Current Issue - July 2011
The Shape of Things to Come
Are you a printer or would you regard yourself as a multi-channel communications solutions provider? I admit that the latter description is a bit of a mouthful but it is the way that most, if not all, print companies are moving these days. It isn’t about digital versus litho any more – it is about the variety of solutions that printing companies can provide to their customers, both business and consumer, that will add value to their service offering. Above all, it is about maintaining cash flow at a time when business can be hard to find and, indeed, keep.
Those businesses that are thriving are adding new services to their operations, services that reflect areas of our industry that are growing and likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. Of course, not every business has the capacity to offer a total solution from design right through to fulfilment but they can still add value to their service offering by providing, say, a large format printing capability alongside a litho printing service, or a W2P B2B or B2C offering along with some digital presses, in response to the industry trend towards short-run, on-demand printing.
Many print businesses around the country have already embraced new technologies in all aspects of their operations – from initial communication with the customer through estimating, ordering, design, pre-press, printing, finishing, fulfilment and despatch. In addition, a number of small new print-related businesses have begun trading since the start of the current recession which is an encouraging sign for our industry. It is also telling that those businesses that have shut up shop and are likely to close over the coming months are generally long-standing, well-known and respected operations who, perhaps, over-invested in the wrong technology during the boom years and failed to respond to the demands of the digital era.
Becoming a ‘multi-channel communications solutions provider’ is not feasible, or indeed necessary, for every print business but the addition of services that your existing print customers need and are currently sourcing elsewhere must be worth considering – now more than ever.
Maev Martin
Editor - Irish Printer Magazine
Email the Irish Printer Newsdesk
The Shape of Things to Come
Are you a printer or would you regard yourself as a multi-channel communications solutions provider? I admit that the latter description is a bit of a mouthful but it is the way that most, if not all, print companies are moving these days. It isn’t about digital versus litho any more – it is about the variety of solutions that printing companies can provide to their customers, both business and consumer, that will add value to their service offering. Above all, it is about maintaining cash flow at a time when business can be hard to find and, indeed, keep.
Those businesses that are thriving are adding new services to their operations, services that reflect areas of our industry that are growing and likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future. Of course, not every business has the capacity to offer a total solution from design right through to fulfilment but they can still add value to their service offering by providing, say, a large format printing capability alongside a litho printing service, or a W2P B2B or B2C offering along with some digital presses, in response to the industry trend towards short-run, on-demand printing.
Many print businesses around the country have already embraced new technologies in all aspects of their operations – from initial communication with the customer through estimating, ordering, design, pre-press, printing, finishing, fulfilment and despatch. In addition, a number of small new print-related businesses have begun trading since the start of the current recession which is an encouraging sign for our industry. It is also telling that those businesses that have shut up shop and are likely to close over the coming months are generally long-standing, well-known and respected operations who, perhaps, over-invested in the wrong technology during the boom years and failed to respond to the demands of the digital era.
Becoming a ‘multi-channel communications solutions provider’ is not feasible, or indeed necessary, for every print business but the addition of services that your existing print customers need and are currently sourcing elsewhere must be worth considering – now more than ever.
Maev Martin
Editor - Irish Printer Magazine
Email the Irish Printer Newsdesk