The Changing Landscape of Printing and Technology

Johnny Shell

In his session on Thursday, October 24^th at 3:00pm in Room C148, Johnny Shell, VP, Print Technology & Training, SGIA, will focus on the current landscape of major printing segments (commercial offset, packaging, etc.) and the technology adoption trends that are taking place, primarily the convergence to digital technology. “I’ll explain some of the reasons this is happening and what this means for the printing industry,” says Shell.

“The Changing Landscape of Printing and Technology will also look at the current digital printing platforms being used in each segment and look into the future and the next disruption that's already beginning to happen in specific segments,” notes Shell.

Digital printing is poised for serious growth. According to Smither Pira’s The Future of Digital Printing to 2024, in 2013 the digital print market was worth $120.9 billion in constant 2012 dollar values. This is the equivalent of 1.13 trillion A4 size prints manufactured by print-for-profit service providers and packaging converters. The total digital market will reach 225 percent of the 2013 value by 2024, according to a new market report by Smithers Pira.

The study underscores that electrophotography is currently the major contributor to the digital market, with a 16.6 million compound annual growth rate and expectations of reaching $32 billion U.S. dollars in revenue by 2027. That being said, inkjet is the technology which is being rapidly adopted, and is forecasted to overtake electrophotography sometime this year. By 2024, inkjet is projected to account for 56% of the value and 53% of the digital print volume.

This session will benefit any PSP involved in digital printing. Content in this session will inform attendees on the changing landscape of the printing industry and the rate of change occurring. “The lines are blurring even more as digital printing continues to displace traditional analog,” Shell acknowledges.