■ASIA FORUM
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The 4th FAGAT/1999 in Beijing
Information Exchange Meeting

The Current State of the Printing Industry
from the Singapore Perspective

March 21, 2000


Mr. R.Theyvendran
Managing Director of Stamford Press Group of Companies

INTRODUCTION

Nothing is constant but change!
This adage assumes great significance in this day and age of rapid technological advancement requiring us to be quick to react to change and reap the benefits b y showing proactiveness.
We in the graphic arts industry have witnessed the largest revolution yet in the last ten years, since the invention of the movable letter by Guttenberg. In the earlier days the only way to publish on paper was to go to a printer who had to involve a Graphic Designer, Photographer, Typesetter, Lithographer and Platemak er to complete the conventional process.
Today on the threshold of the new Millenium, anyone owning a computer is in a po sition to publish documents and print them with typographical fonts, in full col our and in small press runs. But adoption of this method is ill advised when it comes to higher press runs.
For higher press runs, professional typography and faithful colour reproduction can only be guaranteed by offset printing and graphic arts professionals.Their sk ills are being constantly impacted by the rapid pace of technological advancemen ts and changes in the new and evolving sectors in our industry.

A brief insight into the core technological advancements in the printing industry:-

1.SCANNING TECHNOLOGY

The onset of the technological revolution has been most apparent in Flat Bed Sca nners. The perception that these Scanners could not produce the quality obtained from the Drum Scanners has changed through the development and use of CCD Scann ing Technology using the X-Y-Z scanning method. While existing Scanners can only enlarge pictures in the centre of the scanner, the X-Y-Z Scanner can enlarge the scans anywhere within the scanning area.

2.DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND DIGITAL CAMERA TECHNOLOGY

Digital photography has brought considerable changes to the way photographers wo rk. The digital techniques used now are making a big impact on photoraphy, publi shing and prepress, which are giving it wider acceptance. Basically the emergenc e of digital databases to replace analog information is what revolutionized phot ography.

We presently have three types of Digital Cameras:-
a)Professional cameras for still photography
b)Professional cameras for snapshots
c)Amateur cameras for consumers.

3.DESK TOP PUBLISHING

The Desktop publishing revolution was based on Apple Macintosh, Adobe PostScript , Adobe PageMaker and Apple Laser Writer. But the power within a Macintosh was a Motorola processor. In 1991, an alliance between Apple, IBM and Motorola was fo rmed, resulting in a new type of processors, the PowerPC-Chips. Since last year, Apple delivers Power Macintoshes with third generation of such chips, the G3 mo dels and recently the fourth generations G4 model have been launched in the mark et. In benchmark tests they are twice as fast as Intel Pentium chips with the sa me clock rate.

4.COLOUR MANAGEMENT

Since computers and all peripheral equipment are produced without any reference to how to see and treat colour, colour management systems have to establish colo ur control for the user.
In the printing industry, colour management means that you can produce professio nal colour reproductions with unprofessional operators. On the consumer level co lour management allows amateurs to produce colour prints in reasonably high qual ity.

5.COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES

The primary cause of excitement in the printing industry is the contribution of computer expertise to produce and publish our documents. The effective use of th is technology is possible due to 'PostScript', which was invented by Adobe, an d which is today's standard. The document page is constructed, assembled, separa ted, trapped and then converted into a PostScript file, which is sent to a PostS cript RIP for proofing or film outputting. For large films and printing plates t he PostScript files are first impositioned and then output.

6.DIRECT TO PRESS-DIGITAL PRINTING

This technology provides the fastest means of communication between the desktop computer and the actual printing press and is the most economical. Over the next few years the conventional presses will be phased out and there will be only di gital presses. This technology is rapidly evolving with Heidelberg introducing the Quickmaster DI series of printing machines both QM 46 and QM 47 having already displayed in the market, although at the moment it is being targeted for the shor tto medium press run category which is between 5000 impressions to 10,000 impressions. A good example is also the DocuTech, which offers revoluntionary publishingbeyo nd desktop constraints. Using three advanced technologies-digital scanning.

7.DIGITAL PROOFING

Two major technologies have evolved in this area and they are the lnk Jet catego ry and the Dye-Sublimation process. Both methods of proofing are used to simulat e the offset print. In the high-end proofer area, Scitex holds a near-to monopoly with the lris lnk Jet Proofer. Not so far behind and in stiff competition are the models from Dupo nt and Polaroid.

8.COMPUTER TO PLATE SYSTEM(PLATESETTERS)

This technology is totally digital and is being successfully implemented and use d especially in the United States and Europe and is a major path breaker in term s of producing good colour reproduction and cannot be overlooked by the large fo rmat offset printers for too long in the near future. Manual stripping-in of fil m and assembly is not required, as the output from the processor of the output e ngine is a press ready plate. This technology produces Press ready plates and pr ovides a streamlined enhanced workflow.
A feature of this technology is that thermal plates and non-thermal plates are b eing used in the market by leading manufacturers. The unique sharpness of the re produced halftone dot without loss of details is what is most exciting for print ers. This means that they would enjoy the advantages of shorter lead times, superior quality, more reliability as the registered press ready plates tend to shorten m ake ready during printing and improve productivity. Only care should be taken to ensure that all the details are properly checked be fore making of the plates for if there is any mistake rework could be costly. Mo reover the imaging speeds of the various machines average of 12 to 14 plates an hour which is quite good at this stage of its development as a Technology. However, the costs of such an investment is still very high and only a few big p rinting companies have taken the initiative to do so.

The Printing Industry in Singapore
The printing industry in Singapore has a total of about 500 companies. Of this a bout 20 are large printers, 50 are medium sized and the remainder are small prin ters. The large printers and some of the medium-sized printers use state of the art te chnology and compete in international markets. They participate in inernational exhibitions and employ skilled marketers to pitch for overseas printing orders.
Singapore has developed into an international printing centre with total printin g exports now totalling amount $600 million a year. Many international magazines and newspapers like Time, The International Herald Tribune are printed in Singapore with editorial copy transmitted by satellite co mmunications.
Where the latest technology like CTP and Digital printing is concerned, the loca l firms have been cautious in adopting the technology as they wait to watch its adoption in other countries. This is a pragmatic approach as it is costly to swi tch to any new technology without knowing it can be successfully applied. We are confident that the more progressive will adopt all the latest technology, which have proven to be practical. Those who do not make the switch will remain small players and will eventually p erish.
The industry with the help of the Government is also embarking on a major progra mme to re-train the workers in the industry to acquire the right skills to man t he latest technology. In fact, a major skills redevelopment programme for the printing industry which will be implemented over he next five years will be launched this month at our 62nd Anniversary Dinner and Dance.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I take this opportunity to say that, the evolution of these new t rends and techologies in the printing industry will bring forth fresh challenges and opportunities. Although, we may go through some adversity in the short term we must ensure that unrewarding old processes and workflow habits will have to be shelved and more productive ventures into rewarding and new technologies must be pursued to remain competitive and successful in the next millennium.
The printing industry in Singapore will keep in tune with the changes in technol ogy. The forward looking companies will adopt the latest technology and will progress and prosper in the next millennium. The laggards will remain small and in the l ong term, perish. We at the Master Printers' Association, Singapore remain confident that the indu stry which currently achieves an annual output of nearly $1.6 billion will continue to make a meaningful contribution to the Singapore economy. We will continue to be a major international printing centre serving the global market.

(C)Japan Association of Graphic Arts Technology

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