State of Web Printing: Web Offset: Still on a Roll?

"It's all about speed, even on the commercial and publication side of it," he says. "It's about being time-sensitive to give catalogers or publishers the last possible option for making changes. And changes are simple enough in web offset."

Among the stiffest challenges Pontillo sees is the increasing costs of raw materials. Check that—the true challenge is passing along the higher prices to print buyers. And, with excess capacity an everlasting problem in the industry, some players are lowballing their bids just to keep their presses running and to maintain a revenue stream.