Personalized printing is also called variable data printing. With the use of high-quality digital printers and corresponding supporting technologies, personalized printing can achieve part or all of the contents of each page in a continuously printed print.
We know that print is a tool for the dissemination and exchange of information and an important commercial tool. Personalized printing is no exception. Personalized printing technology can provide readers with more attractive content that can better satisfy the interests or needs of a particular reader or individual. If used properly, personalized printing can greatly increase the efficiency of print as an effective communication tool and business tool.
Personalized Printing Opportunities In the past two years, personalized printing has developed rapidly, which is mainly driven by market demand. An important trend in the market today is the shift from the mass market to the mass custom market and the market segments. In addition, a more personalized one-to-one marketing model has emerged. Manufacturers are more sensitive to the different needs of different customers and respond more positively to customer needs.
On the other hand, in recent years, more and more companies have realized the importance of relationship management (customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), etc.). Relationship management needs to convey customized information to specific customers (audiences), that is, to emphasize communication with individuals. To achieve this, personalized printing technology is also required. The survey conducted by IBM shows that 71% of customers plan to adopt it in the next two to three years. Personalized printing (43% of which will use color personalized printing technology.
Individualized printed application prints have an impact on readers to play their due role. Based on the role and status of the final prints in interacting with the audience, we can see that personalized prints mainly have the following applications: :
1. Vendor-Driven/Push-in Marketing For example, traditional direct mail began using personalized digital printing technology. In commercial applications, such applications are in the early stages of the user's purchase process, and their purpose is to attract the interest of potential customers. The value of personalized printing is that it can provide more relevant content to the individual, which can attract more attention from the reader than the traditional “everyone else†email method. In the past, the response rate of such emails was only around 2%. After using personalized printing to provide content more appealing to recipients, the response rate increased by 10 or even 20 times. Such personalized printing projects are mainly to find sales leads, promote direct sales, establish stronger customer relationships, promote and enhance brand trust, and ultimately retain customers. At present, this marketing method has been adopted by automobile manufacturers/distributors, insurance and financial service agencies, medical/medicine, and even crop seed manufacturers and retailers.
2. Customer-driven/pull-out marketing This type of personalized printing program or project allows customers to request specific information about the product they are interested in, thereby supporting the customer's buying process. The reader has read general materials and expressed interest. The manufacturer further provides personalized documents according to the requirements of the customers, prompting the reader to make further purchase decisions. Through a customer-driven, personalized printing process, vendors can better understand and provide what customers want to know. Such personalized printing projects can provide customers with timely information on specific products or services at reasonable cost and can develop new market opportunities. For consumer product manufacturers, tourism agencies and digital printing providers are attractive.
3. Printing of bills and transaction orders This is a data-oriented application. Transaction documents include credit card bills and bank investment statements. Typically, some or all of the data in a personalized form is filled in during the printing process. Personalized printing can reduce process costs or manufacturing costs, and ensure print consistency and accuracy of content and data, which can improve the efficiency of print communication. Companies interested in this include insurance companies, banks, and other similar institutions.
4, data-driven order printing (including some on-demand printing)
Printed documents or prints are sent directly to the person who ordered them. Its value lies in the fact that it can satisfy more emotional factors and more special individual needs, such as printing personal photo albums or individual essays.
It should be noted that the above application classification is mainly to facilitate people's understanding of personalized applications. With the convergence of technology and applications, the boundaries of the above classification will become increasingly blurred.
Challenges and Solutions to Face As can be seen from the above description, the range of applications for personalized printing is broad. So what are the technical developments necessary for personalized printing? Since the first color digital printing machine appeared in 1993, digital printing technology has developed rapidly. Especially in the last two years, digital presses that support personalized printing have become more mature, faster, higher quality, and more reliable, and the cost per page has been rapidly reduced; new technologies and workflows have enabled production processes. It is more sophisticated and can be automated. The rapid growth of the Internet has highlighted the advantages of personalization, while also providing support for the data processing processes required for personalized printing. All this provides the basis for the rapid development of personalized printing.
However, at present, personalized printing still faces numerous challenges in the implementation process, including purely technical problems as well as market and management issues.
1. The Need for Standards The original variable data printing was based on a proprietary format, so data and pages were not interchangeable between the front-end and back-end (RIP) of different vendors. In order to solve this problem, PODi, an organization dedicated to the promotion of digital printing technology, released a personalized print markup language standard in March 2000. The PPML standard was widely welcomed after its introduction. Products based on PPML were first exhibited at Drupa 2000 and have now entered a practical stage. PODi released the PPML standard version 1.5 in May 2001. The PPML language allows different vendors' personalization software to communicate with machines from different printer manufacturers.
2. Data Processing and Data Security Personalized printed data comes from databases. Printing companies are not familiar with data processing technologies. This is one of the challenges faced by traditional printing companies. First, the problems involved in data processing include changing data formats and transferring data from one system to another. In addition, data security issues also need to be resolved. The owner of the database may not give up control of the customer database, and they do not wish to submit a confidential database of commercial value to the printer. For data security issues, soft proofing using PDF is a solution. Database owners can create, produce, and proof samples within their own organization. A complex variable data job can be checked, sampled, and signed by users throughout the entire job. After the remote printing, the PDF print file and specific parameter details are sent to the printing shop for printing, binding and packaging. In this way, printers do not directly approach the pure database. Therefore, the security of information has been protected to some extent.
In the personalized printing process, data needs to be processed to ensure accuracy, prevent spelling mistakes, and remove duplicate items. In addition, we must analyze the data and decide how to combine the data with text, images, and graphics into a usable layout.
3. Verification and Proofing Problems Paper sheet wasted and damaged in the traditional printing process. In the past, the printing industry's usual practice was to print more. But for personalized printing, every page is different, so how to do this becomes a problem. Very small quantities can be verified manually, but for high-volume personalized printing jobs, this cannot be done and machine inspection and verification techniques (which have been used in the printing of tickets and transaction documents) are required. PDF proofing can be used for some printing tasks. For example, in variable printing and short live printing, PDF has proved to be a very useful proofing tool. It has many advantages. How to print without printing? Pre-inspection, pre-press confirmation, group edition confirmation, RIP positioning confirmation, layout verification, etc.
4. Stapling and post-processing requirements The binding requirements for personalized prints are also different from traditional offset printing. For personalized printing, if a print is damaged during post-processing, it needs to be reprinted. Therefore, no mistakes can occur when stapling. You can take advance printing of some back-up prints for the stapling department to adjust the machine's use of methods to avoid the final printed product becoming experimental.
5. Market Acceptance and Market Exploration Although there are many advantages in personalized printing, the market also has needs, but at present, many people still do not understand the personalized printing, need to help potential customers understand the powerful features of personalized printing, nurturing market. In addition, the personalized printing market is not exactly the same as the traditional offset printing market. It is necessary to actively explore customers, develop markets, and conduct customer training.
We know that print is a tool for the dissemination and exchange of information and an important commercial tool. Personalized printing is no exception. Personalized printing technology can provide readers with more attractive content that can better satisfy the interests or needs of a particular reader or individual. If used properly, personalized printing can greatly increase the efficiency of print as an effective communication tool and business tool.
Personalized Printing Opportunities In the past two years, personalized printing has developed rapidly, which is mainly driven by market demand. An important trend in the market today is the shift from the mass market to the mass custom market and the market segments. In addition, a more personalized one-to-one marketing model has emerged. Manufacturers are more sensitive to the different needs of different customers and respond more positively to customer needs.
On the other hand, in recent years, more and more companies have realized the importance of relationship management (customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), etc.). Relationship management needs to convey customized information to specific customers (audiences), that is, to emphasize communication with individuals. To achieve this, personalized printing technology is also required. The survey conducted by IBM shows that 71% of customers plan to adopt it in the next two to three years. Personalized printing (43% of which will use color personalized printing technology.
Individualized printed application prints have an impact on readers to play their due role. Based on the role and status of the final prints in interacting with the audience, we can see that personalized prints mainly have the following applications: :
1. Vendor-Driven/Push-in Marketing For example, traditional direct mail began using personalized digital printing technology. In commercial applications, such applications are in the early stages of the user's purchase process, and their purpose is to attract the interest of potential customers. The value of personalized printing is that it can provide more relevant content to the individual, which can attract more attention from the reader than the traditional “everyone else†email method. In the past, the response rate of such emails was only around 2%. After using personalized printing to provide content more appealing to recipients, the response rate increased by 10 or even 20 times. Such personalized printing projects are mainly to find sales leads, promote direct sales, establish stronger customer relationships, promote and enhance brand trust, and ultimately retain customers. At present, this marketing method has been adopted by automobile manufacturers/distributors, insurance and financial service agencies, medical/medicine, and even crop seed manufacturers and retailers.
2. Customer-driven/pull-out marketing This type of personalized printing program or project allows customers to request specific information about the product they are interested in, thereby supporting the customer's buying process. The reader has read general materials and expressed interest. The manufacturer further provides personalized documents according to the requirements of the customers, prompting the reader to make further purchase decisions. Through a customer-driven, personalized printing process, vendors can better understand and provide what customers want to know. Such personalized printing projects can provide customers with timely information on specific products or services at reasonable cost and can develop new market opportunities. For consumer product manufacturers, tourism agencies and digital printing providers are attractive.
3. Printing of bills and transaction orders This is a data-oriented application. Transaction documents include credit card bills and bank investment statements. Typically, some or all of the data in a personalized form is filled in during the printing process. Personalized printing can reduce process costs or manufacturing costs, and ensure print consistency and accuracy of content and data, which can improve the efficiency of print communication. Companies interested in this include insurance companies, banks, and other similar institutions.
4, data-driven order printing (including some on-demand printing)
Printed documents or prints are sent directly to the person who ordered them. Its value lies in the fact that it can satisfy more emotional factors and more special individual needs, such as printing personal photo albums or individual essays.
It should be noted that the above application classification is mainly to facilitate people's understanding of personalized applications. With the convergence of technology and applications, the boundaries of the above classification will become increasingly blurred.
Challenges and Solutions to Face As can be seen from the above description, the range of applications for personalized printing is broad. So what are the technical developments necessary for personalized printing? Since the first color digital printing machine appeared in 1993, digital printing technology has developed rapidly. Especially in the last two years, digital presses that support personalized printing have become more mature, faster, higher quality, and more reliable, and the cost per page has been rapidly reduced; new technologies and workflows have enabled production processes. It is more sophisticated and can be automated. The rapid growth of the Internet has highlighted the advantages of personalization, while also providing support for the data processing processes required for personalized printing. All this provides the basis for the rapid development of personalized printing.
However, at present, personalized printing still faces numerous challenges in the implementation process, including purely technical problems as well as market and management issues.
1. The Need for Standards The original variable data printing was based on a proprietary format, so data and pages were not interchangeable between the front-end and back-end (RIP) of different vendors. In order to solve this problem, PODi, an organization dedicated to the promotion of digital printing technology, released a personalized print markup language standard in March 2000. The PPML standard was widely welcomed after its introduction. Products based on PPML were first exhibited at Drupa 2000 and have now entered a practical stage. PODi released the PPML standard version 1.5 in May 2001. The PPML language allows different vendors' personalization software to communicate with machines from different printer manufacturers.
2. Data Processing and Data Security Personalized printed data comes from databases. Printing companies are not familiar with data processing technologies. This is one of the challenges faced by traditional printing companies. First, the problems involved in data processing include changing data formats and transferring data from one system to another. In addition, data security issues also need to be resolved. The owner of the database may not give up control of the customer database, and they do not wish to submit a confidential database of commercial value to the printer. For data security issues, soft proofing using PDF is a solution. Database owners can create, produce, and proof samples within their own organization. A complex variable data job can be checked, sampled, and signed by users throughout the entire job. After the remote printing, the PDF print file and specific parameter details are sent to the printing shop for printing, binding and packaging. In this way, printers do not directly approach the pure database. Therefore, the security of information has been protected to some extent.
In the personalized printing process, data needs to be processed to ensure accuracy, prevent spelling mistakes, and remove duplicate items. In addition, we must analyze the data and decide how to combine the data with text, images, and graphics into a usable layout.
3. Verification and Proofing Problems Paper sheet wasted and damaged in the traditional printing process. In the past, the printing industry's usual practice was to print more. But for personalized printing, every page is different, so how to do this becomes a problem. Very small quantities can be verified manually, but for high-volume personalized printing jobs, this cannot be done and machine inspection and verification techniques (which have been used in the printing of tickets and transaction documents) are required. PDF proofing can be used for some printing tasks. For example, in variable printing and short live printing, PDF has proved to be a very useful proofing tool. It has many advantages. How to print without printing? Pre-inspection, pre-press confirmation, group edition confirmation, RIP positioning confirmation, layout verification, etc.
4. Stapling and post-processing requirements The binding requirements for personalized prints are also different from traditional offset printing. For personalized printing, if a print is damaged during post-processing, it needs to be reprinted. Therefore, no mistakes can occur when stapling. You can take advance printing of some back-up prints for the stapling department to adjust the machine's use of methods to avoid the final printed product becoming experimental.
5. Market Acceptance and Market Exploration Although there are many advantages in personalized printing, the market also has needs, but at present, many people still do not understand the personalized printing, need to help potential customers understand the powerful features of personalized printing, nurturing market. In addition, the personalized printing market is not exactly the same as the traditional offset printing market. It is necessary to actively explore customers, develop markets, and conduct customer training.
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