This article appeared in the March 2025 issue of Australian Printer, authored by SunPrint’s Steve Hall
In 2024, SunPrint’s revenue went up, but profit was down. The major challenge we faced, and continue to face along with many others, is the quality of supplied prepress files.
Within our client base, we found the quality of print ready files to have deteriorated, and having had discussions with other printers, know there are others facing the same issue too.
This is largely due to the increased use of web-to-print platforms, as well as a lack of education – design students are not being taught about the preparation of files for print.
Another challenge we faced in 2024, which is still ongoing, is personnel. When a team member leaves, it’s a challenge to automatically replace them in this industry, and even if you do find someone, the quality of work or skillset of that person might not be what you require. Based in Noosa, we face an added, unique challenge – a lack of local labour due to housing affordability.
The highlight for us in 2024 was our continued investment in our equipment and automation – there’s now very little in our factory that is less than three years old. In 2024, we bought a new Fujifilm press as our previous machine was struggling to keep up with our increased volume of work, and we also invested in a new MIS system.
This year, our focus is on raising margins as well as continuing to invest in our equipment and sustainability initiatives. In addition, we will be concentrating on what we call ‘multiplier’ clients – clients that have their own print base and are capable of feeding through multiple jobs.
At SunPrint, we’re now doing a greater number of jobs than we’ve ever done, and there’s a clear trend across the industry for demand for smaller, more frequent jobs. With our new machine and new MIS system, we’re now geared to be able to better handle these types of jobs.
But a point print service providers should take note of is, it’s all well and good to have the latest and greatest equipment, but if you don’t have a high level of automation that can cater to your market base and customise to their needs, you’re not going to be able to capitalise on it.
Some companies may have installed an MIS system 10 years ago, but they haven’t evolved to this new landscape of print. I would suggest that anyone who hasn’t done that needs to take a good look at their current system and review it.
Businesses need equipment, staff, and systems that can handle customised jobs. A good MIS system, and the ability to be able to tailor it to your client base, is critical.
In terms of market trends, we’re seeing an increase in the use of online platforms by corporate clients to prep their files. We’re not seeing it often, but it is happening more regularly.
The opportunity lies in embracing these web- to-print platforms and having the capabilities to provide print services for short-run, instant, digital on-demand type clients. There’s money to be made from these clients but you need to educate them on how to use these online platforms so they’re able to provide you with a quality file.
Within that smaller on-demand space, the challenge is getting quality files that don’t need time and resources spent on them by staff just to get them to press; however, people don’t put a value on that, and neither do they want to pay for it.
In 2025, power costs will also become an increasing issue, which is why we’ve invested heavily in becoming more sustainable.
As part of our five-year sustainability plan, we’ve invested in solar panels and batteries, LED lighting, and we’re very selective with the equipment that we purchase.
It’s no good claiming to be sustainable because you use soy inks; it goes way beyond that. When it comes to sustainability, you have to put your money where your mouth is. If you have solar on your roof, put some batteries in – you can only benefit from it. My message to the industry is this: act now, don’t wait and see.
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