AI is transforming industries across the board, and the print world is no exception. For print businesses, AI offers exciting opportunities to reduce waste, streamline operations, and – the focus of this article – boost sustainability.
“Sustainability” and “AI” have rapidly become high-ranking buzzwords in the business lexicon. Sustainability is trickier to define than AI. Generally, it means running your business in a way that minimizes environmental impact while ensuring long-term economic viability.
In the print industry, this involves using recycled materials, reducing waste and energy consumption, employing eco-friendly consumables and processes, promoting responsible paper sourcing, and various other practices.
Sustainability is now often an imperative for businesses. Legislation increasingly mandates sustainable practices. And many potential customers will now make on-site visits to check if vendors live up to sustainability promises before signing major deals.
The good news is that sustainability is usually savvy economics too. It doesn’t just boost efficiency. A growing number of consumers and companies actively seek partnerships with environmentally conscious businesses.
Print industry decision makers therefore need to be up to speed on how AI can help optimize their print production processes while building a more responsible business model.
Three things you'll discover in this article
- The Current Role of AI in Print Sustainability: Explore how AI is already contributing to more sustainable printing practices.
- The Future of Sustainable Printing with AI: Anticipate what lies ahead for eco-friendly print innovations.
- Practical First Steps for Adoption of AI in Print: Learn how your business can begin implementing AI to enhance sustainability.
Read on to learn how smarter production – through efficiency gains, precise use of materials, and minimized waste – can boost your print sustainability. The outcomes are anything but artificial.
The Current Role of AI in Print Sustainability
Printing is one of the oldest and most widely used forms of communication. Unfortunately, it also has a poor track record in environmental impact.
According to a report by the World Wildlife Fund, the global paper industry, on which print is dependent, is responsible for using up to 40% of all industrial wood traded globally. Moreover, printing consumes substantial amounts of ink, energy, and other resources that contribute to pollution and waste.
Despite this checkered past, many new print technologies that deliver cleaner, more efficient printing are becoming available.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is in the vanguard of these technologies by helping print to rapidly become more sustainable, efficient, and eco-friendly. AI can help reduce energy consumption, minimize waste, and enhance recycling.
Here are the key benefits that printers are already seeing through the adoption of AI:
- Optimized Production and Resource Management: AI is being used in print job planning to analyze data, automate complex tasks like imposition of shapes, and optimize use of resources. This leads to streamlined production, reduced waste of materials and energy, and helps printers maximize resource efficiency.
- Precision Printing for Reduced Waste: AI-powered job preparation and ink usage/color management ensure flawless print quality without waste. This minimizes the need for reprints, saving valuable resources like ink, paper, and energy.
- Intelligent Energy and Waste Management: AI is being used to monitor resource usage in real-time, identifying areas for improvement that can be accomplished with eco-friendly alternatives. AI is also being used to sort waste streams for optimal recycling and upcycling, diverting waste from landfills.
- Predictive Maintenance for Extended Equipment Life: AI proactively detects potential equipment issues, preventing breakdowns and unplanned downtime. This extends machine lifespan, reduces waste generation, and optimizes energy use for a smaller environmental footprint - all while keeping the presses running more reliably.
- Enhanced Security: AI safeguards print processes ensuring compliance with data regulations and sometimes is used to monitor sensitive materials. This minimizes errors and the associated waste of resources, and avoids penalties, fines, and loss of customer trust.
This brief survey demonstrates how AI is already reshaping the print industry into a more sustainable, efficient, and responsible force.
As AI technologies continue to evolve, we can expect even more innovative solutions that will further reduce the environmental impact of print, paving the way for a truly sustainable future.
The Future of Sustainable Printing with AI
The advancements in AI-powered sustainability explored above are just the beginning. AI is a new technology. As AI capabilities continue to grow, we can anticipate more transformative changes in the print industry.
No one can predict the future, of course, but here's our speculative glimpse into how AI might further revolutionize print for a more sustainable future:
- Beyond Personalization – Hyper-Customization at Scale: AI's understanding of consumer preferences driven by data will reach new heights. This will enable highly personalized on-demand print products at a massive scale, drastically minimizing overproduction and catering to individual needs without unnecessary waste.
- AI-Driven Material Innovation: In collaboration with material scientists, AI could accelerate the development of innovative, sustainable substrates and inks. Through simulations and analysis, AI may be able to optimize properties like biodegradability, recyclability, and minimize resource intensity in the creation of new materials.
- AI as a Design Partner for Sustainability: Beyond today's AI-driven planning and imposition, AI could also become an integral design assistant, suggesting layouts and structures optimized for minimal material use. By analyzing historical data and identifying patterns, AI could also offer eco-conscious alternatives that reduce waste right from the design stage.
- Greening the Entire Supply Chain: AI won't stop at optimizing the print shop floor or consumables used. It is set to start intelligently analyzing global supply networks, pinpointing the most sustainable suppliers, and factoring environmental impact into logistical decisions. This should create a ripple effect of sustainability throughout the entire supply chain.
- Smart End-of-Life Solutions: Imagine AI systems coupled with image recognition that can analyze a print product and instantly determine the best possible path - recycling, upcycling, or responsible disposal. When these advances come, they will maximize resource recovery and help minimize landfill waste.
- The Rise of IoT in Print: The Internet of Things (IoT) isn't just about consumers. It may also become increasingly integrated into printing environments and services. Connected devices and sensors will enable real-time monitoring, optimizing resource use and further reducing waste. Imagine a food supply chain where products visibly getting close to the end of their shelf life have promotional labels instantly printed to boost sales and reduce waste.
These are just glimpses, for sure, but they showcase AI's potential to reshape print into a more adaptable, efficient, and fundamentally sustainable industry.
And if it all sounds speculative and hard to apply to your current printing environment, read on! You will be amazed how quickly you can integrate sustainability-boosting AI solutions into your print shop today.
Practical First Steps for Adoption of AI in Print
Embracing AI might seem daunting, but it's happening everywhere for a reason, and even small steps can yield significant sustainability benefits.
Below we discuss some first steps that every print business can adopt as they begin their AI journey. Then we'll look at some specific AI print solutions on the market today.
First Steps Towards Adopting AI
Define Clear Objectives: Before you start paying for technology and services, make sure to start by assessing your current bottlenecks, areas of inefficiency, and processes that generate excess waste. These are prime targets for AI optimization. Whether you're focused on reducing waste, speeding up production, or improving print quality, having clear, simple goals will guide your AI integration strategy. Write them down!
Explore Targeted AI Solutions: Got that list to hand? Don't try to overhaul everything at once. Focus on specific pain points you've defined, then research existing technologies that can be driven by AI to address them. Each of the following can bring immediate sustainability improvements to your print workflows, and today AI already plays a role in making every one of them more powerful.
- Preflighting
- File preparation
- Imposition
- Job Planning
- Image optimization
- Predictive maintenance
- Waste stream analysis
Start with Easy-to-Use Tools: You're just dipping your toe here, so make sure to implement AI tools that do not require extensive technical expertise. Look for solutions that offer user-friendly interfaces and are designed for easy integration into workflows and technologies you already use. For example, AI-driven prepress tools that can automate file preparation, preflight, etc. ensuring files are print-ready and match correct specifications.
Begin with Scalable Projects: Kick start your implementations in controlled areas of your workflow. You want to start small and consolidate as you learn how to effectively deploy AI in your complete workflow. You might begin by using AI to power the imposition of one type of job going on your cutting table, for example. This approach allows for testing, refinement, and a smoother adoption process once things are working as you want them to.
Invest in Training: Upskill your team on the basics of AI and how it intersects with print processes. This fosters a culture of innovation and adaptability and will ensure your team is equipped to rapidly adopt new AI tools. First stop? Check out YouTube… there's a wealth of content there to get you thinking before you start paying for in-company training.
Prioritize Data Collection: AI thrives on data. Ensure your systems are capturing relevant information (material usage, energy consumption, etc.) Data storage is cheap, and data sets are priceless. It's a no brainer - turn on those logs! This data will be invaluable for future AI-powered optimizations.
AI-Powered Print Solutions Available Today
We hope you won't mind if we give you suggestions from the tools we know best. At Enfocus, we offer innovative, AI-driven tools that can help print businesses see immediate sustainability gains. Let's take a look.
Enfocus Phoenix (and Phoenix2Switch): This powerful production planning and imposition software harnesses AI to optimize job layouts, materials usage, and energy efficiency. It's a fantastic starting point for a sustainable AI transformation in your print business. Phoenix is right at the forefront of the integration of AI in the print industry. It also sports an easy-to-understand GUI interface to get you up and running fast.
Enfocus Switch: Switch is known as the affordable, flexible automation platform. Flexibility is key here. Known for its powerful scripting environment, Enfocus Switch allows for the integration of AI tools and solutions into existing workflows. This flexibility makes it ideal for print businesses looking to innovate and customize their AI applications. Moreover, the Enfocus App Store is rapidly expanding its offerings in AI solutions, providing even more tools for businesses to enhance their operations.
Enfocus PitStop (Pro & Server): Few people in the print industry haven't heard of PitStop: the PDF preflight and correction powerhouse that drives many of the planet's prepress rooms. But did you know that almost every decision that PitStop makes can be variable driven? Couple this with Switch's ability to connect PitStop to any API-driven tool – including AI tools – and you have enormous potential of AI right in your most trusted tool
The AI journey is ongoing, and things are set to evolve incredibly fast. By starting with these practical steps and leveraging the power of Enfocus solutions, print businesses can unlock a future of efficiency, sustainability, and enhanced profitability.
Conclusion
Adopting AI in print isn't about a distant future – it's about seizing the available opportunities and addressing the challenges of the present. AI-powered solutions provide a clear path towards a print industry that's more sustainable, efficient, and profitable. By embracing this technology, print businesses will actively reduce their environmental footprint, enhance their competitiveness, and secure long-term success.
The time to explore these possibilities is now. If you're ready to elevate your print sustainability, consider downloading a trial of Enfocus Phoenix. This innovative AI-driven solution is a great first step in using AI to optimize production, minimize waste, and empower your team to make informed decisions for a greener future. Start your journey towards sustainable printing today!
----
Articles in our Sustainability in Print series
Going Green with Digital Efficiency: An Introduction to Sustainable Print Technologies
Enhancing Sustainability through Intelligent Printing: The Role of AI
Reducing Reprints and Waste: How PitStop and Griffin Drive Eco-Friendly Printing
Caring for Your Human Resources: How Enfocus Switch Fosters a Sustainable Work Environment
Print Smart, Print Less: Minimizing Physical Proofs with Soft Proofing Solutions
