Quick Printing

JUN 2014

Quick Printing is the only business resource serving the quick and small commercial printing niche in North America. Quick Printing is the authoritative source for business information, emerging technologies, shop profiles and management insight.

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David Murphy, director of marketing, Americas - Graphics Solutions Business at HP, pointed to three main drivers increas- ing wide-format demand among commercial printers. The first is the print market's ongoing analog-to-digital transformation and the accompanying trends—shorter runs, faster turnaround, print-on-demand, versioning, and customization. "Even PSPs with capacity on their large-format offset presses are investing in digital wide-format technology to reduce set-up costs, time, and waste, and to profitably handle their short-run volume," said Murphy. The second driver is the transition from PSP to a holistic marketing service provider (MSP). Large commercial printers are expanding their overall services portfolio to meet the broader needs of their customers and to shift from offering print as a commodity to total campaign management. "From marketing collateral to direct mail to point-of-purchase (POP) displays and event signage, marketers need a single resource that can produce a broad gamut of applications," Murphy explained. "Signs, ban- ners, and posters are the largest application areas." The third driver is the rapid advancement in wide-format digital technology, offering higher quality, greater versatility, improved productivity, and faster drying time than was available just four years ago. Wider Print, Higher Margins Commercial printing firms have spent a lot of time and energy looking for ways to limit their exposure to commoditized prod- ucts, added Ken Hanulec, vice president of marketing, EFI Inkjet Solutions. "While there are segments of the commercial print space where products have lost some of their value, they see that wide- and superwide-format graphics applications have higher margins. That is what is driving the trend and a lot of commer- cial printers are successfully entering the market." During the SGIA Expo last October, the association noted that a large portion of attendee traffic came from the commercial print space—a strong indicator of the opportunities commercial printing firms are looking to capture. When a commercial printer adds wide-format, that business is suddenly in direct competition with signage firms. "Knowing that, commercial printers want to play to their advantage by sell- ing to their customer base," said Hanulec. "Wide-format inkjet is a natural extension of the market- ing offerings commercial printers already sell. Adding adjacent POP signage, banner, and other digital inkjet applications to the range of products they print for existing customers reduces the commer- cial printers' risk of losing that customer's business altogether." Two years ago, trade printer Zoo Printing began offering EFI UV- curable inkjet technology based on what VUTEk printers offer. Most recently, Zoo Printing, head- quartered in Commerce, CA, has invested in its ability to offer its printer customers superwide-for- mat rigid and flexible printing. Zoo Printing now has a fleet of six, 3.2-meter-wide EFI VUTEk UV inkjet printers spread across its three facilities, from California to New Jersey. The company's inkjet production line up includes VUTEk GS3250r roll-to-roll and GS3250lx hybrid roll/flatbed printers to output a wide range of products. The trade printer now is able to offer a full breadth of super- wide products, including vinyl banners, yard signs, static clings, trade show graphics, magnets, adhesive-backed substrates, and POP displays. Don't Play the Commodity Game One of the challenges faced by printers entering the wide- format arena is that many initial, basic wide-format offerings such as posters, banners, etc., are a commodity business. "They are not going to get them to where they want to be," said Paar. "As commercial printers develop expertise and add additional wide-format equipment, they can start producing higher mar- gin applications such as backlit graphics, specialties such as promotional items, tradeshow displays, interior decor, lenticular images, and much more." Canon USA's newest large-format offerings, the 60-inch image- PROGRAF iPF9100 and 44-inch imagePROGRAF iPF8100 print- ers, are ideally suited for giclée print-making and photo-enlarge- ments as well as murals, ceiling banners, museum displays, and lobby art, noted Paar. For many commercial printers, especially those newly enter- ing the wide-format segment, versatility is key to success, added Murphy. "Rather than turn down requests for high-value jobs, many PSPs invest in wide-format printing technology that can Suttle-Straus, a commercial printing firm based in Waunakee, WI, uses its EFI VUTEk UV inkjet printing equipment to produce point-of-purchase display work, such as the signage installed at this mobile retail store. 24 Q U I C K P R I N T I N G / J u n e 2 0 1 4 w w w. M y P R I N T R e s o u r c e . c o m QP_22-25_0614_WideFormat.indd 24 5/15/14 8:54 AM

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