“How will the printing industry survive the digital age?” “Isn’t print dying”? “Do commercial print shops still exist?” These are a few of the questions facing the printing industry over the next decade. Technological advancements, customer’s changing preferences, and concern over the environment have all contributed to the digital print industry needing to pivot to meet future challenges.
To offer sustainability to clients, print manufacturers have turned towards eco-friendly products and hardware offerings. Newer inks that are “Greenguard” certified have made their entrance to the industry. These inks meet some of the world’s most rigorous and comprehensive standards for low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into indoor air. Along with eco modes to control power consumption, today’s commercial printers have the environment in mind while blazing trails across the page. It’s just good business not a political statement.
Speaking of statements, commitment to customer satisfaction is foremost at the top of the print industry to-do list for the future (as it always has been). Changing client preferences affect how projects are printed, when jobs are budgeted, or even customer costs going up and down. Today’s economy fuels these changing preferences but are not the only driver of customer requests. Custom designs, large format printing, small format printing, and custom substrates are just some of the customer requests that the industry has to keep pace with.
While technology waits for no one, the printing industry embraces technology daily. The advancements in A.I., robotics, and 2.5Gb internet have shifted thinking across many industries. Printing has had it’s share of growing pains but stands ready to meet the next tech wave. Faster computers, printers, and scanners are the smallest leaps forward. New software packages are also contributing to the tech wave by increasing the speed to preflight, process, and render (in batches) the largest print projects.
The rise of digital media and the challenges of surviving through the COVID-19 pandemic have left the print industry reeling but not as you might expect. Statistics show that the print industry is actually growing steadily despite these setbacks. The overall volume of print has decidedly declined since the internet but this means print shops have to adapt. Adapt to the changing needs of clients, streamline workflows, and do more with less. Innovation is the key to success for most print shops today. Innovation, experimentation, and vision are the keystones to a great print shop. Seeing the trends before being pushed into them.
Our favorite print industry trends set to reshape the digital print industry are A.I. or Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Print-On-Demand, 3D Printing, Smart Factories and Devices, and (of course) Digital Printing.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is the latest new buzzword streaking it’s way across minds. For some, it conjures up images of The Terminator and SkyNet taking over the world. For others, it is just a tool like any other that we harness to advance the species. However you see A.I., it is here and here to stay.
The print industry is leveraging machine learning in many ways by enhancing efficiency, creativity, and customization. To enhance efficiency, automation programs get much needed upgrades to refine print workflows. Instead of manual intervention, AI-driven automation allow the machines to “know” and “see” what projects need priority, where the breakdowns are, or streamline resources and inventory purchases. Being able to monitor real-time performance of printer equipment is a game changer. Notifications by text that your printer needs attention, diagnosing the issue before you even get there, increase productivity and minimize downtime.
AI algorithms can analyze customer data, ordering preferences, or input data from other sources to create personalized experiences. Custom generated print materials from a personalized experience allow print businesses to expand engagement and create brand loyalty. The internet revolution demands businesses learn or die. Brand loyalty and customer engagement is the future of business. Print shops that have survived this long already know this.
AI-powered image capabilities expand the universe of print creation immensely. Allowing color matching like never before, machine learning image processing allows the printer to automatically adjust colors on the fly, change image resolutions between jobs, and create new images from text. Creating images from text may be the biggest jump for creators in decades but for print shops to be able to design high quality images on the fly. For clients, it allows small shops to add dollars to the bottom line by branching out into design work that makes a difference.
Data Analytics
Data analytics can mean many things to many people but the essence is the ability to analyze massive amounts of data from any source to arrive at logical conclusions. In short, using data to gain customers and keep them is the goal of most businesses. They allow a business to drive growth through web forms, emails, mail-outs, or other advertising methods to collect the customer data. They further optimize processes by filtering, sorting, and understanding what you have collected then outputting into a readable format summarizing the data. This workflow gives insight into what print shops need to make sound business decisions for them and their customers.
Monitoring performance metrics through analytics gives the printer action items to improve performance, costs, or customer satisfaction. Further analyzing the newest market trends and customer behavior helps print shops identify product improvements or growth in their marketplace. Predictive analytics can advance the ball even more.
Predictive analytics help business forecast future demands. Business can begin to predict, to some degree, how the market is going to react to a new product, what the opportunities for expansion there are, or optimize inventory for seasonal business flow. These “predictions” are not infallible but they offer print shops decision making tools they never had before.
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Print-On-Demand
Print-On-Demand is exactly what it says. Print. On. Demand! In today’s fast paced world, no one wants to wait for prints, of any kind. Photos, letters, or signs all demand fast turnarounds. Print shops must adapt and overcome like the Marines. Delivering top-notch quality printing in today’s timeline meets the print shop “need for speed” in record time. Print equipment has jumped into lightspeed giving over 100 pages per minute prints in the best quality possible, in many sizes.
The shift to Print-On-Demand includes digital advancements, equipment advancements, and changing customer preferences. Each item has been a game changer in it’s own right but harnessing the technology comes down to the excellent employees that understand the changing industry. That is where Print-On-Demand gets it’s biggest boost. Employees in print shops everywhere manage the jobs, equipment, and write the code necessary to advance the print world. The real game changers.
3D Printing
3D printing is often misunderstood but is actually genius in it’s simplicity. Building a 3D printer, managing the software necessary, and creating great 3D prints is not easy. If it were, everyone would do it, right? 3D printing has definitely revolutionized the print industry. It offers those adventurous enough to grasp the opportunities the medium provides through innovation. As this next phase of printing takes root, no longer is 3D printing confined by small projects or only prototypes of larger products. Now those products are being made from concept to distribution using 3D printing. Businesses can now produce end-use parts for equipment, promotional items in house, and all with precision.
In the next phase of 3D print development, new custom designed products will reach the masses completely created through these methods. Think custom furniture, in your color, on your back porch while you sip cocktails from custom designed glasses on a 3D printed deck! The complex customization of 3D printing is the future of so many products.
Advancements in materials structure is giving 3D printers more unique options including metals, plastics, or bio-materials that are compatible with the environment around them. Housing crises may be a thing of the past once 3D printing hits it’s stride. That is just the tip of the iceberg they say in 3D printing.
Smart Factories and Devices
What the heck is a “smart factory” anyway? The single most asked question about smart factories, I am almost positive. Smart factories are places where technology has taken over. They drive efficiency, innovation, scalability, and the ability to adapt to changes in daily production environments.
Automation and robotics are what most people think when you say smart factory like Detroit automakers using robots to build cars. Today’s smart factories are so much more though. For print shops, automated systems streamline printing workflows on the production floors, reduce manual intervention, and increase production throughput overall. Meanwhile, networked devices communicate through the internet to monitor real time data, increasing production at every turn.
In print shops, smart factories can also mean smart devices and smart software to control them. Document scanners that remove staples automatically, scan the documents, and then reassemble them again are already here. Commercial High-Production Printers that can process multiple projects at one time into separate output trays are already here. The future is already here.
Digital Printing
Digital printing is a simple term for printing on modern equipment. What is special about digital prints, and why it made it onto this list, is the speed, versatility, and quality that traditional print methods cannot beat. Since everything is digital nowadays, printing is moving more and more towards digital prints.
Digital printing gets rid of time sucking processes like setup and preflight for many project types. This enables quick turnaround times for Print-On-Demand. Digital printing means that print shops can maximize inventory costs while minimizing waste to produce short-run prints cost-effectively. Digital printing also allows print shops to have variable data printing runs. This opens up more avenues for revenue growth organically. Combined with the newest inks and laser toner cartridges, digital printing systems deliver on their promise of quality vs. speed.
While many other opportunities for print shops to expand growth in the industry exist, we believe that these trends are the future of print. At The Document Group, we follow the latest news and reports from the industry. We are not the definitive authority on printing, but with over 19 years in business in the Houston Downtown Area, we might know a thing or two about it.
