The critical trends shaping the future of printing, and thus the future possibilities for creatives in advertising, marketing and publishing industries are highlighted through technology, processes and products. The rise of the internet and the subsequent ability to be able to distribute vast quantities of data to diverse locations has taken the distance out of printing. Printers can offer traditional print and disseminate solutions, or the reverse disseminate and print model, where material can be printed where it needs to reach the ultimate customer.
"This is a significant mind-shift for printers," comments Creda MD Stan Hannath, "with the realisation that the ultimate delivery vehicle may not be a high-speed press, but even a customer’s home printer. If you consider that it costs 31 USc to print a Time magazine edition, but 42 USc to distribute, the value here is apparent."
A key challenge for publishers is therefore how to lower these costs. The internet holds substantial opportunities in this regard in allowing publishers to distribute and print, rather than print and distribute, through localised print branches, off-internet printing and print-on-demand bookshops, and these distribution channels will increase in the future.
Digital print is set to expand rapidly in the face of variable data printing requirements and the ever-increasing demand for shorter-run projects. In fact, according to the NAPL (US National Association for Printing Leadership), 50% of printing will be done on digital presses by 2020. Variable data printing remains a key mover in the industry. Marketers have long been sold on the significant additional returns gained from the customisation and personalisation of marketing content.
"Turnaround time is set to become even more vital as customers put the squeeze on their printing partners," says Hannath. "Currently in the US, 8% of work is demanded within 24 hours and this is expected to rise to 30% in 2020."
Digital printing therefore remains vital. New technologies, such as waterless ink to cut drying and e-commerce to cut administration and proofing time, are also being utilised to reduce turnaround time. This e-commerce element includes the use of XML internet interfaces to allow customers to submit and receive their own quotations, to submit, edit and proof files online in a matter of minutes rather than days, and to track jobs through the factory.
Advertisers are also in for change. Approximately 25% of all magazine advertisement space printed in the US is run in Time/AOL titles, which now only accept advertisements in Portable Document Format (PDF) format. This is not only as to receive secure closed files, but to prepare for the internet as a key content delivery vehicle.
Technology is killing the cottage print industry, and this is only set to become more entrenched in the market. In the US, there are currently 46 000 companies in the graphic arts sector (printing, repro and finishing), of which 800 account for 63% of all print. 34 000 of these account for less than 20% of print, and it is estimated that by 2010, there will only be 31 000, with the majority of that 15 000 decline taken out of those 34 000. Where technology used to help the small cottage shops in being able to receive and alter files electronically, the entry and operational costs will become prohibitively high for them. The global market is currently entering a stage where corporates will demand that their "printers" are able to be electronically linked and add value from design and print, through to the distribution of information, whether that be on paper or otherwise.
Finally, there is the altered role of traditional printers as cross-media hubs. Working on the premise that a digital file is received, ink-on-paper is only one of many output options, which include HTML conversion, CD-ROM development, PDF’s for web. The printer thus takes a full role as a deliverer or content in whichever format is required by the customer.
These trends have been in evolution over the past decade, and there are no players in the global graphic arts industry that will be unaffected. With South Africa rapidly benchmarking foreign practices, it is purely a matter of time before all of these advancements are commonplace.
"Whilst most of these innovations have not yet been seen in South Africa," says Stan Hannath, "the local market is not far behind the international markets, and we will be ready for the adoption of many of these processes. Creda has acknowledged these changes, and has researched, planned and is implementing new product offerings and processes to stay abreast of the international advancements, bringing best of breed practices into the local environment."
