Digital has reshaped not just print, but also the way we go about buying and selling it, says Barney Cox from Printweek
One of the most important changes heralded in part by digital print, but also due to the changing dynamic in the wider world and a desire for immediate gratification, is the switch from high-value high-volume work to low-value low-volume work. Before you can even get an order you need to get the customer a price.
"Lead times are vanishing," says director of digital printer Cypher Digital Paul Calland. "Customers want quotes in minutes or hours because they've left the job to the last minute. Often we find that from the time of an order to the time the job needs to be on the courier we've got less than three hours."
MIS supplier Shuttleworth says it's a common scenario. "If it's off a matrix, you'd expect pricing instantly, and if it's more complicated, within four hours," says joint managing director Paul Deane.
Click to read the full Printweek article.