It’s a Brave New World

However, “I’d say that the number one driver for us was competition,” Norton adds. “We had competitors that were offering digital solutions, and in order to hold our position with our customers, we needed to put it in. We just needed to be pushed over that edge.”

Now that its transition to a complete digital workflow system is underway, NPP reports that about 50 percent of its customers have jumped the analog ship and come on board. “The most difficult part of the transition is dealing with the existing film,” Norton says. “Some of that will stay—we have customers that supply us with films from which we manufacture the printing plates—but I’d say that within the next six months we’d be at 75 percent.”