Digital Printing
Will remote printing technology enable print shops to go virtual?
By Roland DG head of UK sales Rob Goleniowski
and Zoom, printers have also leveraged remote repair, maintenance and printing functionality that – until COVID-19 – was a largely under-utilised feature set. This includes remote VPN logins, hot folders in RIP software, as well as tools like Roland DG’s OnSupport, which allows users to quickly access machine usage metrics, firmware updates and product information through a PC or smartphone.
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recent YouGov poll revealed that a third of UK employees expect to work from home at least three days a week post lockdown. If COVID was the trigger for this change, then video conferencing tools, like Zoom and Teams, have been the enabler.
Despite the fact this technology has been around for decades now, the global pandemic has helped demonstrate to cmopanies that it can replace office-based face-to-face interaction.
In the printing category, COVID-19 has, similarly, forced print shops to adjust their processes and workflows. Alongside Teams
The question is, will it encourage print shops to fundamentally change how they operate as a business and embrace the operational benefits of ‘going virtual’? Since lockdown, Renault DP World F1 Team head of graphics Joe McNamara has been using Roland’s TrueVIS printer/ cutters and Versaworks 6 RIP software to print signs at the company’s Enstone headquarters from the comfort of his home office in Gloucestershire.
Mr McNamara comments: “The idea of sitting next to a machine in an office is starting to become a little bit outdated. You could put the TrueVIS in a small room just a little bit bigger than the machine and produce as much work as you could in a big space, like we have.”
There are certainly a range of potential operational advantages that can be unlocked from reducing the number of people that are physically on-site. For print shops looking to drive down operating costs, fewer on-site staff reduces day to day operating costs such as heating and lighting, and also opens up the possibility of downsizing to a smaller, cheaper space. For those focused on optimising profitability or even expanding, it means that more of the premises can be dedicated to printing equipment. However, despite the fact the technology can enable this shift, there is still a question mark over its long-term viability. After all, at its heart printing is about taking something from the virtual world and physically bringing it to life in the real world.
While other sectors deal in goods and services they may never see or touch, most print shops could never imagine a world in which they didn’t have a close, physical interaction with their tools, materials and finished products every day.
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rolanddga.com
April 2021
convertermag.com
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