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1.20 am, Saturday March 24
Every New Year brings with it new hopes, new plans and a promise not to repeat old mistakes. So also with 2012. The industry looks forward to this year with fresh hope of breaking the shackles of the slowdown.
The recently concluded IPEX Digital ME with its low exhibitor and visitor turnout brought a few questions to the forefront. Could the lukewarm response be attributed to the general market sentiment evident in other places as well or was it merely teething troubles expected of any new launch event? A batch of exhibitors, however, expressed satisfaction with closing deals and sale of machinery.
Education and learning are a never-ending process. Printers looking at learning new ways of updating and upgrading are able to optimise the use of their resources improve productivity and thereby, profits.
At the conclusion of the paper expo, Paper Arabia, a question that is oft at the back of people's minds comes to the forefront, 'Is the paper industry suffering?'. When posing this question to manufacturers, they conceded to a drop in demand from one section with the arrival of the iPad, Kindle or ebooks, which contributed to a drop in demand for newsprint or writing paper and is expected to decline further. However, balancing the fall in demand from one section, is the rise in volumes of value added products or even industrial paper, particularly packaging grades, which is growing in absolute terms.
ATN Media-publishers of various B-2-B directories will be launching the region's first exclusive directory for the print industry. Enthusiastically received by the print fraternity, the PrintWeek Directory will be followed by an e-directory and a CD-rom.
When we first heard the news of Ipex Digital Middle East, my first reaction was, "What! one more exhibition?". However meeting with the organisers changed our perception- not only would the expo cover the entire digital industry-from signage to production and commercial printing, but also the organisers are using novel concepts like Top 100 Buyers Program, to make the show more inclusive. For exhibitions to stop being passed over as 'one more event', organisers need to think out of the box as well as have their ears to the ground to sense the changing scenario in advance.
While social media and social networking tools cannot replace conventional marketing, it is gaining immense importance as a complementary marketing tool. Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter accounts are indispensable, cost effective ways of enhancing the impact of a marketing campaign in this web-connected world.
Every manufacturer, distributor, printer or end user needs to walk that extra mile to contribute in any which way to a green and 'clean' lifestyle. What is required is a pro-active approach towards the three golden R's- reduce, reuse and recycle.
While on one hand new distributor appointments show the returning confidence in the region, too many brands in its basket could have a flip side for distributors.
Manufacturers investing time and money into different training programmes for their customers and prospective customers could be one of the various measures that can be taken to inject fresh blood in the industry. Canon, Xerox and more recently Ricoh are among the first companies undertaking training programmes, not only into the more effective use of technology and processes, but using consultants and experts to help printers become more innovative, capture new markets and germinate an idea from concept to sale.
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