Big Picture - June/July 2018 - 10

InPrint 2018 Recap:
Wide Format's Future
in Industrial Inkjet
"How willing are we to change? How open-minded are we?
How focused are we on productivity? Does our culture
enable innovation?" These are the questions Marcus Timson,
co-founder, InPrint, posed to a room of industry analysts,
manufacturers, and print shops during the InPrint Industrial
Inkjet Conference, May 1-2 in Chicago.
Here are some of the answers to Timson's questions that
attendees received during the event.

VALUE
Where is there value in the industrial inkjet market?
"The value is flexibility, not necessarily customization or
personalization," said Timson at the beginning of the
conference. But as more industry analysts shared their
thoughts, it became apparent that flexibility and customization go hand in hand as a value add to both you and your
customer. See below for some top takeaways:
"INNOVATION WITH PERSONALIZATION" - Chris Medrano,
business development manager, Roland DGA

* Personalization increases customer engagement and
spending by 20-30 percent.
* Advancements in digital printing are changing the
personalization industry. Products can be finished at the local
level in a cost-effective, repeatable, and scalable fashion in
ways not possible five years ago.
"THE MARKET AND THE INNOVATIVE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAKE AN IMPACT" - Ron Gilboa, group director,
production technology, Keypoint Intelligence

* Mass customization is one of the trends driving the
demand that is being addressed by digital printing.
* With mass customization, the value goes up as the
volume goes down. With mass production, cost per piece
goes down when the run length goes up.

BIG PICTURE

June/July 2018

LIMITATIONS

While there are opportunities and major value to investing in
the industrial inkjet printing market, there are also challenges.

"CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVES ON THE HURDLES FACING
DIGITAL PRODUCTION IMPLEMENTATION IN THE WALLCOVERINGS INDUSTRY" - Wade Neff, strategic business
unit manager, Strategic Factory

* There are negative customer perceptions, technical
limitations, and an overall lack of understanding of the
wallcoverings space.
"INDUSTRIAL INKJET: STILL THE RISING STAR OF PRINT
TECHNOLOGY?" - Marcus Timson

* The US is slow to adopt industrial inkjet printing.
"M&A ACTIVITY IN THE NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL
INKJET MARKET" - Kenneth D. Stack, president, Proximus,
M&A, Venture Capital

* I think the décor market is far bigger, especially in
Europe, than the industrial 2.0 market.

APPLY IT
So, if you see the value and understand there may be
challenges along the way, what applications should wide-format
printers interested in the industrial inkjet market explore?
According to those attending InPrint: packaging, interior
décor, and textiles are no-brainers.
Décor opportunities, according to speaker Rachel Nunziata,
include: architectural materials, rigid substrates, wallcoverings, fabrics, flooring, soft goods, and furniture in healthcare,
licensed home decor, and brands market segments.
Stack says print shops should expand in the textiles and
corrugated markets. "Textiles have dominated since 2014. It's
a large, growing, and profitable market, and ideal for
participation," he said.
Gilboa suggests package printing. "The digital packaging
market is dynamic and evolving," he said. "Brands push for
operational efficiency and targeted marketing." This includes
interactive printing on packaging so brands can change
messaging within hours, not weeks.

48%
The percentage of consumers who want to connect with a company via live chat when
they have a question or issue
Source: 2017 Universe Study by Interior Design

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - June/July 2018