There is a bit of euphoric overreach that often accompanies the subject of production inkjet printing, and it is a response that Chris Illman would like to set straight. As amazing as the technology may be, production inkjet is not a magic pill that will transform a company overnight; nor is it accompanied by supernatural phenomenon that, by extension, will naturally resonate with a printer’s sales team.

The client list for OneTouchPoint — which includes companies in health care, manufacturing, and retail — is a perfect match for the production inkjet environment, as their markets require personalized customer communications. The need for variable, monochrome content in tandem with color were easily met by the VarioPrint i300 inkjet press, which provides speed, flexibility, and the ability to offer a lower price point than traditional toner.

“We’re living in the ‘I want it now’ society,” Illman explains. “You have shorter run lengths and more personalized, targeted communications. Every day that goes by, fewer and fewer offset impressions are going to be printed. It’s all about the cost, the flexibility, and the urgency. The flexibility of the sheetfed VarioPrint i300 is going to claim a significant amount of offset impressions.”

From an operational standpoint, the greatest challenge facing not just the VarioPrint i300 inkjet press, but any production inkjet device, centers on the current limitations of stocks. Once paper manufacturers catch up with the technology, Illman says, it will open “an endless amount of possibilities around that unit.”

The ease of use and automation paint a clear picture of the VarioPrint i300 inkjet press’ productivity. OneTouchPoint did not endure any learning curve, as the company has already used several pieces of Canon Solutions America gear, including a bevy of VarioPrint 6250 inkjet presses and monochrome, continuous feed devices, which made the transition to the former “project Niagara” fairly seamless. Adding to that ease is the firm’s use of the PRISMA-based front-end workflow management software.

Production inkjet technology fits well into the wheelhouse of OneTouchPoint’s customer base. A large agricultural products and equipment manufacturer relied on the printer to crank out its technical manuals, a production process that entailed offset and monochrome work. That required two runs: one for the offset shells, the second for the digital monochrome printing.

Another client who benefited produces fishing and hunting maps and sells them through major outdoors and sporting goods retailers. This customer did not get left with a cache of unsold product and was able to reduce inventory levels by as much as 70 percent. “Now they don’t have all that inventory sitting there. It’s a true books-on-demand model, with the cost point where they need it to be,” he says.

Output quality may not be one of production inkjet technology’s primary selling points, but it has won over some skeptics. Christie Kimbell, vice president of marketing for OneTouchPoint, says that the company has received favorable comments regarding the printing quality coming from the VarioPrint i300 sheetfed inkjet press.

“Customers are surprised at how great it looks and are impressed with the sharpness of the picture quality when compared to offset printing,” she says. “It’s very respectable.”

Illman believes that once more stocks are made available, the quality of printing from the VarioPrint i300 inkjet press will improve even more. “In this day [and age] that we live in, the quality is what it needs to be,” he says. “It’s the other value propositions that deliver. Part of the allure of this machine is going to be the new applications that it can produce. You need to be selling the flexibility, the cost, speed, and the versioning.”

Kimbell explains that in an age of a one-to-one ratio of personalization and variability, OneTouchPoint will increasingly focus its equipment investments on production inkjet to foster success and growth for both the firm and its customer base. “We are innovators and being the second printer to install this technology is an indication that we put our money where our minds are.”

And while production inkjet will not transform a printing business overnight, it will certainly accomplish the task in due time, especially for those firms that are careful to cultivate a sales force that is keen to the task. “A traditional sales force is not going to be able to sell these applications,” Illman concludes. “You truly need marketing-based, solutions-based, technology-type salespeople. Make sure you have your sales force and sales strategy done first, then look to this type of technology to support that.”