Editor's note: Dan Welty's primary business is the topic of this article. Welty is marketing director for John Henry Packaging, one of a handful of companies offering digitally printed labels for wineries.

If you have seen the movie "Seabiscuit" you were again exposed to Henry Ford's assembly-line process that compartmentalized production steps and revolutionized manufacturing. Fast-forward to 2004 and the new manufacturing revolution is based on the elimination of those production steps. Each step eliminated reduces cost and increases the speed of delivery to customers. Digital label printing technology eliminates costly steps and reduces production preparation time associated with traditional Flexo or Litho (Offset) printing (refer to exhibit A). Though this article narrows the focus to Digitally printed labels, most of the concepts parallel the printing of other material as well. Discover more about Digital label printing technology, how it is adding value to wineries and whether it can help your organization.

The Short Story

Think of the Digital printing press as a much larger, more versatile $500,000 desktop printer. The information (data and graphics) is sent directly from a graphics computer operator to the printer via a cable. No film or printing plates required. As with your desktop printing, each label can be unique, enabling personalization and/or variable data.

There are three types of Digital printing processes: ink based offset, toner based (similar to laser printers) and inkjet. Because of inadequate speeds, inkjet technology is not viable for typical commercial quality printing (except for proofing). Project variables including paper, quantity and graphic requirements determine whether toner or ink based offset are the most effective solutions.

Digital is the fastest growing printing technology. Most estimate it will continue to take market share from other technologies and will inevitably become the predominant printing method in the coming years.

Start The Presses

Traditional Flexo or Offset label printing requires hundreds of feet of material and 20-to-40 minutes per color to prepare a project for printing. A six-color project, then, can consume several thousand feet of material and two-to-four hours prior to the production of acceptable labels. By contrast, Digital printing typically consumes less than five feet and five minutes. The large reduction in material and time waste results in lower label unit costs. Additionally, traditional label printing requires a printing plate for each color, copy or graphic element change. For example, six printing plates are required for a six-color project. By contrast, the Digital process does not require printing plates for changes of any type, significantly reducing the cost of project preparation (refer to exhibit B).

Tortoise and Hare

When considering printing methods, recall the "Tortoise and Hare" fable. As discussed above, digital printing is faster in the initial production processes. However, once ready-to-go, traditional printing methods operate two-to-eight times faster than Digital processes. The greater the number of colors and number of items (different labels), and the lower the project quantity, the greater the cost savings of Digital. That said, there is no perfectly linear model for this relationship's impact on cost.

Color Is Free

Though it represented great innovation, initially, Henry Ford's new process was restrictive, referring to his statement "you can have any color, as long as it is black." Traditional printing offers you more than black, but it will cost you. Digital printing technology, conversely, enables unlimited color without additional costs. This results from Digital printing's use of the four "process colors" which, when properly aligned, can produce virtually all specified colors. Other printing processes use this technique as well, however, there is a directly related increase in material and time cost. With Digital printing you can drive up the shelf-impact of your labels by giving them more presence with full, free color. Studies show that 90 percent of consumers do not know which brand of wine they will purchase upon entering the store, a powerful reason to place an emphasis on eye-catching graphics.

Your Broadening Product Line

Are you are adding private labeling for stores, hotels and restaurants? Do you penetrate niche markets such as fishermen, bicyclists or colleges with affinity packaging? Maybe you are adding vineyard designates and are considering vine designates. Regardless, your number of "SKUs" or products is no doubt increasing while your average product quantity is likely decreasing. For example: you may have expanded to six vineyard designates, five varietals and two sizes. With 60 SKUs it may be more challenging to forecast per-item sales and related packaging materials. You may also be planning on presenting two new products to your distributor, or conducting test marketing.

Digital printing allows you to order small quantities, enables any per-item order quantity configuration and eliminates the need to consider reductions in the number of colors or graphics in an effort to control costs. For product packaging testing purposes, simply order a dozen labels atan affordable cost, apply to your product and display for feedback.

Personalize...Talk Directly to the Consumer

Taking the approach one step further leads to the "one-to-one marketing" approach. Remember, Digital printing enables each label to be unique. If you can acquire a list of people attending a wedding, who will receive wine as a corporate gift or of a company's top clients, Digital printing can print each person's name and other personalized information on each label.

The Proof is
in The Printing

Printing quality is dependent on the printing process, the printer and each project's variables. Avoiding diving into the minutia of graphic fidelity, it is reasonable to consider that Digital printing quality resides between that of the Flexo and Litho processes. Like most printing processes "it depends," and needs to be evaluated project by project. The good news is that Digital printing is the only process that enables affordable production proofs (an actual production sample prior to printing entire project) to review before committing to the entire project's manufacture.

Foil Stamping, Embossing and Paper

Foil stamping and embossing elements can be added to Digitally printed labels. However, the process of adding "analog" processes eliminates some of the advantages of Digital printing. Similarly to traditional printing, Digital printing can be applied to matte or glossy papers and white, silver and clear synthetic materials. In most cases more papers and materials are available for traditional printing.

Digital Printing's Achilles Heal

By now you might be thinking Digital printing is the "silver bullet." Not so fast, it depends on your business need and project requirements. For example, if you order hundreds of thousands of one or two color labels per order, and there is no value to adding color or reducing your order size, keep ordering traditional Flexo labels. Additionally, there are few Digital label printers available in the US and even fewer that have mastered the technology. As with any emerging technology, you may prefer not to be the supplier's "beta test." You will need to search for those suppliers who are committed, experienced and already effectively managing the process.

All things considered, traditional printing processes are now competing with a new Digital breed that is poised to overtake traditional methods within the next several years--if not sooner. I would bet on it. wbm