In 2023 we observed continued diversification in product ranges by a number of companies in the printing industry. Historically dedicated to either wide format, cut sheet, labels, or packaging, these worlds are continuing to come together as companies look for more growth opportunities.
Key highlights for Easy Signs last year included completing the first full calendar year of manufacturing in the USA, which saw huge growth in line with our projections. Another amazing and humbling highlight was taking out top place in the Printer 50 category in the 2023 ProPrint Awards, alongside Easy Signs co-founder Adam Parnell. We were absolutely shocked and honoured to have received this recognition by our peers in the industry.
The main priority for our company this year is to continue to find new products we can plug into our business model. We are also excited to establish our second manufacturing facility in the USA to allow us to get our products into our customers hands faster on the west coast. We are continually looking to find custom made products that currently take five days or more to produce, that we can bring into our 24-hour production model.
Events are a key part of the industry. We are hoping Printing United in Las Vegas later this year will be worthwhile for our team in the USA. The networking opportunities at these shows have always proven go be highly beneficial, from friendly conversations with competitors through to discussing equipment challenges directly with the product engineers.
We are really looking forward to drupa this year. Drupa 2016 was a highlight of my time in printing. The ideas we generated at that show set the path for our growth over the following years. I hope this year’s event brings a display of innovation that can inspire us and give us ideas for new product areas we can expand into.
We are always looking at new ways to meet the ever-changing needs and expectations of today’s customers. For us, key to our business is having a passion for innovation and continual improvement. If you can manage to create a culture of customer-centricity and innovation inside your organisation, you will quickly find that there are opportunities everywhere in this rapidly evolving industry.
As digital technologies continue to evolve there are huge opportunities for early adopters. Through equipment and software there are so many ways to continually do things cheaper and faster if people invest in innovation.
Our main sustainability goals are around the products we sell. We have battled for years with the challenge of selling more sustainable products while the cost is higher than the alternatives. This year we are pushing ahead with a range of sustainable options to hopefully increase volumes to a point where economies of scale will turn the table and bring pricing much closer to the alternatives.
My advice for emerging leaders would be to always question the status quo. We are in an exciting industry that is evolving so quickly, you should always lean into change and never simply accept things being done a certain way because it’s how they have always been done.
This first appeared in Australian Printer magazine. Read the original article here.
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