small and medium sized customers, from

individuals to businesses to government entities. The individuals and small businesses can be

underfunded. The medium sized businesses and government entities can take 30 – 60 days to

pay for their print work. Printing business owners need to recognize this risk and take measures

to limit their exposure in this area. Some things that can be done to reduce this risk include

regular credit checks on all customers, establishing tight credit limits on all customers, and

aggressive collection efforts on all outstanding balances. They should also consider taking

security deposits from some or all customers who are new or have a history of poor

performance, especially for the larger print jobs. Once the business owner has extended credit

to one of these customers, they have put themselves into a challenging position. Collection and

legal actions can be expensive and time consuming and even if you are successful in a getting a

judgement, it still has to be collected. If the customer does not have the funds to pay or

declares bankruptcy, the business owner is still not going to receive payment.
LOGISTICS

Unreliable Supply Channels

Most of the small-time suppliers / distributors go by their gut-feeling in maintaining stock levels

in sufficient quantity to meet the demand from printers. Even though they go by the past data

and general industry trends, the dependency on gut-feeling in taking major decisions like how

much to order from the manufacturers of raw-materials, results piling-up of extra stocks and in

some times very low-levels of stock which means loss of business, when there is an order from

a printing company.

Equipment costs are too high

The price range for most digital printers is between Php400,000 and Php800,000. But keep in

mind that this price range is for the cost of purchasing the device itself. Given the cost and

complexity of these machines, the fact that the company will be used where there are tight

deadlines and strict quality requirements, it makes sense to bring in a maintenance and service

contract on these machines.

The faster the print speed, the more expensive the printer. There are a small handful of

exceptions to this rule, but not many. Speed is extremely important in production

environments where there are tight print windows or very short production deadlines. Missing

a deadline can mean a fine, loss of a customer or important project, or just plain loss of

revenue.
Spoilage of materials

More than 5 percent of the materials used by the company go to wastage such as used

laminating film, pvc cards that are no longer cut properly and excessive prints or sometimes

also due to human error and printer error. As a result, revenue from a project is also

significantly reduced.

Maintenance Service for Equipments are taking too long

Conducting printer maintenance takes time during which the printer won’t be operational. The

downtime will be especially long when carrying major maintenance activities. But sometimes it

takes a few weeks or even months before the machines are given service maintenance this is a

problem because there will be a delay in the projects that need to be done.

Deffective materials

When ordering materials from the supplier, it needs to be checked by the representative of the

company and the supplier before wrapping and delivering to the location of the company. But

sometimes it is inevitable that there will be damaged products when it is delivered to the

company, our supplier will not answer the damages because they will say that the care of the

package is the responsibility of the delivery courier.

Personel

Hiring of unskilled workers

Hiring unskilled workers cannot produce high quality finished products or services. They

additionally need sufficient information and skills to give a full satisfaction to the customer. This
blend of untalented work and talentless service in manufacturing ends up with a dissatisfied

customer and poor quality of the products. The organization will encounter declining

performance/sales if disappointed consumers picks the contenders who can give quality items

and satisfactory service.

Understaffed

Individual workers in an understaffed facility are required to perform more work than is

normally associated with their jobs. This leads to over-tiredness and physical exhaustion. which

in turn lead to a decrease in productivity.

With more projects to manage and less people to work on each project, the quality of work will

inevitably decrease. With more customers to handle, the company staff will have less time to

understand individual customer requirements, we won’t have time to thoroughly check our

work, rushing around to finish projects. All with less care and more mistakes in.

Tardiness of Employee

When employees repeatedly show up late, particularly after previously being punctual, it’s

normal for a manager to be worried. It’s important to determine whether these incidents are

genuine one-offs, whether they show a lack of care and responsibility, or whether they are

indicative of a deeper problem. Lateness can be the first sign of decreased engagement,

burnout or an indication that an employee is struggling to balance work and family

commitments.

Inefficient Employees