The dynamics of the printing industry is constantly changing, more so evident in the last decade.
Technology has made such rapid strides that the young blood entering the industry would need to refer to a dictionary to understand moveable types, manual operations, dark rooms, screen films for colour separation. The junction at which we stand today, we are accustomed to books on demand, ebooks, end-to-end automation, 3D printed offices, the list is endless. While disruptions seems to have
Encouraging trade printing or job-work printing can be a double-edged sword.
While trade printes provide wholesale printing to print resellers who sell to the ultimate client, and may or may not own printing equipment (either second-hand or even third-hand machines), job work printing involves no press at all but renting time on someone else’s equipment out-of-hours. The points in favour would be additional sources of income for printshops, either in the form of rental income for their
Printing has the ability to bring brands closer to customers and personalisation can ensure customer loyalty and repeat orders.
Personalisation and customisation is especially popular with food and drinks brands; and social media helps to generate a buzz and create a hype for such products. Novel, creative ways of using this kind of branding can and has proven to be successful in mass market campaigns and for promotional purposes.
Sensing this additional revenue stream, many manufacturers
There is an obvious paradigm shift in all industries, including the print industry towards the ‘internet of things’, which means the ability to transfer data over the network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Its a situation where all sorts of machines, factories, vehicles and even household items are constantly online and able to transmit and receive status reports and instructions. Seamless integration of printers/MFPs with mobile devices can help vendors
With the final curtain call falling on the most awaited show of this year, Drupa 2016 has been hailed by industry stalwarts as a success. Though overall the number of visitors in this edition were lower than 2012; over 250,000 unique visitors arrived at the expo from 188 countries. Breaking records were show sales and new technologies and tie-ups. Though inkjet ruled the roost, corrugated packaging emerged as a key trend with a swathe of new inkjet machines targeted at the sector. All in
As the countdown begins to the most awaited global show this year for the printing industry, most industry experts do not believe that there will be anything revolutionary in conventional printing presses. Yes, enhancements would be announced, and presses will be proclaimed to be more efficent, faster, automated with less makeready times. And though money is being invested in technology, the manufacturing giants are facing tough times.
The never-ending print slowdown as well
Most printers usually focus on number of orders, price factors, staff issues and machinery degradation, rarely giving even a fleeting thought to their own corporate identity.
In a vast majority of cases, regional printers follow the same policies that have been pursued for years, never making re-invention a priority. Archaic sounding company names, old fashioned logos and decrepit websites. That professional corporate identity should be given its due is something that completely
As companies search for newer strategies to gain a foothold in this fiercely competitive buyer’s market, the marketing policy and expenditure incurred needs to be calculated as a proportion of sales. As a norm, a marketing budget of 4% to 5% is an accepted investment in this engine that drives business growth.
Yet deciding how much to spend and where to spend is not always easy. It is not possible to answer the question of what will make every marketing effective without having a clear idea
As the most important exhibition for the signage and graphics market segment bids goodbye, a lot of questions are being tossed back and forth.
Is the investment in Sign and Graphic Imaging show (SGI) worth it? For overseas exhibitors and visitors, questions like - shall we invest in SGI or in local shows? Did the number of visitors and products sold at the show justify the cost of participation? Should the timing of the show be any different? Should the huge investment of money and
3-D printing or additive printing is the new segment with unlimited potential and possibilities. It has come a long way from its roots and today 3-D printers can handle various materials and requirements, paving the way for mass customization. 3-D printing has proved to make manufacturing more sustainable by transforming traditional manufacturing processes through cost reduction, energy saving and reduced CO2 emissions.
By its very nature, 3D Systems printers manufacture products
Though price factor rules in every business - print or otherwise, collaborative relationships with suppliers is another important aspect that cannot be undervalued.
Though price is important because every one has a budget, but price is not the be-all, end-all factor in the upward graph of the business. Printshops need to differentiate between suppliers offering same quotes. Often supply chain partners can offer innovative solutions and economic efficiencies since they stand to benefit from the
Recycling of machinery and consumables like paper, cartridges can bring benefits to the business and environment, creating a win-win situation for all.
While some printers are known to purchase pre-owned equipment and machinery, refurbish it and effectively use it to drive down costs and improve profits, others are proactive in recycling paper and cartridges, keeping tonnes of material out of landfills, benefitting the environment. Suppliers too have a role to play in encouraging recycling
To scale up your business seamlessly a lot of variables have to fall in place - increases in turnovers and job orders need to be handled efficiently, bottlenecks removed, staff should not be overloaded leading to possibilities of mistakes, optimum utilisation of machinery, personalization needs to be handled without any hitch among others. Those printers that have moved operations and services from manual to software, technology based are able to optimize and streamline processes, leading to a
Waste management in many countries is a multi million dollar industry. And prudence in managing and reducing waste in an industry like printing - with its inks, chemicals, paper, metal and print related materials - is even more significant and strategic.
A waste management strategy can be divided into two parts - reducing the waste your business generates and disposing or reusing waste materials. Both the above segments directly impact the bottom line.
Everyday waste management can
The Gitex Technology week always brings with it a buzz of activity, anticipation and goody bags filled with new technological marvels. This edition was no different with a focus on robotics, 3D printing, virtual reality, augmented reality and drones. On display was the first virtual reality robotic simulator, first 3D-printed car and first 3D-printed humanoid robot from UAE based DigiRobotics. While there is a greatly increased interest in 3D printing, dealers have yet to see runaway