Life Cycle Costing of Print on Demand Digital Printing of Books and Packaging Materials

摘要

Digital printing appears to be costly relative to other print processes from a unit cost point of view. But there are many other costs in the supply chain for printed products, some of which can be reduced or eliminated by a print-on-demand approach and changing the supply chain structure. Viewing the costs then of the whole supply chain leads to the concept of life cycle costing, which takes into account the administration, distribution, waste and warehousing costs, as well as production costs. Print-on-demand can result in savings in the overall supply chain offsetting the higher production costs in production. Print-on-demand is most conveniently undertaken using digital print technology. By comparing life cycle costs of conventional methods of production using established and conventional supply chains with digital POD methods of production based around restructured supply chains it is possible to identify circumstances within which POD can work in a viable fashion. For softcover books, for example, in situations where the rate of sale is likely to be less than 1000 copies per annum, then POD digital production is likely to be a preferred option.