Never Stop Learning

While there have been changes in the industry — sometimes small, sometimes earth-shattering — the basic idea that printing was all about putting some kind of ink on some kind of paper or substrate has never really changed. You might need to learn about how a specific new technology works, or rethink jobs in terms of variable runs of thousands of unique pieces rather than hundreds of thousands of static items, but the basic concept hasn’t really changed.

That isn’t the case with printed electronics, however.

Sure, it is still, at its core, putting (conductive) ink on some kind of substrate, but it is so much more complex than that. The ink is actually forming a circuit, not just a beautiful image — it is a working piece, rather than a static one. And the technology to create those circuits isn’t just finding new ways to make the drop sizes smaller, or using innovative software to drive variable data; rather, it is finding ways to shrink and change the game, looking for more and more innovation in terms of how far we can actually blend print and electronics in the first place.

But that doesn’t mean it sprang up out of nowhere, either. Rebecca Fuhrman, Digital Market Development Manager, Tekra (Booth 2711), notes that, “Realize that the printed electronics space is not a new market trend; rather it is decades in its evolution. There are many prior industries, products, processes that are evolving to satisfy future consumer and market demand. And, for that reason, there is no finish line. There is only the next unmet opportunity.”

‘Do your homework,” says David Conrad, Director of Sales and Marketing, Mutoh America Inc. (Booth 2545). “Study the market, and understand the applications and how to deliver the best solution for your customers in your market space. With this market, there is a lot to learn so you can never have too much information.”

And that is really the key — there is no such thing as too much information. There is no finish line you can cross and say you now know everything there is to be known about printed electronics. As soon as you go to bed that night, by the next morning there will be a new innovation you know nothing about. Those printers who embrace this dynamic, who are excited about the fact that they can never truly say they know it all, will be far better off. Those are the printers others will want to partner with, the ones they will want to work with to push the limits to see what else you can do with all these new technologies.

SGIA Expo is just the beginning. Use this time to learn, network with your peers, talk to vendors — use this time to begin building your knowledge base, so as the innovations continue to come, you’ll be ready to face them head on.