Business Management - Industry Trends

Heidelberg revealed today that it is extending its digital and software portfolio and pooling activities in its Digital division. Rapid expansion is planned, with the existing range to be enhanced with new products that will provide the ideal solutions for future market requirements. Heidelberg has announced a new strategy dubbed "Synerjetix" that stands for the joint development of industrialized inkjet production systems to enable printers to offer high-end, creative applications with reliable machinery that meets proven Heidelberg quality standards. Heidelberg has also established an Advisory Council.

For the sixth consecutive year, Ricoh’s InfoPrint 5000 production print platform has been named the high-speed inkjet market share leader in the United States, according to International Data Corporation's newly published U.S. Quarterly Production Print Tracker. Ricoh’s market share increased from 39 percent in 2012 to 42 percent in 2013, with the next closest competitor ranked at 31 percent.

At the 2014 Inkjet Summit, to be held April 7-9, in Ponte Vedra, FL, Bill Verplank, transactional market manager for Rollsource—Unisource’s paper converting division—will present best practices for a successful inkjet substrate trial during two case study sessions.

If your printing operation has not yet discovered the benefits of wide-format printing, you're missing a significant opportunity. In the "Seize the Wide-Format Advantage" Webinar recently presented by Printing Impressions and In-plant Graphics, and sponsored by Canon Solutions America, registrants learned about various wide-format technologies that are available today, along with ideas for new applications that can be produced with them.

The latest report by IDTechEx "RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2014-2024," reveals the RFID market—including tags, readers, software and services, for passive and active RFID—will grow from $7.88 billion in 2013 to $9.2 billion in 2014.

Growing demand for large graphics has made wide-format printing one of the fastest-growing services and revenue streams for printers.

Join In-plant Graphics Editor Bob Neubauer and a panel of industry veterans on March 20, at 2:00pm, for the "Seize the Wide-format Advantage" webinar sponsored by Canon Solutions America.

For a successful paper relationship, the supplier should understand your inkjet process and the ink-to-paper compatibility, as well as how you use the paper. The amount of ink applied, paper thickness, surface type and post-processing needed creates a successful print run. Understanding your partner is the biggest part of any relationship.

Potential for wide-format growth and profitability increases with advances in digital wide format technology and new customer demands.

We are always nervous about informing our customers that our services will cost more. However, I have always looked on paper price increases as more of an opportunity than a problem.