The Future of the Printing Industry
Anyone following the march of technology would appreciate the transformational challenges faced by the printing industry over the last decade. Since the beginning of the digital revolution, businesses, governments and municipalities have been adopting new technologies, such as digital record keeping. The general population too, has been quick to adopt digital technologies in their daily lives, eliminating the need for many printed products. Traditionally printed products, such as newspapers, magazines and books, have become increasingly digitized. Companies have responded to more environmentally aware consumers with “go paperless” . The printing industry has therefore had to adapt in the face of significant headwinds to its traditional business model.
Printing Industry Trends
The good news is that the industry has, at this point, largely navigated digital led trends. In 2019, the industry is expected to continue to experience sales growth between 1-2 percent. While this cannot yet be defined as “robust”, the industry nonetheless is riding a period of more stable growth, in part buoyed by the favorable long-term macroeconomic growth of the overall U.S. economy. There are also business essential outputs in traditional paper format that will continue to be required, such as labels and package printing. Advertising and publishing still account for the two largest segments of the printing industry, but manufacturers are largely contributing to the health of the printing industry. The demand for specialized labeling, package printing, and point-of-purchase displays has increased substantially over the last few years, providing support to the overall printing industry.
Advertisers have also found that printed products still garner more attention than their digitized counterparts, and therefore deliver a higher Return on Investment (ROI) in certain circumstances. The top three of these advertising products are provided by printers and are comprised of direct mail, brochures and pamphlets. There are at least 30 main product categories that the printing industry produces, including categories ranging from brochures, and magazines, to labels and specialty printing.
In order to maintain and gain efficiencies, while adapting to new trends, the printing industry requires equipment that is designed to meet the challenges of today.
One company that provides the industry with the latest and most technologically-advanced printing equipment is Cleveland, Ohio-based, Graphco. Graphco provides sales and maintenance for offset printers, digital printers, packaging offset presses, and specialty finishing equipment.
One high-performing press offered by Graphco is the RMGT 9 Series press manufactured by RYOBI MHI Graphic Technology. This machine is a marvel with its output and efficiency, saving the printing operation tens of thousands of dollars annually through waste reduction, increased output speed and flexibility. These features translate into an improved bottom line for the printer. While the machine is not inexpensive to purchase initially, it is an advantage to printers looking to dramatically improve their margins in a highly-competitive environment.
Printing Equipment Financing
As the owner of Graphco, Chris Manly understands the importance of helping his printing customers gain a competitive advantage. Chris also understands the importance of having a finance partner that can quickly help his customers purchase new, technologically-advanced presses.
Chris stated, “You can’t be in this business without having equipment financing.” Considering the cost of one of these presses can exceed the high six-digits, the need for financing is apparent. Chris has been working with Amur Equipment Finance for years and has come to rely on the quick service provided by the company.
“Once the decision has been made to make the purchase, what I view as one of the huge advantages [of working with] Amur Equipment Finance, is that they work very, very quickly to process that deal,” Chris remarked.
Financing speed is obviously important to Chris and Graphco, and it is also important to their customers. They are after all the ones that need to be able to quickly adjust to new trends, so the speedy financing offered by Amur Equipment Finance allows them to quickly acquire the printing equipment they need to succeed.