The mojo of print is back!

Printing industry seems to be on an upwards curve again…the positive sentiments are back and the recently concluded Printpack India 2017 was a testimony to it. Printers across various categories and print processes, could be seen looking for more efficiency and automation in their current printing processes. They are open to adding new improved and automated machinery, while at the same time learning new skills and developing new added value services.

And this is not just in India. Worldover, there are positive feedbacks about the industry. The executive summary of 4th drupa Global Trends report, tracking key economic and market developments across the global printing industry, also shows that. In global terms, 42% of printers described their business as in a ‘good’ economic state, whilst 11% described it as ‘poor’. Drilling down into end market sectors, Functional and Packaging printers globally are more confident than Commercial printers who are in turn more confident than Publishing printers, a pattern that has been present since 2013. However there are a few variations…publishing printers in Africa and Asia were more confident than those in Commercial print and it was the reverse of that in Australia/Oceania and the Middle East.

What’s more? It is reported that 52% investment is made into finishing processes, 51% in print technology and 42% in pre-press/workflow/MIS. But, the good news is not universal; while Functional and Packaging print are in expansive mode, Publishing print is in a more defensive mode with Commercial print somewhere in-between. All this points out to one thing – the mojo of print is back.

This is the time to rake in the benefits of innovation, efficiency and value-addition because printing is not just print on paper, there’s much much more. This technology-driven industry has seen a sea change in last few years, making way for 3D and 4D printing as well. While, these new technologies are yet to take off in a big way, they have added a new dimension in printing. How much successful will these be, is yet to be seen.

Let’s make the best use of the opportunities and technologies to create value-added products, which can be a huge differentiating factor.

Happy printing!

Sonal Khurana
sonal@smediagroup.in