Independent consultant and industry veteran John Zarwan of J Zarwan Partners (Charlottetown, PEI) investigates digital presses with the publication of an in-depth research study into the Overall Equipment Effectiveness of Digital Presses. In a bid to help printers make a more informed decision when purchasing a digital press, the report discusses the importance of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) for digital presses in a commercial printing environment. The report examines the OEE of three popular presses – the Canon imagePRESS C10000VP, Ricoh ProC9110, and Xerox Color 1000i Press. The study compares these presses regarding the three traditional components of OEE – availability, quality and performance. “OEE is a powerful tool that can be used to measure and improve operations,” Zarwan added. “The output quality, consistency and reliability of digital production presses have improved dramatically. Yet, it’s often difficult to choose among them. When buying a digital press, it’s particularly important to evaluate how they actually function. There are many things to consider. It’s important to match a press’ actual capabilities with your needs. It’s equally important to operate the press efficiently and effectively. Our hope is this latest analysis of the operating effectiveness of these three press installations is a useful start.”
The report notes that the OEE of all three presses meets standards with room for improvement, especially in performance. The Xerox Color 1000i Press had the overall highest OEE of the three presses and was rated top in each of the three metrics. All presses, however, produce high-quality output, with generally good availability. The main differences were a function of press breakdowns and the amount of time to repair. The greatest amount of variation in press performance was how fast the machine printed compared to its rated speed. The Xerox press printed closer to rated speed on heavier paper.
This special report is available free of charge upon request to jzarwan@johnzarwan.com.
J Zarwan Partners is an independent consultancy that specializes in profit improvement, market strategy, and product planning and positioning. Zarwan has written extensively on trends in the printing industry and its markets. He’s currently working with a number of commercial and packaging printers to identify and improve their own OEE.
Industry veteran Zarwan assesses equipment effectiveness of digital presses in new study
