WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is changing how it manufactures license plates for the first time since the state began issuing the plates more than a century ago.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the state will no longer have plates embossed with raised letters and numbers printed in bulk for non-commercial traffic. Kansas changed its system this week to print license plates on demand using a digital printing process. 

The printed numbers and letters are applied to a flat sheet of aluminum and stamped out in the shape of a license plate. 

John Kalal is director of government products at Center Industries in Wichita, which makes all of the state's license plates. Kalala says the process is much faster and more efficient than stamping out and embossing the whole plate.