Active and Robust
The following article was originally published by Wide-format Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Wide-Format Impressions.
During your visit to the SGIA Expo, in addition to the time you spend on the Expo floor or in any of the many educational sessions, I urge you to spend time in SGIA’s Product of the Year display area.
The Product of the Year Awards recognized 68 innovative new products from a field of more than 250 submitted for consideration. Output devices, finishing technologies, consumables and many other areas were included. I believe the Product of the Year awards provide a unique and valuable view into what is a robust and active printing community, ever-growing, ever-seeking of new opportunity. You can find the entries on display in the Golden Image Gallery.
Ours is an industry looking forward to a very interesting future. The drive of today’s printing businesses to expand and evolve is truly inspiring. According to recent research conducted by SGIA and NAPCO Research, industry convergence is in the air: 95% of printers, across all segments, see opportunity for expansion. And, whether the company produces publications, decorated garments or retail graphics, this optimism-rooted-in-fact runs high. On top of that, consider that eight out of 10 printers believe the rate of expansion will accelerate over the next five years.
So, then, opportunity is strong, business-building optimism is in place, and the industry’s supplier base is producing new equipment and materials that stretch the boundaries of what we can do. Amid the benefits of a digital printing revolution that has, segment-by-segment, changed who we are and how we can serve customers, savvy business owners are doing their research, making their moves and thoughtfully redefining.
In our industry, those who prosper are those who change with the times. Technologies and markets are evolving. The people specifying and purchasing print today are better educated and more cost-conscious. The people “consuming” print are growing accustomed to personalized products. We are a diverse industry, ranging from companies selling one-offs to individual consumers, to those producing high quantities of product for large retailers and corporations.
What ties us together, surely, is a commitment to serving customers well, differentiation in a crowded marketplace, managing change and growing elegantly, and staying connected to the pulse of this industry.
Whatever your goals are here at the SGIA Expo, do your best to find inspiration in every aisle (and the Product of the Year display), see equipment and products you never knew existed, and consider how your company can change, adapt and adopt to meet printing’s future head on. And by being here, you have a huge advantage: With more than 550 exhibiting companies and more than 25,000 registrants, there are plenty of experts on hand to answer questions or engage in discussion. This event—and your visit to the SGIA Expo—come at a pivotal time for the printing industry. Your task is to gain inspiration, find answers and chart your course forward.
Dan Marx, Content Director for Wide-Format Impressions, holds extensive knowledge of the graphic communications industry, resulting from his more than three decades working closely with business owners, equipment and materials developers, and thought leaders.
