A brief history of print

For better or worse, software holds the key

Nothing embodies the frantic pace of life in today’s beleaguered printing industry better than the ascension of the humble computer and its ruling software to the throne of necessity. For better or worse, computer software has pervaded every corner of the printing administration process, revealing each microscopic crack – and, just as a junkie craves a fix, printing is now slave to the software creators who, in no small sense, will fashion and sculpt its very future.

In practical terms, a modern management information system will not only control the financial and accounting side of a printing company, but in the administration of a job through the factory, prepare a comprehensive works instruction ‘ticket’. This ticket contains a vast amount of digital information, including specifications of the job itself; pre-production information, along with order schedules and inventory control; data for the printing process, such as raw material usage and production schedules; and detailed packing and shipping instructions. It will also hold a statistical production record of the job – from cost and time estimates, to comments from the customer and production deadlines.

Underlying software’s ever more critical role in printing is the industry’s compelling, almost obsessive need for efficiency and increased productivity – and, of course, the continued threat from tough competition. Moreover, delivering ‘just in time’ has now come to underpin the entire ethos of printing. And, to facilitate the need for proficiency in the automation of almost every process, software has evolved at an electrifying pace.

So where did all this technology come from – and where is it headed? To fully understand and appreciate the impact that specialist software and the Internet will have on printing in the future, first we must look to its past.

A Brief History of Computing

The first ever real computing device appeared some 5,000 years ago, in Asia Minor. The ‘Abacus’, as it became known, radically changed the way in which early merchants accounted for their trade, but it was not until much later, around 1640, that a Frenchman – Blaise Pascal – invented a numerical ‘wheel calculator’, mechanising computing for the very first time. Although it was of fairly simple design and could only perform addition, Pascal’s invention proved invaluable to local trades people, not least his own Tax Collector father! Indeed, it took nearly sixty years for Pascal’s design to be improved upon.

It was then, at around the turn of the 18th Century, that a German mathematician – Gottfried Wilhelm van Leibniz – added the arithmetic function of multiplication to Pascal’s device. But it was not until later, in 1820, that another Frenchman – Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar – invented a machine that could perform all four of the basic mathematical functions. His ‘mechanical calculator’ could add, subtract, multiply and divide, making it the most sophisticated device of its kind at the time. It was known as the ‘Arithometer’ and with its enhanced versatility it was used right up until the First World War. It was, of course, later refined by others, but Colmar’s calculator came to define the age of mechanical computation.

Already a pattern of development was beginning to emerge – each advance of the early computing devices bringing about a similar leap in industrial efficiency – but only for the fortunate few who possessed the foresight and the wisdom to own one. Nevertheless, just as today, once the competition had caught on and caught up the pressure for increased efficiency would again fuel the desire for even faster, more efficient, more powerful computing machines. It came in 1822 in the form of the ‘Difference Engine’.

Invented by English mathematician Charles Babbage, this steam-powered device was as large as a locomotive. It was later renamed the ‘Analytical Engine’ and was the forerunner of computers as we know them today. Even by today’s standards, the Analytical Engine was a miracle of engineering, containing over 50,000 working parts. But even more important than the dexterity of its design was its ability to keep and store numbers. It had memory.

The Analytical Engine could store a thousand numbers up to 50 digits long and made use of perforated ‘punch cards’ for its input. Moreover, it was this same technology that was used to marvellous effect by Herman Hollerith in 1889. He had been given the task by the American government of speeding up the time to count and analyse the national census, the previous one in 1880 having taken no less than seven years. The results were outstanding. Hollerith’s ‘punch card reader’ improved the audit by such a degree that the counting and analysis of the census, expected to take ten years, actually took less than three. In 1896 amidst much acclaim, he started a business on the back of this success. He called his company the Tabulating Machine Company. But in 1924 it was renamed to International Business Machines – or IBM.

Hollerith’s punch card reader came to embody a sort of human triumph over ineptness and inefficiency – and measures to improve efficiency and productivity began to pervade industry, the most visible of which was the ‘clocking-in’ machine. Never again would employees have the luxury of time to complete a day’s work. The clocking-in machine not only ensured that they were more punctual, but it was documentary evidence of lateness, lost days, sickness and holidays that could be used by their employers to measure lost productivity – and a stick to increase efficiency.

The next 80 years saw an explosion in the technological advancement of computers. Devices that once filled an entire room now fitted neatly into a space much smaller than a cupboard – and in the 1950’s they were now being used widely for business applications. The end of the 1960’s brought with it the formation of thousands of fledgling companies, all spawned from the new and exciting IT industry. Modern computers had arrived – and they had evolved through at least four generations. Moreover, it was in keeping with this computing revolution that in 1981 IBM unveiled its ‘personal computer’ or PC. It was so small it could sit on a desktop with room to spare. It was the most powerful computing device to date. The effect on industry was immediate with companies now able to automate even the most sophisticated of tasks – both in the office, and on the shop floor. Efficiency and productivity improved beyond all hope and expectation. But then came the fallout. With the enhancement in automation, innovation and productivity brought about by computers, the face of industry and commerce changed in way that, although obvious, had been surprisingly unexpected. It revealed that the most inefficient and wasteful element of manufacturing – was man himself.

Jobs were sacrificed on the altar of efficiency – and in no less spectacular fashion than the introduction of robots in the motor industry. Elsewhere, skilled trades people found their talents in short demand as computerisation of their industries redefined the very nature of manufacturing. Quite simply, it was the second industrial revolution. As for IBM’s personal computer, 2 million were sold within the first year. Ten years later, sales had increased to 65 million. And now that computers had found their way into almost every home and every business, the software developers began to come into their own – and one company would come to dominate the industry.

Microsoft, like all new companies, had struggled in its early years. But the exclusive licensing of its ‘Disk Operating System’ (DOS) to IBM in 1981 signalled a dramatic new era for the company. So much so, that in 1986 they went public, making its then 31-year old owner – Bill Gates – an overnight billionaire. By 1993, over one million copies of their innovative ‘Windows’ software were being sold every month. Nevertheless, in 1995 Gates suddenly shifted the focus of Microsoft’s development efforts towards the Internet, providing an unmistakable clue to where his company – and the future of computing – lay.

Printing’s Future

As software becomes ever more sophisticated in order to drive efficiency and productivity levels even higher – so we must face the consequences of pushing automation to the point of human redundancy. In the printing industry, a machine operator these days might very well possess more of the skills of a computer programmer than that of a craftsman. In the near future, the buttons they push on the shop floor to earn their keep will be relocated to the administration offices – or offsite via an Internet connection – saving the wasteful use of light and heat and the cost of a man who cannot contribute to the bottom line. An entire factory may be run by just a handful of skilled technicians and learning a trade may become nothing more than understanding binary code.

So what of the future for printing and the software that compels it forward? There is no doubt that software will continue to shape the industry quite profoundly - hopefully for the better.

And what of Haybrooke Associates?

As long as people continue to want to know what it is costing to run their business - which seems fairly likely - and wish to impove the speed and efficiency of their estimating function, then our role will be just as important tomorrow as it is today. So, here's to the future!

Telephone:
+44(0)116 2711000

Email:
postmaster@haybrooke.com

Website:
www.haybrooke.com

Main contact:
John Roche CEO
email or telephone 0116 2711000.