Inkjet or Offset? How about Both.
Doc loves the folks over at R. R. Donnelley and Sons, one of the world's largest printers. You can always count on Donnelley to be at the forefront of document management and reproduction. So I wasn't surprised recently when the company announced the installation of its proprietary ProteusJet 1200 dpi color variable digital unit inline with an offset Web press for direct response applications.
ProteusJet, developed and built by RR Donnelley, offers fully variable color across the complete width of the offset Web for superb inline personalization of high color pieces.
"This new line represents a significant breakthrough," said Tom Quinlan, RR Donnelley's Chief Executive Officer. "The unique ProteusJet variable digital printing units are already at work helping customers with applications ranging from on-demand book production to TransPromo statements. Now we are bringing its superb capabilities to direct marketing applications."
The unit will be fully operational in August of this year and will complement RR Donnelley's comprehensive Response Marketing Services direct mail offering that features end-to-end direct mail capabilities. The print line can run in three modes: offset only, offset plus digital full color, and digital full color only.
Doc thinks this is a great development and just goes to show that every form of printing technology can be useful, depending on the application. We have toner-based printers, inkjet printers, and offset printers, each designed to do one thing very well. By combining technologies, Donnelley is showing that perhaps these different printing methods are less competitive with each other and more complimentary.
It's a direction print manufacturers may want to consider as they look at ways of increasing usefulness and productivity of their devices.