Product category:
Printing Trade Organisations - including Allied Industry Bodies
News Release from: British Printing Industries Federation | Subject: 'Beyond the horizon' report
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 March 2006
Report Reveals Need For Radical
Technology Shifts
Nearly 70 printers and suppliers to the printing industry took time out yesterday to hear the findings of a new British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF)-Pira research study.
Nearly 70 printers and suppliers to the printing industry took time out yesterday to hear that radical shifts in technology are needed for the industry's future That was the summary of the findings of a new British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF)-Pira research study, which were revealed at the event
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 1 Aug 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The study, which is supported by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Canon UK, looks in to the future of magazines and direct mail.
Its findings were presented by Pira's John Birkenshaw, author of the study report, at an event entitled 'Beyond the horizon - future visions for magazines and direct mail', held at Canon UK's conference centre in Reigate.
The event was chaired by Pira director Ann Stirling-Roberts.
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Birkenshaw was joined a range of speakers offering perspectives from different parts of the print supply chain, including PPA deputy chief executive Nick Mazur, Target Direct Print managing director Peter Frings, Adobe Systems Europe application engineer Marcus Lynch, Canon UK business development manager for pProfessional print, Trevor Dodsworth and BPIF corporate affairs director Andrew Brown.
Using a process known as 'technology mapping', publishers and direct marketing companies were asked to predict the future requirements of their marketplaces.
They were asked whether print formed part of their future vision, to what extent, and what characteristics they anticipated printed products would need.
The predicted future was then shared with suppliers, who were asked to consider what technologies would need to be put in place to deliver those expectations, by when, and how to get there from where the industry is now.
The results are presented in a report, entitled 'The future of magazines and direct mail 2015-2020: implications for the printing industry'.
It can be downloaded from the BPIF website.
The reports heralds the need for radical shifts in technology across a broad front, including press control devices, lightweight papers, single-fluid inks, printed electronics, and automated finishing processes.
Pira's John Birkenshaw emphasised that the market place for printed products is changing rapidly: "Advertisers already have attractive alternative options, with more to come as web-based technologies continue to evolve.
Today's young people, who are tomorrow's adults, are increasingly far more at home with electronic media than with print." He added: "Printing companies and their suppliers, therefore, face unprecedented challenges.
And yet print has much in its favour as consumers like it's look and feel.
Its own technology base is, of course, also developing rapidly and offers the potential for print to remain an effective medium, for publishers, advertisers and consumers alike." BPIF's Andrew Brown agreed and stressed that the challenge is to realise that potential: "Much depends on equipment and materials suppliers, and printing companies, understanding the needs of publishers and marketers and responding to them - not just in the immediate future, but also in the longer term.
We selected magazines and direct mail for this study, as both are product sectors with a heavy dependence on advertising revenue." He continued: "The outcome is challenging - substantial competition for advertising revenues and changes in readership habits are forcing publishers to change their business models and require substantial step reductions in cost of production.
Direct mail too needs significant functional enhancement if it is to satisfy the future needs of marketers." He added that whilst 10-15 years in to the future may seem a long time, and with payback periods on presses running to 10 years on large machines and associated equipment, it is necessary for suppliers and printing companies to factor those issues in to their strategic planning now.
Brown added: "The indications are that print production technologies can rise to the challenge but only if research and development by equipment and consumables suppliers is focused closely on how their products can best meet the needs of the end-customer a decade or more from now.".
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