Well, it came as no surprise when print chiefs participating in this year’s Widthwise Round Table on the state of business in the large-format print sector got hot under the collar regarding Brexit. The upshot was that any decision would be better than ongoing uncertainty. You can read the whole report on the meeting in the upcoming issue of Image Reports, but ahead of that I’d love to hear your take on the state of business.
I see InfoTrends has a new study out - ‘Winning in an Evolving Print Services Market’. I have to admit I’ve not read it, I’ve just noted the key trends highlighted in its press release on the publication, and it’s really just what we’ve been saying for years. What ‘insight’ would help you improve your business? I’m working on the Widthwise 2019 survey questionnaire as you read this, so let me have your thoughts please.
I get inundated with case studies from machine manufactures and suppliers, highlighting how fab their kit is, and I pass them on to you unedited in these newsletters and on our website, making it clear that they are marketing collateral. But that’s not to say they don’t have value – heck, we’ve even carried articles in Image Reports pointing out that PSPs should be jumping on the same marketing bandwagon and get case-studies on unusual jobs out in front of prospective clients. The assumption is that case studies bring in more business - do they?
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Picon - which represents suppliers of printing and allied equipment - celebrated its 100th birthday yesterday, with a lunch at Stationers’ Hall in London, at which CEO Bettine Pellant said: “I am really proud to be part of an organisation which has reached such an important landmark and one that has emerged stronger and with a broader membership and remit. We remain relevant and proactive, creating opportunities to speak out on behalf of our sector and to create commercial opportunities - be that attending UK and international exhibitions or holding business forums. We can only ever be as good as our membership and this is a strong and proactive team who compete hard by day but enjoy each other’s company and respect each other’s views within the Picon organisation.” Got to ask - should more suppliers to the large-format print sector be members?
My son flies off today to work in Japan, which got me thinking about international trade. Do you do much of it, and is it increasing or decreasing? They’re questions I’ll be putting to the participants at the annual Widthwise Round Table discussion later this month, but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts too.
Were you at the Fespa UK Association’s ‘The Future of Print i4.0’ at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry yesterday? If so, how did it impact your strategic thinking? If not, why not - as Peter Kiddell stresses in the new issue of Image Reports (http://bit.ly/2REIMbp), “the more we talk to the real exponents of i4.0 the clearer it becomes that it is something that can’t be ignored”. Yet many large-format PSPs are - our 2018 Widthwise survey flagged that up. So what’s going on?
It’s interesting that ESMA has decided to offer a course - in English - for companies wanting to learn about theoretical and practical aspects of digital printing technology for industrial applications. The course, which costs 2,150 Euro, will run 5-8 November at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart, and is targeted at those who: want to obtain an overview of digital printing technologies - especially piezo inkjet - to make educated decisions to what extent inkjet could be integrated in their production process; want to obtain basic inkjet know-how in order to plan the introduction of inkjet into their organisation and facilitate their investment decisions; and those that have already installed inkjet equipment but are still at the very beginning of the learning process. These are the people all the kit manufacturers want to reach, so if ESMA gets a good turn-out it will have one heck of a valuable contact list!
A survey of more than 2,000 UK adults, commissioned by Event marketing platform Evvnt, has revealed that business-related events are attended by 67m Brits each year, and that attendees typically spend an average of £57 to cover tickets, travel and spending costs. Mmmm – seems cheap to me. How does that measure up to your experience?
Right, it’s October, so like every year at this time, I start pulling together my long-list of nominations for the annual Image Reports’ Angel Awards – recognising products launched over the year that the editorial team feels will make real impact on the wide-format digital inkjet sector. Want to point me in the direction of a piece of kit, service, solution, consumable that you deem worthy? Just drop me a line and I’ll investigate!
My old school motto was ‘Per Unitatem Virtus’ - Strength Through Unity. With Carol Swift having now officially taken over at the helm of Fespa UK Association I have to ask – what do you want from the organisation? The UK/Ireland wide-format digital print sector gets somewhat overlooked when it comes to print industry’ reports etc. so is the answer for more PSPs – and suppliers etc – to come together and present a stronger front?
“It’s not about print capability but supply chain management that is stymying printed blind market development.” That’s what the commercial manager of The Blind Shop told me when I was talking to him at 100% Design. We all know that finding new customers - especially in new vertical markets - is one of the toughest jobs, but in this instance he’d actually gone to a PSP that purported to be a ‘specialist’ blinds printer, only to be left dangling over questions about working with them on a bespoke job. Perhaps the PSP in question didn’t think it worth bothering about. But the result is that this man can’t be bothered now to look into more bespoke and personalised print jobs. It makes me wonder if we’re a tad too complacent…..
100% Design opened yesterday and runs until Saturday at Olympia in London. Exhibiting from the print space is Colourgen, which is putting 3D wallpaper possibilities from the Dimense printer in front of visitors. But that's it from our industry. Shame. The shows attracts loads of creatives and innovative interiors and surfaces/materials companies - as exhibitors and visitors - people you could do well to rub shoulders with and products that might just pique your interest. Just a thought in case your diary is looking a bit lightweight!
…to win big contracts. But you no doubt you have to be bold. In the next issue of Image Reports I talk to a PSP that has put in place a ‘communications team’ to deal with specific top tier targets in two vertical markets where it sees real growth opportunity. It’s a brave move - it’s not a cheap option - but the expectation is for long-term pay-off. Are you playing a long game too?
Image Reports
Supporting the wide-format digital print sector