Paul, carefully read my post again..... Immediate delivery for a press is not "next day" with any company. In fact, many companies only keep an inventory of a few presses unless they are selling like a QMDI.
Heidelberg knows regards immediate availability as 60 to 90 days....as compared to 18 months, the prior longer wait period when Heidelberg was manufacturing 15 Quickmasters a month. Some bears regarded "immediate" as 30 days or less! This is not practical. There is time involved for printers to gain financing, prepare for space, etc.
On the other side, I was told that even prior to the recent advertising campaign that Heidelberg began a few months go..... (Magazines etc.) the balance between manufacturing of the presses and new orders was even.
Now, I was told there are again a few more orders than presses being made, with the expectation that this order number will continue to increase with the improvements and new enhancements Heidelberg has added to the QMDI.
Also, many printers that had been previously told, "the wait was over a year", were quite surprised to have received calls from Heidelberg stating they had moved up on the list...(after production had been increased by 4 times) stating "immediate delivery".
Some printers who had formally ordered, found they were not ready for delivery. A number had already canceled and bought a Speedmaster or another digital press or a platesetter from another vendor, etc.
My statement regarding Presstek receiving the "Lions share of the plate market" will be over time as Presstek gains market acceptance and as more competitors join this plate market. A brand new plate market is emerging and with the big expected increase in short run, the use of processless plates will become prevalent by printers.
Many believe that Presstek will initially increase their profit margin substantially due to the new vacuum manufacturing line. As you know, this patented process will coat the plates at "super-sonic speed", allowing the company to maintain low overhead and great revenue as they manufacture their own plates.
With expected increased acceptance of processless plates, pricing will drop and Presstek will maintain their profit margins, even when prices are reduced due to other competition. This will be attributable to the huge expected increased volume in production.
Later, the Print-97 previewed, reusable plates can be made, offering the printer still another viable option. This process further reduces the cost to the printer as the aluminum base of the plate will be reused saving the printer at least 30% while Presstek enjoys the same profit margins for the actual imagable plate material. This new process will again attract an even larger printer base of acceptance for Presstek plates.
I really don't expect to see the new reusable Presstek plate process, until CREO develops it's switchable polymer process, which I believe will be a future Heidelberg attempt to modify a new technology to their presses. This process is now much to expensive to use
and a tremendous problem in maintaining a clean or "sterile" environment around the press. If you have ever been in a printers shop, this is not the environment for this technology and is not a viable present process without great cost in preventing any dust
etc. from affecting what must be a vacuum process. (One of the key reasons why Polaroid discontinued the technology at this time) Also, there is older Presstek patents on this technology and was show by them at Drupa as a process they had in development.
The following is a quote from the printers forum regarding the "popular Kodak thermal plate" you refer too:
The Kodak plate was sold very hard as a thermal plate. However, the true potential of possible thermal advantages were not fully delivered. Long run length and sharper imaging were possible, but the other promising technology characteristics were missing.
Processless chemistry-free imaging actually went backwards, requiring a very tightly-controlled three-step process of pre-heat, develop, then post-bake. Daylight handling was not possible, only yellow light like with conventional plates. This is because the Kodak plate was really a photonic plate, not a thermal plate.
Getting back to how I made my decisions to buy Presstek stock...... only one of my investigative areas was interviewing printers using the technology. The other areas I explored to confirmed my research decisions to purchase the stock are quite numerous and all pointed in the same direction......This company has huge potential in this industry and I expect it to continue it's lead in providing the correct solution to the printer.
Neil
|
