The wide-format market is buoyant and seeing exciting developments across the board. The increase in demand for latex, dye sublimation and UV printed products has broadened the print capabilities of the print service providers, but investment in the traditional digital strongholds of outdoor durable and high quality indoor continue to see strong uptake.
New investment is being driven by not just faster print speeds but delivering new capabilities; different substrates, more shorter runs of products and in some sectors—such as fashion—a growth in manufacturing within this country.
Why should commercial printers consider a move to the sector?
Diversification is key. Commercial printers should have an existing customer base of loyal companies, but by not offering a full suite of products they run the risk of not only losing that business, but their traditional business to their competitors too.
It’s widely regarded that selling to new customers is significantly more expensive than selling to existing customers, so by increasing and diversifying their product range, commercial printers can add new revenue streams relatively easily. Their customers are likely to trust them on their print capability, so how a product is printed is almost irrelevant. Being able to purchase from a new range of printed products is an easy leap for a customer to make, so they’re likely to feel comfortable in dealing with their existing print partner already.
Moving into wide-format is not simply about buying a machine, there are other skills to acquire that go alongside the ability to output print”
These new products can be higher margin, shorter run and attractive to sell—think acrylic photo blocks, personalised plaques, mobile phone covers, short run bespoke artwork, or something as simple as promotional pens or die cut decals. For the sales team, it’s easy to create differentiation amongst their competitors—so long as they get in now.
Are Hybrid Services and Mimaki seeing more demand from commercial printers?
The commercial print sector is one of the largest growth areas for the wide-format market at present. We’re seeing customers investing in Mimaki’s print and cut range to produce everything from bespoke digital wallcoverings, to pull-ups. They’re regaining control of their production, hitting deadlines, achieving greater profits and keeping customers happy by creating new products in house.
Demand is being seen across almost the full range of products, but primarily in the outdoor durable print and cut products, as well as the very exciting LED UV small format flatbed solutions that Mimaki has. The latter delivers big bang for buck, adding the ability to imprint products and therefore adding value, in short runs and with personalised, bespoke messages. This sort of work has long been the prevail of the screen printer but they too are seeking change as consumer demand for short runs—and even individual items—increases, so are investing in technology such as the UJF-3042 Series too.
Why do you think it is important for such companies to diversify moving forward?
In tough times, it’s survival of the fittest. Companies that have broader—but still logically connected—capabilities are more likely to retain, or less likely to lose, their client base. Running the risk of competitors creaming off the exciting new printed products is one thing, but they’ll rapidly take the core business along with it too. The cost of investing in new processes is—relative to traditional litho kit—surprisingly small, so by investing in wide-format solutions in order to protect the work that is being produced on their other expensive kit makes a lot of sense all round.
Do you see the general trend of commercial printers moving into the sector continuing?
The borders between print service providers are greying. Sign companies have started to offer traditional products, and the ability for the consumer to buy almost any printed product online or from the local industrial estate means the customer base is rapidly becoming ever more thinly spread.
The commercial print sector is one of the largest growth areas for the wide-format market at present.”
Moving into wide-format is not simply about buying a machine, there are other skills to acquire that go alongside the ability to output print. To add real value to the print, it may well need finishing or applying to finally become a product—be it laminating, welding, eyeleting, mounting to board, cutting out, or affixing to a vehicle or wall. The combination of printed output and finishing skills should stand the commercial printer in good stead to capitalise on those companies failing to respond to these opportunities. Sticking their heads in the sand and hoping the challenges go away will lead to the opposite