Possibility Beyond the Core

Image courtesy of Guy Welch Photography

For many companies, PRINTING United represents a step outside of the status quo — a journey into the near unknown. And that’s a good thing. Stepping out of the comfort zone is good for your personal development and your business.

For decades, companies operating in the commercial, packaging, and in-plant printing spaces worked in a relatively tight orbit around their core markets, products, and competencies. But recent changes in customer behavior, the demands of marketers and other customers, and the capabilities of printing technologies, have changed the playing field. This leaves a number of these companies seeking new opportunities.

One great illustration of the concept of industry convergence is to view it as a dart board. Your company is situated at the bullseye — dead center on the board. Opportunity surrounds you, and those opportunities that are most comfortable, either because they use your existing technologies or your existing customer base, are closest. As you move farther from the center, the opportunities become less favorable, or more difficult to reach. Is every opportunity a great for your business? No. Are some of them? Absolutely!

For commercial and in-plant operations, who have traditionally focused on the production of marketing collateral, newsletters, and periodicals, the opportunity may exist where current customers have a definable need. In an in-plant operation that serves a university, for instance, the product offering could be expanded to include short-term signage and event graphics. The need is there: digitally printed signs, banners, and other elements have become ubiquitous at all kinds of events. Why farm it out when you can keep the revenue in-house? For commercial operations, the move is similar: Use a new technology to expand product offerings for existing customers. Conversely, target a different community, and offer your core products in a new, interesting way.

In the packaging segment, the introduction of high-production inkjet devices has expanded the possibilities of what package printing can be, particularly as brands are using packaging to create targeted, increasingly granular approaches to messaging. Converters are also finding that these same technologies can be used to produce display graphics — stand-up displays, displays that integrate messaging and product, even full-on display graphics on corrugated and other substrates. The capabilities of digital printing have similarly transformed the printing of bags, containers, and other “things” that hold other things.

The good news here (and there is a lot of good news) is that PRINTING United provides a platform to highlight the whole of the printing industry — spanning print segments, technologies used, company sizes, and more. It’s all here. The gear is on display. Company reps are on hand to help you understand, adopt, and purchase. And thousands of industry professionals are on hand to share their experiences, or learn from yours. As a PRINTING United attendee, you can dig deep, look beyond the core of your business, and make the best possible decisions.