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 become more of a rule, rather than an exception; coffee table and round table conversations are increasingly debating on the next disruption potentially heading our way..... Will distributors also start  becoming redundant?  Will manufacturers prefer the option of direct selling, just as the car maker Tesla is proposing?  As Charles Darwin said, ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent but the one that is most adaptable’, which literally translates that in order to survive, every company, large or small must have their ears to the ground, and be ever ready to change course, consolidate operations, prune excesses and maybe even sever non profitable units.  Or risk becoming redundant.
This issue of PrintWeek MEA features an exclusive coverage of the first ever Knowledge Series round-table event hosted by the organizers of Sign and Graphics Imaging Show, among other interesting features, news stories and interviews.


Shilpa Jasani is the editor of

PrintWeek MEA magazine.