Printing with woodblocks started in the 6th century. Fast forward to the 20th century, we have laser printers and now, modern 3D printing in the 21st century. The printing sector has been seeing non-stop growth. Read more about digital printing!
The digital printing industry for labels and packages did business of 1.85 billion dollars globally in 2021. This is expected to jump to 7.2% by 2026. But the share of print volume is lesser.
In 2020, volumes of digital print for packaging soared but the total printed packaging industry stumbled by 1.5% in value. These fluctuations make us curious to know about the future of this ever-changing industry. This article is aimed at the future of digital printing in 2022.
Where is the Print Sector Going?
There is good news for the print industry. Consensus determines that the industry will be changed substantially in the future. The well-known print businesses have started welcoming innovations. And they are adopting digital printing technology to customize their products.
Let’s delve deep into some of the ways advanced printing techniques can revolutionize the printing industry.
Growth is Increasing through Publications and Graphics
Newspapers and magazines got hit the hardest due to the Covid-19. The newspaper readers started using the online media in place of print media because of all the lockdowns and the orders of stay-at-home. Resultingly sales halted.
The digital art sector– Point of sale and wide-format display got badly influenced as audiences weren’t visiting stores, clubs, casinos, shops, cafes, and restaurants.
Also, business printing like guidelines, brochures, and pamphlets saw a great decline. Many printing companies collapsed due to this radical decrease in sales.
After the Covid-19
As the world is getting back to normal, the printing sector will see an open and fresh ecosystem. The industry would flourish with new opportunities. When this occurs, the cases of low-price printing functions occurring will be decreased.
Print Substrates are Seeing a Difficult Time
The graphic sectors are falling and publication jobs are declining. These factors will negatively impact the market that targets print substrates. Coated/uncoated mechanical, woodfree, and newsprint, all of them have experienced decreasing volumes.
The sad news is that a lot of it will be irreversible. Smithers have reported that in 2019 before the pandemic,256.2 million tonnes of print substrates were used up. This was reduced to 229.6 million tonnes in 2020, a decline of 10.4%. The effect of Covid-19 is clear.
However, board volumes and packaging films are expected to stand tall to the tide. They would start flourishing again by 2025 and beyond. Several pulp and paper businesses closed down or sometimes modified the existing equipment.
Hence, it’s the need of the hour to bring equilibrium to this highly fluctuating industry. The retrieved pulp supply would be disturbed in the short term. Over the decade, ecosystem rules and business owners would add to this disturbance.
The Bright Side: E-commerce Will be the Savior
Lockdowns decreased the revenue of retail businesses. They were compelled to go for new e-commerce solutions to provide their services. This did the magic and the number of e-commerce packaging soared by 40%.
The businesses have to add extra packaging with shipment labels to every order. Consequently, the market is seeing an immediate demand for e-commerce packages.
Businesses are using state-of-the-art printing technology. It allows them to furnish value-added services with variable solutions to gather information. Online traders can include this option after a customer places an order electronically.
Packaging powered by e-commerce produces direct relations inside the marketing mediums. Because the typical queues have disappeared.
Retailers can also collaborate and place printing presses in the big e-commerce centers with an authorized agreement. But, this is a high-end option. Instead of this option, e-retailers with a tight budget can use an on-premises production tactic and buy a small-scale digital printing press.
The press producers will get the profit either way. They may provide post-sales support. Thereby, allowing users to make the most of the advantages of these machines.
Embrace Diversity for Growth
The print service providers will need to change themselves with changing techniques. So, they can recover from the loss their businesses experience during the Covid-19.
Moreover, many print suppliers have stopped manufacturing. Instead, they are increasingly joining hands with various other competitor businesses.
Some print businesses have added new products/services to their range of offerings. And they look after activities that don’t commonly fall under the print category.
Businesses should look for a company that provides top-notch Digital Printing Services in Dubaiin these times.
Conclusion
Ecommerce and digital printing work naturally well with each other. Direct-to-customer tailored printing like cups, calendars, and image products, asks for diversification. Finally, the print service providers would need to bring variety into several areas. It includes the usage of direct-to-object systems.
The pandemic is still influencing the printing industries. Interestingly, the corporate arena of the world will transform over the next ten years for the print market.
However, the PSPs need experienced partners to provide corporate volume print products. A renowned digital printing company can provide a solution to this problem.
