Digital Printing Under the COVID-19

 The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years has been enormous -- and its nature has varied widely depending on the economic sector. While some companies, such as the gastronomy, tourism, aviation or cultural industries, had to struggle to survive, others profited from the crisis. These winners include, for example, e-tailers and delivery services, streaming service providers and pharmaceutical companies.

While the reasons for the declines or earnings in the aforementioned industries are obvious, the picture is a little more complicated for another industry that has also been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: printing. Here, the Covid-19 pandemic has on the one hand accelerated the decline in offset printing volumes over a period of time, but on the other hand has provided considerable opportunities for service providers who know how to make targeted and creative use of the many possibilities offered by different printing technologies. more opportunities. So what exactly happened?

Digital printing under the new crown epidemic

The necessary reshaping of printing industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things. Our personal lifestyle, our habits and consumption patterns, the way we communicate and interact. Supply chains and value chains are threatened with collapse, with a massive investment stoppage due to supply issues, and suddenly the ability of entrepreneurs to plan is called into question. One consequence of this was an almost abrupt collapse of another 40% in offset printing volumes worldwide, accelerating the rapid consolidation process in an industry already quite shaken by changes in communication behavior. While state aid is still easing instability in many places, a decision has been made to phase it out.

To ensure simple survival, many printers have taken a dangerous path under these circumstances. They're trying to get a bigger slice of the ever-shrinking pie by offering dumping prices that can't possibly have profitable jobs in the long run.

But there is an alternative to this destructive tactic. If you take a closer look at the print market, you will see that there is a segment that is heading in a completely different direction: digital production printing. Although it is "only" 10% of the total today, that number will quickly rise to around 15% by 2024. On top of that, digital printing already accounts for around 40% of service provider revenue, so it's proving to be a silver lining on a suddenly less dark horizon.

A major reason for this victory is that print jobs are increasingly shifting to small batches as high-volume prints decline. Although offset printing is still competitive here, at least in certain volumes, thanks to greatly reduced makeready times, digital printing using ink or toner is creating added value for customers thanks to its technical possibilities and greater flexibility has greater potential.

Digital printing: the ideal way out of the deadly price debate

To be successful when entering the digital printing field, "added value" is the key word. If we succeed in making it clear to our customers what a printed product with various special effects can achieve for them, many price discussions become redundant from the start. There are a few concrete examples that make this very clear.

Rather than simply accepting transactional printing, i.e. printing and sending bank statements, credit card statements, etc., destined to be replaced by electronic communications, print service managers can come up with the positive effects of communicating with customers on a regular basis, as tactile media such as paper can bring positive effect.

Rather than simply accepting the triumph of ebooks over print books (which, by the way, has long since stagnated), printers can convince customers of the possibilities of digital printing, especially in the trade book space, while also producing Profitable short-run prints.

In the age of Covid-19, electronic communications have already taken their toll on traditional direct mail, but the smart combination of the two worlds, clever storytelling and a high degree of customization offers possibilities that can turn the tide, especially for new companies and start-ups For enterprises.

Last but not least, the segment that is likely to be hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, namely promotional print, could particularly benefit from digital printing. For example, a highly flexible short process that can be invoked on demand via a web portal is the dream of every salesperson and company wishing to avoid storage problems and costly waste.

The right time to start using digital printing? Now!

Digital printing technology has been developing at an increasing rate over the past 10 years or so and is now at a critical stage. While technical possibilities, such as the use of different materials or effects, are more attractive than ever, and the achievable print quality now meets even the highest demands, the purchase price has been reduced to such an extent that the more More and more service providers are poised to jump on the wave that is accelerating.

While they still face challenges, they are doing so. Foremost among them are the ongoing shortage of staff (exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic), the loss of high-volume printing and the erosion of profit margins from overcapacity and insufficient demand. But in the face of these problems, they are by no means powerless. Digital printing technologies and rules-based workflows enable extensive automation that can reduce reliance on human workers. By increasing transparency, barriers in the order process can be removed, existing digital printing equipment can be more optimally utilized, and orders can be processed faster and easier.

And even the development of the almost immeasurable cost of paper needn't be a stepping stone. Forward-looking sourcing planning, expanding the range of printable materials, using alternative substrates and managing customer expectations in a targeted manner are effective means of avoiding impending problems in the supply chain as much as possible.

Step by step into the new world of digital printing

Even though the transition to digital production printing has never been more obvious for the reasons above, this step requires careful consideration and planning. In a bottom-up planning process, print suppliers should first consider whether the expected volume justifies the investment, and what the space and resource requirements are. On this basis, all performance parameters of the new system should be specified as precisely as possible. Which workflows should be enabled, which materials should be used, and what processing options should be available? Only after all these issues have been clarified can the costing of the printing equipment itself, consumables and regular maintenance be resolved.