An excerpt from AP May 2020 – by USQ Ellipsis Media director Rob Keanalley 

Prior to COVID-19, there appeared to be a steady growth in customised, short- to medium-run content that was more regionally focused or individualised to the target markets within the print landscape in Australia.

This has been enabled through the improvement and affordability of high quality digital production technology in the A2 space. There is still plenty of work for the big A1 offset presses; however, businesses are competing more heavily for this business and so can’t afford to invest heavily in all areas to meet market needs.

Most of the contraction in the print industry within Australia seems to be in areas such as newspapers and associated products, with marketing materials, short- to medium-run publications and specialised products growing in demand.

As the national market shifts to this landscape but with a focus on customisation, and regionally focused content, the ability to value-add will protect margins, enhance customer relationships and demonstrate that as an industry, we are adapting to the changing needs of our customers.

Margins continue to get squeezed through competition at the big end of town so adding value through embellishment, spot UV etc. are increasingly becoming ways in which businesses can add value to the customer, add margin, and also protect their client relationships if these value-add options aren’t as widely offered amongst competitors.

Otherwise, value-add come in the form of additional services such as document storage and management, highly specialised assets, and even 3D printing. Value can also be found in collaboration, increasing the services or products provided through trusted partnerships.

For USQ Ellipsis Media, we focus on being a value-added business by investing in a full colour binder jet 3D printer and 3D modelling service, the A2 sized Jet Press, which is a commercial ink jet digital press, and enhancing our bindery fleet of assets.

What we haven’t done is invest in additional offset print capability as this already exists in our local market and we didn’t want to compete for this market, eroding margins through competition.

It means that the businesses we partner with can offer greater value to their customers through our assets and services. The key to long-term profitability in print is collaboration and partnership. It has driven our investment choices as we strive to not duplicate capability in our local market, but enhance it with assets others don’t possess.

However, challenges lie in return on investment, lead times in developing an expertise in a value-add area and building the trusted reputation to be a collaborator of choice. For example, our 3D Print capability took three years to perfect the quality, output and reliability.

Some printers are well setup and established to weather the storm of changing customer needs and market direction. COVID-19 has negatively impacted businesses that relied heavily on events and the related print material associated with those, while label printers are experiencing strong demand and can increase margins accordingly.

So, there is no one-size-fits all strategy that can be applied to every business. Generally, printers should find a niche, be it an asset or capability that few possess and become a trusted partner in a larger network of printers, or develop a value add that utilises a key resource you already have.

Current events have made the future very hard to predict; Business may never return to how it was conducted previously, and we may see a hybrid future where technology plays a greater part in events.

This can open up opportunity for new ways to market or develop individualised content from online experiences that is then printed and mailed directly to customers.

In government and some education sectors, working from home may continue to a greater degree and that may increase opportunity for online portals to trusted print providers that can produce and mail out large documents or other print material.

Printers should be open to new opportunity and collaboration will certainly help with business continuity.

The digital version of AP May 2020 is available here.

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