Oil Baths and Print Quality

By Pete Basiliere, Gartner

It’s amazing what a flooded basement reveals. The 3” of water that Hurricane Hannah dumped in the basement of my New Hampshire home is nothing compared with the damage and destruction suffered by the people who took the full force of the storm, not by any stretch. But the clean-up did force me to look at my workbench area with a fresh set of eyes.

There on the wall was a poster from GRAPH EXPO 1988 with a close-up view of a Miehle-Roland 36 oil bath gear train, with the heavy oil dripping through the gears and over their sides. The message is obvious: high quality offset printing at high speeds requires a rugged and robust design. Twenty years later Miehle-Roland is gone and the last thing you will find in a digital press is an oil bath gear train.

Yet from a capital investment perspective, the design and construction of a digital press is arguably more important in the long run than print quality. As a buyer, you will select the device that provides the level of quality you and your clients demand. You will also reasonably expect that the quality in the near term will be consistent with the press manufacturer’s claims. But for the long term a well-built digital press is required to provide consistent print quality throughout its life.

Unfortunately, most manufacturers do not provide the information needed to determine how well-built their presses are. Instead websites that provide information about applications, imaging technology, press performance, print controllers and environmental considerations are the norm - nothing to help you determine whether their engineers designed the press for a long, relatively care-free life of high quality output.

So how do you determine whether the digital press is well-built? Hiring a mechanical engineer is not a practical solution for most of us, even on a consulting basis. Rather, go with a combination of your expertise, your operators’ experiences and conversations with current users.

Plastic and stamped aluminum have their place, certainly, but as covers and for low-impact internal parts. But any component subjected to regular mechanical stress (rotating parts, side frames, etc.) must be more substantial to last a significant time. Operators can probably tell you from experience which items are likely to fail. They may not know why, exactly, but they intuitively know which parts will be the press’ Achilles Heel.

Talk with other users and ask for input on their parts consumption over time. They don’t want their digital press down waiting for parts any more than you do. What parts do they have to store on site, how many and why? Is the list as long as the manufacturer recommended, or is longer or shorter and why? Build their advice into the parts list you expect the manufacturer to have available at your facility.

After the water receded, I found two galleys of brass Linotype mats that were hidden under a bench. I had saved them from being thrown out by a previous employer, but for what possible use I don’t know. With the price of commodities having gone sky high, I’m thinking the mats must be worth a few bucks as scrap metal.

The Linotype was a mechanical monstrosity that some say was actually designed by Rube Goldberg on a bad day. Indeed, the Linotype is proof that a robust mechanical machine does not guarantee performance any more than a oil bath gear train guarantees its manufacturer will survive management flaws and technological changes. But a well-designed and rugged digital press should enable you to print quality work for long enough to get ample return on your investment.

About Pete Basiliere
Pete Basiliere is Gartner’s research director for print markets and management, conducting research and providing insight on production print and mail systems and applications including best practices, market strategies and technology trends. Mr. Basiliere assists suppliers and end users with practical advice relating to Gartner's Automated Document Facility (ADF 2.0) and customer relationship management (CRM) printing concepts as well as production print and mail operations and security matters. He has spoken at numerous industry events including the ON DEMAND Conference, the GATF Technology Alert Conference and the Print and Imaging Summit.

Mr. Basiliere has 30 years of printing and direct mail experience in operations, engineering, customer service and purchasing management, having worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, NEBS, PVA-EPVA, John Harland Company and others. The National Association for Print Leadership (NAPL) published his two books: Diversifying with Mail and Fulfillment Services: Unlocking Hidden Profit Potential and Successful Print Buying: A Guide to the Cost-Effective Procurement of Printing. Mr. Basiliere earned his bachelor’s degree at Bates College and master’s degree at The University of New Hampshire.