An excerpt from AP May 2020 – by Mezographic director Frank Mezo
The current print landscape is very different to what we expected – COVID-19 has caused disruption to many businesses and this resulted in the end of March and April looking bleak. Many point-of-sale (POS) orders were cancelled for many printers after the Australian Government’s announcement of the operation of essential businesses only. Most of wide format is based on POS and with the closure of a lot of retail, it has definitely affected the market.
But on the flipside, there was an influx of social distancing work. This did help ease the pain to keep business running. I do expect a strong bounce back with the easing of restrictions.
From a more general outlook of the industry, the environmental considerations of print materials is now a significant issue. Consumer demands are changing and people are looking for alternatives to plastics, and the use of materials that are more environmentally-friendly. For print businesses, this means that they will have to now seek alternatives from what was traditionally used and need to be conscious of what suppliers are offering.
I also see a shift towards fabric light boxes from solid boards for advertising. This is especially the case in Europe and is happening more so here in Australia. Having an understanding of the changes in the marketplace will enable businesses to determine areas in which they can add value. If businesses can offer an add-on, they become more profitable.
Adding value to print should go hand-in-hand with a company’s business continuity plan as they should be looking for ways to lower costs and make more margin. It’s not only about adding revenue but it’s also about increasing margins on existing orders.
More increasingly, finishings are in demand. So, this is an area they can add value in if they bring it in-house. Having it in-house will enable them to offer things like form-cutting, banner sewing, or embellishments and offer clients a more wholesome offering.
For instance, with our 3D displays, Mezographic offers a design service where we produce artwork in a 3D-format that can be viewed from every angle before going to a mock-up stage – we add the client’s artwork onto it and they can have a real view of how the product will look. This means we’ve created an end-to-end value-add offering, from design to end of campaign.
A great starting point will be to do some research when it comes to picking out equipment. Making the wrong decisions with new equipment can be disastrous. I’ve seen people buy machinery based on specs on a brochure or what a sales person tells them and they’ve ended up not fully satisfied with the equipment. It’s important for businesses to see the machinery in action before they buy it and have it do what it’s supposed to do.
Some of the things I look for when purchasing equipment is quality and speed, the price of consumables, and maintenance requirements for the machinery. In today’s marketplace, you need quality to meet customer expectations and speed to be able to compete in the marketplace. It’s no good having something that looks fantastic, but is economically unviable to produce work from.
Printers that can’t afford to purchase new equipment and bring services in-house should consider outsourcing them until the numbers make sense to bring it in-house – this means you’re offering the client the option at the very least.
Looking towards the next three to five years, businesses should look to offer environmentally-friendly alternatives and ways clients can recycle end-products easily. Building solutions around that is key. This will give businesses the differentiation that they require in the print market.
The digital version of AP May 2020 is available here.
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