Businesses embrace new printing technology

The local printing industry in Malta is experiencing a shift in technology as local printing businesses start to embrace new digital technology and marketing methods to stay competitive and meet customers needs.

Print material is being produced in shorter runs, is more personalised with more focus on quality and design. Despite Internet and e-mail taking over important areas in people's lives, the printed document is still of high importance and the demand unbroken.

"Consumers are getting more sophisticated and they are being bombarded with advertising materials and messages everyday," says Chris Sullivan of DigiPrint (www.digiprint.com.mt), a frontrunner in digital technology in Malta. "It is therefore crucial that your advertising medium is spot on in terms of quality and content."

Print on Demand (PoD), which started to develop with the introduction of digital printing techniques, gives flexibility to print in quantities that would not be cost-effective with conventional offset printing. Printing direct from disk to paper without the need for conventional films or plates, digital printing is ideal for short-run documents such as mail-shots, price lists, manuals, handbooks, posters (large and small format), directories, leaflets, etc. It allows the flexibility of printing in economical quantities as and when needed without stockpiling printed documents.

Another advantage of digital printing technology is the ability to customise printing material, rather than producing one-fits-all marketing materials such as leaflets, brochures or letters. 'Variable Data Printing' (VDP) takes information from a database of customer data and prints documents tailored to each individual. This personalised marketing has a proven higher return than conventional direct marketing.

"With Print on Demand and VDP, printing becomes more cost-effective in two ways: you print only when the need arises, in quantities as little as one, thereby saving on wastage should your documents become outdated; and using a database with your marketing campaigns will give you a higher return on your direct marketing, as opposed to using standard direct marketing," Mr Sullivan explained.

"Of course, digital printing is not a replacement for offset printing, but it can work side by side; larger print runs without variable data would always be more suitable for an offset press."

With more than 12 years' experience in digital printing and production, DigiPrint offers a wide range of high quality print products at competitive prices. DigiPrint has now opened new premises in Princess Margaret Street, Msida.