This article appeared in the March 2025 issue of Australian Printer, authored by Grand Print Services’ James Sultana
2024 was a strong year for Grand Print Services. We had moved into our new premises in late 2023 so 2024 was busy for us in terms of print jobs and setting up the new facility. We still saw growth in sales throughout 2024.
In saying that, there were mixed responses from the industry – most of Grand Print’s clients were very busy, but we would hear of companies being quiet on a regular basis.
In 2024, Grand Print continued its investment in technology with the addition of a Canon Colorado 1630 modular UVgel roll-to-roll printer for large format graphics and a Fuze Industry taping machine.
Our investment in these machines came off the back of being able to provide the best solutions for our clients. We always have our clients’ needs front of mind and continue to tailor the business to support them.
Grand Print prides itself in keeping very close to its clients, concentrating on what we are good at, which is delivering on their needs. Whilst being busy, we had to focus on not losing sight of the exceptional service that we provide. This is how we keep relevant in this industry.
Always listening to your clients will enable you to continue to forge strong long-term relationships. And, working with the right partners who are hungry to grow their businesses goes a long way to continued growth too.
This year, we expect to make further upgrades to Grand Print. Having just invested in machinery, our equipment is still relevant and working well, but we are now turning our focus on to automation in all of our processes.
Robotics is not applicable for us at this stage, but we are taking a detailed look at every process throughout the business and implementing ways to be more streamlined and efficient.
In terms of sustainability, Grand Print continues to look at every piece of waste we produce in the print process and try to work out ways to recycle or reuse where possible. We also encourage customers to use products that can be recycled. We continue to offer free recycling of products that we print to ensure what we produce is being repurposed as much as possible.
For the industry, 2025 will be similar to what the previous years have been. The industry will continue to innovate and find new ways and opportunities to grow – whether that be growth through more sales, new products, or just doing what it does better.
My predictions for 2025 is that it will be another strong year. From discussions with others in the industry early this year, there seems to be a fair amount of optimism.
Interest rates in 2024 slowed people down a bit but hopefully there is a rate reduction to give consumers some confidence. Whilst we don’t deal directly with the public, consumer confidence flows down the line and this affects the spending of my clients and their clients.
However, challenges do remain. The number one challenge for the industry would be the rising costs of running a business. Everything we do to keep the business running is costing more.
If companies don’t adapt to rising costs and make the required changes, it will continue to erode margins and make business less and less viable.
The challenge with this is a lot of clients don’t want to pay more for the same product. Therefore, if price rises are not an option, businesses need to find ways to save costs and be more efficient in other areas of their business.
As for trends, digital will continue to take a bigger share of the market, just as it has been doing in recent years. Digital equipment will continue to develop in speed, efficiency, and quality. These machines will become more and more automated, removing manual tasks required of staff.
The quality produced will also continue to improve, enabling printers to move into new areas of play, or expand their clientele base. With machines that work quicker, they will also be able to offer clients faster turnaround times. We have no doubt suppliers will continue to support printers with new innovations and improved offerings in current markets.
Here’s my final message to the industry – this year will have its challenges like other years, but if you push the boundaries with new products and keep doing the good things you do for clients, the industry will continue to grow. If the industry is strong, it will support business and everyone will benefit.
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