When purchasing any type of print manufacturing device, it is critical to understand what the full capabilities and limitations are for the device before purchasing to ensure that the production device will be able to meet your customer's expectations and generate a profit for your organization. We have been involved in multiple situations where the printing device was not capable of meeting the customer's requirements either due to not sufficient gamut (unable to produce the critically important brand colors) or the inconsistency of the print within the page or between the pages was beyond customer expectations. When this happens, the print service provider not only loses an important customer, but they also are left with a printing device that can’t meet customer expectations which will cause the printer to lose money and time. 

Through years of experience, we have developed a set of recommendations that provides a practical solution to this problem which reduces the risk of purchasing any type of printing device. The procedure described here is specific to offset presses. Regardless of whether it is a new or used machine, the potential problems are the same. The condition that the press is in when it is demonstrated to the potential buyer may not be the same after the press is disassembled, moved, and reassembled in the customer location. We have seen multiple situations where the reassembled press never met the initial conditions that the press was sold under. And most buyers do not have an accurate, scientific way to prove that the press is meeting the initial purchase criteria.

This document presents a number of scientific principles according to which a purchaser can benchmark a printing press to create a precise record of the press capabilities related to meeting customer expectations for print variation, and if determined acceptable, allows the purchaser to use this data to ensure the press is reassembled in this same condition at the production site. In addition, this benchmark can be used in the future to assess which parts on the press may need replacement due to wear and aging.  

We have developed this benchmarking procedure with the print service provider in mind and enabled the steps so the printer (with some onsite expertise) can perform the entire benchmark entirely on their own, no need to pay someone else to assess your equipment.

It is possible to independently perform all tests, from customizing the test forms to the interpretation of results. It is possible to partner with an expert to help perform all steps, but also in this scenario, the purchaser should understand the essence of the method in order to consciously use the information obtained in the future to keep the press in optimized technical condition.

The tests proposed here do not provide absolute certainty as to the full technical condition of the press, but they confirm fundamental, important parameters that are often overlooked using other methods, which become critical in situations where color precision and accuracy are extremely important.  The numeric results apply directly to a person's color expectation requirements for precision and accuracy. It should be remembered that the operators, raw materials, and devices involved in the process will affect the results, so great care should be taken to document and control these variables. The purpose of these benchmarks is to discover potential problems that are difficult to diagnose with commonly used methods.