News Views & How-To's

Printing on Demand Vs Customisation Vs Personalisation - What it's all about

The print industry is buzzing with new terms, making it hard to keep track of what they all mean.

Understanding these concepts is crucial, as they could play a significant role in your business' future growth. In this article, we break down some of these key terms and explain how Roland DG technology can help you leverage them—so you can decide if, and how, you’ll take them on.

Printing On-Demand (POD)

Print-on-demand is a business model that arose alongside digital printing technology and allows businesses to print small quantities, or tailor print jobs after they’re received a specific order. Printing on-demand is considered a low risk business approach that produces high ROI.

Benefits of Printing On-Demand

There are multiple advantages to POD that drive profitability:

  • Lower inventory and warehousing costs – since jobs are printed after the order is placed and then shipped directly to the customer.
  • Less waste disposal – landfill is saved from unsold, overstocked goods.
  • Automated processes save time - digital printers are easy, efficient and enable speedy production times, allowing businesses to better invest their time in marketing.
  • Low start-up costs/easy setup - with minimum equipment needed, businesses can be up and running in no time.
  • Low running costs - Inkjet printers are well-suited for printing on demand, as they can produce high-quality prints quickly and efficiently.
  • Flexibility - Inkjet printers can print on a wide range of materials, including paper, cardboard, canvas, fabric, the list goes on…

Customised items, printed using a VersaOBJECT MO-240 Flatbed UV Printer

Printing on Demand – practical examples

Customisation and Personalisation can both be forms of POD production and have many benefits in common.

There are virtually no limits to the range of products that can be customised and personalised. Simply said, ‘if you can print on it, you can personalise or customise it.’

With digital print, your personalisation printing business can offer a wide range of options, including variable text, images, and graphics. You can allow your customers to choose from pre-made designs or create their own designs with equal ease.

And because workflow processes don’t change as orders increase, personalisation printing businesses can be easily scaled up as demand grows. This means, you can start small and gradually grow your business over time.

Of course, there is a limit to the volume your printers can produce in a day. You might eventually need to add more machines to your production line, or invest in devices with larger printing areas, but by then, you’ll already know that the investment will pay for itself in no time.

Customisation

Custom printing encompasses anything that ‘pleases your customer’. It’s the process of making alterations to a product or service to meet their perceived needs or desires.

Inkjet printing specifically, allows businesses to print any image, of any size, in a matter of minutes, creating eye-catching prints. Your imagination is the limit.

A few customised items, printed using the TrueVIS SG3 Series Large Format Inkjet Printer Cutter

You can customise applications with our range of TrueVIS large format printers in the form of printed banners, posters, trade show graphics, wallpaper, murals, artwork, signage, etc.

You can also customise solid objects via:

  1. Direct UV Print – using our VersaOBJECT and VersaSTUDIO UV Flatbed Printers
  2. Transfers and stickers – with our VersaSTUDIO DTF Printers or range of TrueVIS large format printers
  3. Vinyl wrapping – using any of Roland DG’s TrueVIS VG3 Series and SG3 Series Eco-Solvent Printer Cutters or our TrueVIS AP-640 Latex Printer
  4. Engraving – using any of Roland DG’s rotary engravers, laser decorators and engravers or VersaSTUDIO MPX-90S Desktop Metal Printer

Benefits of Customisation

There are multiple advantages to customisation that will help you gain profits:

  • Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty – because customers value tailored, printed products, it creates a closer bond between your business/brand and the customer.
  • Customisable items – are easy to produce, allowing you to deliver high-quality prints, cost-effectively eg. Custom t-shirts, sportswear, electronics, accessories, gifts, bottles, etc.
  • Branding - printing customised promotional items will help you establish your brand.
  • Ongoing advertising - Custom prints with your logo and contact information are literally free, ongoing advertising.

A custom printed paddle racket with a flatbed printer

Personalisation

One step further in the customer-centric continuum, are ‘personalised’ products and prints.

It’s a known trend that consumers are increasingly interested in experiencing the production process and enjoy creating unique experiences for themselves. Therefore, creating personalised products that consumers helped create themselves, or have been created specifically for them, according to their preferences and branding their names, is the new trend to grabbing their attention.

In print, personalisation usually means starting off with a blank medium (eg. Substrate or object) and adding specific information, such as a person’s name or a design selected by the consumer.

Multiple pens on a flatbed, ready to be printed on

In the wide format context, for example, a retailer might order a hundred posters, each of which uses the same design but with different addresses to advertise the individual stores in their local towns.

For most printers, the starting point could be a substrate or object that’s already been mass produced and the print they overlay, adds value to the existing product.

The VersaSTUDIO BD-8 Desktop UV Flatbed Printer could be the perfect entry-level printer to get you started in the object personalisation space.

Several items, personalised using a VersaSTUDIO BD-8 Desktop UV Flatbed Printer

Benefits of Personalisation

  • Increased revenue potential - personalised products can command a premium price of up to 20% more than non-personalised products.

  • Higher profit margins - with the added value of personalisation, it’s easier to justify a higher price point to customers which should have a healthy profit margin factored in.

  • Low start-up costs – the equipment needed to tap into the personalisation trend is minimal and with entry-level models available, can be very cost effective.

Conclusion

Armed with this new understanding, we’ve hopefully sparked your interest.

Blending mass printing, with some form of bespoke production like customisation or personalisation, can grow your productivity and profitability. Roland DG’s complete range of large format and desktop inkjet printers are perfectly suited to these applications.

If you have any questions about the Roland DG devices that can best deliver these customisation and personalisation benefits for your needs, feel free to contact one of our experts who will gladly help you out.