The printing world is changing, and it's changing fast. Remember the days of massive print runs, predictable jobs, and a "set it and forget it" mentality? Yeah, those days are fading. Today, it's all about short runs, diverse job types, customization, and, increasingly, the incredible speed and flexibility of digital inkjet presses.
Inkjet technology is blowing up (in a good way!), offering incredible quality and speed that was once unimaginable. But here's the thing: having a cutting-edge inkjet press is only half the battle.
You can have the fastest, most sophisticated press on the market, but if your workflow is stuck in the past, you're essentially putting a jet engine on a horse-drawn carriage. It just doesn't work.
A clunky, outdated workflow can quickly become a bottleneck, strangling your productivity and eating into your profits. It can lead to:
We need to consider that you need to scale up and down, to accept any size of job, big or small.
But is that really how it works with traditional workflows? Are they ready to handle a modern inkjet press running at 100m/minute?
This is where a lot of printers start to feel the pain. They've invested in the hardware, but their workflow is holding them back.
The good news? There's a better way. The printing industry is evolving, and that includes the software that powers it.
In the next sections, we'll dive into the challenges of traditional workflows, explore a powerful solution called microservices, and show you how the right approach can transform your inkjet operation from good to great.
Because, at the end of the day, it's about scaling your operations and optimizing your workflow for maximum efficiency, don't you agree?
High-speed inkjet presses are amazing machines. They can churn out pages at breathtaking speeds, opening up new possibilities for printers of all sizes. But that speed creates a new challenge: feeding the beast. Can your workflow keep up?
Many traditional workflows were designed for a different era. They're often based on monolithic architecture which is a fancy way of saying they're one big, inflexible system. This is a relic of offset printing, not the diverse world of inkjet.
Think of it like a highway with only one lane. If there's a slowdown, everything backs up. That's what happens with a traditional workflow when you throw a high-speed inkjet press into the mix.
You might think that scaling up is just a matter of buying a faster press or adding more equipment. But if your workflow can't handle the increased volume and complexity, you're just creating a bigger bottleneck. It would be like adding more cars to that one-lane highway without adding more lanes.
A common problem is the "one-size-fits-all" workflow. It's designed to handle a certain type of job, but it struggles when faced with the variety of jobs that inkjet presses can produce. Different sizes, different substrates, different finishing requirements – they all add complexity that can cripple a rigid workflow. This is very common in the Web2Print world.
Okay, let's talk about microservices. Don't let the technical term scare you. Think of it like this: instead of one giant, inflexible system (the one-lane highway), you have a network of smaller, independent services (a multi-lane highway with on-ramps and off-ramps).
Each microservice handles a specific task, like preflighting, file preparation, color management, or imposition. They can work together seamlessly, but they can also be scaled up or down independently as needed.
This is where the magic happens. Need to handle a sudden influx of short-run jobs? No problem, just scale up the relevant microservices. Need to process a complex job with variable data? Easy, the right microservices can handle it without impacting other parts of the workflow.
It is like having an infinite amount of resources, instantly. And it's all automated, so there is no need for constant manual adjustment.
Here's how this translates into real benefits for your printing operation:
| Feature | Microservices | Monolithic Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Scalability | Highly scalable, independent scaling of services | Limited scalability, often requires scaling the entire system |
| Flexibility | Highly flexible, adaptable to changing needs | Inflexible, difficult to adapt to new requirements |
| Resilience | High resilience, failure of one service doesn't impact others | Low resilience, failure of one component can bring down the entire system |
| Development Speed | Faster development cycles, easier to deploy new features | Slower development cycles, complex deployments |
| Technology Diversity | Can use different technologies for different services | Limited to the technologies supported by the monolithic platform |
While microservices offer many advantages, they also introduce some complexity in terms of deployment and management. However, for high-speed inkjet environments, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. That's where things like managed services really are worth their weight in gold.
At DALIM SOFTWARE, we understand the challenges of modern printing. We've been in the industry for over 40 years, and we've seen firsthand how technology has transformed the way printers operate. That's why we've built our solutions from the ground up with a focus on scalability, flexibility, and automation – the key ingredients for success in the age of inkjet.
Our workflow solutions, including TWIST and DRIVE, are designed to handle the most demanding inkjet environments. They leverage the power of microservices to provide:
We've embraced the MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture because we believe it's the future of software. This modern approach ensures that our solutions are:
By choosing DALIM, you're not just getting a workflow solution; you're getting a partner in your success. Our solutions deliver:
Think of TWIST as the conductor of your print production orchestra. It's a powerful workflow automation platform that handles everything from file checking and optimization to file preparation and imposition.
Here are some of TWIST's key features:
DRIVE is our high-performance PDF processing engine, built specifically for the demands of high-volume inkjet production. It can process millions of pages per day, making it ideal for short-run books, personalized catalogs, transactional printing, and more. It is cloud-ready and can scale elastically to handle even the most demanding workloads.
Key features of DRIVE include:
Our dynamic imposition service takes the pain out of creating print layouts. It automatically generates optimized layouts for both traditional and digital printing, taking into account factors like:
This means less waste, faster turnaround times, and greater efficiency across your entire operation. With multi-lane imposition you can optimize paper usage up to 95% on high-speed web presses.
The rise of high-speed inkjet is changing the printing landscape. To thrive in this new environment, you need a workflow that can keep up. Traditional, monolithic workflows simply won't cut it anymore.
With over 40 years of experience in the printing industry, DALIM SOFTWARE has the expertise and innovative solutions to help you succeed. Our microservices-based workflow solutions, built on the MACH architecture, provide the scalability, flexibility, and automation you need to unleash the full potential of your inkjet investment.
Ready to learn more about how DALIM can transform your workflow? Let's discuss your specific needs and explore how we can help you achieve your business goals. Don't let your workflow be a bottleneck – let it be your engine for growth!